MEXICO: In the early hours of Sunday May 23, federal police in the town of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, attacked leaders of Section 271 of the Mexican National Miners’ Union (National Union of Mine & Metal Workers of the Mexican Republic-SNTMMSRM).  One of these leaders, Mario García Ortiz, was seriously injured.

The attack occurred after Mario García had been detained and after miners’ leaders belonging to Section 271 of the union went to the Municipal Public Security offices to ask why he had been detained. On arriving, they found that Mario García was being released and they therefore began to move away. However, they were confronted by dozens of police who threatened the miners, forced them to lie on the ground and then beat them brutally.

As Mario García Ortiz lay unconscious in the middle of the street, the police confiscated the belongings of the rest of the miners, covered their faces and put them on a police lorry where they were kept for almost three hours without being allowed to move. They were beaten and insulted before being released after pressure by workers who stopped production at ArcelorMittal, the workplace of the more than 3000 members of Section 271. Their belongings were not returned to them.

The union organised a march in the afternoon of May 24 to call for justice and for the relocation of the federal police away from residential areas in the town. The union explained that it was not against authority and that it understood the need to ensure the population’s security, but added: "We are against the location of their bases in the central area of the city, where the population is at high risk from them, and we are against their abusive and high-handed attitude."

In the wake of such a brutal attack on the dignity of miners, the IMF offers solidarity to the union, repudiates the actions of the Mexican federal police and demands justice and respect for miners’ leaders. The IMF hopes that there will be no repetition of such attacks, which in the past resulted in injuries to leaders and the death of innocent workers, as occurred on April 20, 2006 when federal and state police killed two union members during a strike in Lázaro Cárdenas.

FRANCE: The framework agreement signed by the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), the European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) and PSA Peugeot Citroën in 2006  provided that the parties would "meet every three years to review the measures taken and plan adjustments as needed through riders to the agreement" to take into account the global changes in the corporation’s business.  

The new agreement signed on May 20, 2010 in Paris strengthens PSA Peugeot Citroën’s commitments to the international core labour standards and stresses the extension of the Group’s requirements to its business partners. In addition it incorporates new commitments to environmental protection and sustainable development. The main improvements to the agreement are:

• Strengthening the provisions on occupational health and safety;
• The application of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, regardless of the contractual arrangement under which workers are employed;
• The promotion of environmental protection and commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
• The involvement of trade unions in the audits carried out as part of the monitoring process; and
• The setting up of a World Works Council to follow up the agreement implementation.   

In addition to the members of the EWC, union representatives from PSA subsidiaries in Brazil and Argentina will sit on this Council which will meet for the first time in the second part of June 2010.

IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina welcomed the improvements to the 2006 agreement and in particular the creation of a World Works Council, in view of the Group’s international development. He added, "This new agreement is an essential tool for promoting sustainable industrial relations and decent working conditions in PSA Peugeot Citroën, its suppliers and subcontractors." 

Present in 160 countries, the PSA Peugeot Citroën Group is focusing its international development on China, Latin America and Russia. In April 2010 the Group launched a new car assembly plant in Kaluga, Russia. The plant 70 per cent owned by PSA Peugeot Citroën and 30 per cent by Mitsubishi Motors is expected to employ some 3,000 workers in 2012 when the plant becomes fully operational. In China, PSA Peugeot Citroën has a joint-venture with Dongfeng and just signed a letter of intent with China Chang’an Automobile Group for the creation of another joint venture. PSA Peugeot Citroën employs about 187,000 people throughout the world. 

The renewal of this framework agreement is in line with the IMF Action Programme 2009-2013 which calls on the IMF to "identify opportunities to strengthen existing agreements, and the options and means that are optimal for pursuing improvements of their content". 

MEXICO: As previously reported, two former workers from Johnson Controls International in Puebla, Mexico who are seeking to establish a representative union at the company were assaulted on April 28.

The Johnson Controls management and the "ghost union" CROM, that controls the protection contract in the Puebla plant,  have found out that workers have taken steps to affiliate to Los Mineros (National Union of Mine & Metal Workers of the Mexican Republic-SNTMMSRM), an independent IMF affiliate in Mexico. The workers who are part of a Workers’ Coalition and several activists supporting their struggle are now being physically attacked, harassed, threatened and intimidated by the CROM union.

IMF joined with its affiliates Canadian Autoworkers, United Autoworkers and United Steel Workers, and USLeap, ProDESC and the Maquila Solidarity Network in a letter to the Mexican government and is encouraging affiliates to take similar action here.

IMF calls on its affiliates to write to the Mexican government demanding it:

• Take immediate action to ensure the security of Enrique Morales and Coral Juarez, relatives and close friends, as well as of the members of CAT
• Investigate the actions of CROM and prosecute illegal acts
• Ensure the fundamental human rights of the workers are respected
• Properly implement ILO Convention 87 on freedom of association and the right to organize.

The situation at Johnson Controls is featured in the latest issue of Metal World, out now. As is the case at Johnson Controls, protection contracts are routinely used in Mexico in violation of workers’ rights. Like many others, the workers here are faced with intimidation and violence as they try to form a union that genuinely represents them.

Focusing on trade union rights, this issue of Metal World also includes a feature on the repression of trade union rights in Russia. Go here to see the latest issue of Metal World.

GENEVA:  The fourth annual Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival – by, for and about unions and working people – tells workers’ stories of confronting the challenges caused by the extreme imbalance in power between the transnational corporate elite and working people.

Among other issues, the current financial crisis takes centre stage in this year’s line-up of 15 shorts, primarily focusing on the voices of workers and their unions: their struggles and triumphs. From the conditions of ship-breaking workers in Bangladesh and the atrocities afflicted on farm workers in Zimbabwe, to the struggle of independent truck drivers in the United States, the programme includes a diverse blend of film shorts. The festival brings into view compelling stories of workers from around the world, occasionally using comedy or tragedy to grab the attention of viewers. Full details of the line-up of shorts will be released in June

The main feature presentation, Like a Bird in a Cage, begins with the resistance of Emine Arslan, a Turkish female textile worker fired from the Desa Safaköy factory as a result of her union activities. Directors Güliz Sağlam and Feryal Saygılıgil document the subsequent resistance of the women workers at Desa. The documentary reveals the working conditions of women, the experience they gain through organizing, the advantages of their resistance, their relationship with the union and their hopes and expectations.

This event is organized by the Global Union Communicator’s Task Force, led by the International Metalworkers’ Federation and representing all global union federations, the International Trade Union Confederation and TUAC.

WHAT: Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival
WHERE: Grütli Theatre, Rue du General-Dufour 16, Geneva
WHEN: June 15 from 20h00 to 22h00, open reception at 19h00

Subtitles in English and French
Admission is free.

For further information please see here or visit the festival website at: http://www.labourfilmshorts.org/

RUSSIA: Dmitry Kozhnev and Alexander Adrianov, activists of the Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers (ITUA), an IMF affiliate in Russia, have a long history of court battles against the management of Tsentrosvarmash, a swivel-truck factory in Tver.

In January 2009 they were both dismissed for their union activities, and then reinstated by court. However, the management wouldn’t let them actually work at the plant, sending both Dmitry and Alex on a forced vacation for months.

In March 2010 they were illegally dismissed again. On April 27-28 a court hearing on their reinstatement took place.

This time the judge decided in favour of the company, despite overwhelming evidence of the illegal nature of the dismissal. The local prosecutor’s office played a key part in this, immediately taking side of the management, even instructing corporate lawyers during the breaks.

However, on May 18 another hearing took place, which ended in a significant victory for the union. Alexander Adrianov managed to prove that sending him on forced vacation for months was illegal. The court ordered the company to pay Alex a few months’ wages in arrears and compensate moral harm.

ITUA claims that the strong national and international solidarity campaign helped achieve this victory. The struggle of the small ITUA local in Tver was the subject of a feature article in the latest issue of Metal World, out now.

It is one of the most important cases of government repression against unions in Russia, since Tver activists were accused of "extremism" – a decisive step in the criminalization of genuine union activities by Russian authorities. To read more go here.

BRAZIL: Metalworkers at Renault, in Sao José dos Pinhais, went on strike on May 14 in support of demands for a bigger share of company profits. The strike ended on May 19 after they accepted the company’s proposal to pay a minimum of $R 7,500 (US$4,100) and a maximum of $R 9,000 (US$4,900) if all production targets are achieved.  The first payment (R$ 4,750) will be made during May and the rest in February 2011.

The company initially offered approximately R$ 6,000 as the minimum and set production targets of 197,000 vehicles and five per cent of the national market. The metalworkers considered this to be unrealistic and impossible to achieve and therefore rejected the proposal. The strike involved 8,000 workers, including directly employed workers (assembly plant and administration) and subcontracted workers and halted production of 700 vehicles a day.

Meanwhile, workers at Volkswagen, also in Sao José dos Pinhais, gave the company 48 hours to make the same offer on profit-sharing made to Volkswagen workers at Sao Bernardo do Campo in Sao Paulo. The company agreed and the first payment of R$ 3,800 (US$2,070) will be made at the end of May. The amount of the second payment will be discussed halfway through this year.

Workers at the Volvo plant in the industrial centre of Curitiba, who also gave a 48 hour ultimatum to the company on the issue of profit-sharing, won the payment of R$ 9,000 (US$4,900) as a minimum but only after going on strike. The company will pay the 2,800 workers R$ 5,000 at the end of the month and the second part in February 2011.

Meanwhile, metalworkers on the first and second shifts at the Bosch plant in the industrial centre of Curitiba decided on May 17 to go on an indefinite strike until the company meets its demands on profit-sharing. At the time of writing, the metalworkers were meeting to decide on how to take the dispute forward.

MALAYSIA: About 200 workers who are members of IMF affiliate the Electrical Industry Workers’ Union (EIWU) staged a peaceful picket in front of a major high voltage cable manufacturing company on May 19. The company, Federal Power Cables, is failing to meet the terms of an agreement with the union. The company is located in the biggest industrial city in Malaysia called Shah Alam, which is about 40 km from Kuala Lumpur. There was a heavy police presence, which are common sights during industrial disputes in Malaysia.

The union has an existing collective agreement with Federal Power Cables, one management failed to comply with. The management refused to grant the contractual bonus and annual wage increments to more than 300 workers. EIWU made several attempts to negotiate with management but the results have been negative. Being left with no other alternative the workers decided to stage pickets outside the company premises.

Maniyan Poovan, General Secretary of EIWU said that at one stage the Managing Director openly stated that he does not like national unions like the EIWU, but preferred in-house unions. He also coaxed workers to leave the union by granting better conditions of employment, which are more favourable than the collective agreement.

Maniyan stressed that the management is also using racial issues to divide the multi-racial workforce. The company uses favouritism based along racial lines to deprive long-serving workers of their promotion. He added, "Tthe union has helped this company for five years to recover from a slump in business and now when it’s business has turned around the management don’t want to honour the provisions of the collective agreement and pay the workers their due benefits." He stressed that the picket would continue and since this plant works on shifts, pickets will be held at different times. He also expressed disgust that the management is trying to bust the union which had been representing the workers in this company for more than 30 years.

Aside from this the management started issuing show-cause letters to workers who took sick leave and approved annual leave. The local shop-stewards were also issued with show-cause letters which might lead to harsh disciplinary action.

Arunasalam. P, IMF Regional Representative who was present at the picket site expressed solidarity support on behalf of the IMF. He called upon the management to honour the collective agreement and pay the workers.

A news report about the picket can be seen here.

The fourth annual Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival — by, for and about unions and working people — tells workers’ stories of confronting the challenges caused by the extreme imbalance in power between the transnational corporate elite and working people.

Among other issues, the current financial crisis takes centre stage in this year’s line-up of 15 shorts, primarily focusing on the voices of workers and their unions: their struggles and triumphs. From the conditions of ship-breaking workers in Bangladesh and the atrocities afflicted on farm workers in Zimbabwe, to the struggle of independent truck drivers in the United States, the programme includes a diverse blend of film shorts. The festival brings into view compelling stories of workers from around the world, occasionally using comedy or tragedy to grab the attention of viewers.

This event is organized by the Global Union Communicator’s Task Force, representing all global union federations, the International Trade Union Confederation and TUAC.

WHAT: Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival
WHERE: Grütli Theatre, Rue du General-Dufour 16, Geneva
WHEN: June 15 from 20h00 to 22h00, open reception at 19h00

Subtitles in English and French
Admission is free.
________________________________

The programme for the Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival 2010 features:

	THE MAN BEHIND THE LABOUR FILM MOVEMENT IAM, USA, February 2010, (00:02:45) As economic troubles continue in the U.S., Chris Garlock a Washington, DC-based labour activist is pursuing his passion by operating a film festival that showcases movies about the crisis, the union movement and the daily life of working-class people. This film was produced by the International Association of Machinists for its online news network.
	HF6 Yannik Bovy, Frederik Tihon, Gérald Jamsin-Leclercq, FGTB, Belgium, 2009, (00:00:20) A short teaser of a documentary about the revival of blast furnace number six at a plant of the global steel group ArcelorMittal in Seraing, Liège, Belgium.
	A CALL TO ACTION Sustain Labour/ITUC, Global, 2009, (00:01:44) A teaser and short film in its own right from the 20 minute film "Time to Tackle Climate Change", which was first launched at the COP15 meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009. The video showcases trade unions’ commitments for action on climate change around the world.
	WHERE SHIPS AND WORKERS GO TO DIE NLC, USA, 2009, (00:09:22) Produced by the U.S.-based National Labor Committee, this moving documentary exposes the harsh, slave like conditions of workers in the ship breaking yards in Bangladesh. U.S. labour activists call on the G20 to put an end to the exploitation.
	REPORT: FAIR GAMES FAIR PLAY OSEO, Switzerland/South Africa, 2009, (00:08:38) A short film reporting on the Fair Games Fair Play campaign led by South African unions and supported by others including the Swiss workers’ organization OSEO, producer of this film. Preparing for the world cup workers fight for better working conditions and better pay.
	WHAT HAVE UNIONS EVER DONE FOR US? Manic Studios, Australia, 2009, 00:02:09 WINNER OF LABOUR START’S VIDEO OF THE YEAR With unions getting a bad wrap from big business, web video designers Manic Studios ask the biting question, what have the unions ever done for us?
	HOUSE OF JUSTICE GAPWUZ, Zimbabwe, 2009, (00:26:05) A chilling documentary on the atrocities conducted by Zimbabwean government in defiance of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) treaty. Accounts of torture, vandalism and violence on Zimbabwean farm owners and workers as they fight for their rights in the face of the land reform program issued by President Mugabe.
	WARNING SIGNS Flawless Media, UK, 2009, (00:00:60) Produced by Flawless Media for the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU), this entry to the Trades Union Congress’ 60 second short film contest in 2009 highlights workplace "warning signs" of when it is time to call for help from a union.
	FUTURE BY OWN HANDS UBWU, Ukraine, 2009, (00:10:02) A short movie that recognizes the important and difficult role that young people play in the life of the Ukrainian Building Workers’ Union. Young unionists from UBWU fight to make their life better. This short film features organizing efforts and the struggle for humane conditions of living and safe and healthy jobs.
	JOIN THE UNION LO, Sweden, 2010, (00:00:40) Landsorganisationen, a Swedish trade union confederation, used this advertisement as part of its organizing campaign. The main purpose of the film is to show how employers often tell workers not to organize, while they themselves have all the help they need in case of a dispute or a conflict.
	RACE TO THE BOTTOM Jonathan King, 2008, USA, (00:05:00) A short online version of a 20 minute documentary film about truck drivers working at the Port of Oakland, where over 2,000 independent truck drivers operate every day. The film looks into the lives of the drivers, as we learn about their struggles to earn a living wage, support their families and stay healthy as they do their jobs, transporting goods in and out of the Port.
	CRUNCH TIME EPMU Unreal Films, New Zealand, 2009, (00:13:42) New Zealand is entering an economic crunch unlike anything seen before in our life time. Prominent economists and trade union leaders discuss what is happening, why, and what workers can do about it. This is an Unreal Films production for the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU).
	UNION OF GREEN Sustain Labour/ITUC, Global, 2009, (00:01:56) A teaser and short film taken from "Time to Tackle Climate Change", which was first launched at the COP15 meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009. The video showcases trade unions’ concrete experiences, challenges, opportunities and commitments for action on climate change.
	ROBONURSE Frances Underwood, Australia, 2009, (00:03:39) This film takes a look at the "cost" of nursing care and what strategies may be introduced by employers or health administrators to reduce nursing costs in the future. Winner of the NSW’s first Labour Film Shorts Festival in 2009.
	JUST ANOTHER COG IN THE MACHINE John Wood, UK, 2009, (00:01:01) A union can make a big difference to people’s experiences in a workplace. This movie was screened at the Canadian International Film Festival in 2009.
	TCO AND FACKET FÖRÄNDRAS Acne Advertising, Sweden, 2009, (00:02:42) A campaign of Swedish trade unions federations aimed at graduates explaining the value of a collective agreement, which among other things sees workers earn on average 80,000 kronor (CHF11,500) more than workers without a collective agreement.
	Feature Presentation : Like a Bird in a Cage (Kafesteki Kuş Gibiydik) Directed by Güliz Sağlam and Feryal Saygılıgil, Turkey, 2009, (00:30:00) Fired for her trade union activities, Emine Arslan, a Turkish female textile worker at Desa Safaköy factory, inspired the resistance of other women workers at the factory. The film tells of the women’s hopes, expectations and relationship with the union.

USA/MEXICO: Unions and supporters protested Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s visit to Washington, D.C. this week and condemned his government’s repression of democratic labour unions in Mexico.

More than 125 members of the United Steelworkers (USW) from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland and Arizona held banners, placards and megaphone chants on the public sidewalk of the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C., on May 19, joined by another 45 staff from the AFL-CIO headquarters and supporters.  

The USW and the AFL-CIO again denounced the Mexican government’s four-year long campaign to destroy the independent mineworkers’ union known as Los Mineros (National Union of Mine & Metal Workers of the Mexican Republic-SNTMMSRM). 

Los Mineros President Napoleon Gómez Urrutia was forcefully removed him from office, union assets have been seized, and striking workers at the Cananea mine owned by mining giant Grupo México have been subjected to a protracted campaign of repression, which has left two dead and many others injured at the hands of the Mexican armed forces.

Members of Los Mineros have been on strike since July 2007 at the Cananea mine over health and safety and other contract violations. On February 11, a federal court gave Grupo México permission to fire the striking workers and terminate the labour agreement. The government has threatened to use armed force to gain control of the mine in Cananea.  

Gomez spoke by cell phone from exile in Vancouver to the demonstrators through a loud speaker. He told the crowd, "We cannot let the government defeat the rights of the Los Mineros to a labor contract."

USW President Leo Gerard said in a statement, "We call on the Mexican government to withdraw its threat to use military force to dislodge the strikers and to negotiate with the Los Mineros to peacefully resolve this conflict."

In a May 17 letter, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka urged the U.S. congressional leadership to raise the issue of workers’ rights with Calderon during his visit.  "It is absolutely critical to the economic and social advancement of the (North American) region that Mexican workers have the opportunity to work in good jobs with higher wages so that they can provide for their families and contribute to real and sustainable development in Mexico," writes Trumka.

Text / Alex Ivanou

Trade union activist Yolanda Morín, 33, is the international secretary at the Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO), one of IMF’s affiliates in Spain, and currently a substitute member of the IMF Executive Committee. In this capacity Yolanda Morín will attend her first IMF Executive Committee meeting in Frankfurt on June 10 and 11, 2010.

Yolanda joined the CC.OO national headquarters only two years ago. However she is not new to the trade union movement. Graduated as a teacher at the age of 21 in Madrid, Yolanda moved to Catalan-speaking Barcelona, where she started her career as a teacher. Soon she found that due to linguistic problems it was difficult to continue. Living in an industrial area Yolanda decided to change her work profile and embarked on a different job in small industrial metalworking enterprises. Notably it was here that she first faced the reality of precarious employment with poor working conditions and a bad system of protection of health and safety.

In a bid to change this reality Yolanda joined a union and made contact with the union world. In the beginning, she worked in the morning at the factory and on free afternoons at the local union, where she volunteered to work with the training department. Soon after that Yolanda was offered a permanent job in the union as a technical assistant responsible for studies of the labour market and workers’ inclusion programs. Yolanda’s activism and interest in participating in collective bargaining led to her becoming a member of the Bosch works council and member of its negotiating team. Later, based on her experience, Yolanda was contacted by Comisiones Obreras and offered a job in Madrid first with responsibility for industrial relations observatories and now as the international secretary.

In her daily work Yolanda is involved in union cooperation projects, she maintains contacts with European works councils and with colleagues in different companies, both in Europe and globally.

In terms of her expectations from her current and future activities with the IMF, Yolanda believes one should be ambitious about what can be done in conjunction with the IMF, while at the same time finding a balance between the available human and financial resources.

Yolanda believes that IMF, together with its affiliates, should fight to oblige companies to implement socially responsible practices, since she is assured they do have responsibilities vis-à-vis their workers and society; companies have significant influence on finances, economic systems and also on governments and their policies.

Yolanda believes that, "the aim should be to change the rules of the game, it is clear that the IMF cannot do that alone, nevertheless we should put pressure on governments and different institutions where unions are involved to seek to change the rules of the game. The present rules have given us the financial and economic crisis. And the brunt of this has been paid by workers and has translated into a loss of basic rights for workers in collective bargaining and negotiations. It has also resulted in an increase of industrial accidents due to the lack of respect by the companies of health and safety regulations."

"Companies do design and evaluate their strategies by communicating within and between themselves; therefore union cooperation is also key. Unions should be in a position to communicate, to set up and evaluate their own strategies," she argues, adding, "therefore there is a clear need to set up global workers’ and trade union networks."

NB: The IMF Working Group on Trade Union Networks in TNCs, met in Geneva in May and will report to the IMF Executive Committee in June 2010.