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After four years of existence, the Global Union Research Network (GURN), a joint ILO and global unions research forum, unveiled a more user-friendly and attractive web site. Users will find it much easier to navigate and search for documents and information on the many topics covered by the institute. 
 
A new addition to the site is the topic on Public-Private Partnership, which allows GURN to provide information on eleven important research topics: Corporate Governance; Economic Alternatives and Poverty Eradication; Global Trade Union Strategies (Union Renewal); Health Politics and Trade Unions; Migration; OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) &amp; International Financial Institutions (IFIs); Public-Private Partnerships; Sustainable Development; Trade; and Wages and Collective Bargaining 
 
The new Public-Private Partnership (PPP) page is created to shed light on the issues and concerns related to PPPs in different countries. 
 
GURN is a platform for trade unionists and researchers dealing with the challenges of globalization from a labour perspective. Partners to it include the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) of the OECD, the Global Union Federations, the ILO&rsquo;s Bureau for Workers&rsquo; Activities (ACTRAV), and the ILO&rsquo;s Institute for Labour Studies. 
 
The new site can be found <a href="http://www.gurn.info/en/">here</a>.

GURN Launches New Website

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On 17-18 November, Finland&rsquo;s Transport Workers Union (AKT) imposed a two-day boycott on handling exports of all Stora Enso wood and paper products from Finland. The boycott occurred because the company allegedly told subcontractors at the Port of Kemi to refrain from signing labour agreements that are in line with the union&rsquo;s pay and benefits package. 
 
The union believes that all goods handled through ports should be done under terms of its labour agreement. Stora Enso insists on lower standards for sub-contract workers. AKT did the same action last summer at the Port of Kemi. 
 
On 17 and 18 November, unionised dockworkers were refusing to unload trains or trucks delivering wood and paper from Stora mills at Kotka and Hamina. Kotka is one of the bigger export points for the Finnish company&rsquo;s products. The Port of Kemi was not affected by last month&rsquo;s two-day boycott. 
 
In other Stora Enso news, the company has completed its mandatory social talks with trade unions at its Imatra and Anjalankoski operations, two mills included in the firm&rsquo;s most recent restructuring which has caused thousands of retrenchments. A total of 330 paperworkers will lose their jobs when paper machines and coating operations are shuttered in 2008. At Imatra&rsquo;s Tainionkoski mill two weeks ago, a worker was killed when he was squeezed inside a roll packing machine. 
 
In Germany, Stora&rsquo;s supervisory board made the decision a week ago to shut down a coated paper machine at the Kabel Mill and endorsed the company&rsquo;s September restructuring announcement that a containerboard machine would be shut at the Baienfurt mill. A total of 520 German jobs will be lost.

Finnish Port Workers Boycott Stora Enso Exports over Subcontractors’ Rights

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The last big pulp and paper employer in Canada&rsquo;s Western region agreed to the pattern labour agreement, as set by ICEM North American affiliate Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union. Some 2,000 workers of Catalyst Paper, the continent&rsquo;s second largest newsprint producer, are expected to agree to terms shortly in balloting at four worksites. 
 
That gives some 12,000 paperworkers in Canada&rsquo;s industry-battered West renewal labour agreements. The CEP still has to negotiate with some smaller pulp and paper employers in the West. The pattern was set when the region&rsquo;s largest pulp and papermaker &ndash; employment wise &ndash; Canfor Pulp Ltd. came to terms for total 10% wage increases over the four-year term of the pattern in early July. 

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That was followed by agreement at multiple mills by Howe Sound Pulp and Paper, Domtar Corp., Kruger Products, and West Fraser Timber Co. The pattern accord also contains significant benefit increases, craft trades allowances, and job security provisions, including good severance packages. 
 
&ldquo;During the tough economic times we are facing, maintaining this pattern across the Canadian West is an important victory,&rdquo; said CEP president Dave Coles. 
 
The CEP covers seven branch unions at Catalyst&rsquo;s four mill sites, Crofton, Powell River, Campbell River, and Port Alberni, all in the province of British Colombia. The agreement for pulp and paper firms operating in the West expired on 1 April 2008. A separate agreement covering 20,000 workers in Canada&rsquo;s East region expires on 1 April 2009.

Last Major Pact in Place for Western Canadian Paperworkers

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The ICEM has received a request for affiliation by the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM), a progressive trade union of 250,000 members. Although formal acceptance of the affiliation is subject to approval by the regional committee and the ICEM Executive Committee, it is anticipated that approval will be unanimous. 
 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, in a letter to SNTMMSRM Secretary General Napoleon G&oacute;mez Urrutia and the union&rsquo;s executive board, welcomed the application for affiliation: &ldquo;We view your affiliation as an historic step to not only align with mining unions throughout the world but also to further integrate the struggle for free and democratic trade unionism in Mexico with both the North America and Latin America regions of the ICEM.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM has joined a global campaign, initiated by the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF), to bring more public attention and pressure on the Mexican government to stop efforts to destroy the union. Numerous ICEM affiliates have sent letters to Mexican President Felipe Calder&oacute;ne, protesting the collaboration of the government with Grupo M&eacute;xico to crush one of the few examples of democratic trade unionism in the country. The ICEM encourages additional letters, please refer to <a href="/index.php?id=155&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=2797">here</a>. 
 
Napoleon G&oacute;mez and his family, fearing assassination or incarceration on trumped up charges by the Mexican government, have been in exile in Canada under the sponsorship of the United Steelworkers. In May 2008, he was unanimously was re-elected as general secretary while in exile. 
 
In February 2006, a coal mine explosion killed 65 miners and only two bodies were ever recovered. The government has refused to investigate the cause of the accident. The government has also refused to investigate Grupo Mexico&rsquo;s involvement in the murder of Reynaldo Hern&aacute;ndez Gonz&aacute;lez, a miner who was applying for reinstatement, and the detention and torture of union members in Nacozari, Sonora. 
 
In April 2006, the government of Mexico sent 1,000 armed officers in an unsuccessful attempt to crush a strike in the State of Michoacan which resulted in two workers being killed and more than 100 persons injured. Strikes, prompted partly by health and safety concerns, continue at Grupo M&eacute;xico mines.

ICEM Welcomes Affiliation Request from Mexico’s National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union

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Job cuts caused by the financial meltdown are not uncommon. But in Zambia, mining companies are cutting some jobs and holding others hostage in an attempt to overturn higher taxes and payment of higher royalty fees. And they&rsquo;re citing the economic crisis for the job cuts, and threats of more job cuts have become common. 
 
Zambia&rsquo;s rich copper and cobalt reserves &ndash; as well as other minerals such as iron ore, manganese, and soon uranium &ndash; are primarily owned by companies composed of investor groups. 
 
In April 2008, Zambia government passed mineral royalty increases to 3% from 0.6%. The corporate tax rate increased from 25% to 30%. Since, foreign-based mining companies such as Canada&rsquo;s First Quantum Minerals, India&rsquo;s Vedanta Resouces, and others claim the country must revert to old development pacts when the Zambian Consolidated Copper Mines was divested, or further retrenchments will occur. The royalty and tax issue will be taken up in the courts. 

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The Chamber of Mines denied it was &ldquo;arm-twisting&rdquo; the government over jobs, and said dropping copper prices and the world recession was having an impact. The Zambia Congress of Trade Unions challenged the mining companies to stop using the economic crisis as the excuse for retrenchments. First Quantum, which holds huge cooper assets at Bwana Mkubwa and Kansanshi, and Chinese-based Chambisi Metals, owner of the biggest cobalt mine in Zambia, have recently sacked workers and cited the economic crisis. 
 
President Rupiah Panda, who took over for Levy Mwanawasa following his August death and was elected on 30 October, called on investors with mining stakes to engage in meaningful dialogue with the government and unions in order to prevent retrenchments. Mining investors have tentatively agreed to sit and talk. Meanwhile, Mines and Minerals Development Minister Maxwell Mwale has called for calm in the fierce public debate, falling just short of accusing certain mine industry players of creating panic. 
 
Central to the issue, however, is the question: should massive profits made in the recent past, when copper and mineral prices were at historic highs, have any bearing on jobs now? And Zambians ask: should it not be a matter of social responsibility to keep workers employed even in hard times? Now it is up to the Panda government to strike a social commitment deal with the many stakeholders that hold equity in the country&rsquo;s rich mineral grounds.

Job Cuts in Zambia’s Mining Industry Causing Aggravation

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The General Council of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has called on all Zimbabweans to remove their cash from banks on Wednesday, 3 December. Union heads, leading a march, will present a petition that same day to Gideon Gono, the Governor of Zimbabwe&rsquo;s Reserve Bank, which the International Monetary Fund says is bankrupt. 
 
In Zimbabwe, the government imposed a low cash withdrawal limit, and Wednesday&rsquo;s action by the ZCTU in six regions is expected to challenge that authority. The daily withdrawal limit from automatic tellers is now Z$500, equivalent to R1 South African, or &euro;.08. Gono said in a state-run newspaper recently that the low limits will reduce long queues outside banks. 

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The labour protest is meant not only as a stand against a clamp on banking, but it is against a number of larger issues, including Mugabe dictates giving preferential treatment to some shop owners to trade in foreign currencies. The masses in Zimbabweans are excluded from such shops, and regardless, they have little currency and no means to buy food, medicine, or the necessities of basic life, even if those essentials were on Zimbabwe&rsquo;s shelves. 
 
The ZCTU clearly made that point in making its &ldquo;cash availability&rdquo; announcement following its General Council meeting in Masvingo on 25 November. The union federation estimated that thousands of Zimbabweans have died in recent months simply from inability to buy available medicines. 
 
The ICEM extends support to the ZCTU for its heroic efforts aimed at improving life and bringing dignity to the people of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe Trade Union Congress Calls for Bank Run, 3 December

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Thousands of oil and gas workers held a rally on Thursday, 19 November, in continuation of strong protests against the decision to privatize the Qadirpur gas fields. The company, Oil &amp; Gas Development Company Ltd., will lose huge assets to foreign investors. The government is expecting to receive between US$3 and US$4 billion, whereas many commentators value the assets at more than US$12 billion.
The most recent rally was led by the OGDCL Labour Union President, Chaudry Mohammad Akram. &ldquo;The Qadirpur gas field is a profit-earning entity, making over US$182 million for the state each year, and its privatization will hurt the national interest,&rdquo; he said. 
 
Hundreds of workers in the Dhodhak oil fields staged a demonstration and blocked the Taunsa Sharif-Dera Ismail Khan road for four hours, while dozens of OGDCL workers from the Qadirpur fields staged hunger strikes, demanding that the government reverse the decision. 

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&ldquo;President Asif Ali Zardari should act upon the mission and policies of Ali Bhutto instead of following the policies of IMF-World Bank and the United States,&rdquo; said Badshah Khan Qaiserani, a manager at the Dhodhak oil and gas fields. 
 
Leader of the opposition political party JI, Liaqat Baloch, assured the demonstrators that political parties would support their cause. &ldquo;We will launch a massive countrywide political move if government fails to withdraw its privatization decision.&rdquo; 
 
The Pakistan Muslim League-N has also strongly opposed the move to privatize. Information Secretary, Ahsan Iqbal, described the Qadirpur gas fields as &ldquo;the spinal cord of the Pakistan economy. The country is already facing an energy crisis, this would further worsen the situation.&rdquo; 
 
Elsewhere in Pakistan, workers from WAPDA Hydro Electric Central Labour Union held a rally, demonstrating against recent price hikes, unemployment and lawlessness.

Workers in Pakistan Unite Against Oil, Gas Privatisation

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A methane gas explosion killed 13 miners and wounded 14 others at the Petrila site of the National Coal Co. in the Jiu valley, Romania. The tragedy occurred 15 November. 
 
Among the dead were four emergency workers who were killed by a second explosion four hours later. They were attempting to rescue survivors, and recover bodies. All rescue activities were put on hold for 48 hours following the second blast. The final miner died of cardiac arrest early last week at a Bucharest hospital. 
 
The mine was shut down for two weeks, and reopened on 27 November. Workers held a memorial service on 18 November. The company paid the wages and seniority bonuses for the mine&rsquo;s 1,490 workers during the two-week shutdown. 

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Romania&rsquo;s worst mining disaster in 28 years, the two Petrila explosions on 15 November had attracted serious attention by the country&rsquo;s President. Both called for tougher scrutiny of safety at Romanian mining sites. &ldquo;This is too big a tragedy not to wonder about the causes,&rdquo; stated President Traian Basescu. &ldquo;The inquiry will determine if all protective measures were taken when the first miners went down the shafts and if the rescuers&rsquo; intervention was done according to the rules,&rdquo; said Varujan Vosganian, Romania&rsquo;s Minister of Economy and Commerce. 
 
Rumours were backed up by relatives that miners had been forced to continue working despite high readings of methane levels six days before the disaster. Smaller gas explosions had occurred in the mine. 
 
Ovidiu Jurca, Vice President of a national trade union bloc, BNS, said, &ldquo;Its criminal negligence to let these people work when the accepted methane gas level has been topped.&rdquo;

Thirteen Dead in Romania Mine Blast

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Fourteen Turkish trade unions, comprising the ICEM Coordinating Committee of Turkey, met in Ankara on 20 November and formulated an ambitious agenda related to union-building activities. 
 
Led by the ICEM Secretariat, Turkey&rsquo;s leading trade union officials agreed to an Organising and Social Dialogue Project, sponsored by the global arm of the Dutch national labour center, FNV Mondiaal; they agreed to launch a cross-border series of solidarity activities with Iraqi unions; and they agreed to begin a campaign on getting Turkey&rsquo;s government to ratify ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
 
The meeting was hosted by Tes-İş, the Turkish Energy, Water, and Gas Workers&rsquo; Union, and chaired by Mustafa Kumlu, the union&rsquo;s President, who also serves on the ICEM Executive and is President of Turkish national labour center T&uuml;rk- İş. He addressed the negative effects brought on by the global financial crisis inside Turkey&rsquo;s industrial sectors. 

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Tes-İş President, Mustafa Kumlu
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda and Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan presented the two-year FNV Mondiaal project for Turkey and the necessity for ratification of Convention 176. Later, T&uuml;rkiye Maden-İş, the largest mining union in Turkey, agreed to lead the ratification effort. 
 
The project will consist of eight activities in which 500 trade unionists will come together to begin recruitment exercises, create proper workers&rsquo; representation systems within workplaces, and to develop techniques to establish constructive bargaining and social dialogue practices with employers. 
In Coordinating Committee business, Turkish union leaders decided to establish a technical committee to prepare background information to the full committee. Besides Tes-İş and T&uuml;rkiye Maden-İş, other trade unions participating included: &Ccedil;imse-İş, Cement, Ceramics, Pottery, and Glass Workers&rsquo; Union; Belediye- İş, the Municipal and General Workers&rsquo; Union; Petrol-İş, Oil and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union; Genel Maden-İş, representing Mine Workers; and Dev Maden-Sen, another union representing Mine Workers. 
 

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Participants at ICEM's Coordinating Committee
 
Also, Lastik-İş, Petroleum and Rubber Workers&rsquo; Union; ESM, or the Energy, Industry, and Mining Union of Public Employees; Sel&uuml;loz-İş, Pulp, Paper and Paper Products Union; Kristal-İş, Glass, Cement, Ceramic and Soil Workers&rsquo; Union; T&uuml;rk-Enerji-Sen, the Energy, Mine, Metal, Petroleum and Chemistry Branch Employees&rsquo; Union; T&uuml;mka-İş, the All Pulp and Paper Workers&rsquo; Union; and T&uuml;rk Tarim Orman-Sen, a Union of agricultural, forestry, and environmental services&rsquo; workers. 
 
The ICEM Secretariat delegation also received commitments from &Ccedil;imse-İş and Kristal-İş to co-host ICEM&rsquo;s 2009 World Conference for the Materials Industry. Also attending the Coordinating Committee meeting was Michael Mersmann, head of the International Department of German affiliated union, IGBCE.

ICEM’s Turkish Coordinating Committee Takes on Dutch Project

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In Victoria, Australia, on 29 November, a state prosecutor dismissed charges against a construction trade union leader who faced six months imprisonment for exercising basic trade union rights. The union leader, Noel Washington, the Senior Vice President for the Construction, Forestry, Mine, Energy Union&rsquo;s (CFMEU) Victoria Branch, was to appear tomorrow, 2 December, in a Melbourne Magistrates Court on charges that he failed to show up for interrogation by a government watchdog agency created by former Prime Minister John Howard. 
 
The criminal charge against Washington was brought by an empowered Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), which has authority to conduct broad and over-reaching investigations into industrial matters. Washington&rsquo;s alleged crime was that he refused to come before an ABCC inquisition in June on matters that occurred inside a union meeting. 
<img height="109" alt="" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/0811.Noel_.Washington.jpg" width="91" />
Noel Washington
Washington, in his CFMEU capacity, met with workers during a lunch period and off-the-job union meeting in 2007. The ABCC had been demanding an account of comments made in that meeting. 
 
Several trade unions, including the ICEM, registered strong letters of protest at current Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd over the Washington indictment. The unions called on Rudd to publicly refute the &ldquo;errant misuse of power given the ABCC by the Howard government,&rdquo; and called the charges clear breaches of ILO Conventions 87 and 98, the Freedom of Association and Right to Bargain Collectively Conventions. The Building and Woodworkers&rsquo; Union (BWI) also issued a global statement calling on trade unions everywhere to protest the charges against Washington. 
 
The CFMEU says Washington is not alone in defending commonly accepted union rights. Some 100 other building tradesmen have been up on similar charges by the ABCC in the recent past. On 12 September, Washington&rsquo;s first court date, CFMEU held rallies at the courthouse in Geelong and elsewhere across Australia. The union and the Australian Council of Trades Unions (ACTU) had begun airing television ads against ABCC&rsquo;s wide swath of powers in the days just prior to the dismissal. 
 
Fair Work legislation now in Australia&rsquo;s Parliament is expected to strip the agency of its powers, as well as giving agency itself a make-over.

Case Dropped against CFMEU’s Noel Washington, Charged with Defending His Lawful Union Rights

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