MEXICO: A federal tribunal on December 15 definitively absolved Napoleon Gomez Urrutia of a charge filed by the Attorney General’s Office for alleged money laundering.

La Jornada in Mexico reports that the resolution of the First Collegiate Tribunal for Criminal Matters, based in Mexico City, cannot be appealed by federal prosecutors, so that once the decision is notified to the Ministry officials, the agency must dismiss the charge.

Various prosecutors in the country have filed eight charges against Gomez Urrutia in the past four years, of which only one now remains in force, with Gomez Urrutia still facing an arrest warrant for an alleged banking offense.

Since 2006 the Mexican government has systematically and repeatedly violated Mexican law and international standards in an attempt to crush the National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM). Gomez Urrutia, the union’s democratically elected General Secretary, has been forced to lead the union from exile in Canada as the Mexican Government continues its sham legal processes against him.

In February 2011, the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and UNI Global Union are taking joint action around the globe demanding the Mexican government stop its violations of the right to freedom of association.

To join the action and find out more go to: www.imfmetal.org/mexico2011

KOREA: The first round of bargaining between the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) and Hyundai Motor took place on December 14, after the non-regular workers decided to end their one month sit-in on December 9 and enter negotiations with the company.

Workers of an in-house subcontractor at the Ulsan factory of Hyundai Motor began the sit-in on November 15 after the business closure of in-house subcontractor Dongsung Industries, and together with sympathy strike action from precarious workers in other Hyundai plants, raised three main demands in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling on July 22:

• That Hyundai Motor implement the Supreme Court ruling and transform the status of indirectly-employed subcontracted workers in the Hyundai plants to permanent, regular, directly-employed status with retroactively-applied backwages
• After regularizing the precarious workers’ status, that Hyundai Motor take appropriate measures such as coming to agreement with the union on remedies for trade union members victimized while raising the illegal dispatch issue (withdraw dismissals, forced transfer, pay cuts and to allow deceased union member RYU, Ki-hyeok, to rest in peace), and
• That the Hyundai Motor Company issue a public apology to the precarious workers in Ulsan, Asan and Jeonju plants and to the South Korean people with the promise to stop using illegal precarious employment arrangements.

The workers had been dismissed due to the subcontractor’s notice of closure of business on October 14, and closure of November 12. Hyundai Motor was insisting that the workers would only be rehired by the new subcontracting company if they withdrew their membership from the KMWU.

The strike is reported to cost Hyundai 315 billion won ($277 million) in lost production causing it to report the worst November sales among Korean automakers.

KMWU has brought four demands to the negotiating table formed by the strike:

1. Withdraw criminal and civil charges against the strikers and resolve the hospital bills of the injured strikers (some 120 people were injured, such as sustaining broken ribs by attacks from thugs),
2. Guarantee employment for the subcontracted workers who struck at the Ulsan, Jeonju and Asan plants,
3. Guarantee the physical safety of the strike leaders, and
4. Agree on a framework to negotiate for the regularization of workers victimized by illegal dispatch work disguised as subcontracting.

During the first full round of negotiations, the KMWU national leadership, Hyundai branch leadership and the irregular workers branch leadership, along with Hyundai Motor CEO and a representative of all Hyundai subcontractors agreed to a timetable of bargaining once a week, with the next session to take place on December 20, 2010.

The Korean government has issued arrest warrants for 16 strike leaders from the Ulsan plant and five strike leaders from the Jeonju plant in relation to the strike, and the strike leaders have established a protest tent inside the company grounds near the KMWU branch union office as one precondition to the negotiating table was Hyundai Motor’s agreement to guarantee safety of person of the wanted union leaders within the company premises.

The arrest warrants stem from charges lodged by Hyundai Motor against the striking workers, and it has been reported that the company filed on Monday new charges against strike leaders of the Asan plant industrial actions.

On December 16, the Seoul High Court had its first hearing into the case on whether illegal dispatch workers must be regarded as a directly employed worker by Hyundai the day after he worked more than two consecutive years at the plant after the case was sent back to the court following the July 2010 Supreme Court ruling in the matter. The KMWU is expecting the High Court to make a final ruling on the case sometime in January.

In the meantime candlelight vigils and other forms of protest against the company are continuing as the temporary workers continue their struggle for recognition as permanent workers with trade union rights at Hyundai Motor.

The International Metalworkers’ Federation is closely monitoring the situation and is supporting affiliated union actions of solidarity support, such as UAW’s protest on December 6 outside the Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center in Detroit.

TURKEY: The remaining Sinter Metal workers dismissed in December 2008 won their reinstatement cases on December 15, 2010, following a similar decision by the same court on another group of Sinter Metal workers two days earlier.

The legal cases were launched by the Sinter Metal workers and their union Birlesik Metal-Is immediately after their dismissal in December 2008. The court ruled that the workers were not dismissed for "economic reasons" as cited by the company, but for trade union membership. The court ordered Sinter Metal to reinstate the workers, or alternatively the workers are entitled to receive 12 months wages and an additional 4 months wages for the judgment process.

Later on December 15, Birlesik Metal-Is organized a march to celebrate the decision of reinstatement. The March began from the A gate of the Dudullu Organized Zone and walked to the company. In front of the company gates, Birlesik Metal-Is President Mr. Adnan Serdaroglu and the President of DISK, Mr. Suleyman Celebi, made speeches. They called on the employer to accept the reinstatements and begin fair negotiations with Birlesik Metal-Is. Adnan Serdaroglu also mentioned in his speech that, "Sinter is not the only case that we face these problem and unfortunately it will not be the last if the legal system and the behaviors of the employers do not change." He called on all unions and democratic institutions to struggle together against these attacks.

Sinter Metal workers expressed their happiness with the outcome shouting slogans: "The union will enter to Sinter Metal, there is no other way", "We resisted and we won in the end", and "The victory came with resistant workers".

Birlesik Metal Is sends its thanks to the many unions and organizations around the world who have lent their support to this struggle, including the International Metalworkers’ Federation.

Under Turkish labour law the company has the right to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court. The IMF will continue to monitor the situation and support Birlesik Metal Is in ensuring that the workers are reinstated or properly compensated by Sinter Metal.

View the details of the Sinter Metal workers’ two year struggle here.

MEXICO: More than 200 trade unionists led by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) made a great effort to implement the concept of "Just Transition" in the final text of United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP16), which was achieved at the last moment of the negotiations in Cancun.

The final text adopted by the Conference is called "Outcome of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) under the Convention". It includes a full paragraph on Just Transition in the final text, which reads: "Realizes that addressing climate change requires a paradigm shift towards building a low-carbon society that offers substantial opportunities and ensures continued high growth and sustainable development, based on innovative technologies and more sustainable production and consumption and lifestyles, while ensuring a just transition of the workforce that creates decent work and quality jobs." For the full text go to: http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_16/application/pdf/cop16_lca.pdf

In a statement released after the Conference, the ITUC welcomed the final agreement and called on governments, particularly the most developed, to raise their sights by the time of the next meeting in Durban South Africa in 2011. "In particular, we want developed countries to commit to ambitious emission reductions under a legally binding framework. Climate finance needs to respond to the needs of the poorest of the world," said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.

Throughout the Conference the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) promoted their policy of five pillars of "Cutting emissions, transforming jobs – Working in green jobs for a secure future", including the pillar on Just Transition.

For COP17 in Durban, the international trade union movement will continue to participate in the negotiation process seeking a legally-binding agreement, which ensures that just transition is the next step. IMF and ICEM will continue to promote the importance of just transition with concrete policies such as green technology innovation and the need of building a fund for providing assistance with mitigation and adaptation, in the transition to a sustainable future.

EUROPE: The European Metalworkers’ Federation and affiliated unions joined the European Trade Union Confederation on December 15 in holding protest actions around Europe against austerity measures and spectacularly increased bonuses for traders. The first call to action against austerity measure in Europe September 29 brought millions of workers to the streets.

Unfortunately the success of the first action did not result in a new approach of the European Governments taking into account workers’ interests. The recent decision of the European Council stressed on stronger fiscal disciplinary measures essentially imposing penalties on Member States for poor management of their budgets.

The dominant analysis in the EU is that austerity is the right road to recovery, but the EMF joins the ETUC in saying that it could be the road to ruin.

The ETUC EMF and affiliated trade unions held a series of activities on December 15 including rallies, work stoppages, general strikes and other. The actions are organized on the eve of next meeting of the European Council. The ETUC published on its website a map giving an overview of trade union actions happening in Europe.

TURKEY: The Sinter Metal workers dismissed on December 22, 2008 won their reinstatement cases December 13, 2010, after two years of struggle.

The legal cases were launched by the Sinter Metal workers and their union Birlesik Metal-Is immediately after their dismissal in December 2008. The reinstatement cases for the Sinter Metal workers dismissed under the pretext of poor performance, those having worked less than six months and a number dismissed on the pretext of economic crises were examined by Turkish court on December 13, 2010 after numerous delays.

The hearing was, once again, not attended by employers’ representatives. However, the court refrained from further delaying the process and declared that the reason behind the dismissals was the workers’ trade union membership and that the workers have to be reinstated. Should the employer not accept their reinstatement, the workers are entitled to receive 12 months’ wages and an additional 4 months’ wages for the judgment process.

Another hearing will take place on December 15, 2010 for more Sinter Metal workers dismissed under the pretext of economic difficulties.

Birlesik Metal-Is, an IMF affiliate, reports that the Sinter Metal workers who came to watch the court and waited the decision were happy with the decision but all of them were also asking that: Is this justice? If justice came two years after, is it still justice?

"It’s of course a bittersweet victory, because the workers and their families have suffered a lot since December 2008," said IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina. "This case highlights the non-functioning court system in Turkey and the reality of "justice delayed is justice denied"," added Raina.

To celebrate this legal victory, Birlesik Metal-Is will march in front of the Sinter Metal company in the Dudullu Organized Industrial Zone on December 15 calling on the company to accept the reinstatements and to begin fair negotiations with the union.

View the details of the Sinter Metal workers’ two year struggle here. 

NEW INDEPENDENT STATES: There is no positive developments with trade union rights in the region over the recent years, was the conclusion of the participants of the International Confederation of Trade Unions Conference, “Building Democracy and Trade Union Rights in the NIS” held on December 3-4 in Moscow.

"We have the situation when in the countries with about 200 million able-bodied population the real security of workers approaches to zero," reads the final document adopted by the delegates.

The large and representative conference was attended by union leaders and activists from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine, as well as representatives of the ITUC and its Pan-European Regional Council (PERC), European trade unions and global union federations including the IMF, NGOs, academics, trade unionists and journalists.

The nature of violations differ: in Russia trade union leaflets are added to the list of "extremist materials", in Belarus the system of annual contracts is used as a tool of anti-union discrimination, which covers 90 per cent workers, in Georgia a truncated Labour Code is introduced, which contains only 55 articles and virtually no guarantees of legal protection of trade unions, but the same trend can be observed everywhere. Employers and the government violates the fundamental right of workers to freedom of association as guaranteed by ILO Conventions.

Officials from different Russian government agencies attended the conference including the Ministry of Healthcare, Ministry of Justice, General Procurator’s Office. This created the possibility of a direct and sharp dialogue between trade unionists and government representatives. Chairman of the Duma Committee on Labour and Social Policy, Andrei Isaev spoke about the legislative work regarding labour relations.

About 15 activists of the primary union organizations from across the region spoke of pressure exerted on them by employers and authorities. Behind each of the short report was a history of several months and sometimes years of struggle, persecution, unlawful dismissals, discrimination and fierce resistance.

The final document adopted by the representatives of trade unions calls for strengthening trade union solidarity, to conduct educational work, to build strong trade unions to hold national and international campaigns for the protection and development of trade union rights.

"Over the recent years you have achieved great progress," said Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, addressing the representatives for trade unions in the region, "I congratulate you, but at the same time I urge you to do more."

SOUTH AFRICA: Members of the National Union of Metalworkers in South Africa (Numsa) working at the foreign-owned BHP Billiton started a protected strike on December 8, 2010. The strike began in response to management’s failure to agree to the demands of the workers.

Since April 2010, the Numsa bargaining team has been engaged in a process of protracted negotiations over wage increases and improvement in working conditions of members. The negotiations were conducted to achieve a one-year agreement since the two-year agreement expired on August 30, 2010.
 
The negotiations reached a deadlock in August 2010. After the deadlock the company chose to coerce workers to accept the wage settlement reached with the less representative union – Solidarity – of a 7.5 per cent increase.

The conduct by BHP Billiton indicates its continued intentions of retaining and reproducing poverty wages in an effort to consign workers to the same old apartheid employment and living conditions while at the same time posting record profits levels to stock markets in the U.S., Europe and Melbourne. 

Numsa’s demands, geared towards achieving equitable distribution of income at the point of production, include: 

• 12 per cent wage increase across the board;
• 50 per cent employer contribution to the Medical Aid scheme;
• 12 per cent Shift Allowance;
• R50,000 (US$7,250) Gratuity Pay;
• R50,000 (US$7,250) study assistance in the event of retrenchments;
• Total banning and prohibition of Labour Brokers;
• Six months full paid maternity leave; and
• Full-time Health and Safety Shop stewards.

Numsa strongly believe that these demands by workers can be achieved by BHP Billiton, given the fact that BHP Billiton rewards its executives millions.
 
Numsa also denounced the company for its use of scab labour in response to the strike instead of addressing the legitimate demands of workers.
 

MEXICO: The international trade union movement is making concerted efforts to implement "Just Transition" in the text of United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP16) which will close in a few days time. Meanwhile, on December 7, 2010, many trade union organizations held a series of events at the COP16 World of Work (WoW) Pavilion organized by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), to promote their solutions and policies to take up the challenge of climate change and to achieve Just Transition into a climate friendly and fairer economy.

At the WoW, the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) organized a joint event "Cutting Emissions – Transforming Jobs" focusing on environmental protection, sectoral concerns, sustainable jobs and just transition. In the panel discussion with Shoichiro Kaneko (from IMF-JC/JBU), Michael O’Connor (from CFMEU), James Howard (from ITUC), and chaired by Brian Kohler (ICEM) all the panelists have shared the importance of just transition through green technology innovation and the need of building a fund for achieving assisted mitigation and adaptation in the transition to a sustainable future.

Also in the event, the guest speaker, Izuru Kobayashi, an official negotiator of the Japanese government from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) gave a frank assessment of the ongoing negotiations and insisted  the importance of creating a "legally-binding" effective framework for all major CO2 emitting countries.
In the closing remarks, Kan Matsuzaki (IMF) expressed, "Many of our members are working in energy intensive industries, and their jobs are rapidly transforming. We need Just Transition with concrete policy."
Also, find below a link to ITUC’s daily movement at COP16.
ITUC: http://www.ituc-csi.org/-climate-change-blog-.html

For further information, please contact Kan Matsuzaki, Director of Shipbuilding, Non-Manual Workers and climate change at the IMF at [email protected].

COLOMBIA/EUROPE: "Only the words and tone of voice have changed, the political and economic policies, the "Democratic Security" doctrine, the assassinations of unionists, opposition and population are the mere extension of the previous eight years of the Uribe Government, meaning this will probably continue for at least four years more ," warns Tarcisio Mora,  CUT President, in the Hearing on Colombia, convened  by Justice for Colombia, in Brussels on December 7. 

"This Government clearly represents the interests of the business class and the major TNC’s in Colombia and by  imposing the so-called "democratic security" it excludes the majority of the Colombian people and violates their most basic rights to life and land and work," continued Hernando Hernandez, a Colombian Congressman representing indigenous peoples . 

Despite Juan Manuel Santos’s promises as the new Colombian President to commit to respect human rights, the members of the high-level delegation from Colombia reported that since Santos came into office this year the assassinations have continued with several mass murders including children raped and tortured, 40 unionists assassinated, death threats made against 24 other unionists, 12 Polo Democrático (opposition party) activists killed, and continued reports of the involvement of the Colombian Army, paramilitary and state security forces in most of these cases.  Impunity and violence against opposition continue to reign. For more details on the speakers see the flyer here.

In this context of what is becoming well known as "State terrorism" the figures are staggering; 4.5 million displaced persons, 10 million hectares of land turned over to paramilitary bosses, 20 million people living below the poverty line and 8 million unemployed. But despite these facts, the EU is clearly putting economic interests before human rights in considering to sign a Free Trade Agreement with the Colombian Government in 2011. See here the Justice for Colombia report  "Trading Away Human Rights" for more details.

Following the hearing, the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) participated in a meeting on December 7 with representatives of European trade unions, global union federations and Workers Uniting to discuss how to continue informing and engaging the EU Parliamentarians about the dramatic human rights situation in Colombia and the unacceptable precedent this would set for other FTA’s in discussion for example in Latin America.  IMF stressed the importance of coordinating efforts among our European affiliates, in particular, to reinforce awareness among the union and political leadership to refuse the signing of this agreement, which does not guarantee any benefit to Colombian workers and society.