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<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The transition to a low-carbon economy must guarantee employment and result in the development of new, decent jobs, say participants at global industrial unions’ meeting on climate change. That was the message coming from 14-15 October multi-trade union meetings in Bad Orb, Germany.
The meetings were conducted under the auspices of the ICEM, the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), the European Metalworkers' Federation, and the European Mine, Chemical, and Energy Workers’ Federation (EMCEF) in a forum "Cutting Emissions, Transforming Jobs." 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0910.bad.orb.jpg" width="370" height="110"/>
The goal of the meeting was to discuss how industrial workers might present a common position at the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference in Copenhagen Denmark. The UNFCCC COP-15 conference, as it is called, is expected to propose a new set of agreements on greenhouse gas emissions targets to renew or replace those contained within the Kyoto Accord. 
 
Speaking at the meeting, IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina said, “Our industrial sectors are frequently seen as contributors to the current environmental crisis. Yet it is within these very industries that solutions already exist or are being developed. We want to reduce emissions, while at the same time increasing employment and protecting the environment.” 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0910.bad.orb.2.jpg" width="325" height="183"/>
The industrial workers’ unions prepared a background discussion document taking into account work that had already been done, such as ICEM's recently-adopted policy on Sustainability. The meeting was structured around five panel discussions: environmental protection, sustainable development, sectoral concerns, sustainable job creation, and just transition. 
 
The lively discussion covered a vast territory, some of the points made include: 
- the environmental crisis is as much a failure of global capitalism as the recent and ongoing economic crisis 
- good jobs and a clean environment go hand in hand, we will have both; or we will have neither 
- developing countries must have their chance to develop. However, their development need not follow the same harmful paths as it did in developed countries that caused the environmental crisis in the first place. International institutions for capital and finance, resurgent protectionism, and restrictions on technology transfer, can create a new era of colonialism if we do not prevent it 
- trade unions must hold governments and employers to account, particularly regarding the social dimension of sustainability 
 
The delegates from all four organizations welcomed the opportunity to discuss the social and economic consequences of trying to solve the present environmental crisis. Overall, there was a consensus that industrial sector unions need to make our voices heard in Copenhagen, and particularly to be the champions of the social dimension of sustainable development. While there are certainly concerns within specific industries and regions, and therefore a need for strong Just Transition programs, there are also many opportunities for sustainable job creation. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/IMF100.jpg" width="100" height="97"/> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/EMCEF.gif" width="146" height="46"/> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/EMF.png" width="105" height="94"/>
 
The ICEM, IMF, EMF and EMCEF will be reviewing the discussion document and comments received over the next couple of weeks. Following this review, we will finalize the materials we will bring to COP-15 in Copenhagen to make our points with the country representatives negotiating the new agreement. 
 
Following the meeting, Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary said, “For industrial workers and their unions an important question for changing to a low-carbon economy is who pays for it and who benefits from the transition. We only have one planet and we all have an interest in protecting our future.” 
All material from the meeting is available on the IMF website, <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=21012&l=2">here</a>.
Additional information about climate change and the position of industrial workers can be found on the following web links: 
 
<a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/climatechange">www.imfmetal.org/climatechange</a>
<a href="/en/97-Sustainable-Development-Health-and-Safety" type="internal">/en/97-Sustainable-Development-Health-and-Safety</a>
<a href="http://www.industrialpolicy.eu/COP15">http://www.industrialpolicy.eu/COP15</a>

Cut Emissions, Transform Jobs

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A special feature at the IGBCE Congress in Hannover, Germany, occurred on closing day, 16 October. It was a round-table forum on Global Networks. The panel was moderated by Constantin Grund of the Freidrich Ebert Foundation, and included ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana. 
 
It also included Fabio Lins from ICEM Brazilian affiliate CNQ/CUT, who addressed the highly successful Latin American network of workers within the German chemical company BASF; Robert Oswald, chairman of the European Works Council of BASF; and Ralf Blauth, Human Resources director of Evonik, now a German chemicals firm that evolved from another company, RAG, that had been signatory to a Global Framework Agreement with the ICEM. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0910.IGBCE.3.jpg" width="300" height="225"/>
Fabio Lins, Senzeni Zokwana, Constantin Grund, Robert Oswald, Ralf Blauth
Zokwana spelled out the ICEM’s philosophy behind Global Agreements, as well as the distinct features of ICEM workers’ networks within single multinational companies, specifically related to the regional and global level. 
 
“These networks are the direct result of several years of contact between workers of the same company,” he said. “We have found that the regional networks are working the best, partly because of language and work similarities, but also because company managers have joined with these taking on a high degree of dialogue and actual negotiations.” 
 
Lins added that the best example of this might be BASF in Latin America, which has now completed its tenth year. “We have succeeded in convincing the BASF managers in both Europe and Latin America to play a hands-on role in this network,” said Lins. “That has enhanced our work, brought better safety standards to all worksites, and addressed such issues as subcontracting directly with management.” 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/BASFICEMLatAmNetwork.jpg" width="300" height="104"/>
Oswald added that the BASF Asia-Pacific Network is moving forward, with the introduction of methods and common values brought forward from both Europe and Latin America. “I must add that Supervisory Board members and workers’ representatives on BASF’s European Works Council have gained valuable knowledge and benefited greatly from the experiences that have been shared in both regions,” said Oswald. 
 
Blauth addressed the question of a merged company – RAG and Degussa forming Evonik – coming forward now to re-negotiate a Global Agreement. He said it is still too early in the process to predict an outcome. “We are pragmatic and will place great emphasis on the practicability of reaching such an agreement. The communication process is important in and of itself, and this process inevitably leads to improved company practices. 
 
Warda concluded the session by stating both Global Framework Agreements and multinational workers’ networks are invaluable instruments to improve dialogue between labour and management, as well as setting forth best practices for trade unions in cross-border workplaces to adopt and implement so work standards can become harmonized.

IGBCE Congress Features Panel on Global Workers’ Network on Closing Day

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Tens of thousands of Nigerian citizens took to the streets in the federal capital territory of Abuja on 29 October in a visible display at protest over the government’s plan to deregulate the downstream oil sector. The manifestation was led by the nation’s two national labour centres, the blue-collar Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the white-collar Trades Union Congress (TUC). 
 
Both ICEM trade union affiliates in the energy sector, NUPENG and PENGASSAN, were forefront in the manifestation, turning out thousands of members. The government’s plan to deregulate also would end fuel subsidies to the nation’s citizenry, an insensitive move that would – the labour federations claim – immediately lift fuel costs from 65 naira per litre (US$.43) to 95 naira (US$.63). 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0911.Nigeria.Rally.jpg" width="160" height="239"/>
Three Arms Monument at the National Assembly
Such an increase on heating, cooking, and transport fuel costs would drive millions of people in Africa’s most populous country deeper into poverty. 
 
Last Thursday’s protest culminated at the Three Arms Zone in front of the National Assembly, where union and civil society leaders delivered a letter intended for President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. It called on the government to conduct a citizens’ referendum on the question of deregulation. 
 
The letter was jointly signed by NLC President Abdulwahed Omar, TUC President Peter Esele, and Dr. Dipo Hasfhina, co-chairman of the Labour and Civil Society Coalition. The manifestation started at Berger Junction in Abuja and marched passed several key buildings, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) Towers, the Court of Appeals, and the Nigerian Television Authority, locations where the march halted for rallying speeches. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0911.Nigeria.Rally.2.jpg" width="320" height="213"/>
Both NUPENG and PENGASSAN believe that deregulation can only occur when there is increased local refining capacity from Nigeria’s five oil refineries. NUPENG President Peter Akpatason said deregulating the downstream sector would allow shadowy marketers to limit supplies, thus boosting prices and their profits, “spelling misery to the teeming poor of the country.” 
<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/People/NupengAkpatason.jpg" width="120" height="90"/>
NUPENG President Peter Akpatason
Withdrawing fuel subsidies, he added, when the domestic market is dependent on 80% imported supplies is a recipe for civil strife. The country’s refineries have a combined stated capacity of 445,000 barrels-per-day, but have never operated at that due to neglect, negligible NNPC and government capitalisation, and lack of reliable feedstock supplies. Even if run at full optimisation, the refineries would produce just barely half of the 32 million litres of petrol, kerosene, and other fuel products demanded daily. 
 
PENGASSAN President Babatunde Ogun also expressed skepticism at the current government process toward deregulation. “We vehemently reject import-driven deregulation. We need the free and uninterrupted flow of petroleum products across the country,” he said, adding that means the government must focus on developing more domestic refining capacity and creating jobs for Nigerians. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0805BanatundeOgunPengPres1.jpg" width="140" height="210"/>
PENGASSAN President Babatunde Ogun
A major complaint by labour and civil service leaders is the arrogance of Rilwanu Lukman, Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, who has concluded publicly that deregulation and the end of price subsidies is now irreversible. His neo-liberal thinking, some believe, is tied to his own relationships with marketers. 
 
The mass number of Nigerians who assembled last week in Abuja resent the government’s fast-track effort to deregulate oil supplies. As NLC President Abdulwahed Omar said at one rally stop, “Nigeria belongs to all of us and if the government is for the people, then the voice of the people must count. If they think that deregulation is a popular policy, let them subject it to a referendum and let Nigerians decide.” 
 
Although the government has been silent on the exact date that liberalisation would occur, indicators such as vessel arrivals and ramping up supply access signal that perhaps it will be soon. But following last week’s mass mobilization, the government may very well have backed off immediate deregulation and an end to subsidies until more public discourse is heard.

Nigerian Labour, Citizenry Protest to Fuel Oil Deregulation

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An 18-month contract dispute between the ICEM North American affiliate, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB), and Lafarge at a cement manufacturing plant in the US state of Missouri was finally resolved on 22 October. 
 
A tentative agreement was reached at the Sugar Creek, Missouri, plant between IBB Lodge D-27 and American managers of the French- based company that will see retirees receive the same medical benefits that active workers get, and will push back a different retiree health-benefit scheme for any new employee hired after 1 January 2012. 
 
IBB Vice President Warren Fairly reported that the new agreement, once ratified by the 55 Lodge D-27 members, will run until 1 January 2012. A prior agreement expired on 30 April 2008. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/lafarge.gif" width="127" height="39"/>
The ICEM and the Building and Woodworkers’ International (BWI), the two Global Union Federations that are signatory to a Global Framework Agreement with Lafarge, brought North American management’s unjust social cuts before senior Lafarge managers in Paris in September and October 2008. 
 
Lafarge had sought to exclude entirely new hires from any future retiree medical plan, and wanted existing workers to enter into a separate, inferior health-care plan upon retirement. 
 
The ICEM congratulates the IBB for its bargaining table endurance to finally get Lafarge to move away from its concessionary 2008 contract agenda. The Sugar Creek cement plant underwent a major modernisation in 2002, and is currently in a ten-week partial shutdown that is expected to last until 11 January 2010 due to the economic downturn in the construction sector. 
 
Some 35 to 40 IBB members are on temporary furloughs, but the union has negotiated retention of their benefits. Teamsters Local 541 represents about ten truck drivers at the Sugar Creek plant as well.

US Boilermakers US Succeed in Moving Lafarge Off Contract Concessions

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In Hobart, Tasmania, the Construction, Forestry, Mining, And Energy Union (CFMEU) and Belgian-based lead and zinc producer Nyrstar NV agreed to a 14-day cooling down period last week following escalated industrial tensions that included the threat of a lock-out under Australian’s Fair Act by the company. 
 
Nyrstar operates a 300-worker zinc smelter in Hobart and exports some 250,000 tonnes of zinc cathode annually from Tasmania. The two parties resume negotiations under the supervision of Fair Work Australia, the government’s new labour dispute agency. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/AustraliaFLAG.gif" width="160" height="80" alt=""/>
The dispute flared in mid-December when some workers opted to take lawful industrial actions, including work bans and other stoppages. Strikes occurred on December 19 and December 24. Nyrstar immediately responded by issuing letters to strikers stating they would face a 16-day lockout, while another letter to those not striking stated that implementation of partial work bans will be construed as refusal to do any work, thus staff will not be paid at all. 
 
The central issue in the Nyrstar Australian dispute is the company insistence to continue a performance-based pay system, while the CFMEU and another workplace representative is seeking renewal of an enterprise agreement that contains automatic and set pay increases. The current operating enterprise contract expired three years ago, with no accord reached in that time period. 
 
Nyrstar was formerly a joint venture between Belgian metals and chemicals company Umicore and Australian mining and development company Zinifex Ltd. It was spun off into a separate company in late 2007 and wholly owns GM-Metal of France and 25% of Thailand’s Padaeng Industry Public Company Ltd. Zinifex remains Nyrstar’s primary source for raw zinc, while Umicore is a main buyer of Nyrstar’s processed zinc. Globally, Nyrstar also processes some copper, gold, indium, and refined silver.

CFMEU, Zinc Smelter Nyrstar Take ‘Cool Down’ Time in Australia

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The ICEM supports the ITUC-led trade union appeal for victims of the earthquake disaster in Haiti. The trade union relief work is being carried out primarily by ITUC’s affiliates in the Dominican Republic, in cooperation with Haitian colleagues across the border. 
 
We urge ICEM affiliates to support this Appeal. 
 
Funds for the appeal can be transferred to the following ITUC bank account: 
No. 375-1008200-61 
Banque ING, Brussels Branch Institutionals, 1 rue du Trone, B-1000 Brussels 
Code IBAN: BE 62375100820061 
Code BIC/Swift: BBRUBEBB 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/ITUC100.jpg" width="100" height="95" alt=""/>
The ITUC requests that the words “SOS Solidarity – Haiti” are included with each transfer to this account. 
 
ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder has called for the cancellation of Haiti’s debt, in the aftermath of the disaster, to increase the country’s chances of reconstruction. 
 
As has been widely reported in the mainstream media, the huge earthquake hit Haiti on 12 January, and was followed by a number of aftershocks. Along with the reported death toll of over 100,000, Haiti’s infrastructure has been severely damaged, with many buildings and roads completely destroyed. The humanitarian situation is desperate and aid is needed. 
 
Once the immediate humanitarian effort passes, the solidarity campaign will continue to use funds raised to help Haitians in their recovery from this natural disaster.

ICEM Urges Haitian Relief Funds through ITUC

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Negotiations between United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9508 and Brazilian mining company Vale broke off late last night, 24 January, in St. John, Newfoundland, in failed efforts to end the 25-week strike by 250 union members at Goose Bay and Voiseys Bay, Labrador. Three days of steady talks over the weekend, guided by a provincial mediator from Newfoundland/Labrador, failed to bring the two sides any closer to terms. 
 
Meanwhile, 3,100 striking Steelworkers marked six months on picket lines opposite Vale in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, a fortnight ago. The company, on 19 January, upheld its promise to re-start the Copper Cliff nickel smelter using managers and replacement workers to fire one of two furnaces. 
 
In eastern Canada, an announcement a week ago that the first full round of negotiations since February 2009 would begin on 22 January brought hope that copper, nickel, and cobalt mining in Goose Bay, as well as operations at a slurry facility in Voiseys Bay would resume. Vale had submitted the framework of an agreement ten days ago, but this past weekend’s bargaining proved Vale is seeking the same set of concessions. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0910.vale.ship.2.jpg" width="257" height="233"/>
Hong Kong flagged ship operators receive Voiseys Bay Petition, 9 October 2009
“The company here still insists on removing the nickel bonus and they didn’t deal at all with our issues,” lead negotiator and USW District 6 Representative Boyd Bussey told the ICEM Sunday evening. “If Vale thought they were picking off a weak link in this strike, they were wrong. We’ll be on picket lines until we get a good deal.” 
 
The key item that separated the two sides in talks remains Vale’s insistence on removing the nickel bonus, a wage supplement that is tied to the rise and fall of the market price of nickel. Contract language, monetary issues, and a company demand to give it more latitude on use of temporary workers also separates the two sides. Local 9508 is an amalgamated USW branch union with five units, three – miners, catering staff, and security – that have been on strike against Vale since 1 August 2009. Another unit, a Vale sub-contracted group of port workers employed by an Aboriginal-owned company called TSI, has a separate labour agreement expiring early in 2010. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0910.vale.ship.1.jpg" width="290" height="218"/>
The focus will now be on whether or not Vale will restart copper and nickel mining in Goose Bay using replacement workers. The speculation is that Vale needs nickel concentrates to feed its smelting operations in Thompson, Manitoba, as well as nickel for the re-start of Copper Cliff, where USW Local 6500 is on strike. The company might also be expected to capitalize on high copper prices, with the high-grade red metal mined and processed in the maritime province moved to market. In 2008, the company produced 77,500 tonnes of contained nickel and 55,400 tonnes of high-grade copper concentrates from its Vale-Inco Newfoundland and Labrador operations. 
 
The start-up of the Copper Cliff smelter was long advertised by the company. Operation of one of two furnaces at Copper Cliff, however, is not expected to give Vale anywhere near 50% of smelting capacity from the Sudbury-area facility. Vale is getting minimal production from two of six mines in northern Ontario, as well as token output from its Claribelle refining operation. 
 
On 13 January, the six-month mark of the strike in Sudbury and Port Colborne, the USW filed a bad-faith bargaining complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board in Toronto on Vale-Inco’s entrenched negotiations stand. Included in that complaint is an internal June 2009 Vale document that the company intends to pare mining jobs in northern Ontario, as well as strategically mine only high-grade ore from the region, thus reducing life expectancy of nickel reserves. The USW believes this indicates Vale is not managing the province’s reserves in the long-term best interests of workers and rural communities. 
 
On the six-month anniversary of the Ontario mining strike, over 1,000 miners and their families marched and manifested in Sudbury. The event included an environmentally-friendly balloon release, with each balloon set aloft representing C$4 million of Vale’s profits that has fled from Canada. 
 
The ICEM, together with the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), will continue ratcheting up pressure on the Brazilian company so that Vale returns to bargaining tables both in Labrador/Newfoundland and Ontario with fair contract offers. The USW Local 6500 strike website can be found here <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca">www.fairdealnow.ca</a>.

Talks Prove Futile in Ending Vale’s Eastern Canada Mine Strike

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
The Guyana Bauxite & General Workers’ Union (GB&GWU) is seeking justice against the union-smashing affront by Russian metals company RusAL, the world’s second largest aluminum producer. The union has filed a racial discrimination complaint over RusAl’s sacking of 57 union activists, a move made necessary when neither the prime minister nor the minister of Labour, Human Services, and Social Security intervened to protect Guyana’s labour law. 
 
The dispute started in November 2009, following pay talks between GB&GWU and RusAl, the 90% owner of Bauxite Co. of Guyana Inc. (BCGI) at the Aroaima and Kwakwani mines in central Guyana. RusAl managers submitted three counter-proposals for the workforce of 500 to consider, and after miners voted to accept one, the company rescinded it and announced on 1 December that it no longer recognized GB&GWU, a blatant violation of the Trade Union Recognition Act. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/Guyana.png" width="220" height="101"/>
Allegedly, the company subsequently said at a workplace meeting that those responsible for promoting the accepted offer would be the first in line for retrenchments. BCGI had hoped to tie a wage increase with some 70 redundancies, a counter-proposal that miners did not accept. 
 
Miners began a lawful strike on 21 November at the Aroaima mine. Three days into the strike, BCGI issued letters of termination to 57 strike leaders, all African descendants. Despite several urgent calls and letters to government officials to press RusAl on the law infractions, very little has been done. The discharge letters judged the workers “insubordinate, refusing to obey instructions” and guilty of “misconduct.” 
 
The race charge was heard before the Ethnic Relations Commission on 8 January. The GB&GWU is asking the commission to convene a full public inquiry into the alleged discriminatory sackings because a “bilateral initiative … to engage the union; then engage the company; then engage the Minister … will not work.” 
 
An 8 January letter by the union and the 57 discharged miners to Prime Minister Samuel Hinds expressed frustration at government inaction: “We were never charged, never summoned to answer the charges … never given a hearing yet the company has pronounced us guilty of charges. Today, as we continue to take a stand for our rights, the Minister of Labour has thus far taken the position that we do not have any rights or any recourse for justice.” 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/charlessampson.guyana.jpg" width="115" height="192"/>
GB&GWU General President Charles Sampson
GB&GWU General President Charles Sampson, in a letter to Labour, Human Services, and Social Security Minister Mansoor Nadir, said he was “appalled” that you “have not seen it fit to intervene … to immediately put an end to this national insult.” Nadir, for his part, publicly stated in December that “we should let this festive (holiday) season of goodwill take its course and hopefully both parties will exercise more generosity towards each other.” 
 
Six weeks later, there is little generosity shown the 57 mining families who are now impoverished in a poverty-stricken country. Guyana’s Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board did hold a 12 January hearing on the unilateral de-authorization pronouncement by RusAl, and it also heard first-hand how BCGI is now coercing workers to sign waivers to abandon the union. 
 
The ICEM is disturbed that Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, himself a former miner and human rights proponent, has not been in the forefront of this dispute, seeking reinstatement for the 57 and prohibiting RusAl from trampling on the country’s labour code. The ICEM also cites the Russian mining and metals multinational with yet another glaring example of the company’s complete disregard toward international labour and human rights standards.

Guyana Bauxite Workers’ Union Bitter at RusAl, Government

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/InBrief100.jpg" width="100" height="39"/>
At a factory blockade of a Michelin tire plant in Laem Chabang, Thailand, on 20 March 2009, workers protested against a harsh 35% pay cut. Following the manifestation, 22 union activists were arrested, suspended from their jobs, with management taking out criminal charges against them. (See ICEM news release on that <a href="/en/77-All-ICEM-News-Releases/3132-ICEM-Condemns-Lockout-of-Thai-Workers-by-Michelin " type="internal">here</a>.) 
 
Those 22 unionists, members of ICEM-affiliated Petroleum and Chemical Workers’ Federation (PCFT), were finally reinstated to their jobs on 18 January, after attending a special training session specifically for them. 
 
However, despite this positive but delayed piece of justice, the conflict is far from over. Ten of the 22 are still facing criminal charges, charges the ICEM believes are unjust because they relate to legitimate trade union activity. The president of the Michelin Tyre Workers’ Union of the PCFT is one of those facing criminal proceedings, scheduled to take place at the Criminal Court of Pattaya by the public prosecutor of the province. The trade unionists have been forced to take bail. 

<img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/0905.thai.michelin.JPG" width="270" height="129"/>
Michelin Tyre Workers’ Union leaders of the PCFT, from left, Thanakorn Somsin, Rangsan Monchaisong, and Samai Koonswat
The cases are expected to be processed in the next month. 
 
Trade union members continue to face discrimination on a daily basis inside the Michelin factory, a workplace that employs 1,500. They receive lower pay than non-union members and have witnessed management take away holiday allowances in 2009. 
 
The March 2009 bargaining dispute was settled through successful tripartite discussions, brought forth by pressure from the ICEM, FCE-CFDT of France, and Michelin’s European Works Council. The parties called for immediate intervention by Michelin headquarters then in France. 
 
In other Michelin Asia-Pacific news, the company announced closure of a Japanese factory in Ota, 50 kilometres north of Tokyo. The closure will occur in July 2010 and will see 380 employees sacked from their jobs. The reason given by Michelin is that production costs at the plant are too high. Michelin has entered into talks with the union to relocate workers from the Ota plant into other jobs.

Michelin Unionists at Thai Tyre Factory Still Face Discrimination

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The Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation (PCMLF) and the All-Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation (APLF) jointly held a manifestation on 13 January at the Quetta Press Club to protest safety inaction by Balochistan provincial authorities in coal mining. In the first half of January, at least 21 miners perished in roof cave-ins and methane gas explosions. 
 
The federated mining unions expressed outrage that neither Balochistan authorities nor the Chief Inspectorate of Mines removed the bodies of five dead miners in the days following the tragedies. On 2 January, a gas explosion at the Al-Rahman mine near Marwar killed ten miners, including three Afghan workers. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1001.pakistan.protest.jpg" width="290" height="177" alt=""/>
The blast, which caused a cave-in, occurred 2,000 metres underground. And then on 11 January, two separate mine accidents occurred at the Habibullah Coal Mines Co. near Spin Karez. Three miners died when a roof collapsed, while eight others were trapped and killed following a blast at the mine in the Marwar coal fields. 
 
Speakers at the unions’ 13 January protest said governmental authorities demonstrated “criminal silence” over the loss of lives, as well as denouncing Balochistan officials for not extending financial assistance to the families of the deceased. 

<img src="/sites/default/files/migration/icem/1001.Sultan Muhammad Khan.pakistan.jpg" width="160" height="238" alt=""/>
Sultan Muhammad Khan
PCMLF Secretary General Sultan Muhammad Khan called it a travesty that miners are denied social benefits, and he said the fact that five miners from the first incident are still entombed at Al-Rahman “speaks volumes about the performance of the Mines Inspectorate.” 
 
Other mine union officials that condemned the inaction, as well as the lack of preventative safety measures in the province’s mines included Bakht Maweb Yousatzai, Abdul Sattar, Syed Altaf Ilussain Shah, Muhammad Jamil, And Rehmatullah Baloch. The mine union leaders said the average death rate in Balochistan coal mining, in southwestern Pakistan, had been 86 known deaths, but that this rate has increased of late because of lack of safety measures in mines.

Pakistan Mine Unions Protest Killings in Balochistan Coal Pits

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