CANADIAN LABOUR QUÉBEC:

RIO TINTO LOCKOUT SOON TO ENTER SECOND MONTH:

In the town of Alma Québec the lockout of employees of Alcan will soon be into its second month. 780 members of the United Steel Workers have been locked out since January 1. Management`s demand...simple "destroy the union"; all new workers hired from this point on are to be "subcontractors" rather than permanent employees. Here's the story from the International Metalworkers Federation.

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Canadian Rio Tinto lockout nears one month
On January 1, 2012, Rio Tinto’s aluminium subsidiary Alcan locked out 780 members of United Steelworkers at its smelter and refinery in Alma, Québec. The company refuses to negotiate limits on contract work.

CANADA: The company wants to have unlimited contracting out rights, and has replaced full-time, USW-represented workers with subcontracting employees, at considerably worse conditions, when they retire. Subcontracted work in the company is expected to increase from 10 per cent in 2010 to 27 per cent in 2012. The USW wants to create a floor of 750 permanent jobs at the Alma site.

Use of scab or replacement workers during a labour dispute is forbidden in Québec law. According to the company the site is now run at one third of capacity with the help of 200 "management" personnel. USW has lodged a complaint with the provincial labour board.

The IMF and ICEM have sent a strong protest to Rio Tinto's CEO Tom Albanese; "It is unprecedented in North America for a company to demand that a trade union accept the replacement of all permanent positions when workers retire with contract employees."

Affiliates are urged to also send letters to Albanese (with copies to IMF, ICEM and USW), making their opinions clear. See a model letter here.

Letters can be faxed to the Rio Tinto offices in London (+44 20 7781 1800) and Melbourne (+62 3 9283 3707), with copies to IMF, ICEM and USW.

See a detailed background to the dispute here.

Contacts:

Clairandrée Cauchy, Syndicat des Métallos /USW Communications, 514-774-4001, ccauchy@usw.ca ;
Joe Drexler, Syndicat des Métallos/USW Strategic Campaigns, 416-544 6009, 416-434 7907, jdrexler@usw.ca .

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Lock-out depuis près d’un mois chez Rio Tinto au Canada
Le 1er janvier 2012, la filiale de l’aluminium de Rio Tinto, Alcan, a lock-outé 780 membres du syndicat United Steelworkers dans ses installations de fonderie et d’affinerie situées à Alma, Québec. L’entreprise refuse de négocier des limitations au travail sous contrat.

CANADA: L'entreprise veut disposer du droit de sous-traiter sans restrictions le travail, et a remplacé du personnel employé à temps plein et représenté par l'USW, par du personnel en sous-traitance dans des conditions bien plus mauvaises, au moment du départ à la retraite. Le travail en sous-traitance dans l'entreprise devrait augmenter et passer de 10 pour cent en 2010 à 27 pour cent in 2012. L'USW veut créer un socle de 750 emplois permanents sur le site d'Alma.

La législation du travail interdit au Québec d'embaucher des jaunes ou du personnel de remplacement lors d'un conflit du travail. Selon l'entreprise, le site fonctionne au tiers de sa capacité avec l'aide de 200 personnes assurant la "gestion". L'USW a présenté une plainte au conseil provincial du travail.

La FIOM et l'ICEM ont adressé une ferme protestation à Tom Albanese, directeur général de Rio Tinto: "C'est un fait sans précédent en Amérique du Nord qu'une entreprise demande à un syndicat d'accepter le remplacement de tous les postes permanents par des contractuels quand les travailleurs et travailleuses prennent leur retraite".

Les affiliés sont invités à envoyer des lettres à Albanese (avec copies à la FIOM, à l'ICEM et à l'USW), en faisant clairement état de leur opinion.
Les lettres peuvent être envoyées par télécopie aux bureaux de Rio Tinto à Londres (+44 20 7781 1800) et à Melbourne (+62 3 9283 3707), avec copies à la FIOM, à l'ICEM et à l'USW.

Pour un historique détaillé du conflit, cliquer ici.

Contacts:

Clairandrée Cauchy, Syndicat des Métallos/Communications de l'USW, 514-774-4001, ccauchy@usw.ca ;
Joe Drexler, Syndicat des Métallos/Campagnes stratégiques de l'USW, 416-544 6009, 416-434 7907, jdrexler@usw.ca .

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR SOUTH KOREA:

REPRESSION OF WORKERS IN SOUTH KOREA:

South Korea is due to host the next G20 meeting soon. It will no doubt be true to form with protests being violently repressed. Whether SK can live up to the heights of overkill recently demonstrated on the streets of Toronto is an open question. What is sure is that South Korea has yet to live up to its commitments to bring its labour legislation in line with international standards. Here is an item from the international union federation the IUF about what sort of country the g20 meeting will be held in this time around.

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International Unions Call for Action on Labour Rights Abuses in Korea
When Korea joined the OECD in 1996, a condition of adherence was a commitment to reform its industrial relations legislation in line with ILO standards. Not only has there been no reform, but the situation has markedly deteriorated.

In the runup to the G20* meeting scheduled for November 11-12 in Seoul, South Korea, international union organizations are calling for pressure on the Korean government to bring its repressive labour law and employment regime into line with international standards and its own commitments.

The ILO has repeatedly called on the government of South Korea to amend its labour legislation, which criminalizes legitimate union activity, blocks large numbers of public sector workers from joining unions or bargaining collectively and promotes the massive use of precarious employment relationships to effectively deny workers their collective rights.

Despite its 1996 pledge, current and previous Korean governments has refused to ratify ILO Conventions 87 (freedom of association) and 98 (collective bargaining).

Article 314 of the Penal Code on "obstruction of business" is routinely used to arrest and imprison union leaders and members and impose fines totalling millions of dollars in order to cripple union activity. Over 300 trade unionists have been imprisoned over the past 18 months.


When the crisis affected production at Ssangyong Motors, management responded to union demands to negotiate worksharing by unilaterally dismissing agency workers. In the course of the strike which followed (May-August 2010), riot police consistently used violence against the workers, including using electroshock weapons. ( See previous posts here at Molly's Blog- Molly )

A loose definition of "essential services" allows the government to deny large numbers of public sector workers the right to join a union. Unions of government employees, teachers, construction and transport workers are refused the right to represent over 250,000 workers.

Outsourced, subcontracted (dispatched) and other forms of precarious work have been aggressively promoted to deny whole categories of workers their right to union representation. Some 50% of all employed persons in Korea today lack an open-ended, direct permanent employment contract. The KCTU Korean metalworkrers have identified companies making use of up to a hundred labour contractors in a single factory - all to prevent workers from joining a union and bargaining with the real employer.

In an important decision last year, the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association called on the government of Korea to stop the abusive use of precarious contracts to deny workers their rights.

The only labour law reform, however, is proposed legislation to extend the current two-year period after which dispatch workers must be made permanent - to 4 years! Sungjong Lee, Policy Director of the IUF-affiliated Korean Federation of Private Service Workers' Unions (KFSU), denounces the proposed legislation because it will be used by employers to evade their obligation to regularize precarious workers: most employers, says Lee, will simply replace irregular workers as their contract conversion approaches with new, precarious hires.

Newly proposed legislation would also expand the range of job classifications allowed for dispatch (agency) work from the current 32 with up to 17 additional job classifications (in accordance with "market needs"). According to Nambee Park, President of the IUF-affiliated Korean Women's Trade Union, this has already encouraged the conversion to agency work of many directly-employed women workers, with a consequent loss of security, wages and benefits. If the remaining restrictions on agency work are done away with, says Park, the result will be a further expansion of low wage work, deepening insecurity and gender discrimination

The global union federations, the ITUC and TUAC are together calling for pressure on G20 governments to make sure the urgent need for labour law reform comes to the fore at the G20 meeting. A briefing note, sample letters and background materials for trade unions are available on the website of the International Metalworkers Federation in English, French, German, Russian and Spanish.

But you needn't live and work in a G20 country to take action in support of our Korean sisters and brothers! Unions everywhere can use these campaign materials to urge your government to pressure the government of Korea, to organize actions and protests at South Korean government representations and to inform your members and the wider public about the current situation - and the urgent need for change.

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*The Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors is made up of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom and the USA.

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THE LETTER:

Please go to this link to send the following message to the President of South Korea.

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Dear President Lee Myung-bak,

I join with the International Metalworkers' Federation in calling for the Korean government to honour its international commitments and respect workers’ rights.

Repeatedly workers and trade unions in Korea are subject to violations of human and trade union rights. The number of arrests and severity of prison sentences as well as physical violence is increasing.

When Korea joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1996 it was on the proviso that your government would take the necessary measures to bring Korea’s labour law in line with international standards.

Korea has failed to adhere to or ratify ILO conventions no. 87 (right to freedom of association) and no. 98 (right to collective bargaining) and your government has repeatedly refused offers of technical assistance from the International Labour Organisation to bring your legislation into line with international standards.

The Korean Government routinely uses criminal sanctions under Article 314 of the criminal code to arrest and imprison trade unionists for exercising their legitimate right to conduct trade union activities.

The Korean law denies workers in precarious or irregular employment the right to join a trade union and bargain collectively. Employers systematically engage workers on precarious employment contracts specifically to prevent them from forming and joining trade unions.

Public sector workers are subjected to anti-union discrimination and disciplinary measures and their collective agreements are unilaterally cancelled by the Government. Whole categories of Government workers are prevented from organizing through an overly broad definition of “essential services”.

I call on the Korean government to honour your international commitments and respect workers’ rights.

Yours,

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-MEXICO:

STATE AND COMPANY COLLABORATE TO VICTIMIZE MINERS:

The following story about the collaboration of the Grupo México mining company and the Mexican government comes from the International Metalworkers' Federation.

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Defend Union Autonomy in Mexico:
In Mexico, the country's largest mining company, Grupo México, and the Mexican government, first under President Vicente Fox, and now under President Felipe Calderón, have systematically and repeatedly violated Mexican law and international standards to crush the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM). IMF affiliates around the world are mobilising and taking action in defence of basic labour rights and union autonomy in Mexico.

In February 2006, the government illegally removed the union's General Secretary, Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, and replaced him with a government appointee, Elías Morales Hernández. Next, the government perverted the Mexican legal system and levelled charges of corruption and embezzlement against Gómez. An independent audit of the union's accounts, commissioned by the IMF, proved all funds were accounted for and exonerated Gómez of any wrong doing, yet the government still refuses to correct this wrongdoing.

When a number of inquiries into theses actions revealed that the government had used falsified documents, concealed evidence, and coerced officials to issue baseless arrest warrants against the union leader, Grupo México and the government moved to divide the union, granting overnight recognition to a procompany union and holding "elections" in which workers were forced and coerced to join its ranks.

Meanwhile, Grupo México enjoys full use of the national army and federal police to break strikes, kill workers and arrest union leaders fighting for safer working conditions in Grupo México-owned mines.

Gómez was officially reinstated as General Secretary on April 11, 2007, after a federal court ruled the Labour Secretariat had overstepped its authority and failed to comply with established procedures.

However, Gómez remains in exile due to unfounded pending charges and intense safety and security threats against him and his family.

Today, it seems Grupo México is able to murder, torture, intimidate and abuse workers with complete impunity while the acts of defending democratic freedoms and workers' rights are deemed illicit. The government has relied on force and violence to resolve the country's labour disputes, while criminalizing trade union activity.

The IMF and its affiliates are calling on the Mexican government to:
***release all union funds illegally seized by the government;
***lift all charges still pending against Napoleón Gómez Urrutia and other members of the SNTMMSRM;
***prosecute in a court of law, immediately and transparently, all those responsible in the corruption of documents and facts; and
***investigate Grupo México's involvement in the murder of Reynaldo Hernández González and the detention and torture of 20 SNTMMSRM members in Nacozari, Sonora.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-RUSSIA:

PROTEST ASSAULTS ON RUSSIAN AUTOWORKERS:


Workers in Russia have a particularly hard time organizing faced as they are by employers who would be better styled as gangsters and a government apparatus that is, at best, indifferent and incompetent. Here from the Labour Start site is the story of one such struggle and what you can do to help.


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Russia: Stop attacks on auto workers union:


Alexei Etmanov (pictured), the leader of the Ford-Vsevelozhsk trade union and co-chairman of Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers (ITUA) has been the target of two brutal attacks on November 8 and 13. An anonymous caller following the first assault contacted the union and warned Etmanov to stop his union activities or "we will take away your life," the caller said. No one has been charged for the crimes and an investigation has been suspended. Other members of ITUA have been assaulted, including the leaders of the local trade union organisation of Taganrog automobile plant, Alexei Gramm and Sergei Brizgalov. Those incidents were not investigated either.





The International Metalworkers Federation is carrying out a campaign to protect the leaders of ITUA, demanding that the Russian authorities conduct a complete investigation of all cases of the assaults and to punish the guilty ones - both those that took part and those who ordered the crimes to be committed.
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Please go to THIS LINK to send the following letter to Russian authorities.

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THE LETTER
I am calling on you to take all possible measures to find the criminals who are guilty of attacking Alexei Etmanov, the leader of the Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers, on 8th and 13th of November 2008 in Vsevolozhsk, Leningrad region and the activists of this trade union Alexei Gramm on June 24th and Sergei Brizgalov on July 26th of this year in Taganrog, Rostov region.




In the state with rule of law, which the Russian Federation is, an investigation of such outrageous incidents, challenging the foundations of democracy and civil rights, should be a matter of honour of the law enforcement authorities. Your position gives an opportunity to show the Russian and international public, whose attention is attracted to the situation around ITUA, that the supreme rule of law in your country is stronger than the wishes of certain individuals to silence the leaders, whose views they do not like. I am calling on you to use all your powers to confirm the effectiveness of this principle.
Yours sincerely,