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<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
An indefinite strike by a branch of the Peruvian National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (FNTMMSP) was averted just hours before a strike deadline on 14 January when managers at the country’s third largest copper mine finally addressed and corrected a set of seven grievances. 
 
Some 1,200 miners of the ICEM-affiliated FNTMMSP’s Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde union had downed tools twice in late December – once for 24 hours on 24 December, the other time on 31 December to 1 January for 48 hours – over violations in a three-year collective agreement that will expire on 30 August 2011. 
 
Branch union Chairman Leoncio Amudio Peña said miners were preparing for a strike contingency planning meeting on the evening of 13 January when the company called union leaders in and pledged correction of contract breaches. The two sides had been meeting with officials from the Peruvian Labour Ministry throughout last week to resolve the issues. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.peru miners.jpg" width="363" height="153"/>
Cerro Verde is 53.56% owned by US-based Freeport-McMoRan, 21% by SMM Cerro Verde Netherlands, a subsidiary of Sumitoma Metal Mining Co. Ltd. of Japan, and 19% by Compañía de Minas Buenaventura of Peru. The operation, in the southeastern region of Arequipa, sells 50% of its annual copper concentrate production to Sumitoma Metal in a contract that runs until 2016. 
 
Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde produced 283,750 tonnes of copper in 2010, and it also produces molybdenum concentrates as a by-product. 
 
The grievances centered on shortcomings to family members in private medical coverage, inadequate transportation to and from the open-pit mine, and food rations while at work. The union was also in dispute with the copper producer because many workers were forced to work extra hours without added pay. The normal work-week at Cerro Verde is 45.5 hours. 
 
The FNTMMSP has a number of labour agreements coming due this year in Peru’s mining and metals sector. One lapsed contract, with Barrick’s Gold of Canada, was resolved two weeks ago, covering workers of Minera Barrick Misquichilca at the Lagunas Norte gold mine in northern Peru and the Pierina mine in the Amcash region. 
 
The three-year contract gives workers a 7% increase retroactive to 1 June 2010; 6.5% effective 19 June 2011; and 6.5% on 19 June 2012. A signing bonus was also agreed to, giving miners with ten or more years of service 27,000 soles (US$9,620); those with five to ten years, 26,000 soles; two to five years, 23,500 soles; and those with one to two years, 21,500 soles. A quarterly productivity bonus also was won. 
 
On the metals side, FNTMMSP met on 14 January with management of Metallurgical Peruana SA (Mepsa), a manufacturer of steel grinding balls and smelted metals used in the mining and agricultural sectors, to resolve a 2010-2011 dispute. Some 400 metalworkers staged a ten-day strike in early December and besides 2010 pay awards, Peru’s Labour Ministry is now mediating FNTMMSP’s demand to reinstate 14 workers who were sacked in last month’s strike.

Grievances Settled, FNTMMSP Calls Off Peruvian Copper Strike at Cerro Verde

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In Australia on 5 January, the Tasmanian Supreme Court struck a blow to mining and metals giant Rio Tinto’s and delivered a victory to workplace safety and health compliance. The court denied Rio’s appeal to block a trade union from entering a worksite to meet with staff over health and safety issues. 
 
The company had filed the appeal with the state high court to prevent representatives of the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) from meeting in a lunch area with aluminium workers at Rio Tinto/Alcan’s Bell Bay smelter. The AWU represents some 600 workers at the 180,000-tonne-per-year aluminium smelter, located in Launceston in northern Tasmania. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1101.OHS logo.jpg" width="150" height="134" alt=""/>
In late November 2010, the AWU gave legal notification under the state’s Workplace Health and Safety Act to Rio Tinto of its intent to enter break areas to “discuss health and safety issues with workers during a meal or other break.” Following the company’s refusal, both Tasmania’s Inspector of Workplace Standards and the state’s Solicitor General determined that AWU had that right. 
 
But Rio Tinto appealed the Solicitor General’s decision, only to have Tasmanian Supreme Court Justice Alan Blow deny the company’s appeal. Within minutes of the judge’s decision on 5 January, the AWU was on its way to meet with workers employed in an industry notoriously rife with respiratory hazards. 
 
AWU National Secretary Paul Howes criticised the company for attempting to use its power and money in its litigious way to stop independent health and safety oversight. The AWU “has successfully fought what clearly looks like a conspiracy by (Rio Tinto) to act as if Australian workplace health laws do not exist,” he said. 
 
The case hopefully will become a precedent for other Australian state inspectors to fulfil safety laws by allowing union representatives to discuss safety issues with workers in break room areas.

Court Tosses Rio’s Australian Appeal on Safety ‘Right-of-Access’

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Glyphosate, known by its International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) name phosphonomethylamino or acetic acid, is manufactured for use as a herbicide. Depending on specific purpose, it may be used as such, or as an ammonium salt, isopropylamine salt, or potassium salt. 
 
It is most well-known as the main active ingredient in the chemical company’s Monsanto's "Roundup." But since the Monsanto patent has expired, it is also used in similar formulations by a number of manufacturers. It works as a plant hormone inhibitor, by interfering with this metabolic process in plants, it kills the plants. 
 
In handling glyphosate, it is essential to have an up-to-date Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), which can be obtained from a company that manufactures products with it in it. It is also essential to minimise exposure through engineering controls, isolation, effective ventilation, and where worker exposure is unavoidable, personal protective equipment. 
There are two stories on glyphosate, one by its original manufacturer, Monsanto, and unfortunately accepted by most regulatory agencies worldwide, the other by opponents of glyphosate use, who claim much information about it has been suppressed. 
 
As Monsanto tells it, glyphosate is generally considered to be one of the safest herbicides. There is a fairly well-established potential for temporary skin and eye irritation, and gastrointestinal irritation if ingested. These can even be severe if the chemical is encountered in its pure form and not promptly washed off the skin. A survey of recent MSDSs reveals that it is officially considered practically non-toxic, and, in several animal studies, has produced no officially recognized evidence of carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, or teratogenicity. 
 
However, MSDSs are often less than complete. There are some rather alarming suggestions of a link between glyphosate exposure and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) by some researchers. Monsanto's claim that there is no severe adverse effect has been traced back to Swedish researcher Hans-Olov Adami, who in turn has been linked to a consulting group called Exponent. 
 
Exponent has ties to Monsanto and other chemical companies and is known for its rebuttals of concerns about chemicals in the environment. Findings about glyphosate that contradict Monsanto have rarely been given much attention. 
 
There are suggestions that it may be an endocrine disruptor or a genotoxin. For example, Gilles-Eric Séralini, a French biochemist, has claimed that his studies of the effects of glyphosate on human embryonic cells, fetal cells, and placental cells; and that glyphosate is likely an endocrine disruptor in humans. This effect was shown for “Roundup” formulations, rather than pure glyphosate. Indeed, one of the issues with any chemical testing is how it will affect humans or the environment in the complex mixture of chemicals encountered in the real world, as compared with its study in isolation in a laboratory. 
The statistical significance of the association between glyphosate and NHL is low. Monsanto's defenders have suggested that errors in the assessment of exposure levels, or chance, are the likely explanations for the association between glyphosate exposure and NHL. As for Séralini's observations, it is unclear whether the effects Séralini observed were due to the glyphosate, or the surfactants (detergents) that are always part of a pesticide formulation. 
 
Regardless, from a pure occupational health point of view, the best way to handle any chemical is with caution. Minimise the opportunities for worker exposure with the best possible engineering designs that isolate the chemical from human contact. Install effective drainage and ventilation systems to safely remove any chemical that escapes from the closed system. Finally, since despite these precautions some chance of exposure may remain, appropriate personal protective equipment must be provided and maintained. 
 
The safest level of exposure is always no exposure.

Handling and Use of Pesticide Glyphosate: Things to Know

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Members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9346 went on strike at 20h on Sunday, 30 January, following a break down in contract negotiations with management at the Elkview metallurgical coal mine in south-eastern British Columbia, Canada. The mine is operated by Teck Coal Ltd., a subsidiary of Canada's largest diversified mining company, Teck. 
 
Workers have been without a contract since the previous agreement expired on 31 October 2010. Talks, on-going since last September, broke off on 30 January after management delivered an unacceptable offer to Local 9346’s bargaining committee. The committee could not recommend members to accept the package since it failed to address key demands of the union. The main issues for the union that were not included in the company’s offer relate to an increase in employer contributions to its employee-registered pension plan and the extension of medical benefits to retirees.
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1102.teck canada.jpg" width="243" height="179" alt=""/>
Of 620 union members voting, 609 voted in favour of a strike, sending a strong message to Teck Coal that they must seriously address these issues. The total workforce at the Elkview mine is 850. Local 9346, led by President Chris Nand, represents heavy equipment operators, maintenance workers, and labourers. 
 
There are no talks scheduled, although Local 9346's  Nand has made it clear to Teck that the bargaining committee stands ready to negotiate with management. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1102.teck canada.2.jpg" width="288" height="170" alt=""/>
Other outstanding issues for the union that the company refuses to address in their offer are: Christmas Shutdown, a sunset clause on certain contractual language, stat pay for 10- and 12-hour shifts, dental plan improvements, retroactive pay starting from 1 November 2010, and improvements to vacation time. 
 
During the strike, the union is paying the members’ medical insurance, as well as strike pay. 
 
Teck reported last week a profit of US$361 million for the quarter ending 31 December. The Elkview mine has an annual capacity of 5.6 million tonnes of coal production, second to Teck’s Fording River mine, 100 kilometres north of Elkview, which has an annual output of 8 million tonnes. The collective agreement at Fording River expires 30 April.

Steelworkers Strike at Teck Coal in Western Canada Continues

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Jack Layton, the soul of a progressive Canada and leader of the NDP, passed away Monday, 22 August, of cancer. For the past decade and more, Layton has led a populist surge in Canada that has given NDP, the party of fairness and justice, the official opposition stamp – since May 2011 – to the ruling neo-liberal Tories. Layton was 61. 
 
Layton had recently been diagnosed with his second bout against cancer. He died early in the morning on 22 August in his home and surrounded by his family. 
 
Layton’s energy and conviction inspired ordinary Canadians and statements on his passing testified to that. Statements by North American unions said Layton’s inspiration, ideas, and vision must push forward at a faster pace now. 
 
In a statement to Canadian unions expressing condolences over Layton’s passing, the ICEM said, “What happens in Canada has global significance” (see full <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/100.ICEM.Jack%20Layton.Canada.23August.pdf" type="internal">ICEM letter</a>). The ICEM remembers Layton as a courageous fighter for social justice, depicted best in his own words on the labour strife brought by Vale, the Brazilian mining giant, or to the Mexican government on its union smashing. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1108.jacktributepanorama2.jpg" width="290" height="161"/>
Toronto: Tributes to Jack Layton
In Sudbury at the beginning of a bitter year-long strike Vale provoked against Canadian living standards, Layton stood among thousands of miners, and emphatically said, “They cannot take away what working people have built over generations in this country, or this town.” 
 
In 2009, Layton was part a global labour mission to Mexico sponsored by the ICEM and International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF). He accurately summarised the full trade union climate in Mexico: “We made it clear that the government’s interference in union governance, it’s jailing of union leaders and freezing union bank accounts, declaring strikes illegal and failing to prosecute the killers of union leaders, are serious and unacceptable violations of basic human rights.” 
 
Dave Coles, President of the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) of Canada said: “I knew Jack Layton as a principled social democrat who was utterly committed to social justice and peace. Thousands of our members knew Jack by his first name, as a leader who had reached out to them in their workplaces and communities. Jack Layton paid attention to our members’ deepest concerns and gave them unqualified support in their struggles.” 
 
Ken Neumann, Canadian National Director of the Untied Steelworkers (USW), said: “Jack reawakened Canadians to the reality that government can – and must – play a positive role in ensuring the economic and social wellbeing of its citizens. Steelworkers will help lead the way in honouring Jack’s legacy by carrying on his fight to build a better Canada and a better world.” 
 
Ken Lewenza, President of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) said in a message to the NDP: “At Jack’s passing, your voice of conscience is needed more than ever. Your efforts can and will make a difference in the direction of our country.” The CAW also said that in mourning, progressive Canada must reflect on Jack’s vision for Canada “and how we can endeavor to make some of his cherished ideas a reality.” 
 
Jack Layton was born in Hudson, Quebec, into a political family. He entered public service in 1982 as a member of the Toronto City Council after leaving academia. His years on the city council of Canada’s largest city were marked by many accomplishments concerning poverty, homelessness, public transport, and environmental stewardship. In 2004, Layton won election to the federal Parliament as NDP leader, and the NDP has grown steadily to where it now is the logical political choice for a social Canada, and beyond. The ICEM letter said Jack stood always for workers, the poor, the disenfranchised. 
 
Jack is survived by his wife, Olivia, his dedicated political partner; and a son, Mike, a member of the Toronto City Council, and daughter, Sarah, who works for the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Jack Layton: 1950-2011

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Building on their first meeting in 2010, just prior to the historic May Day celebrations in Taksim Square, global unions conducted the second meeting of this kind on defending trade union rights in Turkey. Around sixty participants from centers and Turkish affiliates of ITUC, CGU, ICEM, ITF, IUF, PSI, IMF, BWI, ITGLWF and UNI came together in Istanbul at the workshop held on 8-9 September. The meeting also welcomed international NGOs such as Labourstart and Amnesty International who consistently support labour rights in Turkey. The ICEM was present at the workshop through its Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal Özkan as well as its affiliates Tes-Is, Petrol-Is, Belediye-Is, Lastik-Is, Kristal-Is, Cimse-Is, Selüloz-Is and Tümka-Is. 
 
The workshop coincided with a critical time, with Turkish trade union legislation under discussions for modification with a view to harmonise it in line with international standards and norms. Turkey was recently criticised by the International Labour Organization over the lack of genuine union rights in the country. Üzeyir Ataman, Director of the Collective Bargaining Department of ICEM’s affiliate Lastik-Is, who is a part of a working group formed by the government to handle possible modifications, updated the workshop participants in a context of the history of Turkish labour legislation. 
 
Participants were informed of individual organising efforts of Turkish unions in cooperation and solidarity with respective global union federations. Hakan Koçak, Director of the Organizing Department of ICEM affiliate Petrol-Is, presented his union’s widely-publicised national level organizing campaign as well as the ongoing organising drive at Standard Profil with the contribution of the ICEM. The other examples showed the value of solidarity between individual unions and their global union federations in getting success in organising and recognition. 
 
The participants discussed international instruments in boosting union organising campaigns. Particular attention was given to global unions’ immediate actions such as protest letters, coordinating global solidarity and visits of picket lines. Opportunities in using the newly revised OECD guidelines, ILO tools as well as international courts were also reviewed. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1109.turkey GUFs PRESS CONFERENCE.2.jpg" width="259" height="160"/>
ICEM's Kemal Özkan addresses press conference
Towards the end of the workshop a press conference was organized with the participation of television and newspaper journalists. In a joint press release the global unions informed the Turkish media about the objectives and content of the workshop. Read out by Ron Oswald, General Secretary of ICEM’s sister organisation IUF, the press release stressed that “Turkish unions, union leaders from Turkey and representatives of those international bodies present at this meeting have pledged to work together actively and in a sustained and permanent way to support workers' efforts to access those universal rights and to have them universally accepted and respected in Turkey.” 
 
The participants were later divided into two groups, as Turkish unions and global union federations to discuss ways to build and promote joint work in Turkey as a base for summary, conclusions and way forward from the workshop. Jim Baker, Coordinator of the Council of Global Unions, summed up discussions and conclusions of the workshop with a way forward. Baker underlined consensus on “common action by global unions with their Turkish affiliates and among themselves to improve the quality and increase the effect of practical and concrete solidarity action to strengthen workers and their legitimate, democratic trade unions.” 
 
“Turkey is a highly critical place in the activities of all global unions, this country is a priority for the whole union movement” said ICEM’s Kemal Özkan. “The two-day workshop reaffirmed our commitment to reinforce solidarity with the Turkish trade union movement.”

Global Unions Unite in Defending Trade Union Rights in Turkey

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Union members of ICEM North American affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) began a strike on 1 September against Anchor Glass Container Corp. at nine US plants. The 140 USW-represented workers are mould makers at Anchor, the US’s third largest glass bottle and container manufacturer behind Owens-Illinois and Saint-Gobain Containers. 
 
Workers went on strike immediately after expiration of a prior labour agreement due to regressive and ill-willed contract proposals by the Tampa, Florida-based company. Specifically, Anchor seeks to create a two-tiered health care and pension plan, as well as more excessive out-of-pocket health care costs borne by workers. Wages are also an issue in the dispute. 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1109.usw anchor strike.jpg" width="157" height="136"/>
Photo: Mike Perleberg-Eagle 99.3
Privately-held Anchor issued a threatening statement at the outset of the strike saying it would continue glass-bottle mould work without the USW members. The company used high US unemployment and economic uncertainty as a warning against the strike. 
 
Anchor produces glass for the beverage and foods industries. The largest plant that has been hit by the USW industrial action is in Zanesville, Ohio, where 65 workers have struck due to the company’s radical rollback proposals. Other Anchor glass plants where work stoppages are in effect include Jacksonville, Florida; Warner Robins, Georgia; Shakopee, Minnesota; Salem, New Jersey, Elmira Heights, New York; Henryetta, Oklahoma; and Lawrenceburg and Winchester, Indiana. 
 
USW negotiators reached a <a href="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1109.ross%20usw%20agreement.pdf" type="internal">settlement with Ross International</a> on 31 August, achieving wage gains for each year in a three-year agreement, protecting pensions and preventing a two-tier benefit plan for new hires. Among other improvements achieved was enhanced language on subcontracting at the company.

USW Glass Workers at Anchor Begin Strike Action

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ICEM’s trade union affiliate in Peru, the National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (FNTMMSP), has affiliated branch unions undergoing pivotal labour disputes in the South American country in the face of high commodity prices and ever-rising profit margins. 
 
On 31 August, 1,124 miners employed by China’s Shougang Hierro Perú began an indefinite strike at the country’s only iron ore mine in southern Peru. And last week, 1,100 union branch members of FNTMMSP undertook a 48-hour strike at the Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde open pit copper and molybdenum mine in Arequipa department over regressive conventions proposals in a proposed five-year labour agreement. 
 
The FNTMMSP branch and managers of Cerro Verde will meet today in efforts to resolve the dispute. If no solution is found, unionized miners will begin an indefinite strike beginning on 14 September. Cerro Verde is Peru’s third largest copper mine and is owned by US-based Freeport-McMoRan (53.7%), SMM Cerro Verde Nederlands (21%), a unit of the Japanese Sumitomo Corp., and Peru-based Compania de Minas Buenaventura (19.3%). 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0910PeruFNTMMSPLuis%20Castillo.jpg" width="160" height="120"/>
FNTMMSP General Secretary, Luis Castillo Carlos
Cerro Verde management is proposing an initial 2% salary increase, but then seeks to eliminate all future yearly wage reviews in favour of a production bonus defined by the company and based on copper production, the mine’s financial results, and copper prices on the London Metal Exchange. 
 
In 2010, Cerro Verde produced 312,336 tonnes of copper in 2010. Notwithstanding an indefinite strike that could begin on Wednesday, 2011 production is expected to exceed the 2010 numbers slightly. The 48-hour strike on 7-8 September saw 100% participation. 
 
At Shougang Hierro’s Marcona iron ore pits in the Ica department, the strike by miners in yet another in yearly walkouts against the Chinese steel company over pay that is far lower than any other mining enterprise in Peru. 
 
Iron ore miners earn a miserly €11.18 per day (US$16.10) and are seeking a 25% increase. Shougang Hierro is offering only a US$.47 per day increase. The strike is also over a failure on the part of management to meet a list of 2011-2012 demands on working conditions, which the union submitted in April 2011. 
 
“We know that the Chinese company can meet the wage demands of workers at Marcona because of the high price of iron ore and Shougang’s large profit margins,” said FNTMMSP President Luis Castillo Carlos. 
 
The Chinese company realized a five-fold increase in profit from Marcona in the first half of 2011 from that of the same period in 2010. The first-half 2011 net profit of US$274 million came on higher sales volume and higher iron ore pricing, the company reported to Peru’s securities regulator. 
 
Iron ore sales from Marcona totaled 5 million tonnes from January through June this year, up 25% from the 4.02 million tones of refined iron ore sold during the same period of 2010. Because of the strike, Shougang Hierro declared force majeure on 1 September. A provincial government agency is involved in mediation efforts to reconcile the two sides.

Major Copper, Iron Ore Strikes Break Out in Peru

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The 10th Quadrennial Delegates’ Conference of ICEM affiliate Ghana Mine Workers’ Union (GMWU) was held in late August in the Brong Ahafo regional capital of Sunyani in late August. GMWU leaders from the West African nation covered a wide range of issues including skills training, mining and sustainability, expatriation, and state investment and regulation in mining. 
 
The Delegates’ Conference also reiterated its support and continued campaign efforts for ratification and implementation by the government of Ghana of ILO Convention 176, the Safety and Health in Mines Convention. 
 
Meeting under the banner “Blending the Interest of Stakeholders in the Mining Industry Towards Operational Excellence,” delegates elected Kwarko Mensah Gyakari as National Chairman and Prince William Ankrah, ICEM’s Sub-Sahara Africa Regional Vice President, as General Secretary. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1104.Acrra7PrinceWilliamAnkrah.jpg" width="150" height="174" alt=""/>
General Secretary Prince William Ankrah
Also elected were Abdul Moomin Gbana, First Vice Chairman; Philomena Aba Sampson, Second Vice Chairperson; Eric Kwabena Gyimah, Deputy General Secretary; Fred Aniagyei, First National Trustee; James Ackah, Second National Trustee; and William Bart Plange, National Chaplain. 
 
GMWU also elected an 11-member Finance Committee. All office bearers, including Finance Committee members, were sworn in Ghana Trades Union Congress General Secretary Kofi Asamoah. 
 
The GMWU expressed displeasure with the recent shedding by the government of its 10% stake in certain gold mining companies. With gold extraction a major component in the nation’s economy, the union pledged to combine with civil society groups to reduce foreign capital in favour of Ghana private of public investment in the major mining conglomerates. 
 
The union sided with Finance Minister Kwabena Duffuor who has protested Ghana’s divestiture of 10% stakes in Newmont Gold’s Ahafo and Akyem projects, Noble Mineral’s Bibiano project, and AngloGold Ashanti development at Obuasi, Iduaprim, and Teberebie. Removal of such state involvement runs contrary to the Mining law of 1986 (PNDC Law 153) and the Minerals and Mining Act 20. 
 
GMWU also made it clear to reporters covering the Conference that with the current high price of gold, now is the time to introduce a windfall tax on the commodity. 
 
General Secretary Prince Ankrah did commend the government for putting in place the Ghana Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (GEITI), but urged the government to adequately fund the body in order to carry out its mission. 
 
A major topic at the Delegates’ Conference regarded remuneration in mining, and the fact that inequality exists between what is paid expatriates and Ghanaian nationals who are in the same job grades and possess the same skills. 
 
On sustainability, GMWU again expressed displeasure that the major mining houses have allowed a gulf to exist between indigenous communities and their leaders. Ankrah said mining companies in general had failed to honour past commitments regarding infrastructure, and many are non-compliant with environmental standards. 
 
He also criticized mining companies for failing to take into account the input of workers regarding health and safety. 
 
The Delegates’ Conference pledged that the GMWU would continue to engage with the Ghana Chamber of Mines and its industry captains to ensure that qualified Ghanaians are given opportunities and skills development to take up senior positions in the mining sector.

Ghana Mine Workers Conducts Successful Delegates’ Conference

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On 31 August, Finnish paper company UPM announced closure of two mills, the shutdown of a paper machine at another mill, the intended sale of a French mill, and the sacking of nearly 1,300 workers in total. The announcement came within months of the world’s third largest integrated pulp and paper company buying Myllykoski, another major European paper producer based in Finland. 
 
The decision does not sit well with the blue-collar and white-collar trade unions representing workers in Finland’s paper sector, Paperiliitto and Ammattiliitto Pro. Specifically, did UPM engage in the proper and correct dialogue with European Works Council (EWC) members in accord with an EWC directive on social dialogue? 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/FINLANDpaperiliitto.gif" width="170" height="41" alt=""/>
UPM said the plant closures, machine shutdown, and job losses would occur by the end of the year, leaving little time for workers and their union representatives to obtain re-training funds, seek other job opportunities, and negotiate adequate redundancy packages for the soon-to-be displaced workers. 
 
Strike action is also a possibility. But at a Paperiliitto executive board meeting on 6 September, union leaders put that option on the back burner in order to engage the company – and Finland’s government – in obtaining the very highest re-training and redundancy packages. The union began that process on the local level at one mill – the Myllykoski mill in Kouvala County in eastern Finland – late last week. 
 
Ammattiliitto Pro has begun connecting with victimized workers and their unions and EWC representatives on the European level to apply pressure on UPM. 
<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1109.finnish paper.jpg" width="156" height="161" alt=""/>
Myllykoski mill
At the Myllykoski mill, an operation with three paper machines producing magazine or lightweight coated papers, the planned redundancies amount to 371 full-time blue-collar jobs, 71 fixed-term jobs, and 101 full-time white-collar jobs. In addition, maintenance contractor ABB will see 106 permanent workers leave the rural mill. Also, other Finnish jobs staffed mainly by Ammattiliitto Pro members will be eliminated at UPM workplaces in Lahti and Pietarsarri, bringing the total job loss in Finland to 650. 
 
UPM will also shutter the Albbruck mill in Germany that produces uncoated magazine papers, costing 557 jobs. It will shut one of three paper machines that make uncoated paper and newsprint at Germany’s Ettringen mill, as well as temporarily shutting one paper machine producing uncoated fine papers at the Nordland mill. 
 
In France, the company will seek a buyer for its Stracel mill that makes coated magazine papers and specialty newsprint. In total, UPM intends to take 1.3 million tonnes annually of paper out of the marketplace and it is now clear that the company’s spring 2011 purchase of the Myllykoski company was all about capacity reductions and job curtailments. 
 
The ICEM will assist the two Finnish unions, as well as German and French unions representing workers at UPM, in all ways possible. A major tenet to ICEM’s Pulp and Paper Sector work plan, adopted at the Uruguay conference in 2008, is to extend full practical support to paperworkers of the global North who are victimized by the rampant shutdowns or paper operations in developed nations. The priority will now be to exert as much pressure as possible on UPM in order that job losses the company has created through consolidation do not escape correct and ethical social treatment.

Finnish Paperworkers’ Unions Critical of UPM’s European Mill Closures

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