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March 5, 2012 - No. 29 International Tour in Support of "Organize, Unite, Fight!" Australian Rio Tinto workers in Bell Bay, Tasmania give their enthusiastic support to the locked-out Alma workers, February 28, 2012. (STAA) International
Tour
in
Support
of
Locked-Out
Rio
Tinto
Workers
in
Alma,
Quebec International Tour in Support of "Organize, Unite, Fight!" Delegation representing locked-out Alma workers meets with harbour workers in Sydney, Australia. The delegation from Syndicat des travailleurs de l'aluminium d'Alma (STAA) and United Steelworkers (USW) Quebec section has been in Australia since February 25, after a successful visit to California and Utah in the U.S. The delegation is composed of Marc Maltais, the STAA's President and Guy Farrell, the Assistant to the Quebec Director of USW. The first stop in Australia was a meeting with the Organizing Committee of the National Convention of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA). The Convention was held February 26 to March 2 under the theme "Organize, Unite, Fight!" The MUA represents around 14,000 dock workers, seafarers, divers, port workers and office staff. Maltais told TML one of the highlights of the Australian tour was the support the Alma workers received after their presentation to Convention participants on March 1. "We were part of a panel of international guests. We explained the issues involved in the Alma struggle and the need to build international solidarity. We made the point that the international solidarity expressed in 2010 for the locked-out Rio Tinto miners in Boron, California, played a big role in ending the lockout in a way that was acceptable for the workers and the same applies to us in Alma. We received financial support and a commitment that these workers are going to send representatives to the actions in Alma at the end of March. They gave us a standing ovation and we are going to use the video of our participation in the Convention on our Facebook page so our workers on the picket lines can see the kind of support we got there." After their presentation to the Convention the two workers had an exchange with representatives of the workers at the BlueScope Steel plant in Port Kembla. The delegation also had a moving discussion with a representative of the workers of Papua New Guinea. The residents of Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea blame Rio Tinto for its participation in the violent attacks of the Australian government and the Papua New Guinea government against the uprising of the people of Bougainville Island in the 1980s, where Rio Tinto operated one of the world's biggest open pit copper mines. Bougainville residents have been pursuing a class action lawsuit in the U.S. against Rio Tinto since 2000 for environmental degradation and war crimes. "Our brother from Papua will take our banner there to Bougainville Island and have it signed by the people in expression of support for our struggle," said Maltais. There was a busy schedule of meetings between February 26 and March 1. The delegation met with dock workers from Sydney's two ports at a general membership meeting and had lively exchanges with them. It then met with representatives of the workers at two Rio Tinto aluminum smelters -- the Bell Bay smelter in Tasmania and the Tomago plant near Newcastle. The Tomago facility was formerly Pechiney and Maltais told TML the workers there experienced the same stepping up of attacks against the union and the collective agreement as the Alma workers did when Rio Tinto seized control of Alcan in 2007. "Rio Tinto's actions in Bell Bay are particularly shameful," Maltais said. "Rio Tinto used changes in labour laws to break the union. Workers lost their union and are now fighting to unionize once again but Rio Tinto is trying to block them from doing so at every step. The meeting with the Tomago workers was also very interesting because we had an exchange about the crisis of the manufacturing sector and could see parallels between their situation and ours. These meetings were as informative for them as they were for us." The delegation met with representatives of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), a union that is waging bitter fights against Rio Tinto's anti-worker and anti-union attacks. Maltais explained:
"We met with the International Executive Committee and with representatives of 3,000 workers who work in three Rio Tinto mining operations and had an exchange of experience. It was shocking to see how similar our experience is, how Rio Tinto is trying to use any space they can find to attack the workers, how they are trying to use any law, any possibility of violating the collective agreements and how they use violence in labour disputes. The language we speak is different, the product we make is different, but the rest is the same. We went to the head office of CFMEU and saw the [Jim Comerford] Memorial Wall in memory of the 1,800 miners who have died in the mines in this district since the beginning of the nineteenth century. These 1,800 names represent only those who have been counted because there is no record of those who first died there -- prisoners who not only worked in the mines but lived and died there at work. There is no record of their names and numbers. This Memorial Wall is quite majestic." The delegation found the same high spirits of fighting unity in Australia as in the U.S. Maltais reports: "Wherever we went we gave the same message: we are not here for charity but for international solidarity. We are convinced that international solidarity between workers is key to bringing Rio Tinto back to the bargaining table to negotiate with us so we can get satisfaction for our demands. We are fighting for a just return for our work and the use of our natural resources. We are asking that Rio Tinto re-examine its strategy and negotiate with us in good faith. We have the same desire as all workers: to make sure our communities make headway in life and prosper. In spite of what the Rio Tinto executives are saying, we are not here to throw mud at them, we are here to learn about the experience of other Rio Tinto workers and frankly what we see here is even worse than what we thought in terms of Rio Tinto's actions internationally." The delegation is in Australia until March 7 when it
heads to New Zealand. It is expected back in Alma on March 10.    The delegation rallies with supporters from the Maritime Union of Australia outside Rio Tinto's offices in Brisbane, March 5, 2012. (STAA) (Translated from original French by TML Daily.)
The Truth About Rio Tinto Alcan's
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 Protest at Rio Tinto's AGM against the company's refusal to permit collective bargaining by its Australian workers, Brisbane, May 24, 2000. (ICEM) |
The Australian Workers' Union (AWU), which is attempting to unionize the facility, estimates the Bell Bay workers make $20,000 a year less than other smelter workers in Australia. This discrimination, says the union, is obvious as workers living across the Bass Strait that separates Tasmania from mainland Australia are better paid for doing exactly the same jobs.
"Rio should be putting more money into the Tasmanian economy by paying their workforce decently. Instead, the $20,000 they save ends up in the pockets of the London head office executives. London doesn't need the money. The Launceston economy would be better off if this pay went to local families," says the AWU in a communiqué.
The Bell Bay site was unionized for many years. It was de-unionized in 1996 when Rio Tinto used the labour laws passed by the Howard government to attack workers under the hoax of giving them freedom of choice. Workers were put on individual contracts as were those at Rio Tinto's iron ore operations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
In the past two years or so, the union has launched a campaign to re-unionize this site, along with other non-union sites in the aluminum sector. The union reports that Rio Tinto Alcan is frantically attempting to block workers' efforts, repeatedly going to the courts to prevent the union from freely talking to the workers, threatening the workers that if they decide to sign a negotiated collective agreement all their current working conditions are "on the table" and could be reduced. Once again, the argument presented is that the current "flexibility" of the work force and working conditions are a must if workers want to keep their employment in a facility that needs to compete with more modern ones.
While the conditions and work may be different at Rio
Tinto's various global operations, the monopoly's strategy in each
place is
the same. In the name of flexibility and competitiveness, Rio Tinto
demands the lowering of all working and living conditions and the
weakening of the union. This is one of the lessons learned by the
delegation representing the Rio Tinto workers in Alma, Quebec during
their international
tour as they have joined with other workers to oppose the exploitation
of their
common employer.
The AWU reports that so far
about 70 per cent of the
Bell Bay workers have
expressed support for a union-negotiated collective agreement.
According to the union, Rio Tinto replied by warning the workers that
their current pay and conditions could be under threat if they continue
demanding a collective agreement.
The company has sent personal letters to workers' homes warning it may
be
a bad time to move towards collective bargaining.
The union reports Rio Tinto Alcan to date has gone to court several times unsuccessfully, to prevent the union from discussing with the workers during their breaks issues of health and safety and other matters of concern to them. These issues are very serious as workers report many recent "near misses" that could have led to tragedy. They are also reporting high levels of dust, fumes and respiratory hazards that might cause cancer and asthma.
According to AWU, in December 2010 the Tasmanian Workplace Safety Inspector issued instructions to Rio Tinto to allow the union into the workplace to talk about health and safety with the workers. Rio Tinto went to the Supreme Court of Australia to cancel the inspector's orders. In January 2011, the Supreme Court dismissed Rio Tinto's application. The company appealed the decision but its appeal was dismissed once again in February 2011. Rio Tinto made it clear that it will keep using legal avenues, amongst other methods, to prevent workers from freely discussing with the union.
The situation at Bell Bay is part of Rio Tinto Alcan's track record of attacks against the workers and their efforts to build their defence organizations.
Notes
Quebec Student Movement
Government Responds to Students'
Legitimate Demands with Tear Gas
As of March 5, more than 120,000 students are on strike in Quebec. Responding to the call from the Broad Coalition of Student Union Solidarity (CLASSE) and the Table de concertation étudiante du Québec (TaCEQ), nearly 10,000 students from all corners of Quebec once again took to the streets, this time in Quebec City, to reiterate their determination to block the tuition fee increase the government has imposed. They gathered in Parc des Braves and made their way to the National Assembly. "[Those on strike] will remain so as long as Minister [of Education Line Beauchamp] persists. The students' anger will not be appeased. The government must quickly retract its measure," said Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, co-spokesman for the CLASSE, which represents about 75 per cent of striking students.
The movement has now expanded across the province. "The Lanaudiere and Gaspé regions, the Eastern Townships, the Laurentians, and the Outaouais, Montérégie and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean regions have joined the general strike. Quebec is united against the Liberal government's measures, which will close university doors to thousands of people," added Jeanne Reynolds, co-spokesperson for the CLASSE.
The Coalition announced that it would join the various activities planned for March 8, International Women's Day. "The Simone Beauvoir Institute recently said that the tuition fee increases would particularly affect women, especially because they earn an average of 70 percent of men's salaries. We will be in the streets on March 8 with all the feminist organizations to remind the Liberal government of this!" Reynolds added.
The student associations which make up CLASSE held a congress over the weekend at Marie-Victorin College in Montreal to take stock of the strike. Following the congress the Coalition will announce its action plan.
The Liberal's stubbornness with respect to post-secondary education funding demonstrates the government's detachment, to the detriment of the less affluent: the students, said Simon Gosselin, general secretary of the TaCEQ. "The government is questioning the values and principles that Quebeckers established in order to build a more just society. Today Quebec students say loud and clear that investing collectively in education is investing in Quebec's future."
Xavier Lafrance also spoke in support of education to the thunderous applause of the crowd. He was a student leader of the Coalition of Student Union Solidarity during the 2005 strike against the Charest government's decision to transform $105 million in bursaries to student loans.
Backed into a corner, the Minister of Education's latest reply to students was that, "The decision has already been taken. It's a budgetary decision."
As if that wasn't enough she added, "A large number of university and college students understand this issue and refuse to partake in the boycott."
This is a blatant lie to try to rally the people to the government's anti-social agenda. Anyone with eyes can see the students' determination is gaining momentum and they are receiving increased support.
Far from welcoming the students in a civilized manner and meeting with the spokespersons to hear their demands, the National Assembly was transformed into a virtual fortress under siege. Before the demonstrators could disperse the Crowd Control unit of the Sûreté du Québec (Quebec Provincial police) launched tear gas into the crowd. This brutal action, condemned by all the demonstrators and by MNAs Denis Trottier and Amir Khadir, must not go unpunished.
No to the Criminalization of Dissent!
Support the Just Struggle of the Students!
Letter to the Editor
Home Care in Halifax
Thank you for the recent article on the Halifax Transit strike ("Making Claims on Society -- 'In this Economy,'" TML Daily, March 1, 2012 - No. 27). It helps to bring attention to what is becoming a very serious labour dispute. As someone who works as a home support worker throughout the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), I am usually dependent on public transit to get to clients' houses and many of us are wondering why the strike hasn't been settled yet after almost a month.
According to what I have read the most insurmountable issue has been scheduling which has been the long standing practice of allowing bus drivers to pick their preferred shifts in order of seniority. For those transit workers who have been there longest it means being able to fit their work schedules around their personal lives. HRM claims that it is the cause of extra overtime, a claim that the union disputes since it is management that actually plans the shifts and many of them have overtime built into them.
On February 1, just before
the strike began, HRM offered
to take
rostering off the table if the union accepted the rest of their offer
which amounted to 70 take-aways including a demand for contracting out
work and another demand for hiring part-timers who would have less
union protection and possibly less
training and experience for the demanding, high-stress job. The union
rejected this offer and the strike began. Afterwards, it was announced
that HRM had put rostering back on the table, and removed the other two
major points of contention. The latest news is that the HRM Council has
rejected the offer of binding
arbitration which the union made on February 14, and has made an
ultimatum that its last 'final' offer must be accepted by the end of
Friday, March 2, 2012 or negotiations will have to begin all over again
with HRM's original 270 demands back on the table.
During all these shifts in the negotiations, we have been forced to rely on various means to get around, including walking, bicycling and arranging rides. Many things which we have to do outside of work have been postponed because of the strike. Travelling around town is now more tiring, more time consuming and even more expensive if cabs are required.
Why is a settlement taking so long? Aside from the usual
anti-labour propaganda several things have come to light. One is that
the
city is saving $85,000 per day while the strike continues. So it can
gain revenue by not providing transit service. Another thing is the
obvious fact that from the beginning
the HRM has been demanding a large number of concessions aimed at
reducing or eliminating the power of the union such as the three issues
mentioned above. As well, the HRM has been demanding concessions in
wages and benefits such as wage increases that are lower than the
increase in the cost of living.
The situation reiterates the need to have a new human-centred direction for the economy and the need to build the Workers' Opposition.
A Home Care Worker in Halifax
International Women's Day 2012
Rally and March in Toronto
The focus of the March 3 International Women's Day (IWD) rally and march in Toronto, held under the banner "Reclaim Our City -- We Are Stronger Together," was resistance to cuts and privatization of public services and to the attacks on the workers who provide them. The 2011 IWD march and rally, which raised the slogan "Our City, Our Services, Our Future -- Women Take Up the Fight," was the first mass action against the Ford regime after it was elected, a speaker from CUPE Local 4400 said in opening the rally. Women make up the majority of the city workers and women have been in the forefront of fighting the cuts to public services on which everyone depends, she said and affirmed that women will continue to fight for good jobs for all and for our services and our dignity.
Women from CUPE Local 79 in which Toronto's inside workers are organized and CUPE Local 4948 which represents the library workers also spoke. Some 75 per cent of these public sector workers are women and many work part-time. Both locals are fighting demands for concessions in negotiations with the city and have been active in fighting, with some successes, cuts to the city services they provide.
Provincial public sector workers were also out in
numbers and
demanded a stop to the cuts to services being proposed by the McGuinty
government through the Drummond Report on the reform of Ontario's
public services. A contingent from the Workers'
Action Centre focused on the demand that the McGuinty government
rescind $6 million
in cuts to funding for the enforcement of labour standards. Everyone
was called on to mobilize for the April 21 Day of Action at Queen's
Park against the cuts to public services.
Following the rally the city workers led a march of
some 1,000 people. Activists of the Workers' Centre of CPC(M-L)
distributed the latest issue of Workers'
Forum and Ontario Political
Forum.
Their red flags and banner proclaiming "Our Security Lies in the Fight
for the Rights of All" were a bold presence. The march made its way
through the downtown, stopping at City Hall where people set out their
slogans and demands in chalk, before concluding at the IWD Fair at
Ryerson University.
(Photos: TML, OFL)
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