GLOBAL: The International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers has been observed worldwide by the trade union movement and Global Unions since 1996. As well as commemorating workers who have died, been injured or fallen ill in the workplace, this day serves to mark the campaign by trade unions to improve health and safety at work. Figures speak for themselves:

• Every day, 5,000 workers die from work-related diseases and accidents.
• Every year, 12,000 children are killed on the job.
• Asbestos alone claims some 300 lives daily.
• Workers suffer 270 million occupational accidents annually, of which 355,000 are fatal.

” ‘Fatal’ would imply this has something to do with fate, in other words something that is bound to happen. This is not the case,” says Toni Ferigo, responsible for health and safety work at the IMF. “There are clear causes,” he states, “of this dramatic ‘silent war’, such as working extended hours, lack of investment in health and safety, lack of training, deregulation and the negligence of employers to respect basic legislation.” The IMF thinks the best way to commemorate the dead and injured workers is to put pressure for:

• bringing justice to the dead and injured by punishing the criminals who are responsible,
• increasing workers’ participation in prevention policies,
• seeking legislation which meets at least basic ILO standards,
• increasing H&S investment in the workplace.

The IMF invites its affiliates around the world to participate in initiatives organised by national union centres. This is the best to commemorate the dead and the injured. The ILO, on April 28, is organising a tripartite panel in Geneva to discuss how to reduce injury, sickness and death at the workplace.

CZECH REPUBLIC: In protest at a company decision to dismiss over 2,400 of the current 11,300 employees at Ispat Nova Hut by the year 2005, the trade union and its members staged a one-hour strike at the steel plant today (April 23), in Ostrava. Although management tried to dissuade the strike from taking place by claiming it was illegal, close to 90 per cent of the workers downed their tools. The IMF-affiliated Czech Metalworkers’ Union says that the current unemployment rate in the Moravian-Silesian region is already critically high, with little hope of new investment and job creation. To limit the job losses at Ispat Nova Hut, the union has advocated a reduction in working time, with the working week gradually shortened, but management claims this proposal is unrealistic. Productivity at the company is expected to increase by 44 per cent this year, however the average wage hike will be only 4 per cent, or at most 6 per cent if the collective agreement is signed. The union says that as 880 jobs were already cut during the year 2002, such a high productivity performance is being achieved with a lot of “hidden” overtime, and that this can no longer be tolerated.

Company	Home country
Leoni	Germany
Present in
Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovak Republic, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, Tunisia, South Africa, China (People’s Rep.), India
Main plants
Nürnberg, Weissenburg, Kötzting, Roth, Lilienthal, Friesoythe, Brake/Unterwese, Georgensgmünd, Schmalkalden, Neuhaus-Schierschnitz, Würzburg, Kitzingen and Neuburg/Donau in Germany; Codogno in Italy; Hasselt in Belgium; Gellainville and Burnhaupt Le Haut in France; Cinderford, Harlescott, Newcastle-under-Lyme in the United Kingdom; Birr in Ireland; Guimaraes in Portugal; Frydlant in Czech Republic; Kobierzyce and Ostrzeszow in Poland; Stará Turá, Nova Dubnica and Trencin in Slovakia; Hatvan and Eger in Hungary, Arad in Romania; Mudanya-Bursa in Turkey; Chicopee (MA), Tucson (AZ), Troy (MI) and Columbus (IN) in the USA; Kitchener (ON) in Canada; Chihuahua and Hermosillo in Mexico; Barueri and Itu in Brazil; Cairo in Egypt; Sousse in Tunisia; Uitenhage and East London in South Africa; Changzhou and Xiamen in China (People’s Rep.); Pune in India.

Note: The table does not necessarily display all countries where the company is present or all the manufacturing plants. Suppliers and subcontractors are not listed.

Source: Company website

USA: A remarkable victory has been chalked up by the IMF-affiliated United Steelworkers of America. The shareholder resolution on executive severance agreements, presented to the annual meeting of the aluminium giant Alcoa on April 11 by the USWA and sponsored by the AFL-CIO, passed with 65 per cent of the vote. This achievement was all the more significant as shareholders decided to follow organised labour rather than the company, which had recommended to vote against the proposal. The resolution states that Alcoa’s Board of Directors should seek shareholder approval for executive severance agreements triggered by a change in control — often known as “golden parachutes” — that total more than three times the executive’s current salary and bonus. The resolution warned shareholders that golden parachutes are excessive and can reward underperformance leading up to a merger. Among reasons for targeting this major multinational are that the USWA represents 12,000 Alcoa employees, many of whose retirement plans include Alcoa shares, as well as the company’s outrageous executive compensation practices. Last year, Alcoa share prices dropped nearly 35 per cent. The USWA’s president, Leo Gerard, said the company’s executive compensation practices “were especially inappropriate given Alcoa’s recent efforts to cut costs on the backs of our members. Passage of this resolution sends a clear message to Alcoa’s Board of Directors that this sort of corporate cronyism will not be tolerated.”

CHILE: The strike at Compañía Minera Candelaria, a subsidiary of Phelps Dodge, is over. On April 15, 555 unionised workers at the copper mine agreed to end their 16-day industrial action after voting to accept the company’s offer on wages and benefits. The day before, on April 14, the 11-day-old hunger strike by 7 of the strikers, including the trade union president, was called off when management said it would continue negotiations. Included in the package offered by the company was a 3 per cent wage increase and improved benefits with regard to holidays, a bonus for education, medical and dental care, and a financial bonus linked to productivity. The leaders of the IMF-affiliated Consfetema, Salvador Castro, and the Candelaria mineworkers’ union, Patricio Garate, praised the “heroic” strike by the mineworkers and expressed their appreciation for international trade union support throughout the dispute. The IMF and affiliates had written to top management at the transnational company and to Chile’s minister of labour urging them to intercede in order to obtain a fair settlement to the dispute. The U.S.-based Phelps Dodge owns an 80 per cent share in Candelaria, and Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. and Sumitomo Corporation hold the other 20 per cent. The company, which is located in Copiapó, approximately 800 km north of Santiago, operates an open pit mine, a concentrator plant and port facility. Its copper production — 199,000 tonnes in 2002 and an expected 240,000 tonnes in 2003 — goes mainly to the USA and Japan.

GREAT BRITAIN/USA: Two IMF affiliates — the UK’s Iron and Steel Trades Confederation and the Communications Workers of America — are publicly calling for votes against the executive remuneration policies of two UK companies: the ISTC with regard to the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus, and the CWA for the global information company Reuters. Trade unions are showing increasing interest in shareholder voting on executive pay, and in the UK, where all listed companies must now put pay policies to an advisory shareholder vote, executive pay has become a major focus for investor discontent at annual general meetings. Reacting to proposals revealed in the just-published annual report of Corus, to change the bonus scheme for directors so that it is no longer linked to profitability and the maximum payable would be increased from 50% to 60% of salary, Michael Leahy, ISTC general secretary, said that directors wanted to be insulated from failure. “At a time when Corus has lost its chief executive, has recorded another loss, warned of capacity and plant reductions and staff morale is at an all time low, what type of example is this to set?” asked Leahy. He is urging shareholders to reject these proposals at the annual general meeting scheduled for April 29. Prior to that, on April 14, the ISTC is organising a “Red Card Day” to protest against Corus management and demand the resignation of Corus chairman, Sir Brian Moffat. In a message of solidarity to the union, IMF general secretary Marcello Malentacchi said the IMF fully supported the call for Sir Moffat to resign: “His resignation — together with an urgently needed management change to ensure that proper consultation and constructive partnership are the order of the day — would be in the fullest interest of Corus workers, their families and communities.” In a letter to Reuters shareholders, who will meet on April 17, Morton Bahr, CWA president, has also called for opposition to approval of the directors’ remuneration report. Executive pay, says Bahr, is “not simply a cost issue, but also an issue of corporate performance.” But performance targets, he stated, had to be well balanced — not rewarding under performance, and not providing incentives to executives to take undue risks or make short-term decisions. There was particular concern about the potential for excessive executive pay in light of major recent layoffs, corporate restructuring and the related impacts on working conditions. Note: On April 23, Corus announced the appointment of Philippe Varin as chief executive and Jim Leng as chairman, respectively, of the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker. Commenting on this news, the ISTC general secretary, Michael Leahy, said that the “unique red card protest staged by Corus’ employees last week has clearly been listened to and Moffat has, in effect, gone.”

USA/CHINA: Recent remarks by the United Auto Workers’ president, Ron Gettelfinger, that China foments a climate which is hostile to workers and trade unions, were denounced by Chinese authorities via a spokesperson at the Chinese Consulate in Chicago. To illustrate his charges, Gettelfinger had referred to the two independent metalworker activists from the Liaoyang Ferro-Alloy Factory, Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang, who were accused of subversion after organising a protest action in March 2002 to demand back pay and pensions for some 10,000 laid-off workers at the steel plant. (See associated link for IMF background information on this case.) Although China has attempted to deny that the subversion charges against the two labour activists are related to the protest action, Amnesty International has supported the UAW president’s account. In a statement specifically mentioning Yao and Xiao, the human rights organisation said: “Subversion charges, which carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment or the death penalty, continue to be used widely to detain and imprison rights activists in China.” Due to China’s top record on imprisoning trade union activists, Gettelfinger is challenging the U.S. auto industry to rethink its attitude toward investments in this country. This past January, when the trial against Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang opened, the IMF general secretary, Marcello Malentacchi, protested not only to the president of China, but also wrote to the All China Federation of Trade Unions saying that instead of assisting Yao and Xiao, “the ACFTU has abandoned them to a system that continues to ignore even the most fundamental workers’ rights.” The outcome of the trial has not yet been announced.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Following strong worldwide condemnations from the IMF and its affiliates of the unsafe working conditions at Caribbean Ispat Limited, company management accepted to hold a meeting with representatives from the Ministry of Labour Factory Inspectorate and the Steel Workers’ Union of Trinidad and Tobago (SWUTT).

After discussing the serious lack of health and safety measures throughout the plant, which the union said had reached crisis level, management agreed to make available the following:

• a disaster preparedness plan,
  
• a safety policy,
  
• safety plans for 2003,
  
• risk assessment.

Officials from the Labour Ministry stated that labour legislation would be submitted to Parliament this year.

The IMF-affiliated SWUTT expressed its great appreciation and thanks for the actions taken by the IMF and metalworker affiliates around the world, declaring: “We are proud to be part of the 25 million metalworkers in the IMF.” The union said the staunch support they received made them realise they were not isolated in their struggle.

Caribbean Ispat Ltd is a member of the LNM Group, Ispat International.

KOREA, REP: Dan Byung-ho, president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and former metalworkers’ leader, was released from prison on April 2. Dan was made to serve the full term of a 20-month prison sentence for “obstruction of business” and leading an “illegal” strike in 2001. As he stepped out the doors of Seoul Prison at midnight, over 500 well-wishers from trade unions, the Korean Democratic Labour Party, NGOs and the news media were there to greet Dan. In a speech at the prison gate, he said that although some improvements could be seen since the country’s new president, Roh Moo-hyun, took office in February, basic things such as Korea’s neo-liberal economic policies were not changing. Dan also spoke about the conflict in Iraq, encouraging a build-up of the anti-war movement and opposition to sending any Korean troops to the war zone. Marcello Malentacchi, IMF general secretary, who visited the KCTU president several times during this last incarceration — over the years, Korean authorities imprisoned Dan five times for his trade union activities — expressed how happy he was to hear Dan was free, describing him as “one of the greatest trade union leaders I have ever known.” Writing to the IMF general secretary today, the Korean Metal Workers’ Federation president, Baek Seun-whan, declared when Dan appeared at the prison gate, how “I hoped it could have been you and IMF affiliates to have greeted Dan and share the joy of his release, because it is the IMF and its affiliates that make it possible for our members and Dan to realise how powerful and valuable international solidarity is… On behalf of 160,000 KMWF members, please send my best regards and thanks to the IMF’s members worldwide.” In 2002, the IMF organised two international action days on Korea, to draw attention to the plight of the many trade unionists in jail there for their trade union activities. Some top metal union officials were released as a result of these campaigns, but not Dan. After a two-week complete medical checkup, Dan intends to continue his work leading the KCTU.

BELARUS: The Belarus president, Alexander Lukashenko, has renewed serious threats against the leaders of the IMF’s two Belarus affiliates, the Automobile & Agricultural Machinery Workers Union (AAM) and the Radio & Electronics Industry Workers’ Union (REI). In pursuing his attempts to destroy what is left of the independent trade union movement in Belarus and to remove from office Aliaksandr Bukhvostau, AAM president, and Gennadi Fedynitch, REI president, Lukashenko has instructed the minister of industry to “resolve the issues” related to both trade union presidents within the next two months. Lukashenko is quoted as having stated on March 27 at a conference for national and local governing bodies that “certain union leaders continue to be engaged in politics associating themselves with implacable opposition with the state.” He then refers specifically to the AAM and REI leaders. Among examples of the Belarus government’s more recent violations of free trade union rights was in December 2002 when, prior to plenums of the AAM and REI, authorities put strong pressure on union members to drop their support for Bukhvostau and Fedynitch, but without success. In the struggle against Lukashenko’s attempts to place all Belarus trade unions under state control, the IMF is actively assisting its two Belarus affiliates.