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ICEM affiliate FNV Bondgenoten of The Netherlands is in dispute with French-based BSN Glasspack at three plants just as Europe&rsquo;s second largest glassmaker has been bought by Owens-Illinois of the US. The employer is seeking to escape pension obligations, raise the retirement age from 62 to 63, and cut a profit-sharing plant for 200 workers at plants in Leerdam, Maastricht and Schiedam. Workers are steadfast against BSN&rsquo;s concessionary proposal. The collective agreement expires 1 July.

FNV Bondgenoten in Glass Dispute in NL

A three-day general strike in Nigeria ended 11 June after a federal court in Abuja ordered petrol and fuel prices lowered. The government of President Olusegun Obasanjo has sought to remove petrol subsidies in the oil-rich nation, a move that drove up fuel prices and pushed inflation levels to 20%. Two strikers were shot and killed 10 June by aggressive police forces outside the offices of the Nigerian Labour Congress after they accompanied NLC leaders on a mission to monitor petrol prices. Both ICEM affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN were front and center in the strike. Obasanjo retaliated against the nationwide shutdown by threatening to amend the Trades Union Act of 2003 that effectively would dissolve the NLC and other democratic unions, but popular sentiment by both legislators and the general populace make this an unlikely action.

Nigerian Unions Win General Strike with Petrol Price Decrease

The ICEM has issued a circular calling on affiliates to again protest directly to Saint-Gobain CEO Jean-Louis Beffa over continued intransigence in bargaining at a US abrasives plant. A majority of some 800 workers in Worcester, Massachusetts, voted for ICEM affiliate United Auto Workers in August 2001 but after 121 bargaining sessions, workers and the UAW are still without a collective agreement. Protest letters can go to Beffa at Saint-Gobain, 18 avenue d&rsquo;Alsace, 92096 La D&eacute;fense, Cedex, France.

ICEM Protests Saint-Gobain’s Union-Busting in the US

The South African task force set up between NUM and Harmony Gold Mining Ltd. to curb redundancies established an initial framework with re-skilling and redeployment at its core. The dialogue also hopes to identify growth points and points of decline inside the company, and continuous operations will be discussed within the context of creating new jobs. The task force was set up to avert a strike last month after Harmony&rsquo;s announcement that it would close six mine shafts affecting 5,000 workers.

NUM and Harmony Gold Make Progress to Curb Redundancies

<p>The Fourth National Congress of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) set an intentional course of creating new tiers of young leaders as the national center continues its fight to restore democracy in Nepal. Stepping down as secretary general was Bishnu Rimal, a founding member of GEFONT 15 years ago who now becomes vice chairperson for Policy and Planning. Former Treasurer Binod Shrestha became the new secretary general. Binda Pandey, ICEM vice president and past chief of GEFONT&rsquo;s Education Department, is on the vanguard of the youth movement as she was elected one of three deputy secretary generals.</p>

Nepal’s GEFONT National Centre Emphasizes Youth

Strong protests by Brazilian union Sindicato Quimicos Unificasos (SQU) against Unilever&rsquo;s plan to make redundant 150 workers at a factory in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo State, have proven successful with management and union leaders engaged in dialogue to find other opportunities within the factory for the 150. Unilever has announced it would build another factory in Ipojuca, Pernambuco State, to manufacture toothpaste.

Brazilian Protests Against Unilever Preserve Jobs

UK affiliate Transport &amp; General Workers&rsquo; Union suspended industrial action against Michelin 2 March for seven days after the company determined it could do better on a pay offer. Action was to begin 4 March at a tyre plant in Stoke, Midlands, and 400 T&amp;G members were set to begin a ban on overtime, forego any cooperative efforts with management, and start a work-to-rule campaign inside the factory. On that day, French unions at Michelin were to stage a manifestation at Michelin&rsquo;s Paris headquarters in support of the UK union, while the Stoke workforce planned a mass protest at their factory. Industrial action will commence 11 March if Michelin does not improve on a non-consolidated offer of &pound;650 or 3%, meaning the pay hike would not count towards the formula for pensions and other benefits.

Michelin Returns to UK Bargaining Table to Avoid Industrial Action

Australian affiliate CFMEU sent a clear message to the Howard government last week on how it would resist proposed radical industrial relations reform: together with the Maritime Union, it dispatched 400 trade unionists from Perth to Collie in Western Australia to support striking construction workers at BHP Billiton&rsquo;s new Worsley alumina refinery. Throughout February, strikers&mdash;including CFMEU members and members of ICEM affiliates Communications, Electrical &amp; Plumbing Union (CEPU) and Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU)&mdash;downed tools over pay and dispute over their classification as individual contractors under the federal awards system, a system already denying them basic workplace rights. Under the proposed Howard reform plan, among other regressive measures, such individual workers could be sued for taking strike action. Last week&rsquo;s 200 km solidarity caravan to Collie convinced two of BHP Billiton&rsquo;s site contractors to settle the pay dispute and if another agrees to the higher pay, construction workers could be back to work early this week.

CFMEU Will Resist Howard Government’s Labour Reforms

A new ICEM Workers' Network of SAPPI paperworkers will be formed 30-31 March near Hannover, Germany. ICEM affiliate Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers' Union (CEPPWAWU) of South Africa will be the lead union for the network. SAPPI, headquartered in South Africa, has paper mills in Austria, Germany and the US.

South African CEPPWAWU Affiliate to Head ICEM’s SAPPI Network

US affiliate PACE has re-introduced a website dedicated to tracking the ongoing labour dispute in America with French-based Imerys. The website, www.imerys-solidarity.org, will cover the dispute at the company's Sylacauga calcium carbonate plant in Alabama, as well as upcoming talks between PACE and Imerys at a kaolin operation in Dry Branch, Georgia, USA.

PACE in US Renews Website Dedicated to Imerys’ Abuses

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