BRAZIL: More than twenty trade unionists, representing workers in six countries, met in Pindamonhangaba from November 23 to 25 in the 3rd international meeting of the Tenaris Workers’ World Council. Most of the debates at the meeting centered on the emergence of Tenaris from the international crisis and the company’s utilization of precarious work schemes to reduce its labour costs.

The event was host by the metalworkers’ union of Pindamonhangaba, Sindicato dos Metalúrgicos de Pindamonhangaba, Confederação Nacional dos Metalúrgicos (CNM/CUT), and the International Metalworkers’ Federation and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Brazil (FES-Brazil).

After an analysis of the current financial situation of the company and the situation in each plant the meeting developed an action plan for the next year. The action plan considers, among other points:

• The continued support to the workers in Cartagena, Colombia to obtain a negotiated collective agreement and ensure the physical security of their leaders,
• Pressure on Tenaris and Paolo Rocca, CEO of Tenaris, in any forum possible to ensure the recognition of the Tenaris Workers’ World Council,
• Research the legislation, trade union activities and other variables that impede free trade union representation to other workers of Tenaris around the world,
• Look for mechanism to involve in the Tenaris Workers’ World Council contract workers and other workers precariously employed,
• Share all clauses protecting and promoting union activities in the workplace and in the community present in the current collective agreements of the union members of the Council,
• Declare April 28 as a Day of Action for Health and Safety in Tenaris,
• Develop a database of current Tenaris ‘collective agreements,
• Explore the possibility to develop and share an economic analysis of the company per trimester,
• Study the current methods by which Tenaris paid their productivity bonus and look for a common model to apply internationally,
• Improve the e-mails communications by adding Portuguese, Italian and Romanian to the languages utilized; use more effectively the web page and develop a bulletin to be published twice a year, and
• Participate again in the yearly shareholders meeting to raise the needs of the workers of Tenaris.

The next meeting of the Tenaris Workers’ World Council will be in Romania in September 2011.

GLOBAL : Meeting in Geneva on December 1, the Executive Committee of the International Metalworkers’ Federation committed itself to continuing the process of moving towards the creation of a new international unifying workers in the industrial sectors of the world.

The Committee debated the need to more clearly articulate the mission and goals of the new organization and how it will improve and strengthen the position of metalworkers at the national, regional and global levels. During the debate several principles were reaffirmed, including the desire to ensure regional structures that are integrated into the global structures and an executive committee that remains at the heart of decision making,

The work of the IMF/ICEM/ITGLWF Task Force and its working groups on statutes and finances will continue. The IMF Executive Committee intends to hold a joint meeting with the executives of ICEM and ITGLWF in May 2011 and will work towards a Central Committee decision on the creation of a new organisation in December 2011.

Earlier in the day the Committee heard reports from numerous countries on continuing difficulties as the result of the financial crisis. While some economic activity is returning in some countries it is not resulting in job creation, but a greater dependence on contract, short-term and agency labour.

The Executive Committee also committed itself to holding global days of action on Mexico from February 14 to 19, 2011, demanding the Mexican Government end its attacks on freedom of association of democratic and independent trade unions in Mexico.

SOUTH AFRICA: The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), the union representing the majority of workers at BHP Billiton, announced its continuing dispute with the company after protracted negotiations over wage increases and improved working conditions reached a deadlock in August 2010.

The negotiations, which began in April 2010, are to reach a one-year agreement since the two-year agreement expired on August 30, 2010.  After the deadlock BHP Billiton chose to coerce workers to accept the wage settlement reached with an alternative union, Solidarity, of 7.5 per cent increase.

Numsa’s demands on wages and improvement in working conditions at BHP Billiton are consistent with the union’s National Bargaining Conference (NBC), which seeks to reverse a trend of the deepening plight and suffering of industrial workers evidenced in racialized income and a widening gap between the lowest paid worker and a senior manager.

We have clearly observed that the BHP Billiton elites are hell-bent on their continued intentions to retain and reproduce racialised and poverty wages in an effort to consign workers to the same old apartheid employment conditions.

Numsa is demanding: 

• 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$7,165) gratuity pay;
• R50,000 (US$7,165) 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.

"We strongly believe that these demands by workers can be achieved by BHP Billiton, given the fact that there was a hostile effort to take-over Rio Tinto and Potash Corporation," said Numsa general secretary Irwin Jim.  "This clearly demonstrates that BHP has the financial muscle to meet the demands of workers," he added.

The union remains open for negotiations, but warns that the failure of BHP Billiton to consider the union’s demands will result in widespread strike action.

MUMBAI: Representatives of Siemens unions across India celebrated the registration of the newly-formed Siemens Employees’ Federation at a meeting convened by IMF and FES to plan strategies for the Federation which, exceptionally for India, brings together unions affiliated to different national confederations.

The new Federation faces many challenges. In many plants contract and casual workers exceed 50 per cent of the workforce. In addition, Siemens India has devised a particularly divisive strategy to prevent workers from joining trade unions. Workers are arbitrarily reclassified as ‘officers’, with no change to their duties, and are then expressly forbidden to join a trade union as they are considered to be executives. Workers are offered pay rises as an inducement to renounce their trade union rights with the result that in some plants there are now production areas that have no workers in them.

The unions have challenged this practice in the courts, but have not so far been successful. Concerted action against Siemens India will be needed to stop the company from breaking the unions in this way.

The meeting concluded by agreeing on the major issues for action by the Siemens Employees’ Federation. These include stamping out the practice of false classification of workers as officers, fighting for parity in wages and conditions between Siemens plants in India, sharing information to stop management from playing one plant off against another, limiting the percentage of contract workers and ensuring equal pay between contract and regular workers. To achieve these aims, the Federation needs to create a database of collective agreements, train representatives and gather information on supply chain workers and working conditions.

Siemens India so far refuses to recognize the Siemens Employees’ Federation, despite its registration by the authorities, so an urgent task is to secure recognition of the Federation by Siemens so that it can negotiate with the company on behalf of all Siemens workers in India. The Federation is also calling on Siemens to sign an International Framework Agreement with the IMF.

The Federation plans to eventually count among its membership workers in all Siemens plants in India, as well as workers in the company’s supply chain. Its goal is to make the existence of the Federation visible and to demonstrate to management that the unions are united.

MEXICO: Ongoing abuses of trade union rights in Mexico will be highlighted on December 3, the day that marks the two-year anniversary of Juan Linares Montufar’s arrest. Linares is a political prisoner, held illegally, without bond since his arrest. The sham charges against him all relate to the transfer of funds from a Trust created by his trade union, the National Union of Mine, Metal and Steel Workers (SNTMMSSRM) to the union. His detention is one part of the campaign of trade union intimidation and repression by the Mexican government.

Juan Linares is the President of the Oversight and Justice Council of the SNTMMSSRM, also known as Los Mineros. The sham charges against him relate to a trust created in 1988 as part of negotiations around the sale of a number of state-owned mines  to Germán Larrea, the current owner of mining giant Grupo México. As part of the privatisation negotiations, 5 per cent of the shares of the companies were to be placed in a trust for the benefit of the SNTMMSSRM. In a 1990 ruling, the First Commercial Court in Mexico City confirmed that the union was the beneficiary of the trust.  Linares was one of three trustees named by the union to administer the trust. 

Los Mineros fought a 15-year legal and industrial action struggle to make the Larrea companies pay the agreed shares into the Trust. Agreement was reached on October 2, 2004, by which time the 5 per cent share was worth approximately US$55 million. In February 2005 the union decided to terminate the Trust and transfer the money to a bank account of the union.

In 2006 the Federal Attorney General filed criminal charges against Linares, SNTMMSSRM General Secretary Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, and other union officials, in federal and state courts.  All of the charges are based on a single argument: that the union did not have the right to terminate the trust because the trust existed for the benefit of the workers, not the union. The union officers reply that the transfer of the trust funds was perfectly legal under Mexican law; in addition to being a protected exercise of trade union autonomy under ILO Convention 87. So far, charges filed against Gómez in three state and two federal courts have been dismissed, as have two state charges against Linares. However, a federal charge against Linares is still being litigated, and the courts have denied him bail.

Ironically, while the government claims that its prosecution is intended to force the union to pay the Grupo Mexico workers, its charges actually halted the payments. Prior to the filing of the criminal charges, the SNTMMSSRM had already distributed almost $21 million to the workers. But when the government filed charges, it also froze the union’s bank accounts, halting the distribution process.

Since his arrest, Linares has been held at the Reclusorio Norte prison in Mexico City. He receives regular visits from his family, other Mineros leaders, and international trade union delegations from around the world. To all his visitors, Linares has one message: "I could walk out of this jail tomorrow if I were willing to betray my union.  But I will never do that."

Juan Linares is a prisoner of conscience and must be released immediately.

This demand is part of a global mobilization that is being planned to coincide with the five-year anniversary of the deadly accident at the Pasta de Conchos coal mine in Coahuila on 19 February 2006. The global days of action, calling for an end to government attacks on Mexico’s democratic trade unions, will be led by affiliates of four Global Union Federations: 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. For more information go to: www.imfmetal.org/mexico2011

GLOBAL: The actions coincide with the fifth anniversary of the deaths of 65 miners at the Pasta de Conchos mine disaster in Mexico on February 19, 2006.

The Mexican Miners’ Union, the union that called for justice following the mine disaster, has faced systematic, frequently violent and escalating violations of worker and trade union rights by employers and the Mexican government.

Other independent trade unions in Mexico seeking to improve the rights of working people have also increasingly come under attack in recent years through the tolerance, complicity and, on many occasions, the direct action of the Mexican state.

Unions are demanding the Mexican government stop violating fundamental trade union rights and start complying with its own laws and international standards on human and trade union rights.

You can support the action through the LabourStart Act NOW campaign where you can send a letter directly to President Caldéron demanding trade union rights in Mexico.
To send a letter through the LabourStart go to: http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=863

Campaign materials, including posters, flyers, background information and model letter to embassies, supporting these actions can be found on this page of the IMF website:
http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=24820&l=2

The actions are to support independent unions including the Mexican Miners’ Union (SNTMMSRM), the Mexican Electrical Workers’ Union (SME), the UNTyPP union representing workers in Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company PEMEX, the National Union of General Tyre Workers of Mexico (SNTGTM) and the Union of the Autonomous University of Mexico’s Workers (SUTUACM), as well as the Mexican Telephone Workers’ Union (STRM), Authentic Workers’ Front (FAT) and up to thirty other unions affiliated to the National Union of Workers (UNT) who have all faced violent attacks, intimidation and repression of trade union rights.

Trade unions in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Korea, Kosovo, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the U.S. are calling on the Mexican government to respect trade union rights in a series of actions from 14 to 19 February 2011.

In Mexico itself, the independent trade union movement will be holding various actions across the country throughout the week to highlight the systematic abuse of trade union rights by the Mexican government.

Together the trade unions are holding rallies, meeting with Mexican government representatives, and sending letters and thousands of emails all calling on the Mexican government to:
1.  Hold employer and government officials accountable for the Pasta de Conchos mine explosion that killed 65 miners on February 19, 2006.
2.  Abolish systemic violations of workers’ freedom of association, including employer-dominated "protection contracts" and interference in union elections.
3.  End the use of force-by the state or private parties-to repress workers’ legitimate demands for democratic unions, better wages and working conditions, and good health and safety conditions.
4.  End the campaign of political persecution against the Mexican Miners’ Union and the Mexican Electrical Workers’ Union.
The action to support the democratic and independent unions in Mexico is being taken by trade unions around the world affiliated to the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), UNI Global Union and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

GERMANY: In a sign that the economic crisis has waned, at least in Germany, IG Metall reported that companies employing 20 per cent of some total 3.4 million metal and electronics workers in the country to date have moved the scheduled 2011 wage increase up from April to February. Companies and their Works Councils including Audi AG, Bosch GmbH, Siemens, and Voith, the paper machine and engineering manufacturer, have agreed to pay the scheduled 2.7 per cent increase in February.

Several more companies are expected to do the same in the coming weeks. The union said some 670,000 workers are now on schedule to get the raise in February. In collective agreements negotiated in February 2010, IG Metall agreed to a historic job preservation pact in exchange for two lump sum payments of €320 each in 2010 and early 2011.

The 2011 percentage increase was scheduled for April 2011, but according to the agreement Works Councils were given the authority to negotiate the 2.7 per cent sum effective two months prior to April 2011, but no later than two months after that date. The 25-month agreement last year also mandates that there will be no operational redundancies before 30 June 2012.

IG Metall credits the early raises to a strong economic recovery in the country.

Additionally, Siemens, in appreciation to its global workforce of 400,000 for exemplary performance throughout the crisis, announced earlier in November that it would grant a total of US$430 million in a "one-time special bonus." The pay-out, to be made between December and January, will amount to about €1,000 per worker, with German workers getting the bonus in January and the 2.7 per cent increase the next month.

SINGAPORE: For over a decade in Singapore, it had been common practice for employers to reduce salaries of workers by 10 per cent once they turn age 60. That practice is now coming to a screeching halt as trade unions, in a united front, have convinced employers that the practice is degrading and discriminatory.

Seven unions over the past several months, including the Metal Industries Workers’ Union (MIWU) and the Chemical Industries Workers’ Union (CIWU), have now negotiated an end to the cut-at-60 practice in an important labour development on the island-nation.

Over 34,000 workers will this year no longer have to witness pay cuts just because they reach age 60. The recent initiative was not instituted by law, but rather came from a strong public urging to employers by National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) General Secretary Lim Swee Say and Singapore Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong.

Under some of the negotiated agreements, workers age 60 or above must undergo performance-based indicators to retain their salaries, but in others they do not. The MIWU had elimination of the practice incorporated in all collective agreements. That affected 11,000 senior workers for the good. One union, the Singapore Airport Terminal Service Workers’ Union, will have the no-cut-at-60 language finalized in December, with payment of salaries that were cut back to January 2010 restored.

Other unions that have succeeded in eliminated the practice include the NatSteel Employees’ Union, the Singapore Bank Employees’ Union, the DBS Bank Staff  Union, and the Union of Telecoms Employees of Singapore. Elimination of the practice at scores of private-sector employers by the CIWU affects 4,500 senior chemical and petrochemical workers.

The practice began in 1999 when the retirement age was raised to 62 in that year. The Retirement Age Act was then amended to give legal status to the cut-at-60 practice.

NTUC Deputy Secretary General Heng Chee How said it was encouraging that a great number of companies from many different industries and sectors had reviewed with unions the regressive practice and decided to end it.

GLOBAL: November 29, 2010 is the opening day of the two-week long negotiations of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP16) building towards the hope for a sustainable "Greener" future. The international trade union movement wants to play a role in this process to support a "fair, ambitious and binding" international agreement that will provide a framework for combating global warming, while at the same time safeguarding industrial development, employment and workers’ rights.

In order to put forward a common industrial workers’ position, the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) will hold a joint event "Cutting Emissions – Transforming Jobs" on December 7 at the COP16 World of Work (WoW) Pavilion, which is organized by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 

The joint event will focus on:

• Environmental Protection – the urgent reality of climate change, the cost of action versus the cost of inaction
• Sectoral Concerns – domestic activities/policies on sustainable jobs from respective unions, "greening" of existing jobs and creating decent, sustainable, new jobs
• Sustainable Jobs – good industrial policy is public policy in the public interest, sustainable jobs are decent, organized jobs
• Just Transition – the Copenhagen Accord Climate Fund and Just Transition, and the case for union access in the metal, chemical, energy and mining sectors

Here you will find some of the documents for distribution and discussion at the joint event including the following:

1. Leaflet "Cutting Emissions – Transforming Jobs":

• English
• Spanish
• French
• Russian

2. Discussion Paper: "Anticipating Change and Building a Foundation for the Future":

• English
• Spanish
• French

3. ICEM-IMF-ITGLWF Declaration "Stronger Together-Fighting for a Sustainable Future"

4. Discussion Document towards a Climate Change Policy Framework for Africa (English only) 

We hope that all of you who are attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP16) will join us at the event in support of our common union position!!

Also, you can find ITUC’s position and our sister organization, European Metalworkers’ Federation  (EMF)’s document "From Copenhagen to Cancun –
climate change grounds metalworkers"  towards COP 16 at following web sites;
ITUC: http://www.ituc-csi.org/what-do-we-want-in-cancun-just.html
EMF: http://www.industrialpolicy.eu/EMF/C2C

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

The visits took place on November 23 and 25 in Kenya and the November 26 in Tanzania. In Kenya the general secretary was accompanied by two IMF executive committee members, Christine Olivier and Mario Tindi. The companies he visited are:

• General Motors in Kenya with about 400 workers where the company is involved assembling most Izuzu pickups and other cars,
• Mabati Rolling, which produces iron roof sheets and other steel products,
• Sameer Africa, which produces car tyres and supplies east Africa, and
• In Tanzania he visited MMI Industries a company which produces Iron Rods from scrap steel.

Some of the issues raised by workers during the visits are health and safety especially in Tanzania and the need to organize non-manual workers especially in Kenya. Management in Kenya raised the issue of China and cheap products from China destroying the local market

After the visit the leadership of all unions praised the IMF by saying it has been a long time since any general secretary of IMF visited factories in their region