BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: The renegade Indian steel company run by Pramod Mittal was made to pay back wages to 1,250 members of the Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metals of Bosnia-Herzegovina (SSHN-FBIH) this month.

A deadline of February 15 was met by Mittal’s company, Global Ispat Koksana Industtrija Lukavac (GIKIL), which manages and half-owns the sodium carbonate plant, and wages were paid through December 2009.

Workers at GIKIL, also half-owned by the Canton of Tuzla, and SSHN-FBIH’s President Kata Ivelijc assured that back wages were paid by the delinquent Mittal through their vigilant strikes and determination. They received assistance outside of Bosnia-Herzegovina from the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), and the European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF).

After receiving no pay for work performed over the final quarter of 2009, SSHN-FBIH began a week-long strike action on January 6. That strike gained them back-pay for October and November, and then the outside intervention and workers’ actions at the plant and inside Tuzla got them December’s pay by the deadline, February 15, a date on which workers were braced to take another strike action.

The empowered action of workers in highly industrialized northern Bosnia was widely noted across Europe. Both the ICEM and SSHN-FBIH pledge unified vigilance on future salaries to be paid on time, justified increases to those salaries, and improved health and safety conditions at GIKIL.

Kata Ivelijc thanked the ICEM, IMF, and EMF for "the cooperation and support" and said the intervention "left a strong impression on the institutions and media" in the region. For more information see the ICEM website.

MEXICO: Striking workers at the Grupo Mexico mine in Cananea will hold a minute of silence today, February 19, in memory of the 65 miners who died on this day four years ago at Pasta de Conchos.

The 65 miners were trapped underground on February 19, 2006 when a methane explosion occurred in the number eight shaft of the Pasta de Conchos mine owned by Grupo México in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. Many of the miners that died were members of the Mexican Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (SNTMMSRM). Immediately after the blast the Mexican government deployed army troops to guard the mine.

Only two bodies were recovered at the time of the incident. Today the United Steelworkers have filed a lawsuit on behalf of the families of the deceased coal miners in a U.S. federal court in Arizona seeking damages from Grupo México and related companies.

The lawsuit alleges Grupo México and the other corporate defendants failed and refused to take the necessary steps to prevent the disaster even though they were informed of unsafe conditions by the Mexican government and the miners themselves.

This tragic event precipitated and coincided with a series of actions that included the illegal removal of Gómez as the Mexican miners ‘union’s general secretary, continuing violence and intimidation of union members and leaders, including the killing of two striking workers in Lázaro Cárdenas, and Gómez’ exile in Canada.

In addition, at Grupo México’s massive copper mine at Cananea in the state of Sonora members of the Mexican miners’ union began a strike in July 2007 over health and safety concerns at the mine.

The International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) and others condemned a decision by a Mexican appeals court last week on February 11 to allow the Grupo México mining company to fire the 1,200 striking workers and union members at its Cananea copper mine.

The IMF and ICEM is urging restraint  by the Mexican authorities fearing the court ruling will result in violence between armed Mexican troops and the miners.

IMF regional Representative Jorge Almeida has joined an international delegation in Cananea, today, to show solidarity support to the striking miners as they remember the dead at Pasta de Conchos.

GERMANY: IG Metall and Volkswagen AG reached an agreement on February 16 to extend until 2014 job security for 95,000 workers at plants in Wolfsburg, Emden, Hanover, Salzgitter, Brunswick and Kassel and VW Financial Services AG. The employment guarantee was already part of the current negotiated agreement due to expire next year and has now been extended to 2014.

It was also agreed that all apprentices in the company will get a regular employment contract after finishing their apprenticeship, providing 6,400 young people with job security in the future.

Negotiations for the VW plants in Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden are continuing, where it is expected the same principles will apply. Elsewhere workers at VW’s Audi plants are covered by regional collective bargaining contracts and subject to a separate negotiating process.

Also in the agreement is a commitment from VW to invest additional money to create new jobs in innovative and alternative sectors.

"This outcome shows that it is possible for companies to weather the storm of a global financial crisis while at the same time providing for job security for the workers who make the success of the company possible," said Helmut Lense, IMF Director for Auto.

THAILAND: Over 2 million migrants have been threatened by the Royal Thai Government with deportation after February 28, 2010 if they fail to enter a complex "nationality verification" process. Over 80 per cent of these migrants are from Burma and face ethnic and political conflict as well as continuing economic deterioration in their homeland, which is controlled by a military government. Migrants from Burma left their country illegally but are still being pressured by the Thai government to submit their biographical information to Burma’s military government, return to Burma to complete nationality verification and then return to work "legally" in Thailand with temporary Burmese passports.

The International Metalworkers’ Federation has joined its Thai affiliate TEAM, other labour and human rights groups in seeking to relax this ruling and ensure protection of migrants’ human rights.

The Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) in Thailand reports that:

• Most migrants in Thailand do not yet understand the nationality verification process
• Many migrants in Thailand have not yet entered nationality verification
• Genuine humanitarian concerns remain for migrants forced to go through nationality verification in Burma
• Unregulated nationality verification brokers are exploiting migrants
• Many migrants from Burma cannot and will not enter nationality verification but no strategy to support them exists

In an open letter delivered to the Thai Prime Minister on February 16, the IMF joined over 60 Thai and international rights groups and trade unions in calling on the Thai government to extend the February 28, 2010 deadline and immediately cease threats of mass deportation. A copy of the letter can be seen here.

Earlier on February 16, outside the United Nation’s (UN) offices in Bangkok, complaint letters were submitted by protesters to representatives of the UN’s Special Rapporteurs on the Human Rights of Migrants and on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, as well as the Director General of the International Labour Organization.

MEXICO: Two global union federations are urging the Mexican government and Mexican armed forces to use restraint in any attempt to secure Grupo México’s Cananea copper mine in Sonora State. The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) and the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) are deeply concerned that a court ruling last week will precipitate violence between armed Mexican troops and miners represented by an affiliate of the two Geneva-based labour federations, Mexico’s National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (SNTMMSRM).  

The caution to Mexican authorities comes following an February 11 decision by a labour appellate court upholding a Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board declaration to end a 31-month strike by the union, and terminating the collective agreement between SNTMMSRM and Grupo México.

The ICEM and IMF are aware that federal troops have been dispatched to northern Sonora State. The ICEM and IMF are also in direct contact with the Mexican trade union and believe miners at Cananea are resolved to continue occupying the mine until a fair and equitable labour agreement is reached.

"This week is a very critical time at Cananea and we urge the Mexican government to order its forces to use prudence and abeyance in dealing with workers," said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. "If the mine is to reopen, we insist that Grupo México, the government, and the union engage in honest dialogue to address the issues that are unresolved, and to recognise the union in a productive spirit."

"The use of violence of any kind will serve only to further isolate the parties," said IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina. "We understand that the legal process has now been exhausted, so we urge respect and balance and hopefully a negotiated resolve can occur that will put the miners back to work in a region of Mexico that desperately needs income-generating jobs."

Together, the ICEM and IMF represent 45 million workers globally. The ICEM serves as the umbrella global union federation for 467 trade unions in 132 countries, while the IMF represents the interests of 200 trade unions in 100 countries.

GLOBAL:  To promote the development of trade union films, the International Metalworkers’ Federation, in collaboration with the International Trade Union Confederation and all Global Union Federations, is hosting the 4^th Annual Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival in Geneva, Switzerland on June 15, 2010.

IMF affiliates are invited to submit copies of short films that they have produced or been involved in producing for possible inclusion in the programme. Submission of films on all labour issues are encouraged, however this year organizers hope to feature films that focus on union and worker responses to the global financial crisis and climate change.

Films to the Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival need to be submitted by no later than March 31, 2010. Please send copies of your films on DVD with a short paragraph describing the film, why it was produced and how it was used to:

International Metalworkers’ Federation
Case Postale 1516
CH-1227 Geneva Switzerland

The IMF will need unfettered rights to show the film and publish it online, of course with full acknowledgement of who created the material. Due to resource constraints for interpretation, the IMF is only able to accept films in English language or with English subtitles. For more information please contact Anita Gardner at: [email protected]

Trade unionists and filmmakers are also reminded that, for the first time ever, LabourStart is sponsoring a Labour Video of the Year competition. Videos submitted to this competition must be on the web, and less than 10 minutes long. They must focus primarily on work, workers or worker’s issues. Please submit your nominations before midnight GMT on February 15, 2010.

To find out more about labour film festivals around the world go to: https://laborfilms.dabbledb.com/page/laborfilms/oohjaYNX#

This site is sponsored by the DC Labor FilmFest and LabourStart, who also sponsor the online labour film database https://laborfilms.dabbledb.com/page/laborfilms/ePjMknLk# . The database includes no fewer than 1,465 union films and videos. If you have videos to suggest for inclusion in either of these lists, please send them on to: [email protected]

GLOBAL: A second survey conducted by the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) and the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) on precarious work, contract and agency labour shows a continuing increase in the number of workers employed on precarious contracts. The results demonstrate the need to continue to fight against the rise of precarious work.

The rise occurred during an economic crisis that gripped many countries during 2009 and led to massive lay-offs of short-term contract workers, and could perhaps indicate that many companies who have begun hiring again are doing so with fixed-term or temporary workers.

A total of 66 per cent of ICEM and IMF affiliates that responded indicated that there has been an increase in temporary or part-time work in their sectors and in their countries in 2009. Only 22 per cent of affiliates reported that they had seen a decrease, with a further 12 per cent stating that there had been no change.

Two-thirds of the ICEM and IMF affiliates who replied indicated that the wage and benefit gap between direct, permanently employed workers and contract and agency labour workers had increased over the last year as a result of the global economic crisis. This growing wage gap between permanently employed workers and contract workers seems to be more pronounced outside of countries in the OECD area.

Another important factor is that unions are taking action against the proliferation of precarious jobs, with 40 per cent of ICEM and IMF affiliates saying that they are already taking measures to avoid an increase in precarious work once the economy begins to improve. Another 39 per cent are currently reflecting on how to take action on this issue. Only 14 per cent indicated that they had not yet taken any action, and a mere seven per cent of affiliates stated that this is not a problem for them.

Recruiting short-term or temporary agency workers into unions remains a challenge, with only 28 per cent of affiliates reporting that their union has more contract and agency worker members than it did last year. A full 37 per cent of ICEM and IMF affiliates indicated that the amount of members employed as contract and agency workers had remained the same, and 35 per cent said that there had been a decrease in membership of workers employed on a contract or agency basis.

A total of 252 ICEM and IMF affiliates responded to the multilingual survey. Responses were received from all regions, with Africa, Asia, and Europe each being responsible for about one third of all responses and a further eight per cent of replies came from the Americas. A more detailed visual representation of all the results is available here.

UKRAINE: Local union at Leoni Wiring Systems plant in Lviv area won a legal battle on January 28 with the district court ordering the company to reinstate local union leader, Vladimir Shikitka.

Despite company pressure, a union affiliated to Automobile and Agricultural Machinery Workers’ Union of Ukraine (AAMWU) was organized at the plant in January 2009. Vladimir Shikitka was elected as the president of the new union.

As local management immediately took an anti-union position, AAMWU representatives met with Leoni in Germany. The meeting was organized by the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) and IG Metall. The company assured union members that it was committed to following the law and didn’t intend to violate the International Framework Agreement, but back in Ukraine things didn’t change.

Leoni signed a declaration on social rights and industrial relations with the IMF in 2002. This International Framework Agreement stipulates that the company will respect fundamental trade union and worker rights.

Despite assurances from company managers in Germany, the plant management opposed each and every union activity, even installing an information stand. Union leader Vladimir Shikitka, a worker with a perfect record, was accused of "systematic neglect of duty" and fired on July 7, 2009. Not only did this decision violate basic labour standards, but it was clearly illegal in Ukraine, since the national labour code required the company to consult with the union before dismissing one of its leaders.

AAMWU immediately filed a complaint.

It took four court hearings to finally recognize the company actions as illegal. On January 28 the district court ordered Leoni to immediately reinstate Shikitka, pay him an average wage in arrears and compensate all legal expenses.

AAMWU and IMF will continue to watch closely the situation at Leoni Wiring Systems plant.

RUSSIA: On February 3, 2010 a court hearing took place in Tver, Russia. The Interregional Autoworkers’ Trade Union (ITUA), an IMF affiliate, tried to hold the local prosecutor’s office accountable for its anti-union position. However, the court declined to satisfy the union’s demands.

In November 2008 Dmitri Kozhnev, leader of the ITUA-affiliated union at ‘TsentroSvarMash’ plant in Tver, wrote a letter to the prosecutor’s office, urging the authorities to investigate poor working conditions, lack of health and safety measures and low wages at the plant.

However, several such letters resulted in the prosecutor’s office investigating the union instead of the employer. All members of a rather small ITUA organization at ‘TsentroSvarMash’ were summoned to the prosecutor’s office for questioning.

When the employer decided to get rid of Kozhnev and fired him, the prosecutor’s office didn’t do anything, even though the management acted illegally and Kozhnev was reinstated later by court’s decision.

While the authorities did nothing to protect ‘TsentroSvarMash’ workers, pressure on ITUA was gradually increasing.

Several ITUA materials, including an IMF leaflet, were deemed ‘extremist’ by the court and joined the ranks of far-right pamphlets and Islamic fundamentalist propaganda, however the court refused even to disclose its full decision to ITUA, citing the fact that the union was ‘not a side of the court case’.

This legal mess culminated on February 3, 2010, when the district court decided that the prosecutor’s office’s failure to investigate ‘TsentroSvarMash’ was justified. Thus the whole anti-union and anti-labour attitude of the authorities received approval.

On January 20, 2010, the All-Russia Confederation of Labor (VKT) and the Russian Labor Confederation (KTR) lodged a complaint to the International Labour Organization’s Committee on Freedom of Association regarding mass and systematic violations of trade union rights in Russia. The complaint, which also document attacks on ITUA members, is supported by the IMF, the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

GERMANY:  Fighting for their jobs, 130 workers of the Automotive Lighting Company have been on strike since January 26, 2010. Automotive Lighting is a supplier of the automotive industry.

Following a management decision on November 27, 2009 to relocate production to other sites, IG Metall and the works council have demanded talks with the management to discuss a concept to maintain jobs in the plant in Reutlingen.

To date management has refused negotiations on this issue and are adhering rigidly to their plans of relocation. For this reason, the workers decided to go on strike to fight for the survival of their workplaces.

The strike is ongoing and the IMF sent a solidarity letter to the striking workers in Reutlingen.