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A member of ICEM-affiliated Metallurgical, Mining and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union of Georgia who received serious burns but escaped death in a 27 August 2010 coal mine explosion died inside that same mine in late November due to a shaft cave-in. 
 
Sergi Ashotia, 50, was working inside the Tkibuli-Mindeli Coal Mine of Geo-Coal, owned by the Georgian Industrial Group, when he was buried on 24 November by rock and wooden support pilings. A similar shaft collapse at the accident-prone mine in western Imereti region occurred on 6 November, killing two miners &ndash; 49-year-old Bondo Mikheilidze and 61-year-old Tamaz Gioradze. 
 
Ashotia was one six miners severely burned in the August 2010 methane gas explosion that killed four miners. The ICEM then charged Geo-Coal, also called Saknakhshiri, with failure to install modern ventilation and detection equipment. 
 
Safety issues were a main reason behind a strike by the mine&rsquo;s 200 workers last February. After a January 2011 mine explosion killed one worker, management sacked two low level managers and police in the city of Tkibuli arrested them for safety negligence. Miners then engaged in an open-ended strike on 2 February in support of them and in protest to the company&rsquo;s safety inadequacies.
<img alt="" src="" width="125" height="166" />
Kutasi Meeting, October 2011: Mineworkers' Union Leaders Present&nbsp;
That strike ended when the company agreed to a labour contract empowering the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers&rsquo; Union to assist with safety improvements. The mine then experienced another fatality on 9 September 2011. 
 
As for November&rsquo;s fatalities, the union is involved in the investigation, but Metallurgical, Mining and Chemical Union President Tamazi Dolaberidze said many of the facts are being distorted by people who were present during the cave-ins. He said the managing director is also disturbed by this. 
 
The result has been reinforcement of the terms ending the strike, with a joint labour-management safety committee established for better process control of safety and labour protection systems. Dolaberidzi said he is confident this will positively impact preventative measures. 
 
Geo-Coal, or Saknakhshiri, has granted each of the miners&rsquo; families with the equivalent if US$7,000 and paid for all funeral expenses. The company also took out an insurance policy last February that went into force on 1 November. The policy insures Geo-Coal for up to five fatal accidents per year, and it gave the families of the three miners who perished last month each with US$25,000. 
 
The union also assisted families of dead miners with stipends.

Deaths Continue To Plague Georgia’s Tkibuli-Mindeli Coal Mine

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An agreement was signed in Jakarta today between PT Freeport Indonesia Workers&rsquo; Union (SP KEP SPSI) and management of the world&rsquo;s largest gold and second largest copper mining complex &ndash; Grasberg in Papua province &ndash; that will end a 94-day strike on Saturday, 17 December. The strike pitted a low-wage but determined and enlightened workforce against a global extractive resource company, US-based Freeport-McMoRan that has Grasberg at top of its massive revenue stream. 

The agreement put together in Jakarta this week, with the assistance of the Indonesian government, falls short of workers&rsquo; wage demands, but union-winning gains were made that will allow the 10,000 striking miners to return to their jobs with heads held high. 

Firstly, striking miners will be paid their lost salaries during the three-month strike. Secondly, in a last minute company concession early today, disciplinary action against a number of strikers has been withdrawn and complete amnesty accorded. Further, a central issue in the dispute was resolved in favour of the union. 

All allowances &ndash; health care, housing, education, shift premiums, service-year bonuses, and a metal bonus &ndash; will be calculated on fixed costs rather than Freeport-McMoRan&rsquo;s demand of variable cost schemes. Grasberg miners will receive a 24% increase on their back-dated wages to 1 October 2011. In October 2012, they will receive a 13% increase. 

Some 7,000 of the striking mineworkers, PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) employees termed non-staff workers, had earned between US$2.13 per hour and US$2.54. The 37% falls short of the union&rsquo;s most recent demand to increase wages to US$4.50 per hour this year and then by US$3 per hour in 2012. But the resolve of workers and union leaders alike to bring the world&rsquo;s largest recoverable gold and copper deposits to a grinding halt was a lesson of worker solidarity and unity to trade unions across the globe, and many paid special attention to the developments of this strike. 

&ldquo;We are not entirely happy with the wage deal,&rdquo; said union bargaining committee member Juli Parorrongan. &ldquo;We made the decision to settle due to humanitarian reasons and out of concern for our workers. They have no money, very little to eat, and having no pay checks have pushed them to the brink of poverty. 

&ldquo;But this is not the end, only the beginning. The energy and unity of our struggle now enters the workplace.&rdquo; Much of that energy was concentrated in a fierce blockade by strikers and their families at Mile 28 on the lone road between Timika on the Arafura Sea and Grasberg open-cast and underground mines in the central highlands of Papua.
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Mile 28 Blockade
That pivotal blockade prevented PTFI from getting supplies in and more importantly, it severely hampered the company from making repairs on 114-kilometre slurry lines that carry Freeport-McMoRan&rsquo;s daily 230,000-tonne output to Timika and global markets. Pipelines were vandalized during the early stages of the strike by people seeking to siphon off small portions of the company&rsquo;s riches for sale on black markets. PTFI declared force majeure on 22 October, five weeks into the strike. 

The 15-member bargaining team of PT Freeport Indonesian Workers&rsquo; Union, part of the national Chemical, Energy, Mine Workers Union (CEMWU) of SPSI, will return to Timika from Jakarta tomorrow, 15 December. On 16 December, they will hold a mass meeting with strikers to brief them on the agreement, and then hold a ceremonial end to the blockade at Mile 28. 

One outstanding issue concerning the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) is local police charges in Timika against 12 union leaders. They are under investigation for disturbing the public order in blocking the Grasberg road and access to the mine and milling operations. 

In months-long involvement in this dispute, the ICEM is convinced that Indonesian labour code asserts that PT Freeport Indonesian Workers&rsquo; Union were within their legal rights to engage in strike activity at blockade points. 

&ldquo;The ICEM applauds the resourcefulness of Grasberg miners in carrying out this strategic strike,&rdquo; stated ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, &ldquo;and it is now in the best interests of both the company and workers for local authorities to drop recriminations over what we know to be legitimate strike activity.&rdquo;

Proud Indonesian Miners End Strike with Freeport-McMoRan

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A three-week strike by 4,000 members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) spilled into the streets of Johannesburg on 15 November, with workers employed at Xstrata&rsquo;s Boshoek and Wonderkop ferrochrome smelters near Rustenburg took a protest to the Swiss company&rsquo;s Alloys headquarters. NUMSA members presented a petition to company managers demanding wage parity with workers employed at the Xstrata Lion ferrochrome smelter in Tubatse, Mpumalanga province. 
 
Both operations are undergoing big expansions. Xstrata owns 79.5% of the ferrochrome complexes in South Africa, while publicly-listed Merafe Resources holds a 20.5% stake. Both companies also mine chrome in South Africa. 
 
The strike by NUMSA in the North-West province began on 24 October after conciliation efforts by the country&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) failed. NUMSA and Xstrata Alloys met two days earlier, but a revised pay offer by the company fell short and workers rejected it. 
<img alt="" src="" width="211" height="140" />
NUMSA President Cedric Gina (rear) gets Xstrata's Edwin Hlatshwayo Sign Receipt of Petition
NUMSA is seeking an immediate 10% pay increase for Boshoek and Wonderkop metalworkers and a reduction of job grading systems from eight to five. That would close the wage gap with workers at the Lion smelter and equalize the grading system. Currently, Boshoek and Wonderkop workers earn 14 to 39% less than at Lion, depending on pay grades. 
 
NUMSA is also seeking a housing allowance of R3,500. 
 
The petition handed to Xstrata Alloys management last week states: &ldquo;(The company) has angered workers and instead of focusing on negotiations, they have decided to apply cheap apartheid-era tactics of bashing members through police intimidation of the strike. NUMSA is very angry that workers who went on a legal and protected strike have been treated like common criminals.&rdquo; 
 
NUMSA President Cedric Gina and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Second Deputy Vice President Zingiswi Losi led the march and handover of the petition. The petition asks the company to respond within 48 hours. 
 
Xstrata is world&rsquo;s largest producer of metal alloys, which besides ferrochrome includes vanadium and platinum, and accounts for one-third of total global production. The Boshoek smelter is currently seeing an expansion that will lift production to 240,000-tonnes-per-year by the end of next year. A second smelter, meanwhile, is now being constructed at the Lion operation that will see production double from the current 360,000 tonnes when it goes on line in the first half of 2013. 
 
The Xstrata-Merafe joint venture in South Africa will then yield 2.3 million tonnes yearly of ferrochrome, which is used in stainless steel production.

NUMSA Takes Xstrata Ferrochrome Smelter Strike to Streets of Johannesburg

The initial findings from a global survey of ITGLWF affiliates show that there has been a sharp increase in the use of Contract and Agency Labour in the textile, garment and leather sectors. 
 
In Cambodia, ITGLWF affiliates the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) and the National Independent Federation Textile Union of Cambodia (NIFTUC) believe that contract and agency workers now account for 41-45% of the garment workforce. They also report that workers on short term contracts are more likely to be forced to work overtime whilst also receiving remuneration and benefits of a standard lower than their permanent colleagues.&nbsp; The length of contracts has also changed dramatically in the last 12 months. Previously six-month contracts where the most common contract length for CAL workers however this has now decreased to three months, while some are as short as one month. 
 
In Kenya, there has been an even sharper increase in the use of contract and agency workers. In the last 12 months the Kenyan Shoe and Leather Workers Union (KSLWU) has recorded a 50% increase in the use of CAL.&nbsp; Joseph Bolo, General Secretary of the KSLWU outlines the union&rsquo;s reaction to these increases &ldquo;The footwear sector is now using outsourced firms to provide the bulk of their employees. We are already organising with such employers and have signed recognition agreements with two firms employing about 600 employees.&rdquo; 
 
In Faisalabad, Pakistan, two ITGLWF affiliates have reported a 37% increase in the use of contract labour in the last 12 months whilst in Malawi the Textile Garment Leather and Security Services Workers Union has recorded a 20% increase in the last year, nearly all of whom have been women. 
 
In fact, all respondents to date have indicated that it is women workers who make up the majority of contract workers. They also agree that contract workers are facing even greater levels of exploitation than permanent employees such as forced overtime, non-payment of the minimum wage, and no social security provision amongst other issues. 
 
Unions have also indicated that their ability to organise workers is fundamentally undermined by employers dismissing organised contract workers or failing to renew only the contracts of union members. Added to this the industry standard of intimidation and other forms of repressing freedom of association, unions report they are finding it extremely difficult to organise contract workers. 
 
The ITGLWF is continuing to collect data from affiliates in the Americas, Asia, and Africa on the use of Contract and Agency Labour and will publish the full findings in early 2012.

Sharp Spike in Use of Contract, Agency Labour in Textile, Garment, Leather Sectors

Globalisation is not just about how things are made, bought and sold. It's also about people and their rights. Precarious work is rapidly becoming the biggest obstacle to the respect of workers&rsquo; rights worldwide. Every day, more and more workers find themselves in precarious jobs where they have no right even to join a union, let alone to bargain collectively with their employer. 
 
On 7 October unions across the globe will participate in the World Day for Decent Work (WDDW) and will raise their voices to stop the devastating spread of precarious work, which has been identified as one of the primary focuses for action in 2011 by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). 
 
Materials and details of the campaign are on the campaign site <a href="void(0);/*1316097811111*/">http://www.wddw.org</a>/. In previous years, affiliates of IMF, ICEM, and ITGLWF have mobilised strongly around this date and are urged to contribute to global pressure against precarious work by participating in this year&rsquo;s WDDW. 
 
It is the effective denial of precarious workers&rsquo; rights to join a union and bargain collectively that leaves them most vulnerable to exploitation. Some precarious workers are formally excluded from the coverage of national labour legislation, while others have rights on paper, but no rights in fact because laws are not enforced. And others are too afraid to exercise their rights because they could lose their jobs at any minute. 
 
The result is that millions of workers throughout the world and whole categories of employment are effectively being excluded from the reach of ILO Conventions 87 and 98. IMF, ICEM, and ITGLWF have been pushing for the ILO to do more both to identify exactly how precarious workers are being denied their rights to join a union and bargain collectively and to work with governments to remove those barriers. 
 
Now the Workers&rsquo; Bureau of the ILO (ACTRAV) is inviting unions from around the world to participate in an International Workers&rsquo; Symposium which will take place at the ILO headquarters in Geneva from 4-7 October 2011. The aims of the Symposium are to: 
<ul>
 <li>Examine economic and legal trends and developments in precarious work</li>
 <li>Discuss trade union strategies and responses</li>
 <li>Identify economic and social policies to combat precarious employment</li>
 <li>Identify innovative approaches to close regulatory gaps (through International Labour Standards).</li>
</ul>
 
Unions wishing to attend the Symposium should contact <a href="void(0);/*1316097928721*/">bodemer@ilo.org</a>.

Fighting Precarious Work Globally

On 18-20 June 2012, a new Global Union Federation will see daylight at a Founding Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark. 
 
But what shall the new International be called? Now you have the chance to make a proposal. 
 
The organization will unite 50 million workers in more than 140 countries in mining, energy, metal, chemicals, paper, rubber, materials, textiles, garments, shoe, and leather industries. 
 
It aims to connect workers, fight for labour rights and build global solidarity across entire supply chains. It will be a strong counterweight to multinational companies and promote social justice, democracy and a sustainable future in the whole world. 
 
Such a powerful organization needs a fresh and identifiable name. Your contribution is welcome. Please send your proposal by e-mail to <a href="mailto:imf.icem.itglwf@gmail.com">imf.icem.itglwf@gmail.com</a> at the latest on 31 October 2011. 
 
A joint Executive Committee meeting of the IMF, ICEM, and ITGLWF will decide upon the name at the end of February 2012.

What Name for New Global Trade Union International?

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The 10th Quadrennial Delegates&rsquo; Conference of ICEM affiliate Ghana Mine Workers&rsquo; 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&rsquo; 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 &ldquo;Blending the Interest of Stakeholders in the Mining Industry Towards Operational Excellence,&rdquo; delegates elected Kwarko Mensah Gyakari as National Chairman and Prince William Ankrah, ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Sahara Africa Regional Vice President, as General Secretary. 
<img src="" 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&rsquo;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&rsquo;s divestiture of 10% stakes in Newmont Gold&rsquo;s Ahafo and Akyem projects, Noble Mineral&rsquo;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&rsquo; 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&rsquo; 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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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&rsquo;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="" 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&rsquo;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="/wp-content/migration/icem/1109.ross%20usw%20agreement.pdf">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.&nbsp;

USW Glass Workers at Anchor Begin Strike Action

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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 &Ouml;zkan as well as its affiliates Tes-Is, Petrol-Is, Belediye-Is, Lastik-Is, Kristal-Is, Cimse-Is, Sel&uuml;loz-Is and T&uuml;mka-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. &Uuml;zeyir Ataman, Director of the Collective Bargaining Department of ICEM&rsquo;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 Ko&ccedil;ak, Director of the Organizing Department of ICEM affiliate Petrol-Is, presented his union&rsquo;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&rsquo; 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="" width="259" height="160" />
ICEM's Kemal &Ouml;zkan 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&rsquo;s sister organisation IUF, the press release stressed that &ldquo;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.&rdquo; 
 
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 &ldquo;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.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;Turkey is a highly critical place in the activities of all global unions, this country is a priority for the whole union movement&rdquo; said ICEM&rsquo;s Kemal &Ouml;zkan. &ldquo;The two-day workshop reaffirmed our commitment to reinforce solidarity with the Turkish trade union movement.&rdquo;

Global Unions Unite in Defending Trade Union Rights in Turkey

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A work stoppage and hunger strike by non-regular coal miners in Bangladesh ended on 6 September, three days after the 1,145 contract workers took up strike action again against state-owned Barapukuria Coal Mine Company Ltd. (BCMCL) and its extraction contractor, the China National Import and Export Corp. (CMC). 
 
The strike originally began on 23 August, but was suspended on 27 August so miners could celebrate the Islamic Eid vacation. In negotiations between the Barapukuria Coal Mine Miners&rsquo; and Workers&rsquo; Union, BCMCL&rsquo;s parent, the Bangladesh Oil, Gas, Mineral Corp. (PETROBANGLA), CMC, the country&rsquo;s Minister of Land, and Dinajpur Province authorities on 5 September, the union won production bonuses and holiday guarantees, as well as assurances that each year 10% of non-skilled workers will see their employment status regularized. 
<img src="" width="280" height="129" alt="" />
BCMCL, the country&rsquo;s only operating coal mine, guaranteed that production bonuses will take effect when coal output exceeds 70,000 tonnes per month. The contract miners, employed by CMC through an arrangement with the Xuzhou Coal Mine Group of China (XMC), also won a four-fold increase in festival allowances, a paid three-day holiday period each for two Eid vacations, and 20 kilos of rice per miner each month. 
 
Regularisation of employment, however, was the major achievement in the August-September strike action. Since CMC began operating the mine the mine in 2005, the contract miners were without many social protections, insurances, and pension pensions. 
 
Barapukuria Coal Mine Miners&rsquo; and Workers&rsquo; Union President Rabiul Islam called the settlement satisfactory, with BCMCL and the Chinese employer accepting a good share of the union&rsquo;s demands. 
 
BCMCL has a recoverable coal deposit of 64 million tones, of which only 1.13 million tones have been extracted since inception of the mine five years ago. The mine produces thermal coal with the bulk of it transported to Bangladesh&rsquo;s lone 250 megawatt electric generating plant.

Contract Coal Miners in Bangladesh Win Guarantees with Strikes

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