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5 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 46/2000
It was all in the best French business style.
A big Parisian restaurant was the venue for shareholders of French-based minerals and materials multinational Imerys when they gathered for the firm's annual meeting this Tuesday.
Nor did the company's financial performance in any way spoil their appetites. The board reported excellent results.
But a jarring note was soon to be struck. And, as the major national newspaper Libération muses today, the sound is likely to echo right through the French business world.
For the first time this Tuesday, a French company saw its shareholder meeting turned into a platform for international trade union demands.
A "shudder" went through the investors' ranks, Libération reports. And indeed, the newspaper asks, were they not witnessing "an episode in the small revolution that is shaking French capitalism"? After the US and Britain, Libération says, "France has now been reached by 'socially responsible investment' or 'ethical investment' - a new form of pressure on company management."
Behind all the fuss is a serious labour problem that Imerys created at its plants in the American town of Sylacauga.
Imetal and English China Clays were the main companies that merged to form Imerys last year. Prior to that, Imetal and ECC operated neighbouring plants in Sylacauga, with the Imetal facility represented by America's Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers' Unions (PACE). On the effective date of the companies' merger, Imerys withdrew recognition from PACE and repudiated the labour contract (collective agreement) signed by Imetal and PACE.
PACE launched a campaign to secure the Sylacauga workers' right to be represented by the union. At the world level, PACE is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). With the ICEM's help, the campaign went global. In particular, unions in France and in England, where Imerys has major production sites, pressed the company to abandon its anti-union stance in the USA.
That stance was all the more surprising because Imerys has sought - and largely achieved - good relations with unions in its European plants. Unions in Europe were particularly incensed by Imerys' use of "union-busters" in Sylacauga - professional consultants who specialise in blocking union organisation.
Which is why some awkward questions were asked in that Parisian restaurant on Tuesday.
Investors heard from the ICEM's Jyrki Raina, who was representing 4,000 Imerys shares held by Walden Asset Management. He told the more than 200 shareholders in attendance that a "card check," in which union recognition is granted after a majority of workers sign authorisation cards, would be the best way to resolve the problems at Sylacauga. This was necessary, commented Raina, since the company had destroyed the conditions under which a free election could occur.
Penny Schantz, PACE European Coordinator, asked Imerys CEO Patrick Kron why Imerys still intended to campaign against the union, if an election was held. She gave PACE's official written position to Kron which stated that any company campaigning against the union is "unacceptable." PACE maintains that workers should decide the question of union representation without company interference.
Kron, cordial although somewhat shaken by the events, said the company intended to communicate with workers as part of a campaign, should an election occur, but "not against the union." He also said that the situation in Sylacauga should be handled locally and "not by filing complaints with the OECD or bringing these issues to Paris." This was a reference to a statement released by TUAC, the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD. TUAC strongly supported PACE's demand. The OECD is headquartered in Paris.
Shareholders entering the restaurant were given handbills which raised important questions about Imerys' behaviour in Alabama. One of the posers: "Why has the company engaged in anti-union practices in the US when it is trying to improve relations with unions in Europe?"
All those efforts could soon bear fruit. Imerys directors were courteous and constructive on Tuesday, both during the shareholder assembly itself and in informal discussions with the trade unionists afterwards. The ICEM has written to thank them and to urge a rapid resolution of the Sylacauga dispute.
PACE and the company's local management are due to meet in the US tomorrow. The omens are good. Imerys recently made significant changes in its US management line-up.
The ICEM, meanwhile, has been involved in two multinational shareholder lobbies within the space of two days - Imerys in Paris on Tuesday and the Annual General Meeting of mining giant Rio Tinto in London yesterday.
And in another sign of the times, Libération notes that many of the Imerys shareholders were already well informed about the Sylacauga dispute. They had read all about it on a special PACE/ICEM Imerys campaign website.
A big Parisian restaurant was the venue for shareholders of French-based minerals and materials multinational Imerys when they gathered for the firm's annual meeting this Tuesday.
Nor did the company's financial performance in any way spoil their appetites. The board reported excellent results.
But a jarring note was soon to be struck. And, as the major national newspaper Libération muses today, the sound is likely to echo right through the French business world.
For the first time this Tuesday, a French company saw its shareholder meeting turned into a platform for international trade union demands.
A "shudder" went through the investors' ranks, Libération reports. And indeed, the newspaper asks, were they not witnessing "an episode in the small revolution that is shaking French capitalism"? After the US and Britain, Libération says, "France has now been reached by 'socially responsible investment' or 'ethical investment' - a new form of pressure on company management."
Behind all the fuss is a serious labour problem that Imerys created at its plants in the American town of Sylacauga.
Imetal and English China Clays were the main companies that merged to form Imerys last year. Prior to that, Imetal and ECC operated neighbouring plants in Sylacauga, with the Imetal facility represented by America's Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers' Unions (PACE). On the effective date of the companies' merger, Imerys withdrew recognition from PACE and repudiated the labour contract (collective agreement) signed by Imetal and PACE.
PACE launched a campaign to secure the Sylacauga workers' right to be represented by the union. At the world level, PACE is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). With the ICEM's help, the campaign went global. In particular, unions in France and in England, where Imerys has major production sites, pressed the company to abandon its anti-union stance in the USA.
That stance was all the more surprising because Imerys has sought - and largely achieved - good relations with unions in its European plants. Unions in Europe were particularly incensed by Imerys' use of "union-busters" in Sylacauga - professional consultants who specialise in blocking union organisation.
Which is why some awkward questions were asked in that Parisian restaurant on Tuesday.
Investors heard from the ICEM's Jyrki Raina, who was representing 4,000 Imerys shares held by Walden Asset Management. He told the more than 200 shareholders in attendance that a "card check," in which union recognition is granted after a majority of workers sign authorisation cards, would be the best way to resolve the problems at Sylacauga. This was necessary, commented Raina, since the company had destroyed the conditions under which a free election could occur.
Penny Schantz, PACE European Coordinator, asked Imerys CEO Patrick Kron why Imerys still intended to campaign against the union, if an election was held. She gave PACE's official written position to Kron which stated that any company campaigning against the union is "unacceptable." PACE maintains that workers should decide the question of union representation without company interference.
Kron, cordial although somewhat shaken by the events, said the company intended to communicate with workers as part of a campaign, should an election occur, but "not against the union." He also said that the situation in Sylacauga should be handled locally and "not by filing complaints with the OECD or bringing these issues to Paris." This was a reference to a statement released by TUAC, the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD. TUAC strongly supported PACE's demand. The OECD is headquartered in Paris.
Shareholders entering the restaurant were given handbills which raised important questions about Imerys' behaviour in Alabama. One of the posers: "Why has the company engaged in anti-union practices in the US when it is trying to improve relations with unions in Europe?"
All those efforts could soon bear fruit. Imerys directors were courteous and constructive on Tuesday, both during the shareholder assembly itself and in informal discussions with the trade unionists afterwards. The ICEM has written to thank them and to urge a rapid resolution of the Sylacauga dispute.
PACE and the company's local management are due to meet in the US tomorrow. The omens are good. Imerys recently made significant changes in its US management line-up.
The ICEM, meanwhile, has been involved in two multinational shareholder lobbies within the space of two days - Imerys in Paris on Tuesday and the Annual General Meeting of mining giant Rio Tinto in London yesterday.
And in another sign of the times, Libération notes that many of the Imerys shareholders were already well informed about the Sylacauga dispute. They had read all about it on a special PACE/ICEM Imerys campaign website.