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The US United Autoworkers&rsquo; Union (UAW) will divest hundreds of millions of dollars from JPMorgan Chase over the bank&rsquo;s refusal to implement a two-year moratorium on housing foreclosures in the state of Michigan. The divestiture of pension, health care, and other union-managed funds from the New York-based bank is also due to Chase&rsquo;s ties to the RJ Reynolds Group, and that company&rsquo;s treatment of low-wage farm workers in the US state of North Carolina. 
 
At a press conference on 24 September in Detroit, UAW President Bob King was joined by church and American farm-labour leaders in calling for a full citizens&rsquo; boycott of JPMorgan Chase. King and a coalition of civil society leaders from Michigan met with bank officials in June following a protest and requested a moratorium on home foreclosures of unemployed workers. 
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="141" />
UAW President Bob King
At a follow up meeting, UAW and religious leaders called on Chase to join President Barack Obama&rsquo;s Hardest Hit Homeowners programme and declare a temporary freeze on foreclosures. Although the bank made a good-faith promise to continue the dialogue with the social partners, the bank &ldquo;has since failed to communicate its intentions regarding any of the issues raised,&rdquo; said the UAW. 
 
At the press conference ten days ago, US Farm Labour Organising Committee President Baldemar Velasquez detailed low wages, unsanitary conditions, and the Reynolds Group&rsquo;s hindrance of trade union organizing rights for tobacco workers. 
 
King said Americans &ldquo;have a moral responsibility to step up&rdquo; and join the boycott. &ldquo;Chase needs to help unemployed homeowners in Michigan and underpaid farm workers in the Carolinas,&rdquo; stated King. &ldquo;The bank could make a huge difference by suspending foreclosures and pressuring RJ Reynolds to do the right thing.&rdquo;

US Auto Workers’ Pull Money from Bank over Home Foreclosures

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Some 1,000 union leaders from across Canada in the energy, paper, media, and telecomms sectors met 19-23 September in Toronto for the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union&rsquo;s biennial convention. Delegates denounced the Canadian federal government&rsquo;s ineptitude in handling forestry and pension crises, and they heard from noted economists that the greed of a few has caused grave financial damage to millions of workers worldwide. 
<img alt="" src="" width="249" height="187" />
CEP President Dave Coles at offices of Brookfield Asset Management 
The Convention also saw the re-election by acclamation of President Dave Coles and Secretary-Treasurer Ga&eacute;tan M&eacute;nard. Delegates to the convention also took to the streets of Toronto in protest, directing it at one culprit responsible for the financial collapse. CEPers marched on the downtown Toronto offices of Brookfield Asset Management, a US-based equity firm that took over and then led Fraser Paper into bankruptcy. 
CEP delegates passed a number of resolutions, including a continued CEP policy to press forward on a national pharmacy plan. They also heard about the structural economic flows in the existing financial system from US economist James Galbraith and Haitian economist Camille Chalmers. And the Canadian political landscape was also covered by NDP leader Jack Layton, Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) President Ken Georgetti, and Toronto Star columnist Thomas Walkom. 
<img alt="" src="" width="140" height="93" />
CEP Secretary-Treasurer Ga&eacute;tan M&eacute;nard
In opening the convention, Coles leveled harsh criticism at the federal government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper for its inaction in the face of many crises, including the forest industry one, pensions, and foreign control of traditional Canadian-owned industries. &ldquo;These idealogues have failed to lift a finger to aid forest communities, and if they win the next election, other sectors will meet the same fate,&rdquo; stated Coles. 
 
Delegates to the convention displayed their generosity by raising and donating more that C$100,000 to the union&rsquo;s Canadian charity of choice, the Spina Bifada and Hydrocephalus Association, an organization focused on spinal birth defects and abnormal brain fluids. The CEP&rsquo;s Woman of Distinction Award was given to Joy Langan, an activist, proud trade unionist, former Member of Parliament, and tireless advocate for women&rsquo;s rights who passed away on 30 July 2009. She received the award posthumously, with the CEP honouring her by changing the name of the award to the Joy Langan Women of Distinction Award.

CEP Holds Biennial Convention in Toronto, Canada

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With the rescue of 33 trapped Chilean miners perhaps only two weeks away, early October events at the San Jos&eacute; mine near Copiap&oacute; in northern Chile centered on activity on the surface and in courtrooms. Relatives of 27 of the 33 miners filed lawsuits last week against both the government and Campa&ntilde;ia Minera San Esteban Primera seeking a total of US$12 million while in a separate court case, a Northern Region III prosecutor brought criminal charges against San Esteban&rsquo;s two owners, plus the mine manager and operations manager over a 5 July rock slide in which a miner lost a leg. 
 
Meanwhile, a group of Chilean trade unions from the mining, metals, and energy sectors, after conducting two days of meetings in Copiap&oacute; in late August, issued a terse manifesto holding the government responsible for safety lapses inside the San Jos&eacute; mine. That manifesto cites the inherent flaws inside Chile&rsquo;s diverse workplace safety system, a system that excludes participatory roles for workers and their trade unions on safety matters. 
 
The Chilean trade unions drafting the manifesto also cite a government that is unwilling to engage in tri-partite dialogue to improve mine safety conditions, including refusing initiatives to discuss ratification of ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. That manifesto, in Spanish, can be seen <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/MANIFIESTO_DE_COPIAPO.pdf">here</a>. 
 
The ICEM today sent a second letter to Chile&rsquo;s government regarding the San Jos&eacute; tragedy, this time to Mining Minister Laurence Golborne calling on the government to revamp its preventative safety practices. That letter can be accessed <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/ICEMletters/116.ICEM.Chile.MiningMinister.4Oct.pdf">here</a>. 
<img alt="" src="" width="191" height="128" />
Scene at San Jos&eacute; on 5 August
The lawsuit filed 30 September by the relatives of the 27 calls for damages totaling US$10 million against the company, and another US$2 million against the government and a state regulatory agency, the National Geological and Mines Services, for allowing the San Jos&eacute; mine to reopen in 2008 following a fatal accident in 2007. 
 
The criminal case by a miner who had his leg amputated from a rock slide in July was brought against San Esteban owners Alejandro Bohn and Marcelo Kemeny, mine manager Pedro Simunovic, and operations manager Carlos Pinilla. The regional public prosecutor of Atacama ordered the four not to leave the country during a 90-day investigation of the incident. 
 
The 33 miners are in relatively good health and trapped 700 metres underground. The rescue by three separate drilling rigs (see prior ICEM dispatch <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4006-Rescue-of-Chilean-Miners-Hits-Stride">here</a>) continues with the Schramm T-130 drill advancing to 428 metres over the weekend in the widening of a smaller hole it made two weeks ago. 
 
That drill was idled on Saturday, 2 October, for a change in parts, but continued drilling yesterday. A larger oil drilling rig, called Rig 421, is making a single bore in hopes of coming to an area near where the miners are trapped. But Rig 421 drilling stopped over the weekend so technicians could change the directional course. The smaller mine drilling rig, a Strata 950 Riasebore drill, has been temporarily idled, but is due to restart its mission this week. 
 
Once a hole 66 centimeters across is made that reaches near where the miners are, it will take about eight days to erect a metal framing encasement &ndash; from both above and below &ndash; for a rescue capsule to fit that will take each miner to the surface. It is expected that all three holes will be fitted in the event a failure occurs in one. 
 
The miners became trapped on 5 August, following an underground explosion that caused mine shafts to collapse. Miraculously, they were discovered alive on 22 August. Thirty-two of the miners are Chileans, while one is a Bolivian national.

Story Line of Chilean Mine Rescue Shifts to the Surface

Para ver la versión en español de este boletín, debe desplazarse hacia abajo.

ICEM Women’s Bulletin / Boletín de noticias de la mujer de la ICEM

ترجمة آخر أخبار غزة علي موقع الاتحاد الدولي للكيماويات والطاقة ال . بدأ وصول مساعدات الإغاثة من خلال جهود الاتحاد الدولي للنقل. والاتحاد الدولي للنقابات 
 
يناير 12-2009 مختصر لأخبار الاتحاد الدولي 
 
مصر- الأردن- فلسطين 
 
هبطت أول طائرة بشحنة للمساعدات الأسنانية بالكامل لأهل غزا الأسبوع الماضي 8يناير بمدينة العريش مصر كلفته ذوق من الاتحاد الدولي لعمال النقل كل من الاتحاد الدولي للنقابات منخرطين بشكل نشط في عمليات الأغاثه لإيصال الغذاء والماء والمساعدات الطبية لغزة عقب ما يقرب من ثلاثة أسابيع علي قصف غزا من جانب إسرائيل 
 
الموارد التي تم جمعها من نقابات النقل والنقابات الأخرى في الشرق الأوسط تم تسليمها للهلال الأحمر في غزة وقد أشرف علي وصول الشحنة ممثل الاتحاد الدولي في العالم العربي بلال مالكوي وهو أيضاً قيادي بالنقابة العامة لعمال النقل الجوي بالأردن والسياحة بالأردن وقد اشتملت الشحنة علي مواد ضرورية طبية تم شرائها بمعرفة الاتحاد الدولي للنقل وكان بلال مالكوي علي متن الطائرة التي هبطت في مصر الأسبوع الماضي وقد جهزت النقابة العضو في الاتحاد الدولي للنقل المواد الأساسية التي تم نقلها علي الخطوط الجوية الملكية الأردنية كتبرع من الخطوط الجوية الأردنية وسيتم تتابع رحلات جوية للإغاثة نأمل أن تكون تلك أولي الرحلات الإغاثة العديدة التي تحمل مواد الإغاثة الإنسانية قال ذلك الأمين العام للاتحاد الدولي للنقل . دافيد كوكروفت علي الرغم من أن تلك الأدوية حيوية إلا إنها لن تقلل بأي حال الحاجة الماسة إلي وقف فوري لإطلاق النار في غزا 

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ناشد الاتحاد الدولي للكيماويات والطاقة إل و بالتوصل لوقف فوري لإطلاق النار في بيان أصدره يوم 31 ديسمبر ومنه أن فقدان الأرواح البريئة من الفلسطينيين أمر يبعث علي الأسى مما يستوجب التوصل فوراً لإطلاق النار من جانب كلاً من إسرائيل وحماس وذلك هو السبيل الوحيد لحل المشكلة 
 
وقد أدانت جموع العمال علي المستوي العالمي خاصة في الشرق الأوسط الهجمات الإسرائيلية الغير متناسبة علي غزة 

<img alt="" src="" width="150" height="90" />
في آخر الأسبوع الماضي أصدرت نقابة المرافق المصرية للاتحاد الدولي بيان دعت وناشدة فيه المجتمع الدولي ممارسة الضغط علي إسرائيل لإنهاء معاناة الفلسطينيين وإيقاف العدوان المتوحش علي شعب غزة الأعزل 
 
ينسق الاتحاد الدولي للنقابات بالتعاون مع الاتحادات العملية في فلسطين والأردن لتوصيل المساعدات لمواطني غزة وقد فتح الاتحاد الدولي حساب بنكي باسم المساعدة النقابية لغزا ويمكن الحصول علي معلومات التبرع بالتحويلات المصرفية 322224211 لمزيد من المعلومات يمكن للنقابات التي تود أن تسهم في جهود نقابة عمال النقل الجوي الأردني الاتصال ببلال علي هذا الموقع 
 
<a href="mailto:mailto:Malkaw_bilal@itf.org.uk">mailto:mailto:Malkaw_bilal@itf.org.uk</a>&nbsp; 
 
بيان الاتحاد الدولي متوفر علي موقع

بدأ وصول مساعدات الإغاثة من خلال جهود الاتحاد الدولي للنقل. والاتحاد الدولي للنقابات

Despite two full days of bargaining between ICEM affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), and the New Tyre Manufacturing Employers&rsquo; Industry Association (NTMEIA) on 16-17 September, no accord was reached to end the three-week old strike. Some 6,000 rubber workers have been on strike at six tyre factories operated by four employers since 29 August. 
 
Today in Port Elizabeth, 4,000 NUMSA members from tyre plants in the Eastern Cape will march in protest of rapt division among employers in this year&rsquo;s wage talks. They will present a petition to management at the plant gates of Bridgestone-Firestone in Port Elizabeth this afternoon.
The 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), based in Geneva,&nbsp;continues its support&nbsp;for striking rubber workers in South Africa, and endorses today's mobilisation in Port Elizabeth.&nbsp; 
 
In last week&rsquo;s talks guided by an independent mediator in Port Elizabeth, management of the Japanese-based company continued to deviate widely from the wage offers put forth by other tyre companies associated with the NTMEIA. While Continental, Goodyear, and Apollo-Dunlop of India placed on the table a three-year package containing wage increases of 9%, 7.5%, and 7.5%, Bridgestone-Firestone&rsquo;s offer was 7%, 5%, and 5%. 
 
Rubber workers of NUMSA are willing to accept a three-year pact, but their wage expectations are 9% in each of the three years. In addition, they seek a modernized wage module that will lift the salaries of workers who have been stuck at minimum levels for as long as 10 to 15 years. 
 
Another key issue at the bargaining table revolves around the use of labour brokers. Although the NTMEIA will not agree to a ban, it has conceded to pay contributions for short-term and temporary workers into the Provident Fund, as well as make retirement and medical payments for them. The South African tyre industry employs about 1,000 such workers. 
 
Also last week in South Africa, 70,000 NUMSA members across the country returned to their jobs at fuel retail outlets and auto component shops. On 14 September, NUMSA convened a special National Executive Committee meeting, where eight of nine regional structures of the union agreed to accept terms of the Retail Industry Motor Association and the Fuel Retailers&rsquo; Association, ending strikes that began on 1 September. 
 
The three-year contract for filling station attendants includes wage gains of 10%, 9%, and 8%, while auto-parts workers will receive 9%, 8%, and 8%. NUMSA did achieve a solid breakthrough regarding labour brokers, particularly in these sectors in which several employers are totally reliant on staff provided by outside hire firms. 
 
The agreement calls for all labour brokers to be registered by one of two certifying agencies, and all staff of labour brokers must receive minimum rates of pay inside the two industries as well as getting the same benefits and condition of employment. In addition, the negotiated settlement calls for the gradual phase-out of labour brokers, with a cut to 35% of current levels by the year 2013.
For further information, contact Dick Blin, ICEM Information&nbsp;Officer, <a href="mailto:dick.blin@icem.org">dick.blin@icem.org</a>, or +41 22 304 1842 (office), +41 79 734 8994 (mobile).&nbsp;

ICEM Continues Support for South African Tyre Strike

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US President Barack Obama has named United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard to the President&rsquo;s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations. The committee is a private sector initiative established by the US Congress in 1974 to ensure that US trade policy and trade negotiating objectives adequately reflect US commercial and economic interests. 
 
&ldquo;I am grateful to President Obama for the confidence he has shown in me, and I pledge to work closely with the Administration to help resolve some of the issues we face in maintaining a fair trading system among nations,&rdquo; said Gerard. The appointment was made on 15 September.
<img src="" width="110" height="60" alt="" />
The USW under Gerard&rsquo;s stewardship has been stalwart in protecting American jobs in the face of unfair trade advantages. Only last week, Gerard testified both before a House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee on legislation aimed at addressing China&rsquo;s unfair trade advantages because of its currency undervaluation, and before the US Federal Trade Commission on dumping of coated paper products into the US by China and Indonesia.

Obama Names USW’s Leo Gerard to American Trade Policy Panel

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The world&rsquo;s largest newsprint producer, Canadian-based AbitibiBowater, will exit from bankruptcy in mid-October, some 18 months after it sought protection from creditors in both Canada and US. A creditors&rsquo; committee last week gave approval to a restructuring plan that includes novel and company-saving collective agreements that were negotiated last spring, preserving pensions and granting unique union rights. 
 
Those agreements on both sides of the North American border between the forest products company and the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) of Canada and the United Steelworkers (USW) in the US kept the company solvent and operating. They also gave AbitibiBowater immediate financial relief, yet preserved some of the best union rights language in the North American paper industry. 
 
Last week&rsquo;s unsecured creditors vote came a day after the province of Quebec announced it would grant relief on contributions to workers&rsquo; pension plans in exchange for the company investing C$75 million in new projects over the next five years, as well as to maintain its headquarters in Quebec. 
 
The CEP and its President, Dave Coles, applauded both the province&rsquo;s and creditors&rsquo; actions, but reminded that the federal government has been conspicuously absent from issues to preserve the Canadian forest products industry.
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="114" />
CEP President Dave&nbsp;Coles&nbsp; 

&ldquo;Workers have done more than their fair share to save this company, in marked contrast to our federal government which did nothing to come to the aid of ailing forest communities,&rdquo; said Coles. &ldquo;We will remember the Harper government&rsquo;s inaction at election time.&rdquo; 
 
The CEP preserved its pattern bargaining for the eastern Canadian paper sector in court-monitored negotiations with AbitibiBowater last spring. Although the five-year agreement contained 10% wage cuts for the first two years, it did protect existing and future retirement benefits with the company contributing C$500 million to a new, union-operated pension fund. In the US, in a four-year pact, USW members took a lesser salary reduction for the same period but won several union rights issues unique in American labour agreements. 
 
In Canada, the restructuring plan under the country&rsquo;s Companies&rsquo; Creditors Arrangements Act (CCAA) now goes before a Quebec Superior Court judge on 20 September for approval, while in the US, a conformation hearing under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Court occurs 24 September in the state of Delaware.

Newsprint Maker Abitibi to Emerge from Bankruptcy, Thanks to NA Paperworkers

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A 17-day strike by members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU) ended last Wednesday, 15 September, against Megabolt Australia Pty. Ltd., a Campbellfield, Victoria, producer of nuts, bolts, roof plates and other metal gear primarily sold to the mining industry. The 25 metalworkers won an exceptional contract in their first enterprise labour agreement with the company, owned by the Hutchins family&rsquo;s Wham Investments. 
 
Megabolt workers took up the AMWU banner after being stymied by a thriving company over wages. Some employees had worked up to ten years at wages of A$15 an hour, barely above the Australian minimum wage.
<img src="" width="156" height="117" alt="" />
photo: Tim Laurence
After maintaining 24-hour picket lines since the strike started on 30 August, Megabolt General Manager Tom Hutchins admitted he wanted labour peace and a resumption of production because, as he stated in a local newspaper, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got more business to win and jobs to create &hellip; I don&rsquo;t want anything more than to get a resolution.&rdquo; 
 
That resolution came in the excellent three-year accord. Workers won a 10% wage increase, backdated to 2 June 2010, with 4.5% increases to come each in 2011 and 2012. In addition, the AMWU won an A$750 ratification bonus for each worker, and the union negotiated permanent and full-time work status for all casual workers who have been on the job for longer than six months. 
 
Other gains include monthly rostered days off, improved redundancy provisions, an award-aligned classification structure, language on use of contractors, as well as health and safety and union rights. 
 
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re ecstatic with the outcome,&rdquo; said AMWU delegate Zelko Cimboro inside Megabolt. &ldquo;We got the outcome we wanted and the workers definitely feel stronger together now.&rdquo;

Australia: Vigilant Strike Leads to Superior Gains for AMWU Members at Megabolt

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The Mining and Energy section of the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) welcomed remarks by BHP Billiton CEO Marius Kloppers last week that carbon pricing in Australia must be part of the mix in meeting the challenges of climate change. 
 
CFMEU National President Tony Maher said in a statement on 17 September that BHP Billiton&rsquo;s breaking from the rest of industry on a future carbon tax is &ldquo;a big step in the right direction.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;As the world&rsquo;s largest mining company, BHP has laid down a challenge to the other mining operations and the Minerals Council,&rdquo; said Maher. &ldquo;The scare campaigns on climate change cannot be repeated,&rdquo; he added, referring to a hot-button issue inside Australia that was at top of the list in the toppling of the Kevin Rudd government.
<img src="" width="80" height="120" alt="" />
CFMEU National President Tony Maher&nbsp;
Kloppers made his comments in a speech on 15 September at a lunch in Sydney to a forum of the Australia-British Chamber of Commerce. He said eventually a global initiative regarding carbon pricing will come and when it does, &ldquo;Australia will need to have acted ahead of it to maintain its competitiveness.&rdquo; 
 
The BHP executive said, &ldquo;Carbon emissions need to have a cost impact in order to cause the consumer and companies to change behaviour and favour low-carbon alternatives.&rdquo; Before the business leaders, Kloppers called for &ldquo;a mosaic of initiatives&rdquo; to reduce carbon emissions, including a &ldquo;combination of a carbon tax, land use actions and limited (carbon) trading systems&rdquo; covering power plants. 
 
The speech marked a dramatic shift in public views voiced by resource-rich mining houses and industry alike on the climate change debate in Australia. Following the speech, both business and industry leaders denounced the speech. 
 
However, CFMEU suggested BHP Billiton&rsquo;s shift, along with the appointment of Parliamentarian and former Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Secretary Greg Combet as new Minister for Climate Change, has turned the tide on the debate. The Labour Party&rsquo;s Combet is currently assembling a climate change committee in hopes that legislation implementing a carbon pricing system will be readied by 2012. Opposition parties in Australia, the Liberals and Conservatives, are boycotting the committee.

CFMEU Applauds BHP Billiton’s Shift to a Carbon Tax in Australia

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