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16 November, 2009
Unions representing Vale workers in Brazil, Canada, and Indonesia met in Soroako, South Sulawesi November 10-12, 2009.
We are concerned with the actions and policies of Vale toward workers in our countries. We see corporate policies from head office in Brazil that attack workers and do not respect the national situations in each country.
We strongly reject the Vale policy of increasing the number of contractor workers and reducing the permanent workforce. All Vale workers deserve fair compensation and job security. Contract employment should not be a way for companies to avoid paying good wages and benefits and avoid legal obligations to employees.
We are opposed to Vale’s demand to reduce worker rights and benefits in each of our countries.
Under international labour conventions, as well as national laws, union leaders must be free to work in the best interests of their members without the possibility of reprisals and discipline by management. We call on Vale to respect the rights of union leaders and ensure protections are implemented.
We want to especially mention the USW strike in Canada. The CUT unions in Brazil, and the SP-KEP strongly support the USW in this strike as a part of union solidarity in fighting for sustainable welfare for workers. When Vale brings unnecessary and unjust demands to the bargaining table in any one country, there will be a reaction in all divisions in the company. We call on Vale to return to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair collective agreement.
As unions we will continue to work together and to build a union network of actions and communication so that we can ensure worker and communities benefit from mining development.
Sjaiful D.P.
President
FSP-KEP
Andi Karman
President
SP-KEP Soroako
Sergio Guerra
Sindimetal-ES, CNM-CUT Brasil
Tim Kiley, Nick Larochelle, Doug Olthuis United Steelworkers, Canada
Joseph Drexler
ICEM