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9 October, 2008
The continuing collective bargaining dispute between ICEM’s North American affiliate, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, and French multinational LaFarge in Sugar Creek, Missouri, received keen focus in Paris recently. The ICEM, together with the Building and Woodworkers’ International (BWI) – co-signatories to a Global Framework Agreement with the company – brought the dispute before the company and French and other unions on 3 October.
At a cement manufacturing plant in Sugar Creek, Lafarge seeks to dramatically change retiree medical coverage in collective negotiations with Boilermakers Local D-27. It seeks to exclude new workers from retiree health coverage altogether, while proposing to move existing workers to another, inferior medical plan upon retirement.
That plan, if accepted, could see retirees’ pay double for their health care costs. The existing plan now finds pensioners paying US$254-per-month for family health coverage.
In a statement issued following the meeting, the ICEM, BWI, Boilermakers, and the other unions said: “We believe that the leading companies of our industry have a social responsibility that extends beyond the borders of the home country. When companies fail to meet their responsibilities around the world, it is a threat to workers everywhere. We therefore pledge to strengthen and mobilise our international network in support of the world’s cement industry workers.
“At this moment, Lafarge is not meeting its social responsibility to the workers in the community of Sugar Creek, Missouri in the United States. We call on Lafarge to meet and negotiate in good faith with Boilermakers Local Lodge D-27 for a new contract that does not discriminate against workers on the basis of age and offers all workers the opportunity for a retirement with dignity.”
Boilermakers Vice President Warren Fairly said global intervention in Missouri is necessary because if Lafarge halts its social responsibility on providing basic benefits in the US, the pressure to concede basic rights and social benefits in the company’s European operations can be “foreseen in the near future.”
North American and European unions, together with the ICEM and BWI, met in Paris on 3-4 October over matters with Lafarge and Swiss cement company Holcim. Trade unions taking part included the Boilermakers, United Steelworkers, Laborers’ International, and Teamsters of the US, Unia of Switzerland, as well as French trade unions CFDT, FO, CFTC, and CGT.
The dispute for 55 members of the Boilermakers Union in the state of Missouri has been ongoing since expiration of a prior four-year labour agreement on 30 April 2008.