Unions demand real commitment from LafargeHolcim

The main aim of the conference was to elaborate the pathway for future work and social dialogue in LafargeHolcim. Based on results of the conference the delegates adopted unanimously the “Hyeres Declaration”.

“We appreciate the willingness of the corporate management to enter into this dialogue, but we need to see more serious commitments, timely solutions and finally a written agreement,” states the declaration.

The delegates exchanged updates on workers’ situation at the group facilities in Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin and North America. Delegates from all regions raised concerns about LafargeHolcim’s excessive use of precarious work, resulting in impoverishment, rights violations and fatalities of workers.

The social dialogue in LafargeHolcim is not yet where it should be, and some delegates could not attend the conference. Their respective local management had strongly resisted. The issue was raised with global management of the company who promised to resolve this matter.

In Canada in the beginning of the year, a labour conflict resulted in a strike of workers and an illegal use of strike-breakers by local management. With assistance of IndustriALL Global Union the case was denounced to global management of the company, and the conflict was finally solved in May 2016.

Unfortunately this was not the last conflict, at the conference USW representatives from Canada, Les Metallos, reported of yet another lockout over at LafargeHolcim facility this time at Texada Limestone Mine, British Columbia. The locked-out workers received a strong solidarity message from the conference participants who promised to address the issue with the global management through IndustriALL Global Union and Building and Woodworkers’ International and demand to put an end to the conflict and to restart the negotiations.

The participants noticed some progress at the European level including on the European Works Council agreement, negotiations of which are panned to finalize before the end of the year. They also expressed disappointment that LafargeHolcim has not yet entered into negotiations over a global framework agreement.

The resolution of the almost 25-yearlong conflict and IndustriALL affiliate PCSS’ victory in India has been warmly welcomed. The Indian colleagues reported on further developments of the situation at their plant. But still, part of the conflict in another region of India remains unsolved: the local management refuses to negotiate and solve the issue of people who lost their land to LafargeHolcim’s predecessors.

Claire Boulic Ramaget, deputy head of labour relations and social policies at LafargeHolcim attended the conference and presented company’s future vision and sustainability strategy “The 2030 plan”, and answered questions of the participants. Feliciano Gonzalez, head of labour relations and social policies at LafargeHolcim group, could not attend the session, but he dialled in had a chance to speak to and answer questions of the delegates. Mr Gonzalez confirmed the company's intention to continue negotiations over social dialogue structures with global unions IndustriALL and BWI, including health and safety matters as integral part of the social dialogue.

Alister Scott, head of health department at LafargeHolcim group presented the new LafargeHolcim health plan in which the group sets health hazards prevention as their priority.

With reference to the presented plan Brian Kohler, IndustriALL director for health, safety and sustainability, commented,

“We compliment LafargeHolcim for their efforts in developing their new occupational health and safety plan. The intention of the company to set prevention of health hazards as a priority gives us encouragement. However we regret that management so far failed to involve workers’ representatives in any stage of the elaboration of the proposed plan. Unfortunately the safety side of the plan still focuses on workers’ behaviours rather than safety systems. During the first half of this year 50 people were killed while on job for the company. This means, that the situation with respect to fatalities in LafargeHolcim turned from bad to worse. We strongly believe that all of these deaths are preventable and would be avoided if the group starts involving workers in the design and implementation of all occupational health and safety policies, programmes and procedures at the global, national and plant levels.”

Commenting on the conference results Matthias Hartwich, director for mechanical engineering and materials said,

“I’m proud to be part of this global network. We made a great progress, we made fundamental decisions and we will enter into the social dialogue with the company as soon as they are willing to and I’m glad we had all this wonderful people around and we will make progress over the next months and I’m pretty convinced of that. But we still have a long way to go.”

“We need to organize and we need to get those countries on board, where social dialogue is not as strong as in the countries present in this meeting. We promise to do so and we promise that we will come to a real social dialogue with LafargeHolcim that involves workers and their unions on local, national, regional and global level.”

At the end of the meeting, the world union committee resolved to come together again next year and continue with their work.

Chile – thousands march against unfair pension system

The AFP system was introduced 35 years ago by dictator Augusto Pinochet. Since then, workers pay 10 per cent of their wage into a pension fund. Although the AFPs initially promised to pay a pension equivalent to 70 per cent of the final salary, they are currently paying less than the minimum wage (approx. US$400). The result is that people have to carry on working after reaching retirement age.

The system is specifically disadvantageous to women as they have longer life expectancy, lower wages, and retire at 60, five years earlier than the men.

Protestors want a tripartite, solidarity-based, sharing system that provides workers with decent pensions.

The social movement “No More AFPs”, which organized the demonstration, submitted its proposal to President Michelle Bachelet in September. It wants to turn the proposal into a parliamentary bill. It says that a sharing system is the most efficient for providing better pensions, and channelling current contributions into a sharing fund can create that such a system. Finally, it proposed creating an autonomous institution, similar to the Central Bank, to administer the collective fund.

A national strike has been scheduled for 4 November to call on the government to accept this idea and end the contracts with the AFPs.

Marino Vani, IndustriALL assistant regional secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean said:

We are in solidarity with Chilean workers and we congratulate them on their struggle, their resistance and their proposals. We cannot accept that workers who produce the wealth and grow the capital of our countries live out their days in precarious and inhuman conditions while the government provides private companies with fiscal incentives, tax exemptions, high profit margins and investment guarantees.

We cannot give space to the enemies of peace, says Colombian union leader

Cesar Loza Arenas from USO, the most important petroleum union in Colombia, said his union is currently mobilizing Colombians on all sides to come out on the streets and pressure the government to comply with the peace agreement.  

“Peace is a right for Colombians, as it is for workers. And we are saying that we support peace,” said Loza Arenas. “It doesn’t mean that we agree with the politics of the government but when it comes to peace, we are all united.”

The peace accord was expected to seal the end to a 52-year war with FARC guerillas that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions. It was rejected by the Colombian people by 50.2 per cent in a vote that had a turnout of only 38 per cent of the population.

During our World Congress, 1,500 IndustriALL affiliates unanimously passed a solidarity resolution regretting the result of the referendum, and recommitting support to the peace process with full guarantees for individual and collective freedom.

IndustriALL's general secretary Valter Sanches has since written to the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos informing him of the resolution and calling on the government and the leaders of FARC to continue the pursuit of peace and justice in the country. 

The resolution also gives particular mention to USO and its struggles for workers’ rights at the state-run oil company Ecopetrol.

“This resolution shows that we have backing from the global union movement, telling us workers in Colombia to keep going, that you have our support. You are not alone in the fight,” said Loza Arenas.

Loza Arenas said USO has given advance notice to strike at Ecopetrol, Colombia’s most important petrol company and significant income generator. The union is fighting government plans to sell off key Ecopetrol assets that they say will weaken the company. USO also wants an end to the company’s systematic violations of the rights of direct and indirect workers.

“Of course if the government and the board of Ecopetrol are willing to negotiate we will not go on strike but if they don’t, we will be obliged to go on strike with the support of the workers and the backing of the international community.”

Loza Arenas spoke to IndustriALL at its headquarters in Geneva. He is in the Swiss city to meet the International Labour Organization (ILO) to discuss cases against the government of Colombia for violations of worker and trade union rights in the country.

Loza Arenas and Fabio Arias Giraldo, secretary general of Colombia's trade union centre, CUT, requested IndustriALL to convene and participate in a joint meeting with the Committee on Freedom of Association at the ILO to update the information on the pending cases. 

Labour rights are human rights: UN report

The United Nations has released a report on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the workplace, to be presented to the 71st session of the general assembly today, 20 October 2016.

The report, by special rapporteur Maina Kiai, finds that the growing concentration of corporate power weakens labour rights. Although states are required under international law to respect and promote workers’ rights, the strength of multinational corporations means they often fail.

Workers need protection now more than ever: globalization means the unprecedented growth of complex global supply chains, mass labour migration and a large informal economy. Most of the world’s workers are excluded from legal frameworks, and have no collective bargaining cover or union protection.

“Our world and its globalized economy are changing at a lightning pace, and it is critical that the tools we use to protect to labour rights adapt just as quickly,” Kiai said.

“A first step towards this goal is to obliterate the antiquated and artificial distinction between labour rights and human rights generally.

“Labour rights are human rights, and the ability to exercise these rights in the workplace is prerequisite for workers to enjoy a broad range of other rights, whether economic, social, cultural, political or otherwise.”

Some of the worst violations happen among informal, migrant and women workers in global supply chains. The report highlights the violation of migrants’ rights, including the kafala system in the Gulf states, the H2 guest worker visa in the USA, and gang-masters in the UK.

Women are channeled into low-wage, low status jobs, in the least protected segments of the economy. The gender wage gap is 77%, women do the bulk of unpaid care work, and many face verbal, physical or sexual abuse, sexual harassment or rape at work.

The report finds that there is a coordinated attack on workers’ rights, both at national and international level, with the ILO employers’ group arguing in 2012 that the right to strike, protected by Convention 87, did not exist at all.

Many states fail to protect workers’ rights to freedom of assembly: this includes outright bans on independent unions in countries like Saudi Arabia and China, new labour laws in India that increase flexibility, crackdowns on unions in Egypt and South Korea, and states in the US providing incentives to Nissan and Volkswagen to remain union-free. The report criticizes the Olympic Committee and FIFA for failing to protect workers’ rights in the 2016 Rio Olympics and upcoming Qatar World Cup.

Corporate social responsibility has created a multibillion dollar voluntary compliance industry that has been completely ineffective. This is in stark contrast to binding agreements, like the Bangladesh Accord, negotiated with unions.

The report concludes with a set of recommendations to states, businesses and civil society, including trade unions, the ILO and the UN.

States should ratify all relevant international and regional human rights instruments, including ILO Conventions 87 and 98. They should assure that labour rights can be exercised by everyone, regardless of type of work, sector or immigration status.

Business should recognize workers’ rights to form unions, engage in collective bargaining and action, including the right to strike. They should stop union busting and reprisals against activists.

Unions and civil society should work more closely together, and human rights organizations should recognize labour rights as part of their core mandates. Unions should do more to reach out to disenfranchised workers, including migrant and informal workers.

The UN should integrate labour rights into all its programmes, and ensure that workers’ rights are protected in all tendering and lending.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Jenny Holdcroft said:

“It is really important for the UN General Assembly to recognize that human and labour rights are inseparable. Freedom of association is under attack everywhere and trade unions are in the front line of defense.”

IndustriALL supports Carlton & United Breweries boycott

In July 2016, Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), maker of Australia's most popular beers, brutally attacked the employment conditions of 55 union machine maintenance workers – the CUB 55 – at its Melbourne brewery, ahead of the impending acquisition of CUB’s parent company SABMiller by AB InBev.

The CUB 55 are members of IndustriALL Global Union affiliates the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) and the Electrical Trades Union (ETU). They were told their jobs would be outsourced to a new contractor but they could return to work as employees of the subcontractor – with a 65% pay cut.

The acquisition of SABMiller has been officially approved, giving rise to a global brewery giant operating as AB InBev. The new owners have expressed a desire to resolve the dispute, but after 133 days, workers are still walking the picket line.

Speaking in support of the resolution at IndustriALL’s 2nd Congress in Rio de Janeiro on 7 October, Andrew Dettmer of AMWU said that the union boycott of CUB products had already resulted in a significant loss of sales. The resolution was unanimously adopted at Congress, and IndustriALL has written to CUB demanding a just settlement of the dispute.
 
In solidarity letters to AMWU and ETU, IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches said:

“ IndustriALL is outraged at the behavior of Carlton and United Breweries in sacking the 55 maintenance workers at its Abbotsford, Victoria plant, and the offering of their same jobs back at 35% of the previous rate of pay.

“We stand together with the 55 workers, who have now been picketing the site for over 100 days. In addition, IndustriALL fully supports the call for a boycott of all Carlton and United Breweries (CUB) products, and requests all conscious workers around the world to refuse to consume CUB products.”

AMWU and ETU are affiliated to IndustriALL as well as to the food workers’ international, the IUF. Please add your name to the IUF protest letter by SENDING A MESSAGE TO AB INBEV calling on the company to resolve the long-running dispute and reach a fair and mutually acceptable agreement with the Australian unions concerned.

 

IndustriALL shows solidarity with victims of BHP Billiton

Shareholders of mining giant BHP Billiton met in London today, 20 October, for their annual general meeting. Representatives of victims of BHP Billiton mines from three different countries joined a protest, organized by the London Mining Network.

BHP Billiton operates in 13 countries. Protesters came from Brazil, to protest the Samarco dam disaster and its aftermath, from Colombia, to protest the forced removal of communities from the area surrounding the Cerrejón coal mine, and from Indonesia to protest the contamination of rivers in the rain forests of Borneo.

IndustriALL Global Union general secretary Valter Sanches sent a letter of support to the victims of the Samarco mining dam disaster in Mariana, Brazil on 5 November 2015.

He said:

“It cannot be business as usual at this shareholder’s meeting, the first since the Samarco disaster. We demand a full and impartial investigation of this environmental disaster.

“IndustriALL finds it unacceptable that BHP Billiton has sought to buy its way out of this tragedy, which should not have happened in the first place, by taking charge of only $1.3 billion, a far lower sum than the $8 billion public civil claim instituted by the Brazilian authorities.

“As the 5 November anniversary of the disaster approaches, IndustriALL is preparing to commemorate this tragic event, the worst ever environmental disaster in Brazil’s history.

“Trade unions, and environmental and human rights organizations will express their full solidarity with those affected, one year on, demanding that all necessary steps be taken to ensure that such an accident never occurs again; that those found responsible be punished to the full extent of the law; and that the River Doce be brought back to its original state.”

The disaster was the result of the collapse of a huge tailings dam at the Samarco Mineração S.A, which is a mine jointly owned by BHP Billiton and the Brazilian company, Vale. The iron ore tailings dam, which was BHP Billiton’s responsibility, collapsed, releasing a toxic wave which flooded the valley, killing 19 people while injuring others, with an estimated 500 people displaced from their homes.

Sludge and mining residues from the dam reached the River Doce, a source of drinking water in the south east of Brazil. As a result, municipal authorities had to ban the use of river water for human consumption. The contaminated water even reached the Atlantic Ocean.

A separate police investigation has accused Samarco Mineração S.A of willful misconduct, stating that the company ignored clear signs that the dam was at risk of collapsing. There are also claims that seek to corroborate the police report that Samarco Mineração had been warned about the possibility of the dam collapsing.

The letter from IndustriALL was read out at the demonstration as protestors reenacted the dam disaster.

IndustriALL affiliates that belong to the BHP global network will meet on the eve of the anniversary of the environmental disaster and attend the protest on 5 November.

Trade unions protest one year after Mariana mining disaster

The disaster occurred on 5 November 2015 at a Samarco Mineração S.A mine in Mariana, Brazil, and the region has still not recovered. IndustriALL Global Union affiliates will take action and seek a response from the company.

“On 3 and 4 November, the first meeting of the BHP Billiton global trade union network will be held in Belo Horizonte to have a political debate about how to confront the multinational.

The day after the meeting will be the first anniversary of the disaster on 5 November, when all the unions representing BHP Billiton employees will meet in Mariana to extend their practical solidarity to affiliates and the affected communities. We are going to send a message to the company that we want it to take responsibility,” said Glen Mpufane, director of IndustriALL Global Union’s mining sector.

One year ago, a dam holding back waste collapsed at a mine run by Samarco Mineração S.A, owned by Vale and BHP Billiton, causing the biggest environmental disaster in the history of Brazil. A flood of toxic sludge caused 19 deaths, affected flora and fauna, and several people remain unaccounted for.

On 17 November, Samarco signed a preliminary commitment to Brazilian inspectors, promising to allocate $US 260 million to fund a series of emergency measures that included the prevention, mitigation, remediation and compensation for the environmental and social effects of the incident.

In August 2016, inspectors took legal action against Samarco, which had not complied with the agreement to pay compensation to 105 families. On 10 October 2016, the Minas Gerais public prosecutor ruled at a hearing in Mariana that Samarco should pay compensation to 28 of the affected families.

“BHP needs to be held accountable for the environmental disaster and for their collective bargaining practices. And that is why it is important for trade union leaders to travel to Brazil for the BHP network meeting. Australian unions will be proud to be there alongside the global trade union movement,” said Tony Maher, national president of the CFMEU, Australia.

IndustriALL affiliates that belong to the BHP global network will meet on the eve of the anniversary of the environmental disaster and attend the protest on 5 November. They have produced a video to publicize the event.

Lucineide Varjão, president of the CNQ/CUT and joint president of IndustriALL’s mining sector, and Edson Bicalho, general secretary of FEQUIMFAR-Força Sindical, reiterated the importance of speaking on behalf of the affected workers.

The new IndustriALL general secretary, Valter Sanches said:

I wish trade unions and social movements success in their solidarity mission to investigate, protest and extend their solidarity regarding the tragedy caused by Samarco, BHP and Vale. The idea is that we can reach agreement on how best to confront the company’s strategy and ensure that nothing like this can happen again.

Congress resolutions on peace in Colombia and against the coup in Brazil

The first resolution regretted the negative result of the plebiscite on the Colombian government-FARC peace process, which had sought to end the armed conflict that has caused so much bloodshed in the country and the trade union movement.

Congress called on the Colombian government and FARC leaders to continue their efforts to negotiate peace in the country and to guarantee respect for individual and collective freedoms.

“We are calling for a responsible solution to obtain peace. Millions of people have been displaced and hundreds of people, including trade unionists, have been killed. Now is the time to extend solidarity. I call on you to support this resolution,” said Pablo Santos of the energy workers’ union SINTRAELECOL, affiliated to IndustriALL in Colombia, and the resolution was approved minutes later.

The President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, recently announced that he will extend the bilateral ceasefire with the FARC guerrillas until 31 December with a view to negotiating a new agreement in the coming months.

The second condemned the coup and brutal attacks on the rights of the working class in Brazil.

Lucineide Varjão, president of the national chemical workers federation (CNQ/CUT), affiliated to IndustriALL in Brazil, spoke in support of the second resolution. Varjão said that the government that came to power in a coup in Brazil is implementing the agenda of the elites, including the elimination of social rights and benefits.

“The de facto government is reversing all we have achieved in the last 12 years. It has no respect for democracy, women or youth. We must defend our rights. We need your support,” she told delegates.

The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies recently approved a proposal for a constitutional amendment that is President Michel Temer’s top priority. Unions have fiercely criticized the proposal because it freezes spending on health, education, housing and social welfare for twenty years. Another three votes are required before the proposal becomes law.

Delegates to congress condemned these attacks on the historical gains of the working class in Brazil, such as the eight-hour day, retirement age and decent work.

They decided to intensify joint action by affiliates to reaffirm the principle of the unity of the workers of the world. The main Brazilian trade union centres have agreed to hold a one-day national strike on 11 November.

Finally, they agreed to join the ITUC "Stand With Lula" campaign launched on 20 September to defend the former president from the abusive way in which he is being treated in Brazil.

Valter Sanches, IndustriaALL general secretary, said that the success of the peace process in Colombia and defeat of the Brazilian government’s anti-social measures will have implications for the entire region, and these two struggles therefore had IndustriALL’s unconditional support.

Labour rights are human rights: UN report

The United Nations has released a report on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the workplace, to be presented to the 71st session of the general assembly today, 20 October 2016.

The report, by special rapporteur Maina Kiai, finds that the growing concentration of corporate power weakens labour rights. Although states are required under international law to respect and promote workers’ rights, the strength of multinational corporations means they often fail.

Workers need protection now more than ever: globalization means the unprecedented growth of complex global supply chains, mass labour migration and a large informal economy. Most of the world’s workers are excluded from legal frameworks, and have no collective bargaining cover or union protection.

“Our world and its globalized economy are changing at a lightning pace, and it is critical that the tools we use to protect to labour rights adapt just as quickly,” Kiai said.

“A first step towards this goal is to obliterate the antiquated and artificial distinction between labour rights and human rights generally.

“Labour rights are human rights, and the ability to exercise these rights in the workplace is prerequisite for workers to enjoy a broad range of other rights, whether economic, social, cultural, political or otherwise.”

Some of the worst violations happen among informal, migrant and women workers in global supply chains. The report highlights the violation of migrants’ rights, including the kafala system in the Gulf states, the H2 guest worker visa in the USA, and gang-masters in the UK.

Women are channeled into low-wage, low status jobs, in the least protected segments of the economy. The gender wage gap is 77%, women do the bulk of unpaid care work, and many face verbal, physical or sexual abuse, sexual harassment or rape at work.

The report finds that there is a coordinated attack on workers’ rights, both at national and international level, with the ILO employers’ group arguing in 2012 that the right to strike, protected by Convention 87, did not exist at all.

Many states fail to protect workers’ rights to freedom of assembly: this includes outright bans on independent unions in countries like Saudi Arabia and China, new labour laws in India that increase flexibility, crackdowns on unions in Egypt and South Korea, and states in the US providing incentives to Nissan and Volkswagen to remain union-free. The report criticizes the Olympic Committee and FIFA for failing to protect workers’ rights in the 2016 Rio Olympics and upcoming Qatar World Cup.

Corporate social responsibility has created a multibillion dollar voluntary compliance industry that has been completely ineffective. This is in stark contrast to binding agreements, like the Bangladesh Accord, negotiated with unions.

The report concludes with a set of recommendations to states, businesses and civil society, including trade unions, the ILO and the UN.

States should ratify all relevant international and regional human rights instruments, including ILO Conventions 87 and 98. They should assure that labour rights can be exercised by everyone, regardless of type of work, sector or immigration status.

Business should recognize workers’ rights to form unions, engage in collective bargaining and action, including the right to strike. They should stop union busting and reprisals against activists.

Unions and civil society should work more closely together, and human rights organizations should recognize labour rights as part of their core mandates. Unions should do more to reach out to disenfranchised workers, including migrant and informal workers.

The UN should integrate labour rights into all its programmes, and ensure that workers’ rights are protected in all tendering and lending.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Jenny Holdcroft said:

“It is really important for the UN General Assembly to recognize that human and labour rights are inseparable. Freedom of association is under attack everywhere and trade unions are in the front line of defense.”

6,000 jobs to go at state-owned mines in Botswana

On 7 October, the government of Botswana announced that it was closing its largest copper and nickel producer BCL Limited with immediate effect.  BCL Limited, which was put into provisional liquidation on 9 October, owns the BCL copper mine in Selebi Phikwe and the Tati Nickel Mine in Francistown.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Botswana Mine Workers Union (BMWU), says workers are gripped in shock and disbelief following revelation of the closures, which came without any warning.  

Latest reports are that all the 5,500 workers at the BCL mine and 700 workers at Tati will have their contracts terminated at the end of the month. These do not include an estimated 1,000 contractor workers at BCL. Some miners will be reemployed by the liquidator to care for and maintain the mines until February 2017.

“The situation is extremely unfair on the workers. We have a retrenchment agreement but the liquidator does not want to fulfill it. He thinks it is not a contractual agreement for shareholders and only wants to pay the bare minimum. Since the liquidator was appointed we have been unable to meet with him,” said Jack Tlhagale, President of the BMWU. “We don’t believe there is a good reason to close the mines. These mines should be reopened.”

IndustriALL Global Union has written to the Vice President of Botswana, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi, calling on the government to reverse its decision to shut down the mines and to engage with BMWU.

BMWU says government claims that it has been pumping money into BCL are untrue and the last time it injected cash into the BCL mine was in 2003. The union argues that BCL can be profitable if managed correctly, and that the government should also have made financial provisions for the normal fluctuations in commodity prices, which are expected to recover in 2018.

In the meantime the government has failed to terminate employees with any decency: “Workers need to be repatriated,” said Tlhagale. “They are living in company houses and have nowhere to go.”

BMWU says the government has failed to explain how workers on anti-retroviral treatment and other medical conditions will be treated, or clarify what will happed to the school-going children of employees subsidized by the company.

IndustriALL’s general secretary, Valter Sanches, said: “The rash decision to close the mines and cut thousands of jobs is a catastrophe for the miner workers and their families. The government must do everything in its power to reverse the decision, save jobs and rebuild the mining industry in Botswana. The government cannot just toy with lives of workers and their families. They deserve at the very least to be treated with respect and dignity.”

On 11 October, BCL Mine pulled out of a US$337 million deal with Russian-owned Norilsk Nickel Africa to buy its 50 per cent share in the Nkomati nickel operation in South Africa. Commentators say that the reason for putting the BCL into provisional liquidation is protect it to exposure from creditors, including the failed purchase of Nkomati.