ARGENTINA: After several months of discussion, the IMF-affiliated Argentinean supervisors’ union ASIMRA has reached an agreement with Honda Motor Argentina on the following points:

• ASIMRA is the trade union recognized for negotiating a collective agreement for supervisors at Honda Motor Argentina;
• the parties commit themselves to negotiating a collective agreement in the course of 2010, after carrying out an analysis of market prospects and the company’s situation;
• the parties will initiate negotiations on a collective agreement for a plant that Honda plans to open in Campana;
• the parties are willing to maintain harmonious relations within a framework of social peace.

Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), stated "This is an excellent achievement for ASIMRA, which has faced difficulties to obtain recognition for collective bargaining with some other companies." 

The Honda plant in Campana in Buenos Aires province was due to open in the second half of 2009, but the economic recession brought the project to a halt.  Construction work has resumed.  The plant plans to open in April 2010 and create some 800 jobs. 

Progress has also been reported at Toyota Argentina, which has now recognized the existence of different levels of supervisory functions.  The Argentinean labour minister has communicated to ASIMRA that it would soon formally acknowledge these facts.   ASIMRA has received the support from the blue-collar workers’ union SMATA in seeking recognition to represent the 300 white collar workers at the Toyota plant located in Zárate, province of Buenos Aires.

ASIMRA is pushing for similar developments at other automotive companies operating in Argentina with the support of IMF.  

USA:  About 200 trade unionists converged on downtown New York City on December 3 to protest Vale CEO Roger Agnelli’s receiving of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Citizenship Award. Other actions were taken at Goldman Sachs and Mitsui, a major Vale shareholder.

"The day started with a protest at the Goldman Sachs investors’ conference where Vale was presenting and numerous people exiting the hotel told us that our chants were coming though loud and clear to the 5th floor meeting room," reported the United Steelworkers’ Mike Zielinski.

"Next up was a demonstration at the offices of Mitsui, a major shareholder in Vale with a seat on the board of directors.   They were compelled to send down their administrative manager to meet with us and get an earful about Vale’s misconduct," Zielinski said.

Later that evening, outside the Waldorf Astoria, New York City’s iconic luxury hotel where Agnelli was scheduled to receive the award, hundreds of union activists massed on Park Avenue across from the Waldorf’s main entrance. The Grim Reaper swept past the efforts of the police to block its path and led a march of protesters right past the hotel entrance as the limos were rolling up and unloading. All up and down Park Avenue the chants were bouncing off the buildings:  "Vale Says Cut Back/We say FIGHT BACK!" and "Roger, Roger/One Day Longer".

Inside the hotel, half a dozen people passed out flyers while two supporters, costumed as invited guests, infiltrated the dinner, one was wearing a tuxedo and the other an evening gown. They placed leaflets on the tables and told guests of Vale’s mistreatment of its Canadian employees before they were discovered and police were called to escort them out. 

The International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), together with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) are working with the United Steelworkers (USW) in a global campaign to prevent Brazilian mining giant Vale from eroding working conditions and denying basic labour rights at Vale operations worldwide.

More actions are scheduled to take place around the world until Vale returns to the bargaining table and agrees to a Fair Deal NOW.

For more information about the IMF’s campaign, go to: www.imfmetal.org/Vale

Click here to send a message to Vale demanding a Fair Deal NOW for Canadian workers on strike.

SPAIN: Meeting recently in Pamplona (Spain) for their 25^th Congress, the MCA-UGT delegates discussed strengthening trade union representation within the group of technicians and professionals that is growing in number and significance.  MCA-UGT should offer alternatives to these employees and look for mechanisms to ensure they are part of the bargaining process and are fully covered by collective agreements. There is also a need to better incorporate non-manual workers in the union structures and policies.

Without the support of the union sections and an appropriate structure to facilitate their effective involvement in union work, non-manual workers will continue to see little value in organising whilst their knowledge and expertise could be valuable to collective action. Technicians and professionals have their own needs and demands.  Providing tailored responses to these demands through collective bargaining should be a key concern for the Federation.

Within MCA-UGT, non-manual workers are organised in the Group of technicians and professionals (Agrupacion de Técnicos y Cuadros – ACT) which is represented in all the trade union bodies and the Autonomous Communities.    

The delegates confirmed the objectives set at the previous Congress in support of non-manual workers and urged their implementation in all the regional bodies.  Congress agreed that it was important to further develop the work carried out so far.  The following actions have been taken already:

• Coordination of the Group of technicians and professionals (ACT) is under the responsibility of the MCA-UGT’s Executive Board which has nominated a federal coordinator;
• The majority of the Federations of the Autonomous Communities have designated a coordinator for technicians and professionals;
• The federal coordinator and the coordinators of the Autonomous Communities have set up a permanent committee with regular meetings and an action plan;
• An ACT-Conference is held every four years;
• In order to motivate technicians and professionals to participate in trade union elections, an ACT-member is placed high enough on the list to ensure that he/she has a chance of being elected;
• Union sections are encouraged to create Commissions of technicians and professionals at plant-level;
• An ACT-member must be included in the negotiating team as a fully-fledged member when the union negotiates with employers;
• The ACT-MCA has a permanent section in the trade union magazine "Actualidad sindical" and on the MCA-UGT’s website.

GLOBAL: The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) is taking place on December 7 to 18, 2009 in Copenhagen. The International Metalworkers’ Federation will be there to support the process for a binding international agreement that will provide a framework for combating global warming, while at the same time safeguarding employment and workers’ rights.

On December 16, in conjunction with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) and the European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers’ Federation (EMCEF), IMF will be holding an event at the World of Work (WoW) pavilion on cutting emissions and transforming industrial jobs.

Speakers include Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (former-Danish Prime Minister and President of European Socialists and representatives of the South African government delegation to COP 15. For more details download the flyer here.

The demands of the industrial workers’ trade union federations while in Copenhagen are set out in a new leaflet published online here.

IMF’s journal Metal World is focused on the topic of climate change this quarter, you can view issue 4, 2009 here.

BELARUS: Following the non-renewal of the contract of Yuri Loban at the «BelAZ» plant, members of IMF affiliate REPAM planned to collect signatures in support of the worker on November 24, but police interfered, seizing union materials and arresting activists.

Loban himself was arrested after the last work shift in front of the factory gates by plain-clothes officers. Local REPAM leader Nikolai Pokhabov and several other union activists were also taken into custody for several hours.

The infamous Decree No. 29, issued by the Lukashenko regime in 1999, switched many Belorussian workers to one-year contracts. As a result management gained an opportunity to get rid of those who didn’t show enough loyalty, simply dismissing them after their contracts expired.

This is exactly what happened to Yuri Loban, loaders’ foreman at the «BelAZ» plant in Zhodino, Belarus. A perfect employment record and official acknowledgements didn’t help to save his job. He was fired despite the protests of his co-workers.

REPAM demands reinstatement of Yuri Loban. The union urges an end to the violent suppression of union activists in Belarus and calls for establishing public control over police forces.

GENEVA: Today on the third day of a short WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva, trade unions strongly criticised the fact that the overwhelming majority of speeches in the WTO Plenary have failed to recognise the links between trade, jobs and the global crisis.

"It is absolutely lacking credibility for Ministers speaking in Geneva to ignore the dramatic jobs impact that the crisis is having back home," said General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation ITUC Guy Ryder.  "Some seem to be living in an unreal world where they can discuss world trade in the abstract, rather than think of the impact that trade liberalisation would have on workers already facing the worst economic crisis in over sixty years."

Neither is the WTO meeting grappling with tough problems of the reform of the multilateral trading system to add a genuine development dimension and include sustainability in its structure.

"The WTO Conference should be examining how to change WTO structures and trade rules for the benefit of all WTO members, such as incorporating decent work and core labour standards into WTO trade policy reviews," Ryder added.  "This 7th WTO Ministerial Conference is a missed opportunity to tackle issues that are fundamental to the long-term future of the multilateral trading system."

As part of the trade union delegation at the 7th WTO Ministerial Conference, the IMF shares the concerns expressed in the ITUC statement issued today.

Click to see the text of the main ITUC statement.

GLOBAL: As the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conferencee in Copenhagen (COP-15) approaches, the latest issue of Metal World has granted particular focus to the topic. After October’s climate change meeting jointly held by IMF, ICEM, EMF and EMCEF a special report takes an in depth look at climate change and the position industrial workers will take in Copenhagen.

Industrial trade union federations representing workers globally in a number of sectors will be in Copenhagen in December 2009 demanding a strong legally-binding, comprehensive global agreement ensuring ambitious reductions of green house gas emissions and that social justice and long-term employment are integral elements of the package.

To match the climate theme, Metal World features the cutting edge technology being developed by engineers at Astrium where satellites used to measure the earth’s climate are developed and manufactured. Their union, Unite, helps Astrium stay at the forefront of technology by fighting for better pay and conditions, enabling the company to recruit and train the best people for this work.

After being viciously attacked Ainur Kurmanov, a trade union activist in Kazakhstan, talks about his struggle to create new, independent unions in the profile on the back page of the latest issue of Metal World.

VIETNAM: The International Metalworkers’ Federation’s Shipbuilding Action Group met in Hanoi on November 11 and 12 to develop a global strategy for the shipbuilding industry in light of the current global economic and financial crisis. Unions from two regions took part in the meeting and considered a wide range of issues currently impacting on the global industry.

The unions present recommitted themselves to playing an active role in trying to stop the industry from falling into a situation of overcapacity and unfair trade practices such as subsidies. The Shipbuilding Action Group agreed to continue to develop a global response to the problems faced by workers in the industry by developing a union position on both overcapacity and unfair trade.

Rob Johnston IMF Executive Director commented that, "workers have so far been the victims of the economic crisis and it now falls on our shoulders to ensure that they are not also the victims of protectionist measures that put workers in one country at a disadvantage to another country because of unfair subsidies."

"We have consistently argued that it’s possible to maintain jobs in the industry, develop new technologies and skills by developing sustainable trade polices. However, this can only happen by taking a long-term view for the industry and not a short-term quick fix."

The Action Group committed to developing a policy position that can be presented to the OECD WP6 (Shipbuilding). The Shipbuilding Action Group will be carrying out a consultation process before a final paper is produced.

Text / Ilya Matveev

On September 21, 2009 the employees of the Almaty Heavy Machine-Building Plant (AZTM) submitted a special petition to the President of Kazakhstan. The workers demanded the nationalization of the enterprise. One of the organizers of the action was worker and union activist Ainur Kurmanv.

The next day Ainur was severely beaten by unknown persons on the threshold of his own home. Bleeding profusely, he was able to make it to his apartment and then spent several days in hospital.

That vicious attack, which has attracted international attention, is an indicator of the atmosphere of persecution and terror against workers and social activists prevailing in Kazakhstan – a country which, don’t forget, is supposed to chair the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe in 2010.

"I’m 33 years old now, and I’ve spent 18 years serving the cause of the workers of Kazakhstan," says Ainur. "At 16, I went to work at the Metallist military plant in Uralsk, where I joined the Solidarity workers’ movement."

In 1997 Ainur was arrested on trumped up charges of "insulting the President and representatives of authority", and pending the investigation and trial he spent six months in prison. A friend of Ainur’s, worker activist Sergei Kolokolov, was charged in connection with the same case. Although he suffered from a kidney disease, he was put in a cell with no window in the winter: immediately after his release he was taken from the courtroom to the hospital. The doctors could not save him, and a few months later he was dead.

"Seeing the constant humiliations to which the workers are subjected, the universal non-payment of wages, beatings of worker activists by the police and criminals, the destruction of their plants by government officials and new owners, we realized the need for an uncompromising struggle to create new, independent unions," says Ainur.

In 1999 there was a mass strike in Uralsk and some big plants were shut down for several months. The 2,000 workers of the Metallist plant went on strike for almost six months, setting up roadblocks and holding marches, picket lines and meetings. In 2000, at the age of 23, Ainur became the chairman of the union committee, and held the position for two years.

Recently in Kazakhstan, as in other CIS countries, more and more independent unions have been emerging. The workers are beginning to organize themselves and their organizations are becoming the basis of a new labour movement. "In Karabatan, Zhanaozen, Karabulak and at the Almaty Railroad Car Repair Plant this year, worker protests have been conducted by independent unions or strike committees created and elected from below," says Ainur.

Confronted with the closing of plants, cutbacks in production and non-payment of wages, the workers have not only been creating independent unions, they have also been promoting the slogan of nationalization. That is what happened at TOO "Burgylau" in Zhanaozen, and the Railroad Repair Plant and Heavy Machine-Building Plant in Almaty. The workers have appealed to the state as the "only tool for solving acute conflicts", says Ainur.

But the country’s leadership has no interest in nationalization. The authorities have been defending the interests of the owners, and have crushed any demonstrations by the workers with force. In many cases the owners are not even interested in maintaining production: they simply try to squeeze as much as they can out of the workers and obsolete equipment, and then close the plant and use the land for warehouses or commercial space.

"A real opportunity is now emerging to revive the mass workers’ movement through the formation of independent industrial and regional union centres," says Ainur. "Our non-governmental organization Talmas, together with the science workers’ union and the Odak association of unions, has been actively working to that end and has set up an information centre to help the workers organize themselves. A whole series of actions aimed at promoting unity is planned for the autumn of 2009 and the spring of 2010, and we are very optimistic about that process."

Whatever happens in Copenhagen climate change will remain at the top of the political agenda. If an agreement is concluded, which looks unlikely, then unions will have a key role to ensure that the burden of such an agreement does not fall on the shoulders of workers. We will also have a key role to play in the implementation of any agreement. Education of workers on climate issues is also a significant challenge in the future for unions, one that we can not ignore if we want to play an active role.

If an agreement is not reached or agreed only in principle then we must continue to demand action in order to save our planet. As the debate on how best to respond to climate change continues, we must ensure that we present our views to the highest levels of government for an alternative world economy: A green economy which is based on the principles of social justice for all.

The following websites offer additional information about climate change and trade union responses to this issue:

http://www.unfccc.int/
http://www.climate.ituc-csi.org/
www.imfmetal.org/climatechange
www.hazards.org/greenjobs
http://www.sustainlabour.org/

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