Glencore and Xstrata epitomize the resource curse: Unions oppose their merger4 July, 2012Trade unions representing Xstrata’s and Glencore’s unionized workforces across the world have voiced their opposition to the proposed merger of the two companies and especially the extreme retention bonuses being paid to Xstrata management.
Unions oppose Xstrata - Glencore merger4 July, 2012IndustriALL Global Union joins the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in Australia, the United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa and takes the position against the planned merger of Xstrata and Glencore.
United congress elects leaders and looks for consensus on regional representation19 June, 2012The newly born IndustriALL Global Union elects its leadership and tries to reach consensus on regional representation on its executive body.
Dispute begins at Nissan, ends at Ford in Russia16 June, 2012ITUA local at Nissan in Saint-Petersburg held a workers’ conference and adopted collective demands for the first round of negotiations starting on May 31. At Ford in Vsevolozhsk (Saint-Petersburg area) ITUA forced management to make some concessions, and the dispute is close to being resolved.
ArcelorMittal workers in Kazakhstan take to the streets16 June, 2012During tripartite negotiations the management of ArcelorMittal Temirtau (Kazakhstan) refused to implement a 30% wage rise. On 19 May the workers took to the streets in an action which gathered over 3,000 people.
Russian think-tank: neither workers nor employers benefit from agency labour16 June, 2012On April 20 the Center for Social and Labour Rights, a Moscow-based think-tank, presented the results of the research on ‘Agency Labour and its Effects on Workers’. Experts found that neither workers nor employers benefit from agency labour.
