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Press

In Jordan, ICEM affiliate, the General Trade Union of Workers in Mining and Metal Industries, decided to postpone a strike mid- August until 27 August. The decision was taken to give the managers of the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC) at the Shidiyeh mines some more time to meet with the workers' demands. The dispute, in which the union president, Khalid Fanatsah, is taking a leading role, is on housing units to be built for the workers by the company. Support for the workers reportedly came from the king of Jordan himself, His Majesty King Abdullah, who announced that the units should be distributed to the workers.

Tension Remians at Jordanian Phosphatre Mine

It took a manifestation and bloody confrontation with authorities for Polish miners to win a pension scheme. After commitments from Poland's lower chamber of Parliament to pass the measure into law, the chairman of that legislative body refused to put the past-service pension bill up to a vote. But 13 trade union centers of NSZZ Solidarnosc's National Section of Mining took to the streets in front of Parliament in Warsaw where 71 were arrested and a handful of both manifestants and police were injured. The late June protest, however, changed the mind of the chairman and the bill then cleared both the lower house and upper house of Parliament. It was signed into law by Poland's President just recently.

Polish Miners Manifestation Wins Pension Scheme

Following rebel harassment, Unilever Nepal decided on August 17 to close its factory in Basamadi in the Makwanpur district, west of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu. The decision to suspend operations indefinitely was taken after threats by the Maoist insurgents in Nepal to &ldquo;close the factory by force.&rdquo; The events come only one month after another multinational, Colgate-Palmolive, was forced to close its toothpaste factory in the same district. Unilever Nepal is one of the country&rsquo;s largest exporters and has been a target for rebel threats before. Bombs already exploded at the factory on several occasions in previous years. The Nepal Independent Chemical and Iron Employees' Union, an ICEM affiliate, made an appeal to the National Human Rights Commission, as well as to other rights organisations that have been known to mediate with the rebels, asking to demand the guerrillas to withdraw their threat.

Unilever&#039;s Colgate-Palmolive Factory in Nepal Closed

Both in Ecuador and Nigeria, oil exports have been hampered by popular demonstrations. In Ecuador, following days of protests in two Amazon provinces over foreign companies and their levels of investment, the export of over 100,000 barrels a day had been brought to a standstill last week. Protesters want more of the country&rsquo;s oil money to be spent on new jobs and infrastructure. Oil revenues account for 25% of Ecuador&rsquo;s GDP. The state-owned company Petroecuador said over the weekend that production has been restarted &ldquo;with the help of the army&rdquo;. In Nigeria, Shell had to shut down the Agbada 1 flow station in Rivers State in the oil-rich Niger delta in southern Nigeria, following action by angry local protesters from the Ogoni community. Protests there were mainly over compensation for a 2003 spill which protesters say impacted over 500HA.

Mass Protests over Oil Exports in Ecuador, Nigeria

Another sad episode in the seemingly never-ending story of mining disasters in China took place in the country&rsquo;s Guangdong Province, where over 120 workers most probably drowned in an illegally-operated coal mine on August 7. The mine, partly owned by local officials in Xingning, Guangdong, was reportedly seriously mismanaged, with health and safety issues being widely ignored. According to Li Yizhong, director of the National Bureau of Production Safety Supervision and Administration, &quot;the tragedy was caused by mine-owners' greed for economic profits and malignant violation of safety rules&quot;. He also said that the mine did not have a production license, and that it had ignored a government order to suspend production following a flooding incident at a nearby mine on July 14. The provincial authorities in Guangdong and the Chinese Central Government have started an inquiry into the tragedy and ordered 69 officials to make themselves available to investigators.Two mayors have already been suspended.

Flooding Kills 120 at Illegal Guangdong Province Mine

In South Africa, a statement was released by a coalition of trade unions, including ICEM affiliates NUM and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), expressing serious concern about possible job losses after the merger of the 7 power distribution business units of Eskom and those of the municipalities, consisting of 187 licensed municipal distributors. According to an industry restructuring document, about 1,000 jobs could be lost a year. The report contradicts statements by the Electricity Distribution Holdings (EDI), the state-owned company set up to reform the sector, which said that no jobs would be lost during the restructuring.

Unions Fear SA Electric Merger Migh Mean Job Cuts

ICEM oil union affiliates in Nigeria will again oppose any domestic price increase in the cost of petrol. State-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) and the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) said earlier this month it would try to enforce price increases even over the objections of stakeholders involved in the public entities, including trade unions PENGASSAN and NUPENG.PENGASSAN said it would mount strong opposition until measures are in place to cushion effects of high fuel prices across all of Nigerian society. NUPENG has called on all Nigerian workers in the country to oppose the hike unless it comes with commensurate increases in social benefit packages for all workers in both the private and public sectors. NNPC and PPPRA assert that increases are necessary due to rising prices of imported refined products. But the unions contend Nigeria's only solution to high global prices of petroleum are major upgrades to local refining and capacity.

Nigerian Unions Will Agian resist Petrol Price Hikes

In Canada, a tentative agreement was reached in Miramichi, New Brunswick, on 13 August, between the workers at the UPM Kymmene mill, represented by CEP Local 689, and the company management. The result of 12 days of negotiations, this agreement is hoped to be the start of a solution that would bring an eight-month long struggle to an end, which shut down paper production completely in Miramichi. Amongst the 700 employees on strike for a new collective agreement are 400 former employees from the kraft pulp mill, which closed permanently in December 2004. Issues such as severance and pensions were part of the contract under discussion. A large majority of the members of Local 689 has in the meantime voted in favour of the proposed agreement.

Canadian Paper Strike Ends in Miramichi, New Brunswick

The first industry-wide industrial strike in the South African gold sector in 18 years ended on 10 August when an improved wage offer was accepted by the members of ICEM affiliate National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and two other smaller unions. Taking part in a strike for which the support was so overwhelming that there was no need for a picket line, around 110,000 workers had stayed of work, affecting all large enterprises in the sector, such as Goldfields, Harmony and AngloGold Ashanti. The compromise was reached between the South African Chamber of Mines, negotiating on behalf of the gold companies, and the trade unions, agreeing on a pay rise between 6 and 7%.

Wage Gains End South African Gold Mining Strike

An ongoing lockout by an investment house against chemical workers of US affiliate International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) has reinforced the ruthlessness capital wreaks on US unions when a manufacturing enterprise changes hands. 
In Meredosia, Illinois, chemicals company Celanese owned by equity trader Blackstone Group locked out workers 6 June, four months after buying the emulsions, adhesives and polymers plant. 
<img height="147" src="/wp-content/uploads/articles/USABoilermakers.gif" width="125" alt="" />
The crime of the 148 workers: refusal to accept steep concessions to their health care plan, opposing the company's plans to lose 41 jobs to contract labour and dissatisfaction with a three-year wage freeze. When workers again voted down the proposed cuts late in June, Celanese responded by harshly proposing 20-40% pay cuts. The ICEM has issued a Circular to all affiliates, and trade unions across the world are encouraged to respond to IBB Local Branch 484.

Harsh Lockout of Boilermakers Union in US

Archive

Tension Remians at Jordanian Phosphatre Mine

Polish Miners Manifestation Wins Pension Scheme

Unilever's Colgate-Palmolive Factory in Nepal Closed

Mass Protests over Oil Exports in Ecuador, Nigeria

Flooding Kills 120 at Illegal Guangdong Province Mine

Unions Fear SA Electric Merger Migh Mean Job Cuts

Nigerian Unions Will Agian resist Petrol Price Hikes

Canadian Paper Strike Ends in Miramichi, New Brunswick

Wage Gains End South African Gold Mining Strike

Harsh Lockout of Boilermakers Union in US

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