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CANADA: The IMF-affiliated Canadian Auto Workers have begun collective bargaining talks with the "Big Three" automakers - General Motors of Canada Ltd., DaimlerChyrsler Inc. and Ford of Canada Ltd. The current contracts, which cover 46,387 CAW members, will expire on September 17, 2002.

The union has announced that in addition to key demands for job and income security, substantial wage increases and improved time off the job, the need to address the question of a potential plant closure at each of the companies is also a high priority in the negotiations.

According to the CAW, it intends to seek a written commitment from the Big Three to investment and jobs in Canada, as well as a commitment from the federal government to get all auto producers who are selling in Canada to increase their commitment to jobs and investment in Canada. However, stated the union's president, Buzz Hargrove, "no one should misread our concern and our campaign on strengthening the overall industry in Canada as a weakness in our bargaining program."

The CAW will soon announce which of the three automakers will be the target company, for which the deadline for the first agreement is set for midnight Tuesday, September 17.

Current collective contracts with GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler will expire in mid-September.

CAW begins Big Three bargaining talks

URUGUAY: A spate of general strikes has hit Uruguay as the country's main trade union centers and workers protest the government's failed economic policies and the escalating crisis there.

In a bid to halt the economic recession, which is in its fourth year, and to avoid contagion from neighbouring Argentina's on-going economic crisis, the Uruguayan government recently announced a decision to make cuts in public spending and last week closed banks in an attempt to stop people from withdrawing their savings.

Marching workers have demanded an increase in wages and public spending as well as cash to prop up the country's faltering banking system. 

The recession in Uruguay has left a fourth of the population unable to meet basic food needs and pay bills. Unemployment is at 15.6 per cent of the workforce.

Uruguay and Brazil are getting the ripple effects of the continued economic crisis in Argentina.

Strikes hit Uruguay as crisis worsens

CANADA: The IMF-affiliated USWA reports that on July 30 a majority of the unionised employees at Stelco Inc.'s Hilton Works in Hamilton, Ontario, voted to approve the terms of a new, four-year collective contract reached between the union and company management on July 26. The ballot result was 71 per cent in favour, with 3,621 out of more than 4,000 unionised workers voting.

The agreement, which will be in place until July 31, 2006, contains a substantial increase in retirement pensions, with the pension for a 30-year employee taking early retirement to rise by 44 per cent over the four-year contract period. The pension increase was one of the union's key bargaining objectives and is the largest in the history of Hilton Works.

With regard to wages, the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) and premiums, the existing $1.40 COLA float will be rolled into the wage scale immediately and will generate $1.20 an hour in further increases over the life of the roll-in. Also, future COLA payments will be rolled into the wage scale during the life of the agreement. A wage increase of 15 cents an hour will take effect in the second year of the agreement and night shifts will carry a 10-cent-an-hour premium. Tradespeople and crane operator positions will be upgraded. 

At Stelco's wholly-owned subsidiary Stelco-McMaster Ltée in Quebec, however, USWA members rejected by 98 per cent the company's "final" offer because it fell far short of the agreement reached at Hilton Works. Strike action began with the expiration of the existing contract, at midnight on July 31. The highly productive Stelco-McMaster plant produces billets, special quality bars and reinforcing bars for shipment to North American and offshore markets.

Stelco Inc. is Canada's largest steel producer, with an annual steelmaking capacity of 6.2 million tons. 


Note: Figures are in Canada dollars, with the current exchange rate at 1 CAD = 0.634380 USD.

USWA hourly workers at Stelco's steel-producing unit in Hamilton, Ontario, ratify deal, but union members at Stelco-McMaster Ltée in Quebec reject company offer and set up picket lines.

Agreement reached at Stelco&#039;s Hilton Works

I have heard trade union leaders say that what happens on the stock exchange does not interest the individual worker.

This couldn't be further from the truth these days. The crash of some big U.S. companies clearly shows how so-called casino capitalism, ruthless as it is, uses workers' money for gambling. And this isn't happening just in the USA; worldwide the situation is very much the same.

CEOs being granted astronomical figures for compensation while their companies are in deep trouble is happening all over - in Sweden, Germany, France, Switzerland, just to mention a few. In the USA, managers have been able to collect sums such as 3.3 billion dollars as their companies go bankrupt, making 100,000 workers jobless and thousands of shareholders poorer.

As trade unions, we never liked the old-fashioned managers who ran their companies in a paternalistic way. For them, workplace democracy and workers' influence were a burden rather than an asset. But most of them planned for the future, and to secure the company and jobs in the long term.

On the other hand, the CEOs involved in these bankruptcies have not planned any longer than their nose. Their main concern appears to be driving up stock values so they can cash in on stock options. They almost make trade unions miss the old-style industrialists.

This is why the strong reaction of John Sweeney, expressed on July 30 during his visit to Wall Street, fits perfectly into this.

The AFL-CIO represents 13 million workers who together own pension funds worth 6,000 billion dollars. This money is not supposed to feed a few irresponsible CEOs and make some shareholders richer. It represents the only guarantee for the future of millions of people and their families. The same applies all over the world.

The funds which are manipulated to enrich a few are almost 100 percent money which has been brought together by workers. By saving money for pensions, workers contribute largely to providing a strong and stable base for economic development. The least we can ask is that our money is used to secure our future when we have no other income.

This is why, when John Sweeney and the AFL-CIO say that we will no longer tolerate the greed of short-term speculators and corrupt insiders and will not tolerate companies which overcompensate their executives, the entire trade union movement can only give him its massive and total support.

CEOs who commit illegal acts should be severely punished -- just like anyone else who breaks the law. But that is not enough. What the most recent spate of corporate misdeeds shows is that we need much tighter accounting rules, and government regulators who strictly apply them.

The bad ethics of&lt;br&gt;new capitalism

GENEVA: The International Labour Organisation (ILO) met to devise a new code of practice for health and safety in the iron and steel industry from February 1 to 9, 2005. The previous code was produced in 1983 and a new version was long overdue. The ILO code acts as a guide to best practice on health and safety within the sector and serves as an international instrument that trade unions can use when developing approaches to health and safety in the national arena. The meeting had participants from governments, employers and unions. The workers group comprised of IMF affiliates from the UK, Germany, South Africa, Russia, Japan, USA and Brazil. The employers group which included representatives from Canada, Australia, Spain, Mexico, Russia, Germany and Luxembourg, took a very negative approach to the whole process. Commenting on the negotiations IMF health and safety director Rob Johnson said that even at a time when there has been an increase in the number of fatalities within the sector the employers were refusing to accept text that was already established in previous codes of practice. &quot;For the employers the inclusion of international agreements, employer's duties and the environment were all contentious issues,&quot; he said. &quot;Thanks to the hard work and expertise provided by the technical experts in the workers' group, the obstacles were overcome and on the last day a new code was agreed,&quot; said Johnson. Once available, the new code will be published on the ILO website.

After seven days of tough negotiations, a new ILO code of conduct for health and safety in the iron and steel industry was agreed.

New ILO health and safety code for iron and steel

Did you know that a metalworker in Hungary, Italy or Japan has to work 10-15 minutes to be able to buy 1 kilo of rice. Whereas he or she has to work over half an hour to buy 1 kilo of rice in Latvia, Uruguay or the Philippines.
Source: The IMF publication "The Purchasing Power of Working Time - An International Comparison." Sector: Motor Vehicles.

Do you know

Did you know that a metalworker has to work 1,480 hours to be able to buy a new medium-size car if he or she is living in Spain, 1,425 hours in the USA and 1,630 hours in France, whereas he or she has to work more than 5,000 hours to buy a new medium-size car in Argentina and South Africa. He or she has to work nearly 20,000 hours to buy a new medium-size car in Indonesia.
Source: The IMF publication "The Purchasing Power of Working Time - An International Comparison." Sector: Machinery and Equipment.

Did you know that a metalworker in Germany or Norway has to work 12-15 hours to be able to buy a refrigerator (100-250 litres)? If he lives in Belgium, Italy or Great Britain he has to work about 50 hours to buy a refrigerator. In Russia, he has to work about 250 hours and in India over 400 hours.
Source: The IMF publication "The Purchasing Power of Working Time - An International Comparison." Sector: Building and repairing of ships and boats.

Did you know that a metalworker in Belgium, Canada or Great Britain has to work 3-4 minutes to be able to buy 1 litre of fresh milk? Whereas he or she has to work 25-30 minutes to buy 1 litre of fresh milk in Ecuador, Zambia or Honduras.
Source: The IMF publication "The Purchasing Power of Working Time - An International Comparison." Sector: Basic Metals.

UKRAINE/RUSSIA: In conjunction with IMF-affiliated national trade unions in Ukraine and Russia, the IMF's Project Office for the CIS held two workshops on education, one in Kiev in October and the other in Moscow in November. Some 90 participants from Ukraine and 120 from Russia, representing union leaders and future trade union trainers, took part in the respective workshops, which participants say play an important role in strengthening unity and solidarity within and among the unions.

Participating in the workshop in Ukraine were the Automobile and Agricultural Machinery Workers' Union, the Professional Union of Radioelectronic Workers' Trade Unions, and the Central Council of Trade Unions of Defence Industry Workers. Taking part in the workshop in Russia were the Miners and Metallurgical Workers' Union, the Mechanical Engineering Workers' Union, the Shipbuilding Workers' Union and the All Russian Defence Industry Workers' Union.

The Project Office reports that since the start of the transition period in Central and Eastern Europe most of the traditional national trade union centers in these countries have not been able to provide the necessary trade union training to meet their own education needs. Thus, unions in the sub-region are making efforts to set up their own education structures.

In this connection, Russian and Ukrainian metalworker unions have requested IMF assistance for training union trainers, with projects expected to get underway in 2003. The Russian unions will be assisted by the IMF's German and Norwegian affiliates, IG Metall and Fellesforbundet, and working with the Ukrainians will be IG Metall, France's FO-Metaux, and the Swiss metalworkers' union SMUV/FTMH.

Projects are being set up to train union trainers and create education systems within the individual unions.

IMF holds workshops in Ukraine and Russia

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