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4 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 32/2000
Latin American union networks within the leading tyre and rubber multinationals were the main topic when rubber workers' leaders from nine countries in the region met in Brazil on 13-16 April.
They also gave the green light for future coordinated Latin American bargaining with the main rubber and tyre companies.
The structure of international union networks in Goodyear, Bridgestone-Firestone and Titan was discussed, and the conference laid the foundations for Latin American networks of unions in Pirelli, Michelin and Continental.
Taking part in the Brazil conference were leaders of some 70,000 Latin American tyre and rubber workers. The event was organised by the Latin American Rubber and Tyre Workers' Federation (FUTINAL), which groups 20 unions in the sector. Support came from the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which organises rubber and tyre workers worldwide. Also backing the conference was the ICEM-affiliated North American rubber workers' union USWA, together with the Solidarity Center of US national labour federation the AFL-CIO.
The experience of ICEM-coordinated international campaigns such as those on Bridgestone and Continental featured strongly in the discussions on networking. The USWA and FUTINAL were at the heart of these campaigns.
"FUTINAL firmly believes that only through international action will we be able to resist the attacks of the multinational tyre corporations in the region," commented FUTINAL administrative secretary Terezinho Martins da Rocha. "That is why we have a slogan - An Injury To One Is An Injury To All."
The conference denounced anti-union practices by Goodyear subsidiaries in Colombia and Guatemala. It also condemned the Venezuelan government's attacks on basic union rights, and opposed a trade agreement between Chile and Korea which would damage the Chilean tyre industry.
A comprehensive socio-economic study of the rubber industry in Latin America will form the basis for regional-level union policies in the sector.
A coordinated list of bargaining demands will be the aim of the next FUTINAL meeting, scheduled for this October. The unions then intend to propose regional-level negotiations with tyre and rubber multinationals operating in Latin America. The October meeting will also be supported by the ICEM, the USWA and the AFL-CIO.