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Croatian ICEM affiliate, the Autonomous Trade Union of Energy, Chemical, and Non-Metal Workers&rsquo; (EKN) of Croatia, held its Sixth Congress on 18-19 October, and enthusiastically endorsed an agreement to form, with the Croatian Metal Workers&rsquo; Union, a Confederation of Metal and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Croatia. 
 
The EKN Congress gave a vote of confidence to Ivan Tomac, re-electing him President for the next term. Upon congratulating Tomac on re-election, ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs commended the union in forging the bond with the Metal Workers&rsquo; Union by stating, &ldquo;We see this initiative as a major breakthrough in the process of uniting organized industry workers in your country and the whole region.&rdquo; 
<img height="212" alt="" src="" width="300" /> 
 
EKN President Ivan Tomac
A special Inaugural Congress of the new confederation was held following the EKN Congress. The creation of this new industrial confederation of workers, now the largest in Croatia, was preceded by three years of negotiations and the signing of a Declaration of Intent in October 2005. Establishing the confederation, which now has its own statutory bodies and president, is seen as a way for the two unions to adjust their respective financial and staff policies with the intent to fully merge the organizations in two years&rsquo; time. 
 
The new Confederation holds its doors open to all trade unions in the relevant industries who wish to join it and make it stronger. The ICEM welcomes this initiative as a unification breakthrough in bringing together a labour movement in a part of the world that has been plagued by so much division. 
 
Besides attendance at the Congress by the ICEM and the European Mine, Chemical, and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF), to which EKN is affiliated on the global and European levels, guests from fraternal unions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovakia, and Croatia were also in attendance.

Croatia’s Power and Chemical Union Moves to Forge Bonds with Metalworkers

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Nigerian oil workers&rsquo; unions again are spearheading the call for security, as well as meeting the challenges inherent in oil and gas production in a developing country. Two weeks ago, the unions PENGASSAN and NUPENG conducted a three-day workshop in Ibadan, Oyo State, to train union members to the multi-faceted changes taking hold in Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas fields. 
 
Those changes include outsourcing, reliance on fixed-term employment, privatisation of government assets, and de-unionisation. The government&rsquo;s inability to deal effectively with the Niger Delta&rsquo;s natural resources is also cause for great concern. 
<img height="116" alt="" src="" width="112" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img height="105" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The workshops produced a long list of necessary reforms that would help remove corruption from government agencies and bring economic opportunities to the indigenous peoples of the Niger River Delta. 
 
&ldquo;The kidnapping and killing of workers in the Niger Delta Region continues to pose serious threats to the security of our members and other workers in the region,&rdquo; said PENGASSAN President Peter Esele. &ldquo;The vandalizing of oil pipelines by economic saboteurs has continued to keep our refineries without crude, leaving the entire nation to depend on imported petroleum products.&rdquo; 
 
The workshops also painted a critical picture of the Nigerian government, from the Oil and Gas Committee Report that has brought on privatisation and casualisation to its handling of the kidnappings and killings so common in the Delta this year.
The conference was held during a three-week period in which seven foreign nationals, all employed in the oil industry, had been kidnapped by an unknown youth militia group. The seven were abducted on 3 October from an ExxonMobil residential compound in Eseakpan, southern Akwa Iborn State, which is used to house contract workers. The seven were released more than a fortnight later following negotiations between the industry and group. 
<img height="101" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Esele pledged to the trade unionists in attendance that the unions would act as a legitimate &ldquo;pressure group,&rdquo; and that &ldquo;no stone will be left unturned in our efforts&rdquo; to bring economic dignity and opportunities to Nigerian citizens. 
 
In a separate trade union gathering occurring in Akwa Iborn State at the same time, the quarterly meeting of PENGASSAN&rsquo;s Producers&rsquo; Forum called on the Nigerian national assembly to amend the statutes governing the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The body says the commission has failed to address the development needs of citizens in the region. 
 
The Producers&rsquo; Forum suggests that the 3% funding of the NDDC that comes from oil prospecting companies should be directly used by the communities in which these firms operate. The forum proposed that monitoring of such projects be undertaken by the National Petroleum Investment Agency. These recommendations, as part of a seven-point action plan, were passed on to PENGASSAN&rsquo;s national secretariat.

Nigerian Oil Workers’ Unions Offer Common Sense Reforms

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Global multinational, Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Co., has suddenly become protectionist in its US rubber business, or so it would seem from reading the company&rsquo;s strike weeklies, which are aimed at softening 15,000 American workers into giving back more of their hard-earned incomes. 
 
The strike by ICEM affiliate, United Steelworkers (USW), of 16 Goodyear plants in the US and Canada passed the three-week mark on 26 October. The company has expressed its scorn at striking union members, who are trying to protect their livelihoods, by very publicly pronouncing that 300 auxiliary workers will get the sack due to the strike. These workers are USW members that were only recently organised at a steel-thread plant.
The same scorn is heard in the truth-defying words of North American Goodyear President Jon Rich, in his weekly missives. 
 
His message is clear: loyal &ldquo;associates&rdquo; of Goodyear are invited to abandon the strike, abandon the USW as the last front on job protections, and join the corporatist mindset in which security, retirement, and hope will not be part of any equation. &ldquo;As the strike continues,&rdquo; Rich wrote last week, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s tempting to start shifting the focus from &lsquo;what are we trying to achieve?&rsquo; to &lsquo;when will this be over?&rsquo;&rdquo; 
<img height="100" alt="" src="" width="100" />
It&rsquo;s abundantly clear what Goodyear is trying to achieve: the flexibility to slash jobs, cut incomes, and play the hand that it so quickly played at the steel-wire plant just days into the strike. 
 
When will it be over? It is becoming evident by the strikers&rsquo; resolve and their anger at being asked once again to concede to the company&rsquo;s agenda, that it will be over once Goodyear retreats from its concessions and begins treating the last stakeholder in a resounding three-year success story with the dignity and respect it deserves. 
 
&ldquo;Hasn&rsquo;t everyone but our members benefited from the turnaround since 2003?&rdquo; asks a USW spokesman. &ldquo;Despite the innovations we brought to the table and the sacrifices we made, the company is demanding more closures and more concessions.&rdquo; 
USW made contract concessions and agreed, in 2003 negotiations, to one US plant closing in exchange for job security and job-retention policies at the other North American plants. This occurred with Goodyear teetering on bankruptcy. Now, with a 17% global market tyre share and nearly one-half of the company&rsquo;s 2005 revenues, totalling US$19.72 billion, derived from North American operations, Goodyear seeks to unravel those 2003 job-security guarantees, as well as proposing that salaries be cut and retirement benefits slashed. 
Rich said in last week&rsquo;s report that Goodyear is &ldquo;trying to save American manufacturing.&rdquo; In an earlier one, in describing that negotiations are not about &ldquo;labor versus management&rdquo; but rather &ldquo;Goodyear versus the competition,&rdquo; he supplies deplorable protectionist rhetoric, aimed at driving a wedge between US workers and Goodyear workers worldwide. 
 
&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s not lose sight of the bigger flag &ndash; the stars and stripes &ndash; as we are fighting to preserve American jobs and American manufacturing,&rdquo; said Rich in a 13 October letter to striking workers. 
<img height="53" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Current bargaining proposals to close two US tyre plants that provide liveable incomes for nearly 15% of the 15,000, and ripping the living standards out from under the rest is not preservation, but rather, destruction of quality American jobs. &ldquo;How can you talk about saving American manufacturing when you look to close plants and downsize domestic production?&rdquo; adds the USW spokesman. 
 
Goodyear and Rich lay a heavy burden on US workers in these anti-worker messages. In order to gain the requested givebacks, the company continually uses terms such as &ldquo;global competition&rdquo; and &ldquo;competitive disadvantages&rdquo; to describe the global marketplace. But truth be told, Goodyear has been a global leader in driving down labour costs and attempting to achieve bottom-piercing labour precedents by attacking all workers&rsquo; gained rights. 
 
In Turkey earlier this year, it was Goodyear which forced a lockout of its workers in a failed effort to get work-rule concessions from all Turkish rubber workers, including those at two of its competitors. Union members, behind ICEM affiliated union Lastik-Iş, resisted the cuts, and retained their work rights by getting workers to stand shoulder to shoulder at all three tyre-makers. 
 
In Thailand, Goodyear continues to resist placing long-term contract workers in full-time positions, something that the ICEM affiliate pushes as a matter of fairness and dignity for the contract workers. In Malaysia, Goodyear has broken quota levels by employing low-wage foreign nationals in order to drive down Malaysian labour rates. 
 
Goodyear&rsquo;s protectionist cry to American workers rings hollow when the company is busy steering the competition on this downward spiral. 
 
The strike by USW members in the 12 US plants and four in Canada is strong. Strikers see past the company&rsquo;s fear-based rhetoric, and know in their hearts that since they figured strongly in Goodyear&rsquo;s great turnaround, they deserve to be rewarded, not punished. 
 
That sentiment also stands with the people who live in the middle-class towns and communities surrounding the Goodyear plants. They know of the hardships and despair that come to all in the race to the bottom. 
 
Support also came from members of the United Automobile Workers (UAW), who turned out in mass on 25 October to boost USW picket lines at a Goodyear plant in Tonawanda, New York. The same occurred a day later when 100 union members from across Canada gathered at a Goodyear picket line in Owen Sound, Ontario. 
 
Goodyear can wax on all it wants about &ldquo;serving our customers,&rdquo; hinting endlessly that this strike must be broken, and then openly wondering when it will happen. But with steadfast resolve only mounting, and with Goodyear losing production revenues at a rate of US$38 million per day (as estimated by one rubber analyst), an end to this strike appears to be Goodyear&rsquo;s call.

Facts Contradict Goodyear’s Anti-Worker Strike Messages in North America

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The Imerys announcement last July that the French-based building materials company would relocate its UK paper coating operations to Brazil, and sack over 600 workers in the Cornwall region, was a shock to workers, their families, and the communities and towns in the UK&rsquo;s South West. 
 
The news followed prior closure announcements, a 100-member workplace in Lamotte-Beuvron, France, where work was being shifted to Hungary, and job reductions at the Lixhe plant in Belgium. Now comes word that Imerys has been planning even more sackings; jobs at its Minerali SpA plant in Massa, Italy, where workers recently struck in protest to jobs being moved to Turkey. 
 
In the UK, ICEM affiliate Transport and General Workers&rsquo; Union (TGWU) has called for a mass march and rally on Saturday, 18 November, in St. Austell, Cornwall, in protest not only to Imerys&rsquo; community-wrecking job redundancies, but the company&rsquo;s bad-faith bargaining in the official consultation process. 
<img height="55" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The TGWU and two other UK trade unions that represent Imerys workers in the region are preparing memberships for an industrial ballot. In late September, Imerys&rsquo; workers gave the unions a mandate to call for a ballot when the time and circumstances are ripe. The company has turned a deaf ear on TGWU ideas for job retention and job creation opportunities, and the redundancy package that has been tabled is ridiculously low. 
 
Recently, in what the TGWU is calling &ldquo;misleading spin,&rdquo; the company claimed that a large number of UK workers have already opted for the voluntary redundancy package. A representative of FO C&eacute;ramique, the French ICEM affiliate which is working with TGWU to correct Imerys&rsquo; behaviour, was told the same at Paris headquarters. 
However, Imerys&rsquo; count in the UK merely was on the number of workers who had responded to an inquiry to receive more information on the redundancy package. 
&nbsp;<img height="60" alt="" src="" width="100" />
The closure announcement of the company&rsquo;s Minerali SpA operation in Italy is even more inexcusable. Only a few weeks ago, Imerys CEO G&eacute;rard Buffi&egrave;re answered a question from an Italian trade union CGIL representative on the subject, at a meeting with other trade union representatives present, including the head of the European Works Council, Serge Gonzalez from FO C&eacute;ramique. 
 
Buffi&egrave;re responded by saying that the Italian plant would not be touched. Gonzalez and FO C&eacute;ramique took note, but then an alert came from Italy that jobs would be slashed and a strike commenced. 
 
Striking Imerys workers in Italy ended that industrial action last week when news came that the company withdrew its prior announcement of closing the Massa plant. Negotiations will now restart in Italy on the future of the plant. 
<img height="85" alt="" src="" width="65" />
FO C&eacute;ramique&rsquo;s Gonzalez is currently preparing a document, to be signed by all Imerys unions in Europe. An earlier statement by the workers representatives of the Imerys European Works Council described the current relocation wave as profit driven. The company has posted excellent economic returns, and has no compelling reasons to cause such social distress.

18 November Date for Mass Rally against Imerys in UK’s South West

Please send a message to 
(with a copy to the&nbsp;ICEM - <a href="mailto:info@icem.org">info@icem.org</a>) 
 
Fran&ccedil;ois YAO 
General Secretary SYNASEG 
E-mail : <a href="mailto:ykokora@cie.ci">ykokora@cie.ci</a> 
Fax :+225 21 23 38 25 
 
 
 
 
Dear Colleagues, 

Re: Your strike against CIE 
We have learned through the ICEM that you will be on strike against CIE from&nbsp;October 30 to November 1. 
 
We understand that for a long time, CIE has been using the following tactics in an attempt to weaken your union 
 
&bull; Refusal to enter into dialog, and applying dilatory measures 
&bull; Hindered union freedoms by prohibiting the posting of union notices, and refused to allow holding union meetings, etc. 
&bull; Violated the union fees check-off agreement, by withholding fees, abusively use fees that have been collected in favour of third parties. 
&bull; Arbitrary creation and use of a Mutual Investment Fund (FCP in its French acronym) supposed to benefit employees but which proceedings are not used in favour of workers whereas they are the only contributors. 
 
We fully support your decision to call for a strike this week and demand that CIE immediately open unconditional negotiations with SYNASEG. 
 
In Solidarity,

Model support letter for SYNASEG campaign

بيان 
 
قام وفد من الاتحاد الدولي &quot;آي سي إي إم&quot;، برئاسة الامين العام فريد هيغز، بزيارة الى فلسطين في الفترة 11-14 كانون الاول (ديسمبر) 2005 بدعوة واستضافة من محمد موسى جاد الله، رئيس الاتحاد العام لعمال النفط والتعدين والكيماويات في فلسطين. وقمنا معاً بزيارة رام الله وبيت لحم ونابلس. وجرت محادثات مع عبد الله عبد الله نائب وزير الشؤون الخارجية، وصلاح التماري محافظ بيت لحم، بالاضافة الى مسؤولين كبار في الاتحاد العام لنقابات العمال الفلسطيني برئاسة الامين العام شاهر سعيد. كما اجرى الوفد جولة في منشآت شركة بيرزيت للادوية وقام بوضع اكليل ورد على ضريح الرئيس الراحل ياسر عرفات في رام الله. 
 
واكد الوفد عزمه على تعميق علاقة الاتحاد الدولي &quot;آي سي إي إم&quot; مع الاتحاد العام لعمال النفط والتعدين والكيماويات في فلسطين، وان يطلق في 2006 برنامجاً للعمل المشترك يبدأ بمشروع لمساعدة الناشطات في الاتحاد. 
 
وانتاب الوفد احساس بالصدمة عند اطلاعه بشكل مباشر على عرقلة الحركة الحرة للسكان في ارجاء الضفة الغربية بسبب حواجز التفتيش الثابتة والجوالة التي يقيمها الجيش الاسرائيلي. وكان واضحاً ان الجيش الاسرائيلي يستخدم هذه الحواجز كوسيلة عقاب جماعي للشعب الفلسطيني. 
 
كما يترك عدم التمكن من التحرك بحرية تأثيرات كبيرة على حركة السلع وعلى التشغيل، ما يفاقم معدلات البطالة الكبيرة اصلاً وسط العمال الفلسطينيين. 
 
ان الاعتداء الصارخ الاوضح للعيان على تحرك الناس بحرية هو الجدار الضخم الذي يستمر العمل ببنائه عبر الضفة الغربية ويفصل بين العائلات، ويخترق القرى الفلسطينية، ويقدّر انه استحوذ على حوالي 55% من الاراضي الفلسطينية في الضفة الغربية. 
 
ويمثل هذا الجدار، بما فيه نقاط المراقبة ومواضع محتملة للاسلحة، إهانة للكرامة الانسانية ورمزاً صارخاً للاضطهاد والاحتلال الاسرائيلي، ويقسّم الشعب الفلسطيني. ويرى الاتحاد الدولي &quot;آي سي إي إم&quot; انه ينبغي هدم هذا الجدار فوراً. 
 
وتشكل المستوطنات الاسرائيلية التي تتوسع باستمرار احدى العلامات الاخرى الماثلة للعيان بشكل دائم على الاحتلال. ويجب تطبيق وقف فوري على بناء مستوطنات جديدة وتوسيع المستوطنات القائمة، قبل ازالتها كلياً في النهاية عبر التفاوض. 
 
اننا ندعو المجتمع الدولي الى الى زيادة جهوده من اجل تحقيق حل سلمي للنزاع الراهن. وهذا سيتطلب اقامة دولة فلسطينية قادرة على البقاء مع تقديم مساعدات مالية دولية كبيرة لضمان القدرة الاقتصادية للدولة الفلسطينية الناشئة حديثاً. ومن الواضح ان دولة كهذه تحتاج الى امتلاك حرية كاملة للحركة في كل ارجاء اراضيها وحدودها البرية مع البلدان المجاورة بالاضافة الى اسرائيل. 
 
ويشعر الوفد بقوة ان تسوية سلمية للنزاع ممكنة، لكن خلق فرص العمل والاستثمار في الانتاج والبنية التحتية الفلسطينية يشكل جزءاً اساسياً من هذه التسوية. 
 
ويعبر الوفد عن اعجابه الشديد بقوة الفلسطينيين وتصميمهم على تحقيق حل سلمي وانشاء دولة فلسطينية تملك مقومات البقاء. 
 
 
زيارة فلسطين: &quot;عقاب جماعي لشعب&quot; 
 
&quot;نحن بحاجة الى صوتكم. نحن بحاجة الى تأييد الحركة العمالية العالمية كلها&quot;. بهذه الكلمات استقبل شاهر سعيد الامين العام لاتحاد نقابات العمال الفلسطيني بوفد الاتحاد الدولي &quot;آي سي إي إم&quot; برئاسة الامين العام فريد هيغز ورحّب به في مكتبه في بلدة نابلس بالضفة الغربية. 
 
كما ضم الوفد جيم كاترسون مدير التنظيم في &quot;آي سي إي إم&quot;، وهو المسؤول عن الاتصالات مع منطقة الشرق الاوسط / شمال افريقيا. وكانت الدعوة لزيارة فلسطين وجّهت في 2005 من قبل محمد موسى جاد الله رئيس الاتحاد العام لعمال النفط والتعدين والكيماويات في فلسطين، خلال لقاء في الاردن لاعضاء الاتحاد الدولي &quot;آي سي إي إم&quot; ونقابات اخرى في منطقة الشرق الاوسط وشمال افريقيا، حيث اكدت النقابات المشاركة في اللقاء على اهمية زيادة العمل مع النقابات في قطاعات &quot;آي سي إي إم&quot; داخل فلسطين. 
 
قبضة اسرائيل الخانقة على الوظائف 
 
قدم شاهر سعيد وصفاً تفصيلياً للمشاكل التي تواجهها منظمته والعمال في فلسطين. ويبلغ الرقم الرسمي للبطالة 36%، فيما يعيش 45% من السكان عند او تحت خط الفقر. ولم يعد حوالي 350 الف عامل كانوا يعملون سابقاً في اسرائيل قادرين على القيام بذلك، في حين تعجز القلة القليلة ممن لا يزال يسمح لهم بالعمل هناك في احيان كثيرة عن اجتياز حواجز التفتيش العسكرية. وغالباً ما يرغم اولئك الذين يتمكنون من العبور على القيام بعمل &quot;غير شرعي&quot; ويتلقون في احسن الاحوال أدنى الاجور. 
 
ويقتصر التحرك النقابي بشكل اساسي على تقديم مساعدة قانونية. اما التشغيل في الضفة الغربية ذاتها، باستثناء السلطة الفلسطينية حيث يجري تمويل 150 الف عامل بشكل اساسي عبر مساعدات الاتحاد الاوروبي، فانه يكاد يكون معدوماً. وقد اضطر الكثير من المصانع السابقة الى الاغلاق بسبب القيود المفروضة على حرية الحركة للسلع والعمال على السواء من قبل الجيش الاسرائيلي. ومن الواضح ان اسرائيل تفرض حالة عقاب جماعي على الشعب الفلسطيني. 
 
وقد تلمس وفد &quot;آي سي إي إم&quot; هذا الوضع بشكل مباشر. فالرحلة من رام الله الى نابلس كانت قد استغرقت اكثر من ساعة بقليل. اما رحلة العودة على الطريق ذاته فانها استغرقت اكثر من اربع ساعات. 
 
زيارة الى منشأة لصناعة الادوية 
 
ربما تكون شركة بيرزيت للادوية، التي يشتغل فيها اكثر من 200 عامل، واحدة من الامثلة القليلة على تحقيق نجاح اقتصادي في الضفة الغربية. وقد افتتحت المنشأة في 1974 بعشرين عامل فقط. ويجري تمثيل العمال من قبل الاتحاد العام لعمال النفط والتعدين والكيماويات في فلسطين، وهم يتمتعون باجور وظروف عمل جيدة، بما فيها المساعدة الطبية وصندوق توفير للضمان الاجتماعي. 
 
ويبقى معظم الانتاجفي السوق المحلية،ولو ان 20% منه يذهب الىالجزائر واوروباالشرقية واذربيجانوروسيا. وبالرغم منان الصادرات تواجهمصاعب قليلة فيالموانيءالاسرائيلية التييتعين استخدامها،فان استيراد الموادالخام مسألة اخرى.فقد حدثت تعطيلات تصلالى 12 شهراً في الحصولعلى موافقة السلطاتالاسرائيلية علىدخول مواد خام.وبالتالي، يتعين علىالشركة ان تحتفظلديها بخزين كبير منالمواد الخام على رغمالكلفة الاضافيةالمترتبة على ذلك.وفي المحادثات التيجرت مع النقابةالمضيفة، اكد &quot;آي سيإي إم&quot; عزمه على تعميقعلاقته مع الاتحادالعام لعمال النفطوالتعدينوالكيماويات فيفلسطين وان يطلق في 2006برنامجاً للعملالمشترك يبدأبالمشروع المكرسلمساعدة الناشطات.وتجهد النقابة للعملمن مكاتب صغيرة فيرام الله. وكانتمكاتبها السابقة،المجاورة لمكاتبالاتحاد العاملنقابات العمالالفلسطيني في نابلس،دمّرت كلياً مع اجهزةالكومبيوتر ومعداتاخرى في اعتداءاتبصواريخ شنّها الجيشالاسرائيلي. 
 
ويعبّر الاتحاد الدولي &quot;آي سي إي إم&quot; عن امتنانه للاتحاد النرويجي (&quot;إن او بي إي إف&quot;)، وهو احد اعضائه، الذي وافق على تمويل البرنامج.

Arabic translation of ICEM Statement and Global info article - ICEM visit to Palestine

The ICEM joined its UK affiliate Amicus today in denouncing yesterday&rsquo;s alarming announcement by Finnish paper multinational M-real. On Wednesday, workers in the UK were informed, unexpectedly, that the M-real&rsquo;s paper and packaging plant in Sittingbourne, Kent, is about to be closed. 
 
The company&rsquo;s surprise announcement, part of a wider extensive restructuring programme by M-Real, came out of the blue and without any prior consultation or notice. M-real&rsquo;s poor communication techniques therefore not only shocked its own workforce, it also violated a legal requirement that says that the company needs to consult with its own European Works Council first in advance of any decisions such as this one. 
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The closure of the plant, which is owned by Mets&auml;liitto, a Finnish forest industry group - of which M-Real is a subsidiary - would lead to the loss of 350 jobs. The company has also announced plans to close a plant in Wifsta, Sweden, as well as two paper machines in its Gohrsm&uuml;hle plant in Germany, endangering a further 150 jobs. In addition, a cartons unit with sites in Belgium, Hungary and Finland may be divested. 
 
Peter Ellis, Amicus national Officer, said that the union &ldquo;will not take Metsaliitto's proposal to close this site lying down. We owe it to our members and their families, who are angry, bitter and devastated, to do everything in our power to help&rdquo;. He continued to say that he was &ldquo;extremely disappointed&rdquo; with M-Real's proposal to close this site, which is very important to the local economy. 
 
In challenging the company&rsquo;s sudden decision, Amicus said it would certainly want to co-operate with paper unions in the other countries involved, including Finnish Paperiliitto, which also recently faced an M-Real closure when the company, on 11 October, closed a carton plant in Jarvenpaa. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs vowed that &ldquo;the ICEM will give every assistance to its affiliates in challenging the decisions by the company, and will liaise with other affiliates with membership in this company in countries world-wide.&rdquo; 
 
The Amicus press release on the issue, including further contact details, can be found <a href="http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=4721">here</a>.

Anger at M-real’s decision to close large UK paper plant

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ICEM Affiliate Federaci&oacute;n de Industrias Qu&iacute;micas y Afines de Comisiones Obreras (Fiteqa) has, together with the Spanish metalworkers union, Federaci&oacute;n Estatal Minerometal&uacute;rgica, both of which affiliate to CC.OO., published a guide book on how to deal with safety related problems at work. 
 
The guide book follows a change in the law in Spain, which affects both refineries and chemical complexes, and gives workers guidance on how to act in case of an accident. 
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According to the authors, the guide should be a helpful tool to get more companies in the said sectors to accept propositions by Spain&rsquo;s social partners to create more health and safety committees. The handbook discusses the urgent need to create such committees in all enterprises. 
 
The guide highlights the need for more and better information and communications between the largest companies in the sector. Its full name in Spanish is &ldquo;Gu&iacute;a para la implantaci&oacute;n de la Coordinaci&oacute;n de Actividades Empresariales. Desarrollo de la Ley de Prevenci&oacute;n de Riesgos Laborales en las Refiner&iacute;as y complejos petroqu&iacute;micos de Espa&ntilde;a.&rdquo;&nbsp; It can be found <a href="http://www.fiteqa.ccoo.es/salud/Documentos/GuiaImplanta.CoordinacionActividadesEmpres..pdf">here</a>.

Spanish Health/Safety Guide for the Chemical/Metal Sector

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A miners' strike in Kazakhstan that started following the deadly 20 September methane blast in a coal mine that killed 41 has ended. Some 24,500 workers at eight coal mines in central Kazakhstan, owned by the world's largest steelmaker, Arcelor Mittal Steel, returned to their colleries on 5 October after safety and pay demands were partially met. 
 
The strike, which started on 25 September, was joined a few days later by steelworkers from Mittal's steel enterprises in the Karaganda region, as well as by iron ore miners employed by the company. 
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The metalworkers' union had experienced little movement in two months of negotiations prior to the strike, but significant wage gains were won on that front as well. Arcelor Mittal officials admitted that the strike, which stopped production at all eight coal mines, had caused a 30% decline in steel output. 
 
The Korgau coal miners' trade union reported that Arcelor Mittal gave pledges of new mining equipment to replace antiquated machinery already in use prior to 1995, the year that the company purchased the mines as well as vast steelmaking facilities from a state-run company. Miners also realised a doubling, effective 1 October, of their pay. New pay packets will now be the equivalent of US$700 per month. 
 
Steelworkers, who previously had an average pay of US$300 per month, won a 1 October increase of 20%, and will receive another 10% in February 2007. 
 
The methane explosion at the Lenin mine that claimed the 41 lives was the worst mining disaster on record in the central Asian republic. Last week, Arcelor Mittal announced that it made a one-time allowance equivalent to ten years' pay to each of the deceased miners' families. In addition, those families with children under 18 will receive monthly allowances. The one-off payments, however, hardly compensate for the pain and loss of a primary wage-earner. The average payment amounts to US$63,000. 
 
The strikes and protests that followed the explosion, which also seriously injured six miners, had the support and endorsement from Kazakhstan's government. The lower house of Parliament, the Majilis, moved to seek a change in the Kazakh labour code in which core industries such as mining and metallurgy have defined and set levels of minimum pay. 
 
&quot;Foreign investors economise on everything from equipment to sick leave, making miners work in inhuman conditions,&quot; said Parliament Deputy Mukhtar Tinikeyev. He added that Arcelor Mittal had attempted to shift blame of the Lenin Mine disaster &quot;to three person -- the chief engineer and two mechanics. But the blame rests with foreign investors who economise on equipment.&quot; 
 
Arcelor Mittal, with 61 steel plants in 27 countries, derives 8% of its total steel-making capacity from its operations in the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan.

Kazakh Miners&#039; Strike Ends with Significant Gains

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A severe industrial explosion at DuPont&rsquo;s Guarulhos facility, in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, reportedly injured three local workers on 5 October. One worker was seriously wounded and brought to hospital, allegedly with burns on 50% of his body. 
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Information on the accident is limited. According to the ICEM affiliated Brazilian chemical union, Sindiqu&iacute;micos, the local DuPont company declined to provide information on the accident. The union was not allowed to enter the plant, further stating that &ldquo;not even the number of victims&rdquo; was communicated by the company. 
Jim Rowe, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 943&rsquo;s president from New Jersey, visited both the Guarulhos and Cama&ccedil;ari DuPont facilities in Brazil in August 2006, together with USW Director Joe Drexler. The company denied them the opportunity to tour the plants. In a USW news release on the current accident, Jim Rowe wonders how &ldquo;DuPont continues to maintain its reputation as a safe company and sell its safety program to other companies in the wake of serious accidents?&rdquo; 
<img height="304" src="" width="350" alt="" />
Workers at DuPont&rsquo;s Guarulhos facility, waiting for information
The tour of the facilities in Brazil was part of a larger effort by the USW to draw attention to safety and environmental problems stemming from DuPont plants worldwide. 
 
The USW states in its news release that, last year, a worker was killed by an explosion at the Cama&ccedil;ari facility. According to a report from the State of Bahia in Brazil at the time, DuPont was blamed for failing to implement control devices to prevent the explosion. Three serious accidents also happened over the last two years at a US DuPont plant in Niagara Falls, state of New York. 
 
The USW is the lead union in ICEM&rsquo;s Global DuPont Workers&rsquo; Network.

Explosion at DuPont Plant in Brazil

Archive

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Facts Contradict Goodyear’s Anti-Worker Strike Messages in North America

18 November Date for Mass Rally against Imerys in UK’s South West

Model support letter for SYNASEG campaign

Arabic translation of ICEM Statement and Global info article - ICEM visit to Palestine

Anger at M-real’s decision to close large UK paper plant

Spanish Health/Safety Guide for the Chemical/Metal Sector

Kazakh Miners' Strike Ends with Significant Gains

Explosion at DuPont Plant in Brazil

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