English

Español

Français

Русский

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Action Plan 2021-2025

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

Women

Youth

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	If anyone needs further proof to Vale&rsquo;s global social neglect, it comes in a pair of dirty deeds committed by the Brazilian mining company in and after the bitter 2009-10 strike at a major nickel and copper operation in Sudbury, Ontario.

	One involves circumstances surrounding two deaths inside Vale&rsquo;s Frood-Stobie Mine on 8 June 2011 and the other is added legal proof that Vale&rsquo;s strong-arm tactics in firing union activists during the United Steelworkers (USW) strike was meant to hinder legal collective bargaining.

	An extensive report issued 29 February by the USW over the June 2011 deaths of Jordan Fram, 26, an equipment operator, and Jason Chenier, 35, a supervisor, was done because Vale refused the offer of the USW to investigate the accident jointly. USW blames negligent water drainage maintenance directly tied to lax and &ldquo;little experience or training&rdquo; of front-line supervisors.

	Fram and Chenier were buried 900 metres underground by an overflow of muck, a term for an avalanche of wet rock, gravel, sand, water washing down a mine shaft. With USW Local 6500 the legitimate bargaining representative, the report notes, &ldquo;Vale officials refused to be interviewed by members of the USW team&rdquo; even though union members &ldquo;cooperated fully in management&rsquo;s investigation.&rdquo;

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 347px;height: 138px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	USW Local 6500 Union Meeting

	The <a href="http://www.uswlocal6500.ca/reports/exectsum.pdf">Executive Summary</a> and the full <a href="http://www.uswlocal6500.ca/reports/dfinvest.doc">207-page USW Report</a> are here.

	The week before USW issued the report, the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) ruled that Vale violated provincial labour law by maintaining a &ldquo;patently unreasonable&rdquo; stance over nine workers Vale fired for strike activity. The OLRB agreed with the USW that the nine trade unionists were denied rights to third-party arbitration by the company, and further cited Vale for &ldquo;troubling&rdquo; labour relations conduct across several areas.

	In January, the <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4838-Ontario-Labour-Board-Rules-Discharged-USW-Sudbury-Leader-has-Worksite-Access">OLRB cited Vale with union interference</a> for denying entry onto company property for one of the nine discharged workers is the elected head of Local 6500&rsquo;s Grievance Committee. The USW is now confident that arbitrated decisions will prevail and the nine workers will return to their rightful jobs.

	The USW District Director for Ontario and the Atlantic Region, Wayne Fraser, said the OLRB&rsquo;s 24 February ruling &ldquo;should give Vale pause to consider the hardship inflicted on families,&rdquo; adding that the unlawful conduct &ldquo;prolonged the suffering and uncertainty for families in our community.&rdquo;

	Vale&rsquo;s safety record in Canada was tarnished again on 29 January 2012 when 47-year-old Stephen Perry, an explosives worker, was crushed to death when a rock face collapsed on him while he was working in a lift basket. This death occurred 1,300 metres inside Vale&rsquo;s Coleman nickel mine near Sudbury.

	A fourth Canadian Vale death in 2011 occurred on 19 October when 51-year-old scooptram operator Greg Leason was killed when his machine fell 40 metres into a cavern inside the T-3 Mine in Thompson, Manitoba.

	Historically, the four 2011 deaths at Vale in Canada are atypical because the USW is a vigilant proponent of joint labour-management process safety procedures that prevent workplace accidents. But with Vale&rsquo;s hostile labour relations still simmering some 20 months after the strike, no cooperation with the union over health and safety issues is proving detrimental to workplace safety.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Continued Canadian Contempt by Vale to Sudbury’s USW Miners

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	The ICEM, International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), and the International Textile, Garment, &nbsp;Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) on Monday rebuked the government of Egypt over a 26 February court decree there that sentenced labour activist Kamal Abbas to six months imprisonment for comments he made last June at the ILO Conference in Geneva.

	The Helwan Misdemeanour Court sentenced him in absentia for insulting a public official, a former leader of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation. Abbas is General Coordinator of the Center for Trade Unions and Workers&rsquo; Services (CTUWS) of Egypt.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 80px;height: 120px" width="390" />

	ICEM, IMF and ITGLWF demanded that the Egyptian government vacate the sentence and withdraw the charges, and expressed extreme concern on the &ldquo;implications for Freedom of Association as well as Freedom of Expression within the confines of the ILC (International Labour Conference).&rdquo; Read the letter <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/Egypt--Judgement%20against%20Kamal%20Abbas.pdf">here</a>.

	Abbas attended last June&rsquo;s ILO conference as a representative of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). &ldquo;We cannot accept this judgement,&rdquo; said ITIC General Secretary Sharan Burrow. &ldquo;Following the Egyptian revolution in February 2011, the ITUC gave the authorities every chance to respect fundamental workers&rsquo; rights. Our patience has run out.&rdquo;

	Abbas said that the six-month prison sentence amounts to return of practices of the ousted regime. During the Mubarak era, Kamal Abbas faced a similar one-year prison term over a confrontation with a state-sponsored union official.

ICEM, IMF, ITGLWF Protest Jail Sentence on Egypt’s Kamal Abbas

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Sintracarb&oacute;n at Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n is held up as a strong example of positive industrial relations, with tough collective bargaining achieving considerable protections for 4,000 direct employees at Colombia&rsquo;s largest coal mines, and stable communications channels between workers and management.&nbsp; Sintracarb&oacute;n&rsquo;s fight now is over the basic rights of outsourced contract workers at the largest set of coal mines in the world, a joint venture of three multinational mining conglomerates, BHP Billiton, Xstrata and AngloAmerican.

	First adopting a policy to fight outsourcing in 2008, Sintracarb&oacute;n&rsquo;s initial research noted the strategic policies of multinational corporations (MNCs) to increasingly outsource employment and weaken workers&rsquo; job security, social benefits, wage levels, and ability to organise and bargain collectively.&nbsp;

	The research also discovered that over 50% of workers at MNCs operating in Colombia are employed through contract companies, and that these workers had considerably lower standards of employment and no collective agreements.&nbsp; Almost every attempt by Contract or Agency Labour (CAL) workers to reach a collective agreement in Colombia prior to 2008 had been met with mass dismissals.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 201px;height: 135px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	At Cerrej&oacute;n, 6,000 of the total 11,000 workers are precariously employed by contractors.&nbsp; In the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, Sintracarb&oacute;n achieved a clause stating that Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n management is &ldquo;committed to ensuring respect for the unionisation of all workers, including CAL workers.&rdquo;

	The first attempt to organise CAL workers, in 2010, was at the company that provides transportation to the mine workers, SOTRANS.&nbsp; The effort of 500 members of SINTRANS was crushed with mass dismissals and harassment.

	The second attempt was at Chaneme, a company conducting maintenance of heavy machinery. &nbsp;This effort was successful and 50 workers remain under a CBA as members of Sintrachaneme.

	Through Sinaltrainal, a national union, employees of food supplier Aramark won a collective agreement for 200 workers in March 2011.

	Over recent months, mechanics at EPROFQ and ASEOCOLBA also have won struggles and achieved collective agreements.&nbsp; In the case, of EPROFQ the convention was signed after an eight-day strike.

	ICEM affiliates at glass supplier Ross and at Prodeco have also won victories over short-term, casual employment, bringing the total to 1,560 CAL workers organised in Colombia in ICEM sectors.

Sintracarbón, Colombian Unions Make Big Strides in Organising Against Outsourcing

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	The 20 February shooting at strikers &ndash; mainly women &ndash; of the KaoWay Sports Ltd. footwear factory in Bavet, Svey Rieng province, Cambodia, appears to have been committed by the governor of Bavet region, Chhouk Bandith. Three women were shot and seriously wounded after a man dressed in police-style khakis got out of a vehicle and began firing at people.

	The factory produces shoes primarily for the German apparel company Puma. According to ITGLWF affiliate, the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers&rsquo; Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), thousands of the 6,000 employed at the factory engaged in strike action on 17-18 February. When strikes resumed on 20 February, Chhouk Bandith allegedly jumped out of a Lexus 470 with a bodyguard and a policeman upon exiting the factory and fired shots from a high-power gun equipped with silencer at strikers.

	After firing, he fled in a Toyota Camry and truckloads of police moved in to quell disbelieving and angry strikers. Police have questioned Chhouk Bandith, and C.CAWDU believes he was held for three days, but has since been released.

	&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" style="width: 130px;height: 160px" width="390" />&nbsp;

	Chhouk Bandith

	The entire incident, occurring about 09h00, was captured by a KaoWay factory security camera. Puma has been conducting its own investigation since the outset, together with an NGO.&nbsp;

	Buot Chinda, 21, was shot through the chest with bullets that narrowly missed her heart and severely punctured her lung. She was near death, but now is in stable but serious condition at a Phnom Penh hospital. The two other women who were shot and injured are Keo Neth, 18, and Nuth Sakhorn, 23.&nbsp;

	A senior ILO official, who monitors a programme called Better Factories Cambodia, said in press comments, &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t look good for Cambodia when this type of violence is concerned.&rdquo;

	Puma&rsquo;s shoe workers, employed by Taiwanese-based KaoWay, were striking over better transport and food allowances, and better pay and conditions overall. Due to the industrial action &ndash; and Puma&rsquo;s rapid response to the random violence &ndash; the strike has ended and all workers&rsquo; demands have been met in full.

	The strike and shootings had a different scenario at a separate Cambodian dispute, this one at Singapore-based Medtecs, a health textiles and apparel maker located in Kampong Siem district, some 125 kilometres from Bavet. While 2,000 strikers pelted the factory with rocks, police at the scene were unarmed and at stand-down because of the KaoWay shootings.

	The Medtecs strike was over the company failing to live up to decisions handed down by a binding Arbitration Council. It has been resolved due to the strike action.

Cambodian Public Official Accused in Shooting of Footwear Strikers

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Trade unions from around the world agree on plans to establish IndustriALL Global Union in June 2012, a new global union to represent workers in manufacturing, energy,&nbsp;mining,&nbsp;and textile sectors at the global level.

	Meeting at the ILO in Geneva on 29 February, more than 200 trade union leaders from around the world spoke of the serious challenges working people face in the current political and economic climate. Having greater strength and building power across the supply chain at the global level is the motivating force for the creation of the new global union.

	The new organization will bring together affiliates of International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM), the International Textile, Garment, Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF), and the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF).

	The joint executive committee meeting of the ICEM, ITGLWF and IMF discussed the draft Statutes and Action Plan for the new organization and agreed on the proposed new name IndustriALL and logo.

	The joint meeting noted the proposed candidates for the political leadership of the new organization. The importance of including women in both the political leadership and representative structures of the new global union was argued for and included in the proposed Statutes.

	A founding Congress of the new organization will take place in Copenhagen, 18-20 June 2012. The proposed name, Statutes and Action Plan will be decided on at the founding Congress.

IndustriALL Name of New Global Union Federation

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 140px;height: 78px" width="390" />The abuse of basic labour rights in Iraq, and the bravery of Iraqi workers to continue to organise under extreme pressure of aggressive employers supported by viciously anti-trade union legislation from the Saddam era is continuing. A raft of recent attacks on trade union activity of oil workers is attracting wide condemnation from international trade unions, and includes fines, forced demotions, and relocation of union officials.Join the <a href="http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=1390">LabourStart campaign</a>&nbsp;and join thousands sending messages to the Iraqi government, condemning the continued repression of oil worker trade unions, and calling for a proper labour law that brings the country in line with international standards.The Court of Appeal has ruled against Ibrahim Radi, vice-president of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU), confirming a fine of 34 million Iraqi dinars (US$30,000), an amount far beyond the trade union leader&rsquo;s ability to pay. In case of non-payment, Radi will face jail, and also the possible dismissal from his job. Hassan Jumaa Awad Al Assadi, President of IFOU calls for solidarity and assistance from trade union comrades abroad.&nbsp;<img alt="" height="266" src="" width="200" />Hassan JumaaIFOU President Hassan Jumaa has himself recently been disciplined for trade union activity, being arbitrarily demoted three years seniority including a substantial drop in salary.In May 2011 ICEM reported on the Sadrist-controlled Ministry of Labour controlling trade union elections, appointing a &ldquo;Ministerial Preparatory Committee&rdquo; (MPC), consisting of un-elected, politically bias officials, mostly from the Sadrist Party. MPC officials distributed union membership cards, arbitrarily choosing members favourable to their faction. Union offices were taken over with support from police and military personnel, and the union elections were held inside the Sadrist Party offices. Following international outcry, those election results were voided, but today the Ministry of Labour recognised the 2011 election results and asked the same preparatory committee to oversee a new round of worker elections on 2 June. The elections stand to appoint worker representatives at all levels, and will be marred with fraud and misconduct.

Support New LabourStart Campaign for Iraqi Oil Workers

ICEM Women’s Bulletin: June 2012

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />Environmental abuses by Swiss mining giant Xstrata moved the grouping Front for Environmental Defense to halt copper mining production in the central Andean region of Cusco on 21 May. The civil strike calling for control of the water supply away from the polluting company escalated into violent clashes with local police on 29 May and the police shooting at protestors, killing two.Activist leaders are now demanding justice for the police brutality and the release from jail of 24 arrested protestors. Right-wing Prime Minister Oscar Valdes has declared a 30 day state of emergency in the Espinar Province, part of the Cusco Region, thereby cutting off the right of assembly and free movement.The Tintaya copper mine, owned by Xstrata is accused of numerous community level abuses, with local people now demanding an investigation into environmental damage, and a ten-fold increase of royalties from the mine to the local authority. Locals&rsquo; blood is contaminated with mercury, arsenic and cadmium from Xstrata&rsquo;s contamination of the Salado and Cañipía rivers.Police today arrested the mayor of Espinar, Oscar Mollohuanca for his role in leading the protests against Xstrata, with national riot police storming the local municipal building in a show of brutal force by national President Hullanta Humala. Humala is growing impatient with widespread protests throughout the country as Peruvians demand a semblance of justice as mineral resources are plundered without leaving a share of the wealth.Cusco is a traditional stronghold of Humala, the protesters have accused him of abandoning his leftist roots and selling out to foreign investors.Xstrata plans a US$1.5 billion expansion of the Tintaya operations at neighbouring Antapaccay mine in August and a separate US$4.2 billion Las Bambas project in southern Peru, to mine copper concentrate and gold, silver, and molybdenum by-products.

Police Shoot Peruvian Mineworkers and Environmental Protestors

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Members of the Swiss trade union UNIA are fighting against the proposed site closure in Geneva of pharmaceuticals giant Merck Serono which threatens 1,500 jobs. Today the workers took their protest to the company headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, and conveyed the message to management that their threat of strike action is only postponed and can be activated if the consultation period that ends 4 June fails to reach real settlement. The clear expectation is for the multinational to admit the economic viability of the Geneva site and maintain the jobs through negotiating on the proposals submitted by the union.

	The fight against closure of the Geneva site will determine the future of 2,500 jobs in Germany, and 450 in France, as the group plans massive relocation of its operations abroad. The widespread international anger at the company proposals are compounded by the excellent profit margins posted and the recent 20% increase in dividend payments to shareholders. The Merck group announced on 15 May profits of &euro;152 million in the first quarter of 2012. The ICEM strongly supports UNIA&rsquo;s calls for Merck to put &ldquo;Workers before Shareholders!&rdquo;

	<img src="" style="width: 286px;height: 161px" width="390" />

	Photo: Unia/Julien Fabr&egrave;gue<img alt="" border="0" class="spacer-gif" height="5" src="" style="margin-top: 10px" title="" width="1" />

	Today in Darmstadt, UNIA militants rallied together with 1,000 members of the German IGBCE at the Merck Serono site, in loud demonstrations with whistles and cowbells and dressed in white overalls. With protests continuing outside the Geneva UNIA delegation of Alessandro Pelizzari and Hubert Godinot, IGBCE representative and European Works Council vice-president Iris G&uuml;rtler met with Dietmar Eidens and Kai Beckmann of the general management, and the chairman of the board Fran&ccedil;ois Naef. Continued disappointing attitude of management now makes renewed conflict after 4 June a real possibility, as the Geneva workforce is even prepared to make concessions on conditions and pay the company looks likely to ignore them.&nbsp;

	A key proposal of Geneva Regional Secretary of UNIA, Alessandro Pelizzari, and the members, is for a centre for biotechnology research is maintained by the company in the region, protecting at least 300 of the jobs threatened with relocation abroad.&nbsp;<a href="http://lolitaoutfits.com/Lolita-Skirts_l95">goth skirt </a>&nbsp;

	Messages of solidarity can be sent to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:info@ms-employees.org">info@ms-employees.org</a>.

Workers Across Europe Unite to Save Jobs at Merck Serono

<img alt="" src="" style="width: 100px;height: 39px" width="390" />

	Strikes, road blockades, and mine sit-ins will continue through tomorrow, 31 May, as 8,000 mineworkers at over 40 coal mines in northern Spain continue their protests against government action to cut coal subsidies.

	Backed by mining unions within both of Spain&rsquo;s major labour federations -- Confederaci&oacute;n Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and Uni&oacute;n General de Trabajadores (UGT) &ndash; strikes that began last week will re-start today and tomorrow following the break-off of tripartite talks yesterday, 29 May.

	The unions had hoped those negotiations would at least partially rescind the 64% subsidy cuts contained in the government&rsquo;s budget.

	<img alt="" src="" style="width: 255px;height: 159px" width="390" />

	Spanish Coal Miners on Strike Last Week

	The strikes began last week, 23-24 May, and saw 100% participation by coal miners. They were halted in order to give a tripartite monitoring committee on coal an opportunity to scale back the subsidies. But after six hours of futile negotiations that lasted into yesterday evening, mineworkers&rsquo; unions of both federations announced resumption of strikes today and tomorrow in and around the cities of Aragon, Asturias, and Castilla y Le&oacute;n, with a major demonstration planed in Madrid.

	Even before talks started yesterday, miners began blocking major road arteries linking northern cities, and ten miners began sit-ins late Monday evening after their shifts ended at the Cand&iacute;n mine in Oviedo. The premature strikes were spontaneous and not authorised by the unions, but the protests depicted the deep frustration felt by Spanish miners to the proposed subsidy curtailments.&nbsp;<a href="http://lolitaoutfits.com/Lolita-Corset_l166">corset for sale</a>

	The Spanish government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is adamant to enforce the 64% subsidy reduction in order to reduce the public deficit. But miners and their unions feel such a drastic cutback will be the death knell to coal-mining in Spain, a country that has shed 40,000 jobs over the past 20 year due to pit closures.

Spain’s Coal Miners’ Strike to Block State Aid Cuts to Industry

Archive