Read this article in:
12 August, 2005ICEM news release No. 17/2003
T he ICEM-affiliated United Steelworkers of America (USWA) announced 23 June that union members at Kennecott Utah Copper Corp. (KUC)--a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto plc/Rio Tinto Ltd. of London and Melbourne--ratified a new six-year labour agreement with KUC by a margin of 80 percent to 20 percent in a heavy turnout. The Kennecott Coordinated Bargaining Committee (KCBC)--a coalition of local unions affiliated with five US-based international unions led by the USWA--negotiated the master agreement on behalf of 1,300 KUC workers.
The agreement was achieved after a bitter labour dispute that dragged on for more than eight months, but did not result in any work stoppages. Despite the fact that KUC bargainers attempted to force what they called their "last, best and final offer" on the KUC workforce on 1 Oct. 2002, the new labour agreement achieved significant improvements over the imposed proposal and previous labour agreements. The improvements include:
+ Wage gains that average $2.40/per hour over the life of the agreement, depending upon seniority and job classification
+ Continued health insurance for retirees with improvements (a hotly-contested issue)
+ Improved health insurance for active retirees
+ Doubling of retiree life insurance and improved life insurance for active workers
+ Strengthened arbitration language that especially affects the company's ability to contract out work, and prevents permanent replacement of union jobs by outside contractors
+ US$6,000 early retirement bonuses for qualified workers and US$500 ratification bonuses
+ Significant money to settle outstanding grievances (which will be dropped upon signing, along with litigation surrounding charged filed at the US National Labor Relations Board
"This agreement is by no means perfect. No agreement ever is," said USWA District 12 Director Terry Bonds, who led the negotiations for the KCBC.
USWA International president Leo Gerard stated: "In the mid-1990s, unions that represent workers at Rio Tinto operations around the globe united to form the Rio Tinto Global Network to defend workers against the company's union-busting in Australia, southern Africa and elsewhere. We also began cooperating with environmental groups and human rights groups to stave off Rio Tinto's worst abuses against the enviromental and indigenous communities in the less-developed world. This struggle has only strengthened those ties.
"Our Network has become an active, effective Global Network that is playing, and will continue to play, an important role in the operations of a global corporation in a global economy."
Besides the USWA, other US-based unions invloved in the KCBC include the ICEM-affiliated International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), the International Association of Machinists (IAM), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU). The new labour agreement expires 30 Sept. 2009.
The agreement was achieved after a bitter labour dispute that dragged on for more than eight months, but did not result in any work stoppages. Despite the fact that KUC bargainers attempted to force what they called their "last, best and final offer" on the KUC workforce on 1 Oct. 2002, the new labour agreement achieved significant improvements over the imposed proposal and previous labour agreements. The improvements include:
+ Wage gains that average $2.40/per hour over the life of the agreement, depending upon seniority and job classification
+ Continued health insurance for retirees with improvements (a hotly-contested issue)
+ Improved health insurance for active retirees
+ Doubling of retiree life insurance and improved life insurance for active workers
+ Strengthened arbitration language that especially affects the company's ability to contract out work, and prevents permanent replacement of union jobs by outside contractors
+ US$6,000 early retirement bonuses for qualified workers and US$500 ratification bonuses
+ Significant money to settle outstanding grievances (which will be dropped upon signing, along with litigation surrounding charged filed at the US National Labor Relations Board
"This agreement is by no means perfect. No agreement ever is," said USWA District 12 Director Terry Bonds, who led the negotiations for the KCBC.
USWA International president Leo Gerard stated: "In the mid-1990s, unions that represent workers at Rio Tinto operations around the globe united to form the Rio Tinto Global Network to defend workers against the company's union-busting in Australia, southern Africa and elsewhere. We also began cooperating with environmental groups and human rights groups to stave off Rio Tinto's worst abuses against the enviromental and indigenous communities in the less-developed world. This struggle has only strengthened those ties.
"Our Network has become an active, effective Global Network that is playing, and will continue to play, an important role in the operations of a global corporation in a global economy."
Besides the USWA, other US-based unions invloved in the KCBC include the ICEM-affiliated International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), the International Association of Machinists (IAM), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU). The new labour agreement expires 30 Sept. 2009.