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11 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 85/2001
An interim agreement has been reached to end a strike by 700 US paper workers at the Ecusta plant owned by Purico Ltd. The breakthrough follows global trade union pressure on the company.
The workers ratified the interim agreement by an overwhelming margin on November 13. Negotiated by their union, PACE, the deal provides for continuation of the contract (collective agreement) that expired on October 1. Negotiations for a new labour agreement continue.
The Ecusta plant in Brevard, North Carolina, produces paper for tobacco products, financial forms and bibles. It is the world's third largest supplier of tobacco papers.
The strike began on October 15. PACE's campaign is backed by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and by Britain's Graphical, Paper and Media Union (GPMU). Both PACE and the GPMU are ICEM affiliates.
Purico is controlled by Nat Puri, who resides in the United Kingdom. The company had been demanding over 70 million US dollars' worth of concessions from the Ecusta workers. But the new interim agreement contains no such give-backs.
"This is a major victory for the union, and shows what happens when workers stick together," said PACE Region Four Vice-President Robert Smith.
The workers ratified the interim agreement by an overwhelming margin on November 13. Negotiated by their union, PACE, the deal provides for continuation of the contract (collective agreement) that expired on October 1. Negotiations for a new labour agreement continue.
The Ecusta plant in Brevard, North Carolina, produces paper for tobacco products, financial forms and bibles. It is the world's third largest supplier of tobacco papers.
The strike began on October 15. PACE's campaign is backed by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and by Britain's Graphical, Paper and Media Union (GPMU). Both PACE and the GPMU are ICEM affiliates.
Purico is controlled by Nat Puri, who resides in the United Kingdom. The company had been demanding over 70 million US dollars' worth of concessions from the Ecusta workers. But the new interim agreement contains no such give-backs.
"This is a major victory for the union, and shows what happens when workers stick together," said PACE Region Four Vice-President Robert Smith.