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Two separate, yet distinct mill occupations by paperworkers in France and Spain in March drew attention and support for ICEM-affiliated trade unions determined to protect workers&rsquo; interests in cases of employer recalcitrance and joblessness brought on by a failed paper mill sale. 
 
In both situations, the sit-ins proved successful. In France, in the southwestern department of Dordogne, a nine-day strike by FILPAC-CGT and 700 workers of Papeteries de Condat ended only after the union&rsquo;s bargaining committee held management&rsquo;s team captive inside the shut mill on day six of the strike. 

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That tactic at the integrated pulp and coated printing papers mill gave a satisfactory result to 2010 contract negotiations. After five years of going without a raise, management&rsquo;s initial proposal of 1% was unsatisfactory. Workers of FILPAC were seeking at least a 3% increase. 
 
The indefinite strike began on 3 March and when managers still wouldn&rsquo;t budge by 8 March, the committee backed by throngs of strikers on the outside of the mill in Le Lardin St. Lazare, took matters into hand. The sequestering produced a compromise two days later, when Papeteries de Condat agreed to pay 1% retroactive to 1 January 2010, and another 1% on 1 July. Additionally, the union won full-time employment rights for ten of 24 temporary workers. 
 
&ldquo;Certainly, we did not win everything that we deserved,&rdquo; said FILPAC assistant regional secretary Tahar Messaoudi. &ldquo;But we are satisfied and we returned to work with our heads held high.&rdquo; 
 
Papeteries de Condat is owned by the Spanish-based Lecta Group, which itself is wholly owned by CVC Capital Partners of London. Besides the 540,000 metric tonnes per year Condat mill, Lecta runs paper operations in Spain, the Torraspapel mills, and in Italy, the Garda mills. 

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At the Papelera de Basaya mill in Torrelavega, Spain, 110 members of both CC.OO and UGT paper branches occupied their mill for four days from 6 March to 9 March. The issue was the Spanish chemicals company Snaice SA&rsquo;s decision to back out of a deal to buy the shuttered mill in Cantabria state in north-central Spain. 

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Snaice had agreed to purchase the mill on 19 January, but backed out a month later when it learned the debt-load of the operation was twice what it had anticipated. The mill&rsquo;s works council began the sit-in upon learning at a meeting that the previous owner was to declare insolvency. Works council members were immediately joined by 80 other workers. 
 
The sit-in braved extremely cold weather, and was met by heralded support by citizens of Torrelavega, local politicians, and even Snaice management, which operates an adjacent pulp mill in the city. Twice each day, for two-hour periods, family members of the workers joined them in tearful displays of solidarity. 
 
The occupation ended when the regional government of Cantabria pledged to find a buyer for the mill, with Snaice agreeing to operate it until that happens. The 80,000 metric tonnes per year mill producing uncoated printing papers had been idle since October 2009. 
 
Joaquina Rodr&iacute;guez Torrej&oacute;n of CC.OO told the ICEM that 16 paper mills have been closed in Spain between 2007 and 2009. She credited the heroic actions of workers at Papelera de Basaya this month with giving this mill an opportunity to re-start. 
 
Meanwhile in Spain, 275 paperworkers are to begin a 10-day strike today against Iberpapel at its Papelera Guip&uacute;zcoa de Zicu&ntilde;aga mill in Hernani, Guip&uacute;zcoa state. The strike is over shift-work bonuses, pension entitlements, sickness and accident benefits, and new work-time rules for the summer. The pulp and paper mill produces 342,000 metric tonnes of woodfree uncoated papers from three paper machines.

Plant Occupations at Spanish, French Paper Mills Produce Results

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ICEM workshops in Tanzania on 12-13 March reveal blatant abuses of freedom of association by subsidiary mining enterprises of AngloGold Ashanti and Barrick Gold. The workshops were done specifically for ICEM affiliate Tanzania Association of Mining and Construction Workers&rsquo; Union (TAMICO), under the auspices of ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Saharan African Regional Organisation (SSARO), with ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and ICEM/SSARO staff person Fabian Nkomo leading the important sessions. 
 
In attendance were the secretaries of TAMICO&rsquo;s four regions, plus district secretaries and key Tanzanian union activists. This ICEM project, called the Organizational Growth Project, is sponsored jointly by FNV Mondiaal of the Netherlands and LO-TCO of Sweden. 

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ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana
The focus of the two-day meeting was on AngloGold&rsquo;s 100%-owned Geita Holdings Ltd. and African Barrick Gold Plc., 75% owned by Barrick Gold of Canada and an asset that this week will see an initial public offering of the remaining 25% on the London Stock Exchange.. Both companies, separately, have engaged in labour relations conduct that is counter-productive to adherence of ILO Conventions 87 and 98, the basic workers&rsquo; rights of freedom of association and right to organise and bargaining collectively. 
 
At Geita Gold, management illegally screens all TAMICO membership forms, and has refused union recognition to those workers that it does not want in the union. Despite the union recruiting 900 mill and mine workers into TAMICO, Geita management in the Mwanza Region of Tanzania only recognizes 400 workers as members of the union. The ICEM has long known that Geita human resources director Philemon Tano openly discriminates against union membership, and this issue has been brought before AngloGold, a company that is obligated to respect labour and other standards with the ICEM through a Global Framework Agreement. 
 
From the outcome of these workshops, SSARO will again lodge a compliant with AngloGold Ashanti in Johannesburg, South Africa, on this inappropriate conduct. 

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Fabian Nkomo
At Barrick&rsquo;s, Tanzania&rsquo;s largest gold producer with mines at Bulyanhulu, Buzwagi, North Mara, and Tulawaku, management has continued to issue dismissals as a method to discourage membership in the union. In 2007 at the Bulyanhulu mine, following a break-down in negotiations between TAMICO and management over salaries, working conditions, and medical care that caused a strike by some 1,000 miners, Barrick&rsquo;s summarily fired all strikers. Reports at the workshop stated that TAMICO members are sacked almost on a daily basis by African Barrick Gold Plc. 
 
(On 16 March, three miners were killed at the underground Bulyanhula mine when a cave-in brought giant rock down on the miners. The ICEM extends deep sympathies to the families of the miners &ndash; Dickson Kadelema, Vedasstus Wilfred Tandise, and Joel Nicholas &ndash; and calls on Barrick&rsquo;s to ensure proper safeguards are in place inside its mines in Tanzania and elsewhere.) 
 
The 12-13 March ICEM workshops in Dar es Salaam did produce an aggressive action plan. Participants vowed to strengthen organizationally TAMICO, particularly the union&rsquo;s regional structures and the development of mandates from the union&rsquo;s leadership. This plan was put forth to better monitor and record AngloGold and Barrick&rsquo;s employment and trade union abuses. TAMICO&rsquo;s four regional secretaries attending the workshops pledged to recruit a total of 12,000 new members in 2010. 
 
Participants also launched a campaign specifically at AngloGold&rsquo;s Geita subsidiary to win full union recognition by the end of June 2010. South Africa&rsquo;s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which already works closely with TAMICO, will ramp up efforts through SSARO to strengthen the Tanzanian union&rsquo;s structures in order to meet the workshop&rsquo;s goals.

Breaches of Freedom of Association Rife at AngloGold, Barrick Gold Mines in Tanzania

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A historic protocol agreement between ArcelorMittal and ICEM-affiliated Forestry, Logging, and Industrial Workers&rsquo; Union of Liberia (FLIWUL) will guarantee that a collective labour contract is in place when the world&rsquo;s largest steelmaker begins revenue-earning operations at an iron ore enterprise. The two parties agreed to an &ldquo;Interim Procedural Agreement&rdquo; on 6 March that assures 3,000 workers will have trade union protections once ArcelorMittal comes on line with a US$1.5 billion mining, rail, and export operation in the West African country. 
 
The deal also sets forth the process in which FLIWUL now begins to build a free and democratic trade union inside the country-wide branch union, called ArcelorMittal Workers&rsquo; Union FLIWUL No. 4. This week, from 24 to 28 March, FLIWUL will begin conducting on-site nominations and elections from among the existing 750 workers at mine sites in northern Nimba County to the port of Buchanan, some 250 kilometres south on the Atlantic Ocean. 

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FLIWUL General-Secretary David Sackoh said the union will then begin electing shop stewards at mines near Yekepa, two company hospitals, transport workers along the rail link, and port workers at Buchanan. The final step, starting about mid-year, according to Sackoh, will be an extensive survey inside the various work units that will &ldquo;transform our compilations into collective bargaining proposals.&rdquo; 
ArcelorMittal has not been always this cooperative to work with FLIWUL in Liberia. A short 11 months ago, the company attempted to subvert a lawful union recognition vote with strong-arm tactics. (See prior ICEM news dispatch <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3153-Despite-Interference-FLIWUL-Wins-Union-Rights-for-ArcelorMittal-Workers-in-Liberia">here</a>.)&nbsp;But a Labor Ministry ruling declaring the union certification fair and legal, as well as intervention by the US-based United Steelworkers (USW) directly with the company&rsquo;s CEO and founder, Lakshmi Mittal, convinced Liberian management that recognizing and working with FLIWUL was in the best interests of the company. 
 
Sackoh said the company is now moving in mining equipment and completing work on the rail link. By mid-year, employment should reach 2,000, and then climb to over 3,000 by the time ore is ready for export in first quarter 2011. ArcelorMittal has a 25-year concession with the Liberian government to mine some one billion cubic metres of iron ore reserves in Nimba County, at the point where the Liberian, Guinean, and C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire borders meet. 

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FLIWUL activists in Harbel
The mining assets were once owned by the Liberian American Swedish Chemicals Company (LAMCO), but production ceased and the assets started to deteriorate when civil war started in 1989. 
 
The &ldquo;Interim Procedural Agreement&rdquo; contains basic framework standards covering health and safety conditions, protection of the environment, current working conditions, and protection of communities. It also contains a grievance process for workers. FLIWUL&rsquo;s union-building efforts now will assure worker input in a collective agreement due to take effect next year, a workers&rsquo; contract that most certainly will stand as a model in Liberia. 
 
&ldquo;FLIWUL has much to be proud of in achieving this milestone,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;The assistance they received from the USW &ndash; both on-the-ground in Liberia and intervention at the corporate level &ndash; is also exemplary and will guarantee that miners, transport workers, and other staff have an excellent collective agreement.&rdquo;

FLIWUL, ArcelorMittal in Liberia Reach Accord at Iron Ore Operation

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In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we introduce the revised ICEM HIV/AIDS website and report on the G8 &ldquo;Days of Action,&rdquo; and how the Zimbabwe energy sector deals with HIV/AIDS.
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin 
 
ICEM affiliates are engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to <a href="mailto:hiv.aids@icem.org">hiv.aids@icem.org</a>. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome. 

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ICEM HIV/AIDS Website Revamped 
 
The ICEM HIV/AIDS website has seen a major overhaul in the past few weeks. A key article on how the ICEM responds to HIV and AIDS reports on the achievements of ICEM&rsquo;s HIV/AIDS work. It also gives a brief description of all projects in cooperation with Solidarity Support Organisations and ICEM affiliates. 
 
As in the past, a link is provided to important HIV/AIDS websites, such as ILO/AIDS, UNAIDS, the Global Fund and others with updated information on these organisations. 
 
A new and especially practical feature on the link to useful materials are examples of an HIV/AIDS Policy for unions and an HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy. These were initially developed in the LO/FTF-sponsored HIV/AIDS project for the mining sector in Ethiopia. Generic versions enable affiliates to draft their own policy and negotiate a comprehensive workplace policy with companies. 
 
Also useful for training activities are four new PowerPoint presentations on Basic Facts about HIV/AIDS, on HIV/AIDS and the Workplace, on Elements of an HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy, and on Negotiating on HIV/AIDS. 
 
A key feature of the website is the inclusion of this e-bulletin. Directly available are also the two major ICEM publications: The HIV/AIDS Training Manual for Collective Bargaining and the Guide on HIV/AIDS Resources and Funding. 
 
Discover the revised ICEM HIV/AIDS website by going to <a href="http://www.icem.org">www.icem.org</a> and click on HIV/AIDS! Please give us your feedback. 
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African, Canadian Unions Plan &lsquo;Days of Action&rsquo; on AIDS for G8 
 
Trade unions throughout Africa and in Canada will join forces in a week of action, 21 &ndash; 27 March, to lobby the G8 and G20 for the provision of universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, and care. The action is timed to precede a meeting of the foreign ministers of the G8 and G20 countries in Ottawa, 29 &ndash; 30 March. 
 
National trade union centres in Africa will deliver messages to the Canadian embassies in their country calling on the Canadian Prime Minister to play a leading role in convincing his fellow leaders to take quick and decisive action on HIV and AIDS. As the host country, Canada will preside over the G8 Summit and will co-host with South Korea the G20 Summit in June. 
 
It may be recalled that 2010 is the target year for the G8 commitment to achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care made in 2005, and for achieving the second target of Millennium Development Goal 6, universal access to treatment. 
 
(Source: Press Release of the Canadian Labour Congress, 23 February) 

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The 2010 Universal Access Promise 
 
Trade union HIV/AIDS activists need not be reminded that 2010 marks the year when the goal of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care is to be achieved. But just how much progress has been made, and more importantly, how much remains to be done may not be as well known. 
 
To learn more about the extent of the unfinished business visit the UNAIDS website at <a href="http://www.unaids.org">www.unaids.org</a> where you can find an interactive map which shows the extent of the work that remains to be done. 
 
A key statistic is central to the union response: 7,400 people become infected with HIV every day and the majority of these people are of working age. Unfortunately, workplace-based prevention strategies often have a low priority in national strategies where prevention itself is often a low priority compared to treatment. When for every three people put on antiretroviral treatment, there are five new infections, the case for prevention is clear. This calls for strong union advocacy efforts this year calling on world leaders to deliver on their commitment for universal access so that workers and their families do not continue to bear the brunt of HIV infections. 
 
(Source: Contribution from Robert E. Lovelace, GUAP HIV/AIDS Consultant, Washington) 
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South Africa: Younger Teachers more open about HIV 
 
Younger teachers in South Africa are taking the lead in talking to students about HIV but are not practicing what they preach, according to a study by the University of KwaZulu-Natal. 
 
Younger educators, who feel that they are more informed about HIV and less inclined to stigmatise infected people, are also more likely than their older colleagues to talk to students about HIV-related issues because they are closer in age and because they are more likely to know someone living with HIV. 
 
The study, which surveyed 34 schools in the Free State province, also found that younger teachers were not immune from taking chances with their own health and that of their partners. Almost 50% of the teachers did not know their HIV status and most said they did not use condoms. 
 
(Source: IRIN PlusNews, global HIV/AIDS news and analysis, 9 February at <a href="http://www.plusnews.org">www.plusnews.org</a>) 
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Zimbabwe: HIV/AIDS Policy for the Energy and Textile Sectors 
 
Employers&rsquo; and workers' representatives in the energy and textile sectors have come up with new policies in an attempt to foster debate around HIV/AIDS at the workplace. The unions want to make the debate part of the &quot;boardroom agenda&quot; at executive meetings. The project is supported by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida). 
 
To reduce employment-related stigma and discrimination against persons living with HIV and AIDS, employers and unions are embarking on a campaign to raise awareness and getting commitment at the highest corporate level, in a programme dubbed, &quot;Making HIV and AIDS a Boardroom Agenda.&quot; Successful and comprehensive HIV and AIDS intervention strategies will only happen provided there is board buy in and support. 
 
Zimbabwe Energy Workers' Union (ZEWU) President, Angeline Chitambo, said there was need for the government and employers to take issues of HIV/AIDS more seriously. &quot;HIV is now a topical workplace issue which cannot be ignored. We want the government and employers implement what the policy says,&quot; said Chitambo, who is also an ICEM Vice President. 
 
(Source: Zimbabwe Standard, Harare, 27 February) 

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Labour Advocacy Toolkit now Available 
 
The Labour Advocacy Toolkit is now available on the website of the World AIDS Campaign (WAC) <a href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.org">www.worldaidscampaign.org</a> under Constituencies / Labour. 
 
The ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin reported on the development of the Toolkit in its issue No. 50 of November 2009. The toolkit, with the subtitle, &ldquo;Organising to Achieve Universal Access to HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support,&rdquo; can help trade union AIDS activists assess whether key indicators for the national AIDS response meet the needs of the working people, determine where unionists are positioned in national discussions about AIDS, and suggest how they can build campaigns to make sure that universal access is achieved. 
 
Trade unions are among the best positioned mass organisations at country level to create change. This is no less true when it comes to union mobilising the response to HIV and AIDS. This Toolkit is for those who have not run campaigns on HIV and AIDS as well as for more experienced campaigners looking for new campaign tools. 
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News from Global Unions 
 
In its most recent issues of the fortnightly HIV/AIDS updates of January and February, the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) at <a href="http://www.itf.org.uk">www.itf.org.uk</a>) reports on awareness campaigns for the maritime sector in India. In Ukraine, a campaign to promote safe sex was organised at the Odessa National Maritime Academy, which has about 4,000 students. Ukraine is experiencing one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world with a prevalence rate of 1.6%. 
 
An extensive article deals with the anti-gay legislation in Uganda. The proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill would, if enacted, broaden the criminalisation of homosexuality by introducing the death penalty for people who have previous convictions, are HIV positive, or engage in same-sex acts with people under 18 years of age. 

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This ICEM HIV-AIDS Newsletter &ndash; How to Subscribe 
 
To subscribe to the e-bulletin, send an email to <a href="mailto:press@icem.org">press@icem.org</a>. Please put &ldquo;subscribe ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin&rdquo; in the subject line.

ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 54, March 2010

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The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine campus in Trinidad and Tobago, will hold a colourful afternoon event this Thursday, 11 March, in honour of International Women&rsquo;s Day. Entitled &ldquo;From One to Many: Techno-Politics, Revolution, and the Art of the Possible,&rdquo; the forum will be hosted by the university&rsquo;s Institute of Gender and Development Studies. 
 
It will feature three lectures, the final one &ndash; by Dr. Alexis DeVeaux of the US&rsquo;s University of Buffalo at SUNY &ndash; to be followed by a question and answer session. Dr. DeVeaux will speak on &ldquo;Audre Lorde and the Longing for Home(land).&rdquo; 

<img src="" width="150" height="139" alt="" />
Preceding her will be Dr. Gabrielle Jamela Hosein speaking on &ldquo;A Revolution is a Way of Life,&rdquo; and Sonitha Krishnan on &ldquo;Impassioned by Silence: Where Do I Begin.&rdquo; 
 
The forum has the support and endorsement of the ICEM affiliate on the Caribbean nation-islands, the Oilfields Workers&rsquo; Trade Union (OWTU).

Women’s Symposium to be Held in Trinidad and Tobago, 11 March

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The mining and maritime unions, under the umbrella of the Mining and Maritime Initiative, met in Los Angeles, California 16-17 February, to discuss ongoing global campaigns in the sector. The ICEM plays a central role in the initiative, with seven ICEM affiliates in attendance: CFMEU (Australia), ILWU, USW (USA), NUM, NUMSA, CEPPWAWU (South Africa), and Maden (Turkey). The International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) also attended. 
 
Meeting delegates discussed the struggles at <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3607-Rio-Tinto-Engaged-in-Savage-Union-Busting-at-California-Borates-Mine">Rio Tinto in Boron California</a>, <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3608-Cananea-Miners-Reject-Grupo-México-Severance;-Strike-Continues ">Grupo Mexico</a>, and <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3589-Talks-Prove-Futile-in-Ending-Vale’s-Eastern-Canada-Mine-Strike ">Vale Inco</a>, and the global campaigns around these disputes, led in part by the ICEM, as each conflict involves ICEM affiliates. 

<img alt="" src="" width="274" height="167" />
The meeting issued a statement on the violations of worker rights in Boron California by Rio Tinto and by Grupo Mexico and the Mexican Government. View the statement here. Many of the unions involved in Mining and Maritime have had conflicts with Rio Tinto in the past, and stand in strong solidarity with the members of ILWU 30, who have been locked out by the company, as they refuse an extremely concessionary contract. The unions present pledged to &ldquo;escalate the campaigns in defence of workers at Rio Tinto and Grupo Mexico immediately, dramatically and strategically to make them global battles&rdquo;. 
 
A Campaign Committee was created, which includes ICEM Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Joe Drexler. 

<img alt="" src="" width="360" height="73" />
Meeting delegates then attended a large march and rally in support of the Rio Tinto miners in Boron. The participation of Maden, the main mining union in Turkey, was of special significance, since Rio Tinto uses the state-owned Turkish mining company as a supplier to its customers. Maden is a strong supporter of the Boron strikers.

Mining, Maritime Unions Meet

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The Kumho Tyre Workers&rsquo; Union announced last Thursday 4 March that they will launch a general strike on 16 March, in response to the company&rsquo;s announcement of a massive layoff plan, which saw 1,200, of the total 5,000, workers receive redundancy notices. 
 
The 1,200 workers to lose their jobs were told they will be laid off on 2 April under the restructuring plan; however the management has said that 1,000 of those will be rehired by outsourced contractors, at the factories in Gwangju. 
 
The parent company of Kumho Tyres, Kumho Asiana Group, is close to bankruptcy due to the failure of their subsidiary Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co. which they purchased in 2006. These economic conditions will be used to the advantage of Kumho Tyres, as they seek to outsource their workforce to precarious employment, and move production to China where production costs are lower. 

<img src="" width="160" height="117" alt="" />
The Kumho Tyre Workers&rsquo; Union, which is through the Korean Metal Workers&rsquo; Union (KMWU), affiliated to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), sought to negotiate with management to avoid job losses. The union leaders offered management the chance to reduce salaries and bonuses, with management refusing the offer. 
 
A state arbitrator has stepped in to negotiate a settlement. If either of the two parties refuses the final settlement of this committee, workers are legally permitted to strike. The Tyre Workers&rsquo; Union has pledged its willingness to negotiate with management to find a solution, but has said that it is ready to fight should management continue its unreasonable stance. 
 
The KCTU has pledged its full support to the Kumho Tyre workers.

Korean Tyre Workers Plan General Strike in Reaction to Job Cuts

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ICEM&rsquo;s Spanish affiliates in the Chemicals industry have agreed a renewal of the&nbsp;collective agreement for the sector. The previous agreement expired in December 2009. The agreement, signed 9 February by ICEM affiliates FITEQA-CC.OO. and FIA-UGT, was described by CC.OO.&rsquo;s Communications Officer Fernando Lezcano, as a model to be followed by others in overcoming the financial crisis. 
 
The Agreement will be valid for three years, from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2012. 
 
The economic and financial crisis caused the loss of 1.5 million jobs in Spain over the last 18 months, making negotiations between business and trade unions more significant. Spain is now in its seventh consecutive quarter of recession and unemployment is at 4 million for the first time in Spain&rsquo;s history. 
<img alt="" src="" width="130" height="131" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="155" height="126" />
The unions accepted the limitations of what could be achieved in the negotiations, but prioritised commitments on job stability and changes that would stop the rise of precarious work. The new agreement recommends that local collective agreements place emphasis on permanent jobs and a reduction of temporary work. Also equal opportunities for women and young people must be prioritised. These issues will be continually negotiated on during the period of the agreement, in the newly-created Follow-up Committee. 
 
Factors such as re-distribution of work, shorter working hours, and a program of partial retirement along with replacement contracts, are seen as important tools to avoid redundancies. 
 
Wage policies for the next three years were agreed by the trade unions and employers&rsquo; organizations, raising salaries by 2.5% over the three years of the agreement.

Spain: Renewed Collective Agreement for the Chemicals Sector

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Efforts to end the stalemate in the Canadian nickel strike between the United Steelworkers (USW) and Vale through independent mediation failed yesterday, with the USW giving a practical solution to the 239-day strike: a return to work offer and unresolved issues between the two parties submitted to binding arbitration. 
 
The Brazilian mining company rejected the union&rsquo;s attempt to resolve the dispute, which is marked this Saturday, 13 March, by 3,400 union families being&nbsp;on picket lines for eight months. 
 
Now, global trade unions will ramp up strategic plans on behalf of the USW, first by riding into Sudbury, Canada, in two weeks time to reinforce support to striking nickel miners of the USW. A two-day &ldquo;Bridging the Gap&rdquo; manifestation, 22-23 March, will bring trade union leaders from the Brazilian mining company&rsquo;s world-wide operations to northern Ontario province. 

<img alt="" src="" width="231" height="127" />
The unionists, to include ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, will join the strikers of USW Local 6500 and their families in a march down Sudbury&rsquo;s main street on 22 March, with a global strategy forum scheduled the next day. That forum will include plans for &ldquo;Global Days of Action&rdquo; against Vale, due to occur 5-11 April. 
 
Delegates from Vale and other worksites affiliated with the world&rsquo;s second largest mining house could come from as far away as Brazil, Mozambique, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Norway, and South Africa to attend the event. The early April days of action are meant to give a visible display of disgust inside Vale operations, as well as in front of Vale offices, over the company&rsquo;s insistence that the USW give it unprecedented contract concession in negotiations with Local 6500 of Sudbury, Ontario, and Local 6200 of Port Colborne, Ontario, two unions that share a common labour agreement. 
 
Vale&rsquo;s bargaining intransigence again stood out, after a flicker of hope late last month when the company agreed to sit down with an independent mediator for exploratory talks to end the strike. Those talks began at month&rsquo;s end, but failed on 7 March when mediator Kevin Burkett declared, &ldquo;I am disappointed to report that agreement is not possible at this time. I have therefore broken off discussions.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="260" height="195" />
The mediation did produce an unprecedented offer by the USW to return to work in Sudbury and Port Colborne, with a three-member binding arbitration panel to hear the unresolved issues. The USW proposed that Burkett chair the arbitration panel, with the union and Vale each selecting the other two panel members. Vale adamantly rejected the proposal. 
 
In Labrador/Newfoundland Province, meanwhile, a provincial conciliator will again attempt to reconcile differences between USW Local 9508 and Vale in a return to bargaining on 15-16 March. The union and its 250 members in Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay, Labrador, began a strike against Vale&rsquo;s copper and nickel operations in Canada&rsquo;s maritime province on 1 August 2009. Local 9508 and Vale did attempt to resolve differences through provincial mediation in late January, but those efforts broke off on 24 January in St. Johns, Newfoundland. 
 
The breakdown of talks between USW Locals 6500 and 6200 and Vale in Toronto yesterday come just a few weeks before a scheduled 30 March hearing before the Ontario Labour Relations Board on a charge brought by the USW that the company is guilty of bad-faith bargaining. Vale had insisted it would not resume bargaining until USW Locals 6500 and 6200 made a willingness to accede to the concessionary demands of the company. 

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Wayne Fraser, USW District 6 Director
Those concessions &ndash; common before Local 9508 as well &ndash; include retirement decreases, creation of a two-tiered pension scheme, with a defined contribution plan for new hires, steep downgrades to a production bonus, and unilateral company discretion concerning outsourcing. USW has insisted throughout that it wants a return to bargaining under no pre-conditions. 
 
The charge before the Ontario Labour Relations Board claims Vale has prolonged the strike by its refusal to bargain, and USW is asking the agency to order the company to pay lost wages and benefits to workers, as well as reimburse the union for strike benefits. 
 
This strike of 239 days likely now will surpass the longest mining strike in Canadian history. That occurred from September 1978 to June 1979 &ndash; 267 days &ndash; between the USW and Vale&rsquo;s predecessor in Sudbury, Inco Mining. The one distinction between this strike and several skirmishes between the USW and Inco, however, is that Canadian-based Inco never attempted to operate the mines, smelting, and other&nbsp;operations with replacement workers, as Vale is doing&nbsp;now.

Global Support Again Comes to Canada’s Vale Strike; USW Gives Solution to End It

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The Trade Union Congress (TUC) of the UK released a new publication today, on International Women&rsquo;s Day. The magazine profiles, and gives voice to, prominent women trade unionists from around the world, specifically the global south. 
 
The TUC carries out considerable international solidarity work, much of this work in the global south focuses on women, as the publication explains &ldquo;whether they are in paid work or not, women make up an ever growing majority of the world&rsquo;s poor&rdquo;. 

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Hasmeya Muhsin
The ICEM is proud that their Executive Committee member Hashmeya Muhsin is one of the women to be profiled. Hashmeya, President of the Electricity Workers&rsquo; Union in Basra, Iraq, has been a key figure in the campaign for a new, fair labour law in Iraq. 
 
Hashmeya won the Dutch Human Rights Award, the FNV&rsquo;s prestigious Febe Elisabeth Velasquez Trade Union Award, in May 2009. The money awarded with this prize was used to fund the recent Social Security Campaign in Iraq, fighting for land, health, and equality reforms in the war-torn country. 
 
Putting herself under continuing personal risk, Hashmeya Muhsin is the first female trade union leader in Iraq, and one of the very few in the Arab-speaking world. 

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The publication also includes, among others, profiles of project coordinators against HIV/AIDS in Africa, a brave woman trade unionist from Zimbabwe, and of course Su Su Nway, the jailed trade unionist in Burma. 
 
View the publication <a href="http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/raisingvoices.pdf">here</a>. 
 
Last week, a multi-GUF plus International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) letter was submitted to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW), in New York. The letter, addressed to Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon criticizes the process and substance of the Session, which has faced many disruptions and obstacles. View the letter <a href="/index.php?id=71&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=3656">here</a>. 
 
International Women&rsquo;s Day was established in 1910, when a Socialist Women&rsquo;s Congress in Copenhagen decided to embark on the annual day. The following year 1911 saw the first events marking the day, in four countries Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Denmark.

UK TUC Releases Excellent Women Empowerment Publication

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