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Michelin, the world's No. 2 rubber company, last week announced a 20 percent growth in net income during the first half of this year. 
 
In the same breath, the French-based tyre giant said it was going to fire 7,500 of the workers who produced this outstanding result. 
<img height="393" alt="Cartoon: Thierry Lenoir/ICEM" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/michelin.jpg" width="252"/>
Cartoon: Thierry Lenoir/ICEM
The news caused widespread outrage in France, including within the government. But it is unlikely that the French government's views will prevail over those of the multinational. 
 
Michelin's attitude is "scandalous" and "a provocation," say French chemical and allied workers' federation Fédéchimie CGTFO - part of the Force Ouvrière union confederation - and the FO unions within Michelin. 
 
"Michelin shares went up by 12.5 percent," Fédéchimie CGTFO points out. This will have increased the already more than ample wealth of the Michelin family, which "owns 30 percent of this stock." To achieve this boost to share value, "Michelin is cutting 7,500 jobs in Europe." 
 
"This is the true face of ultracapitalism, Michelin-style," Fédéchimie CGTFO says. "The Michelins' fortune comes from the sweat of the brow of workers who labour in appalling conditions for poverty wages." 
 
At the global level, Fédéchimie CGTFO is affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). The French union says it will work with the ICEM and with the European chemical and allied workers' federation EMCEF to "defeat this umpteenth restructuring plan, which goes way beyond the previous ones."

Michelin Man Gets Fatter - And Greedier: 7,500 Sackings After Profits Boost?

French unions have called for protest action at Michelin tyre plants throughout France tomorrow, 21 September. 
 
At issue are the company's plans to restructure and to cut thousands of jobs. 
 
On 8 Sept, Michelin announced a 20 percent growth in net income during the first half of this year. In the same breath, the French-based tyre giant said it was going to fire 7,500 of the workers who produced this outstanding result. 
<img height="393" alt="Cartoon: Thierry Lenoir/ICEM" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/michelin.jpg" width="252"/>
Cartoon: Thierry Lenoir/ICEM
"This decision is unacceptable both in its form and in its substance," says French chemical and energy workers' federation FCE-CFDT, which organises Michelin workers. It notes that neither the unions nor Michelin's workers were told about the plan before it was publicly announced. The FCE-CFDT accuses Michelin of "visceral contempt" for "both the unions and the workers, who are never considered either as partners or as people." 
 
The union recalls that Michelin brought in no less than eight "social plans" in France alone between 1982 and 1998. Altogether, these cut the workforce from 52,000 to 27,000. 
 
Michelin is also showing its disdain for small shareholders, the FCE-CFDT says, because they will not benefit from the surge in the company's share price. The profits are being taken by speculators. 
 
Not least, Michelin's announcement demonstrates "provocation and contempt vis-a-vis the [French] government and the parliamentarians who decided that the working week should be cut from 39 hours to 35 on 1 January 2000, in order to create jobs and reduce unemployment." As the union points out, Michelin has been particularly vocal in its opposition to the government's plan for work time cuts. 
 
Stressing that the company "is 'managing' its employment at the European level," the FCE-CFDT calls for the establishment of a European Works Council within Michelin, and says this "should happen within the next few days." 
 
For comments by French union Fédéchimie CGTFO, which also organises Michelin workers, see ICEM UPDATE 53/1999. 
 
At the global level, the FCE-CFDT and Fédéchimie CGTFO are affiliated to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM). 
 
"The ICEM and its unions worldwide pledge full support to the campaign by our French brothers and sisters," commented ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe. "Michelin has long been known as a patriarchal, arrogant employer. If this company is to drag itself into the twentieth century, it does not have much time left."

French Unions Call Michelin Action

UPM Kymmene, one for world’s leading papermakers, is causing job loss and social destruction in its homeland—Finland—as well as in Canada. Last week, two 24-hour strikes shut production at both the firm’s wood operations and papermaking mills in Finland. A strike on 4 November by 7,500 paperworkers called by ICEM affiliate Paperiliitto and one two days earlier by 3,500 woodworkers was caused by UPM’s decision to retrench 672 jobs in the Finnish woodworking sector by closure of three operations and production curtailments at another two. Paperiliitto is also battling UPM’s hard wage and other talks in the paper sector.

UPM Kymmene Bringing Labour Unrest Home to Finland

The ICEM registered a strong letter of protest last week with the government of Serbia-Montenegro over the police beating of Electric Power of Serbia (EPS) Trade Union member Dragan Teofilovic. The trade unionist for the Electric Power Distribution Company of Belgrade was summoned 8 November to a police station where he was questioned over his participation in a strike last summer. Teofilovic then suffered head and arm injuries at the hands of a police inspector. EPS Trade Union said the incident is further proof that the government systematically violates human and trade union rights.

ICEM Protests Serbian Police Brutality over Electric Industry Strike

Swedish affiliate Sif held its Congress in Göteberg on 15-18 November and used a novel working method to discuss issues that replaced lengthy plenary sessions common to many congresses. The 180 delegates attending participated in 11 detailed consultative sessions that were aided by networked computers. The system, first introduced at the 2000 Congress but further refined at last week’s event, facilitated much greater delegate participation in producing consultative documents and summaries of spontaneous discussions. These were then put to a final plenary for approval. Delegates also re-elected President Mari-Ann Krantz and elected two new Vice Presidents, Peter Hellberg and Stefan Carlsson.

Sif of Sweden Holds Congress

China’s coal mines have come under global scrutiny due to weekly disasters that claim the lives of thousands of miners each year. But yet another mine disaster this past weekend has gained headlines. On 20 November, a mass fire spreading across five iron ore mines in Shahe city, Hebei province, claimed the lives of 57 miners with another three still missing. The fire in the privately-run mine was caused by an electric cable that ignited and then spread when flames engulfed wood pillars.

Chinese Iron Ore Operations Latest to Face Safety Deaths

Union leaders at DeBeers’ operations in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa met in Cape Town the week of 22 November for a globalisation school, and concluded the week with strong support for workers victimized by Debswana, the joint venture between DeBeers and Botswana’s government. At a Diamond Employees Network meeting on 27-28 November, the leaders pledged to work through individual DeBeers worksites in the three countries to urge the company to drop charges against 451 Debswana workers, members of the Botswana Mining Workers’ Union (BMWU) who participated in a strike last August.

Union Leaders from DeBeers Hold Conference

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.

US Imerys Dispute: Settlement Nearer After Shareholder Lobby?

Australian affiliate CFMEU condemned the legal recourse two mining companies are taking over their criminal convictions to health and safety laws. The two, Xstrata and Centennial Coal, say they will challenge to overturn a statute in New South Wales calling for criminal prosecutions of serious health and safety violations. Both have been convicted of such offences. CFMEU says there will be no compromise on the statute. “Let these companies tell the miners face to face why they consider their health and safety not worth the protection of the law and why they consider their lives of no value,” said Tony Maher, the union’s Mining and Energy General President.

Mining Companies in Australia Seek to Overturn Convictions

The ICEM's North American Regional Coordinating Committee on 17 February pledged its support to the USWA in these talks. The ICEM will urge the company to negotiate a new contract consistent with the standards already set with other tyre makers, and will take global action to support the USWA in win a fair and just labour agreement. The ICEM NA committee also took action urging German rubber company Continental to back down from its concessionary agenda in mid-term reopening contract talks with the USWA. The ICEM is calling on Continental to also face its contractual obligations on pay and benefits over the company's plant closing of a Mayfield, Kentucky, tyre facility.

North American ICEM Region Takes Action Over Tyre Stalemates

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