19 November, 2009Spanish affiliates of the IMF and ICEM confronted Vale S.A.'s CFO during a high-level investment conference two days after a joint Canadian/Brazilian delegation held a ceremonial head-shaving protest in front of Vale offices in downtown Seoul.
KOREA/SPAIN: Some 50 trade unionists took action on November 16 in front of the office of Brazilian mining giant Vale S.A. in downtown Seoul where members of an international delegation from Canada and Brazil shaved their heads to protest Vale's attack on workers in Canada and the company's unfair treatment of workers worldwide.
About 3,500 members of the United Steelworkers (USW) have been on strike at Vale mining operations in Canada for over 120 days while Brazilian workers at Vale operations are denied the most basic labour rights. The international delegation included striking USW members Tim Kiley and Nick Larochelle and Sergio Guerra of the Sindimetal-ES, CNM-CUT of Brazil.
The head-shaving ceremony is an intensely emotional and honored tradition in Korea and signifies one of the highest forms of protest. Those who performed the shaving were also union members on strike involved in different struggles of differing lengths of time.
During the protest union leaders read a letter delivered to Korean Nickel, which is 25% owned by Vale, and as a customer of Vale, receives metal from the operations in Canada. "We are sending a message to Vale that the company cannot hide from us," said Sergio Guerra, Secretary General of a section of the Brazilian union CNM-CUT. "We will go as far as it takes for as long as it takes to ensure justice for workers at Vale."
The action was organized by the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU), an affiliate of the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) and supported by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), Korean Chemical and Textile Union, Korean Federation of Construction Industry Trade Unions and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM).
On November 18 in Madrid a delegation of representatives from the IMF and Spanish unions from UGT and CC. OO descended on Madrid's Castellana Intercontinental Hotel where Vale CFO Fabio Barbosa was addressing a senior-level investment conference. Aiming to impress on the company the determination of the IMF and its affiliates to continue to support Vale workers, the delegation distributed information pamphlets to all conference participants. When Mr. Barbosa arrived to address the conference, IMF's Jenny Holdcroft told him that the company must expect more actions in different parts of the world, while it continues to trample workers' rights and asked him to convey this message back to Vale's management.
For more information go to: www.imfmetal.org/Vale