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Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

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African trade unions affiliated with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), meeting yesterday, 15 September, in Lagos, Nigeria, passed a unanimous resolution criticizing Brazilian-based global mining giant, Vale, for its &ldquo;anti-worker, anti-union practices&rdquo; in Canada, and called on African governments to stop Vale from developing mines and exporting such practices to the continent. 
 
Rayford Mbulu, Chairman of ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Sahara African Regional Organization (SSARO), and President of the Mineworkers' Union of Zambia (MUZ), said, &ldquo;The time has come to challenge these global mining giants, and Vale will be a test case for us.&rdquo; African trade unions will be contacting their respective governments about not granting permits to Vale and its partners for exploration and mine development. 
 
Vale forced a strike in mid-July by 3,500 miners and smelter workers in Canada, members of the United Steelworkers (USW), by demanding unnecessary cuts in pensions and other areas. The company, which earned vast profits from its Canadian operations since its purchase of Inco Mining in 2006, has recently announced it will use replacement workers to break the strike. 
 
The African unions are also protesting Vale&rsquo;s practices in Brazil where the company routinely terminates staff without cause, denies workers the right to union representation, and forces workers to sign individual contracts to circumvent collective bargaining agreements. 
 
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want Vale to come here and export its anti-union practices to our countries,&rdquo; said Mbulu. &ldquo;So either Vale improves its labour practices or stays out of Africa.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;Vale&rsquo;s strategy is to gut its best collective bargaining agreements and to set a precedent for deep cuts in wages, pensions, and worker rights worldwide,&rdquo; said Ken Neumann, Canadian National Director for the USW, and an ICEM Vice President for the North American Region. &ldquo;Vale will use the savings extracted from workers to finance the company&rsquo;s ambitious plans for expansion and further its campaign to weaken trade unions throughout the world.&rdquo; 
 
Vale has opened offices in South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and recently signed an agreement with South African-based African Rainbow Minerals Ltd. to conduct exploration and participate in joint ventures. It is targeting numerous Africa countries for expansion. 
 
Vale earned US$13.2 billion in net profit in 2008 and paid its six top executives US$33 million in 2008 compensation. 
 
The USW is working with trade unions in Europe, Asia, and South America, as well as with the ICEM and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), which together represent over 45 million workers, in a widening campaign. 
 
The ICEM is a Geneva, Switzerland-based Global Union Federation consisting of 467 affiliated trade unions in 132 countries. 
 
For further information, contact, Joe Drexler, ICEM, at +41 22 304 1845, or <a href="mailto:joe.drexler@icem.org">joe.drexler@icem.org</a>, or Bob Gallagher, USW-Canada, at +1 416 487 1571, or <a href="mailto:bgallagher@usw.ca">bgallagher@usw.ca</a>.

ICEM’s African Trade Unions Tell Vale: Improve Labour Practices or Stay Off Continent

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In Mexico on 25 August, an appellate court overturned the government&rsquo;s freeze on bank accounts of the National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (SNTMMSRM), or Los Mineros. But a week later, on 2 September, Mexico&rsquo;s Attorney General reissued an order freezing those accounts. 
 
The appeals court ruled that the government&rsquo;s asset freeze on union accounts could only be imposed on specific evidence, not on a general suspicion of money laundering. The court thus ruled against a decree from late last year that continued a freeze on the union&rsquo;s funds, now tied up for nearly three years. 
 
The Attorney General&rsquo;s office again used Article 181 of Mexico&rsquo;s penal code to freeze the union&rsquo;s assets.
<img src="" width="180" height="214" alt="" />
 
Los Mineros will continue to appeal this order, despite not having the necessary information from the government in order to wage its legal fight. 
 
Meanwhile, a special working group of the Mexican Senate has agreed to accept videotape testimony from the union&rsquo;s leader in exile, Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia, over the Cananea mine strike. Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez, who is in exile in Canada, will be allowed to testify on Grupo M&eacute;xico&rsquo;s complicity in alleged human rights abuses at the mine where SNTMMSRM members have now been on strike for 25 months. 
 
The Mexican Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union was approved for ICEM affiliation during the 23-24 June Executive Committee meetings.

Los Mineros Bank Assets Unfrozen, Then Frozen Again

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United Steelworker (USW) members at Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co. in the US will begin voting later this week on a four-year labour agreement, covering over 10,000 workers at seven American factories. A tentative agreement between the USW and Goodyear, America&rsquo;s biggest tyre manufacturer, was reached late in the evening on 29 August, just hours before a second contract extension was due to expire. 
 
Collective agreements between North America&rsquo;s largest industrial union and the US&rsquo;s three major tyre-makers &ndash; Goodyear, Bridgestone Americas LLC, and Michelin&rsquo;s BF Goodrich subsidiary &ndash; expired on 18 July, but the USW and Goodyear and Michelin North America twice extended negotiation deadlines. 
 
On 15 August, the union and Michelin reached accord on a three-year contract covering 2,500 workers. Workers at two of the company&rsquo;s plants, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, ratified the agreement some eight days later by an 83% affirmative vote. A third Michelin plant, in Opelika, Alabama, that employs 1,000 is set to close on 31 October, and the union and North American management of Michelin negotiated a satisfactory plant-closing pact several months ago.
<img src="" width="300" height="132" alt="" />
&nbsp; 
 
Talks with Bridgestone, covering 4,500 workers at seven of nine of the Japanese company&rsquo;s US plants, are still ongoing. Workers covered under that master agreement are employed now under day-by-day extensions, with each side required to give a five-day notice before contract termination. 
 
The USW&rsquo;s chief goals in US tyre talks this summer have been job security, investment in facilities, and improvements in worker and retiree benefits, specifically related to company-sponsored health care coverage. 
 
At the Goodyear manufacturing plants, USW members are now involved in informational sessions spelling out the terms of the proposed accord, with site-by-site voting to follow. The Goodyear plant sites include: Union City, Tennessee, where auto and light truck tyres are made; Topeka, Kansas, a plant manufacturing commercial truck, bus, and off-road equipment tyres; Gadsden, Alabama, auto and light truck; Fayetteville, North Carolina, auto and light truck; Danville, Virginia, commercial truck and bus tyres, and aircraft tyres; and Akron, Ohio, race-car tyres. 
 
Meanwhile, the USW is bracing for a 17 September deadline in which President Barack Obama must decide on a US International Trade Commission (ITC) recommendation to impose higher tariffs on low-end Chinese tyres entering the American marketplace. The USW petitioned the ITC for relief because of a 215% increase between 2004 and 2008 in Chinese tyre exports to the US. The case is seen as a litmus test for Obama on whether or not he keeps a campaign pledge to protect US-based jobs.

US Tyre Talks Near Complete

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The Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia has launched a campaign against global mining giant Xstrata to preserve coal mining jobs in New South Wales (NSW). The Swiss-based company, on 31 July, announced it was cutting 122 of 550 jobs at its Ulan Mine in western NSW, and 158 more jobs at its Tahmoor colliery in southern NSW. 
 
The CFMEU disputes Xstrata&rsquo;s claim that the scheduled redundancies are intended to improve efficiencies by &ldquo;realigning employee numbers with the current operating environment.&rdquo; To Xstrata, that means reduced pricing on thermal coal brought by the global financial crisis.
<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="76" />
 
The union claims Xstrata&rsquo;s real intent is to hire more contractors at Ulan, specifically as the company prepares development of major new coal deposits at Ulan West. 
 
CFMEU National President Tony Maher called the cuts callous and offensive. &ldquo;We highlight this as corporate greed, as this is a very profitable mine,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There are times when retrenchments are unavoidable. This is not one of those times.&rdquo;
<img alt="" src="" width="90" height="135" />
&nbsp;CFMEU&rsquo;s Tony Maher 
 

The Ulan mine is forecast to post an A$140 million profit this year, down from A$330 million in 2008, but still extremely healthy profits considering the global recession. The CFMEU has brought forced dismissal cases before the Australian Industrial Relations Commissions, but a 24 August hearing to block the Ulan redundancies failed. 
 
Some 500 people marched last week in Mudgee, NSW, near Ulan as the first wave of layoffs was to begin. The mayor of Mudgee, a community of 7,000 some 260 kilometres west of Sydney, said the cuts will have a serious knock-on effect to other jobs in the town. The CFMEU says for every high-paid mining job that is lost, another four service or retail jobs will be affected. 
 
The union has started a website on Xstrata&rsquo;s job cuts at Ulan. It can be found <a href="http://www.xstratafacts.com">here</a>. 
 
Xstrata bought majority control of Ulan in 2001 and controls a 90% stake in the mine. Mitsubishi Development owns the other 10%. At Tahmoor, a mine producing coking coal that Xstrata bought from Centennial Coal in 2007, the company used the same excuse for issuing redundancy notices: market prices are not strong enough to support the current level of 493 jobs. 
 
Xstrata&rsquo;s job curtailments at the two collieries are not the only sites in Australia where the company is forcing redundancies. In June, the tightly held mining concern said it was terminating thermal coal mining at its United Colliery in the Hunter Valley region of NSW. That colliery is to cease operating by March 2010. And in January 2009, Xstrata announced job cutbacks at the Oaky Creek No. 1 mine in central Queensland. 

&nbsp;

CFMEU Seeks to Protect Xstrata Coal Mining Jobs in Australia

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Leaders from ICEM trade union affiliates in India met in Kolkata on 3-4 September and officially formed an Indian ICEM Affiliates&rsquo; Council, with BK Das of the Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation (INMF) selected as coordinator. At last week&rsquo;s meetings, the 21 delegates also formed a strategy around ICEM&rsquo;s Contract and Agency Labour Campaign, aimed at recruiting such workers into their unions. 
 
Union leaders from the Mining, Chemicals, Cement, and Diamond Polishing sectors took part in the two-day meeting, sponsored in part by the FES India office. The forum was organised as part of a strategic planning workshop on the impact of the economic crisis over employment conditions and challenges faced by unions.
<img src="" width="340" height="255" alt="" />
ICEM Gen. Sec. Manfred Warda Indian trade union leaders&nbsp; 

It was attended by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Phee Jungsun, ICEM Materials Officer and Asia-Pacific Regional Contact Person. 
 
Warda assured the Indian affiliates that they will receive sufficient resources to recruit contract and agency workers, as well as for the fight against HIV/AIDS. The ICEM is readying to staff a full-time project coordinator in India. 
 
India&rsquo;s ICEM affiliates agreed to select two delegates each to the Affiliates&rsquo; Council, with meetings held twice annually. A key emphasis will be improving the weak financial structures of most national level unions, with each affiliate promising to produce a report on its existing financial structure by December 2009. 
 
Delegates also committed to organize a level of 10% of contract or agency workers into their unions, as well as to construct a new joint project proposal on union-building with a priority on contract and agency workers. 
 
The Council also committed to explore ICEM affiliation with Indian petroleum unions, trade unions in the electric power sector, as well as those in the country&rsquo;s burgeoning pharmaceutical sector. 
 
While in India, Warda also attended a master training programme on HIV/AIDS awareness and education, sponsored by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer. He said this particular project in India has dedicated and committed trade unionists, people &ldquo;who are focused on bringing attention and then eradicating the HIV/AIDS pandemic on the Indian sub-continent.&rdquo; 

&nbsp;
&nbsp;

ICEM Affiliates in India Form Council, Ready to Organise Contract and Agency Workers’

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Global labour&rsquo;s World Day for Decent Work next month will reveal a wide swath of economic, social, and gender neglect that assails millions of workers, but nowhere is that neglect as evident anywhere as it is to contract and agency workers. The ICEM, in unity with several other Global Union Federations (GUFs) and the Council of Global Unions, will use the day &ndash; 7 October, and indeed, the days before and after &ndash; to highlight the need to bring respectability and work rights to contract and agency workers.
<img height="180" alt="" src="" width="240" />
 
As part of ICEM&rsquo;s ongoing Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) Campaign, we are cooperating with other GUFs and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to call on affiliated trade unions and their members to participate actively in events in their countries. The ITUC is continually updating a website that lists events country by country. It can be found <a href="http://www.wddw.org">here</a>. 
 
The ITUC has produced a Campaign Guide for World Day for Decent Work, which can be found at that site, complete with ideas for actions, media events, and providing literature for worksites. The <a href="http://cal.icem.org/">ICEM&rsquo;s CAL Campaign site</a> contains the ICEM's CAL manual and other useful tools. 
In addition, the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF) has produced material on Precarious Work for this years'&nbsp;7 October, which can be used by all, as all Global Union Federations, as well as the ITUC, signed of on it. The&nbsp;<a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/PW_English.pdf ">booklet</a>, entitled, &ldquo;Precarious Work Affects Us All&rdquo;, as well as the <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/PW_Poster_Print2.pdf">poster</a> can be, along with other materials for 7 October, found on the <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?n=696&amp;l=2">IMF's campaign site</a>. 
 
The global economic collapse over the past year has adversely affected most workers in nearly all sectors. But none more so than workers on the fringes of society, workers who live and toil in the shadows of humanity in conditions that will never be termed decent. Equal rights and equal treatment for temporary and agency workers is a prerequisite for a fair and just way of life for all.
<img height="51" alt="" src="" width="300" />
Workers&rsquo; representatives from throughout the world will speak in a unified voice in the days leading up to and following 7 October. That voice will call for a new globalisation that includes stable and quality jobs, better social protections, assurances that every worker has the right to form and join a trade union, to bargain collectively for the betterment of all, and most especially, a voice aimed at lifting the lowest among us to better and sustainable livelihoods. 
 
The ICEM encourages everyone to take part in activities around the Global Day of Action for Decent Work. 

&nbsp;
&nbsp;

World Day for Decent Work, 7 October, Points to Plight of Contract, Agency Workers

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In a month&rsquo;s time, global trade unions will begin actions around the World Day for Decent Work, 7 October. And similarly to last year, the 20-million-member ICEM will focus activities on its Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) campaign, with specific emphasis this year on events in Thailand and Turkey. 
 
In Thailand, the ICEM&rsquo;s Thai Affiliates&rsquo; Committee has already begun joint preparations with Thai Electronics, Automotive, and Metalworking (TEAM) affiliates and trade unions affiliated to the Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) to bring unionization to CAL workers. The emphasis as well will be on stopping victimization and interference in union activities by both the Thai government and multinational employers. 

World Day for Decent Work in Thailand will also focus on the necessity for the government to ratify ILO Conventions 87 and 98, the freedom of association and right to organise and right to collective bargaining conventions. In addition, the ICEM Thai Affiliates&rsquo; Committee will work with the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers&rsquo; Association (IUF) on injustices committed by Unilever.
<img alt="" src="" width="230" height="106" />
 
Thai activities are likely to include a national trade union seminar, a march, media outreach, and literature and posters made available inside worksites. A further planning meeting on Thai actions around 7 October will occur this week. 
 
In Turkey, the Work Relations Group of the Council of Global Unions, together with Turkish trade union federations, will conduct activities throughout the early days of October against a backdrop of the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Those meetings are to be held on 6-7 October in Istanbul. 
 
On 1 October, the ICEM will lead Turkish affiliated unions and others into a meeting in Ankara with the country&rsquo;s Minister of Labour and Social Security. The purpose of that will be to press the Turkish government for full work rights for temporary and precarious workers. On 2 October, in Istanbul, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) General Secretary Guy Ryder, and other global labour leaders will hold a press conference related to World Day for Decent Work.
<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="110" />
Four Turkish trade union federations &ndash; T&Uuml;RK-İŞ, DİSK, KESK, and HAK-İŞ &ndash; have been asked to produce examples of abuse to precarious workers. T&Uuml;RK-İŞ is organizing a series of symposiums across the country on the issues of unemployment insurance and hired labour. One such forum is scheduled at Gazi University in Ankara on 7 October. 
 
In July, the ICEM teamed with affiliated Turkish unions and the federations to block a &ldquo;Private Labour Offices&rdquo; bill, proposed legislation that would have made it easy for individuals to register as labour brokers and then to dispatch temporary workers to enterprises. 
 
The draconian legislation was vetoed on 9 July by President Abdullah G&uuml;l. Although the immediate political climate is not suitable for the bill&rsquo;s return, it is far from dead and ICEM and trade unions hope to use 7 October activities to bury the measure for good. An ICEM report on the legislation can be found <a href="-Labour-Hire-Veto-Applauded-More-Work-Demanded">here</a>.&nbsp;

ICEM’s World Day for Decent Work Focus on Thailand, Turkey

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
ICEM affiliate the Indian National Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation (INMF) led a joint protest of all coal worker unions in India, against the proposal of the Indian Government to disinvest shares of Coal India Ltd., a state owned body. All coal mines in the country were nationalised by former President Indira Gandhi, because of malpractice throughout the industry, and the inadequate rate of progress in the development of the industry. The unions jointly submitted a strong statement condemning the decision to amend the Coal Mines Nationalisation Act and calling on the government to desist. 
 
The statement is signed by INMF President, Shri Rajendra Prasad Singh and INMF Secretary General, Shri S.Q. Zama, along with the leaders of the other coal mining unions of India. The statement argues that Coal India is competent as is, and a more effective way of improving its operations would be for the government to provide adequate facilities, and also for the coal industry to be given &ldquo;infrastructure status&rdquo;. All the trade unions in the Indian coal industry pledge, in the statement, to work together to faster develop the industry and achieve the goal of producing enough coal to satisfy domestic need, and avoid importing it. 

<img alt="" src="" width="250" height="116" />
Coal India Ltd. made a profit in 2008 of US$1.8 billion. Raw coal production during 2008-09 went up by 7.90 per cent to 493.20 million tonnes. Coal India Ltd. is one of 40 publically owned companies targeted for privatisation in India. 
 
The Board of Coal India Ltd. has recommended that 5 to 10 per cent government equity can be disinvested. Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal accepts the recommendation and will now approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Jaiswal plans for the shares to be offered first to employees, secondly to those whose land was transferred to CIL, and then remaining shares will be open to all buyers. 
 
The unions oppose the allocation of virgin coal blocks to private companies, as well as the transfer of areas currently controlled by Coal India Ltd. (CIL). The statement points to the private sector&rsquo;s record of exploitation of mineworkers, and the extremely low wages paid by private companies currently operating in the industry. &ldquo;We demand that all the blocks should be handed over to Coal India for further production of coal.&rdquo; 
 
Further demands made in the joint statement are for an industry-wide wage to be enforced by the National Coal Wage Board, and for the prevention of outsourcing coal industry jobs to private agencies. &ldquo;We demand that the contract workers should not be allowed to be engaged in permanent and perennial nature of jobs and in other coal sectors they should be paid minimum of the scale in coal industry.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM supports the campaign to oppose disinvestments and privatisation of the Coal Industry in India.

Indian Mining Unions Oppose Privatisation

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
ICEM affiliate the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), this month, has stepped up its campaign for improved safety and health conditions for its members, working at BHP Billiton&rsquo;s operations in Western Australia. The concerns follow two rockslides at the Leinster mine in a month. 
 
Workers refused to work in the unsafe conditions until the mine had been officially declared safe. West Australia Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore had &ldquo;serious safety concerns&rdquo; for the entire site; the Minister raised the possibility that the Perseverance mine could be closed on safety grounds. &ldquo;I have asked the state mining engineer to give me his professional advice whether there is reason to stop the Perseverance mine from continuing operations.&rdquo; 
 
The moral of workers at the site was reported to be low. &ldquo;The crew are not in a good state of mind and are traumatised,&rdquo; stated one mineworker. 

<img src="" width="120" height="120" alt="" />
The first rock fall, on 10 June, triggered by a small tremor, brought down 500 tonnes of rock. Twenty-five tonnes of the rock fell close to a worker, Jason Rose, who was trapped more than a kilometre below ground for 16 hours 
 
The July rock fall was triggered by a seismic tremor, up to ten times more severe than that of the previous month. A driller was trapped underground for more than two hours, and another was injured 
 
AMWU secretary Steve McCartney said that these incidents added to a long string of safety problems at BHP mines. He added that repeated calls by the union to local government, to improve mine safety in Western Australia, had been ignored. 

<img alt="" src="" width="180" height="132" />
Five BHP employees have been killed in the last 10 months on the company&rsquo;s iron ore sites in the Pilbara region, in the north of Western Australia. There are disproportionally more accidents at BHP Billiton mines, in the state, than at mines run by other companies. 
 
Further safety concerns over BHP workers at the Leinster nickel mine have been worrying the AMWU and ICEM. It has emerged that when workers return home for their break, the majority drive long distances after 18 hours without sleep. This is equivalent to taking the road with a blood alcohol level over the limit. The company acknowledge the danger but have refused to change the shift times, or flight times home back to Perth. 
 
&ldquo;It seems that the workers at Leinster are not only subjected to safety problems at work but this latest information shows they are also at risk on their way home,&rdquo; AMWU Secretary McCartney said.

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

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
Earlier this month 10,500 electricians in Ireland took strike action, seeking an 11 % wage increase, which is three years overdue. The strike affected work at construction sites and factories throughout the country. Pickets were suspended after a week, on 12 July, following Labour Court pay rise proposals. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) was balloting its members for an all-out strike to support the electricians in the lead up to the compromise. 
 
The compromise deal offered by the Labour Court includes a 5 % pay increase. Employer the Electrical Contractors Association (ECA) accepted the agreement, as did the 10,500 member Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU); however another employer the Association of Electrical Contractors of Ireland (AECI) derailed the settlement when they rejected the compromise last week. 
 
If the AECI, an association representing three hundred small electrical contractors does not reverse its decision to reject the compromise package, Ireland&rsquo;s electricians will take strike action again from 1 September. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan has announced that she will intervene to encourage agreement between employers and the union. 

<img src="" width="140" height="180" alt="" />
TEEU General Secretary Owen Wills
TEEU general secretary Owen Wills welcomed Tanaiste Coughlan&rsquo;s intervention, but stressed that the investigation must be handled speedily if strike action is to be averted. If the electricians are forced out on strike again, it is highly likely that an all out strike of other ICTU unions will be launched in the construction industry. 
 
Employers in the dispute had sought a 10 % pay cut for their contractors, but abandoned those demands following highly visible picket lines at international companies, such as Microsoft and Intel. 
 
Element Six, formerly de Beers diamonds, dumped 370 Shannon workers out of work last week, and is only giving redundant workers one week's pay for each year worked. Ireland currently has the worst economic situation of all countries in the euro zone and is set to contract by around 8 % in 2009. Taoiseach Brian Cowen is attempting to garner support for the extremely unpopular spending cuts that have been recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

<img src="" width="160" height="209" alt="" />
SIPTU President Jack O'Connor
Union leaders reacted furiously last week when Brian Lenihan, the finance minister, appeared to contemplate a cut in the minimum wage if the rate is &quot;inhibiting job creation in any particular sector&quot;. Jack O'Connor, the president of ICEM affiliate Services, Industrial, Professional, Technical Union (SIPTU), called on taoiseach Brian Cowen, to &quot;rein in the hawks&quot; in the Department of Finance who were pursuing &quot;slash-and-burn policies&quot;. The government has now called for a two-year freeze in the minimum wage, currently at &euro;8.65 an hour.

Ireland: Electricians Seek Action to Avert New Strike

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