19 August 2010
Workers from the United Kingdom's Unite the Union and the United
States' United Steelworkers continued their historic partnership
this week during the USW's paper sector conference.
Members from both unions got together to discuss common issues and
challenges and to talk about ideas for the unions' joint effort,
Workers Uniting - the world's first global union.
During the conference, 30 councils made up of members
representing 30 different paper industry companies elected a
spokesperson to present their council's action plan and collective
bargaining objectives to the entire paper conference.
In a move that shows just how far the Workers Uniting
relationship has come, the MeadWestvaco Council elected Ian Eld - a
paper worker from the UK - as their spokesperson. Check out his
presentation in this short video clip:
Day Four
Thursday 19th August
Blog by Craig Foster, Unite workplace representative
- The Health and Safety "Papered Over" report was
presented to conference by Mike Wright, Steve Sallman and Nancy
Lessin from the USW Health and Safety Department. 
The report concentrated on
7 major areas:
1. Union involvement in safety committee's
2. Work design
3. Process safety and emergency response
4. Combustible and toxic dusts
5. Guarding and LOTO
6. Counter productive behaviour safety programs
7. Health and Safety training
This was followed by a panel led by Tom Conway, USW Vice
President Administration. The panel reported on the current state
of two trade cases that are ongoing against China and
Indonesia for illegal trade practices that undermine the ability of
the US paper industry to complete on a level playing field.
There have been several successful cases brought already
in other industries such as steel, aluminum, pipe and tyres. The
USW has led these cases with the assistance and co-operation of the
affected employers, the panel explained that it is too expensive to
bring cases without the help of the companies involved. The panel
also explained about the work that grass
roots activists play in going into the communities around
the effected mills and asking citizens to write
to their respective senators and congressmen to ask them
to support these trade cases. If the Mills close then the
communities collapse! The panel also explained that they
had lobbied for the "black liquor tax credit" which has
been instrumental in securing the future of several paper
companies. The panel went on to
heavily criticize the bad decisions made by company
CEO's that have resulted in literally 1000's of job losses in the
USA paper industry. The rich get richer and the workers lose their
jobs!
International discussion - There followed a panel discussion
with union leaders from Finland, UK, Sweden, Canada, Australia and
South Africa. The panelists gave a brief overview of the paper
industry in their respective countries, the outlook is not
promising. Peter Ellis, Unite national officer gave the UK report
and received a standing ovation from the conference. The
member from South Africa gave a moving report on the savage actions
of Sappi and the way that union leaders there are being victimised,
dismissed and bullied! 
The last item for the day was for the employer councils to
report to conference on the action items that they want to be
included in the next round of collective bargaining. For the first
time in the history of Workers Uniting, Iain Eld from MeadWest
Vaco, presented the work plan on behalf of his council. This was an
important and historic moment for the Workers Uniting and further
strengthens the already strong bonds that have been formed by this
initiative.
The main items that the councils wanted in the action plan were:
healthcare improvements, pension protection and health and
safety improvements.
Blog by Charles Shieber, Unite workplace representative
- Today is the last day of the paper conference in
Pittsburgh. The conference opened with a prayer for all the workers
around the world who are fighting for workers rights and was then
followed by the US and Canadian national anthems.
Tim Waters, USW political director addressed the conference. Tim
talked about the problems with China taking jobs he went on to talk
about the mid-term elections that are about to take place in the US
and the importance of these as it will effect the way the Obama
administration can move forward. He went on to explain how the
Republicans Party (conservatives) are undermining the work done
trying to redress the problems of unemployment and workers rights.
He finished with a video from the US President talking about what
must be done to protect the workers of the USA.
A video from the USW was shown. This video was of the members
telling of how important it is that the paper industry in the US is
and what these mean to the local community. What happens to the
communities when a mill shuts? How if they where able to work on a
level playing field with the likes of China then things would be
better.
Leo Gerard, USW President then addressed the conference. Leo
Gerard took to the rostrum with a standing ovation from all the
delegates. He opened by saying American is at a cross roads with
what is happening to the labour movement and the working class. He
told about how the past governments have taken from the poor and
given it to the rich. This was done by larger tax relief given to
them. These people are now complaining as this tax relief is about
to be taken away by the present government (which is about
time).
He went on to say workers must fight for our jobs, because if we
don’t there will be no jobs for our children and grand children. He
touched on how Worker Uniting understand this. He told the
conference: “we are the union and this will cost, if you want a
cheap union then your’ in the wrong one.” He talked about the
amount of jobs have been lost when the US auto-industry went into
difficulty. The knock on effect of this was unbelievable as it
impacted on all industries from steel to paper as the auto-industry
in one of the biggest users of these products.
Leo Gerard made clear that the USW will not stand around while
China cheats on its currency and cheap labour, to import into this
country undermining our jobs. He urged delegates to let your
senator know your feelings. All countries who import into this
country must have to adhere to the same environmental restrictions
that we have to in this country. He went on to explain
how the Republicans are recruiting self financed candidates to
fight and undermine the Democratic nominees and how they are trying
to control the labour board in the US. He went on to say:“It’s the
first time since Lyndon Johnson that we are close to having a
labour board which is fair.”
The USW President closed by talking about how Unite and the USW
have created the first global union, Workers Uniting and the
importance of this union. How we must carry on building on
the successes we have had so far. How other unions in different
countries are looking at how we work together, but we must walk
before we can run. We will continue with our exchange policy and
work with our sister union in Europe, we will continue to send our
delegates to these countries to strengthen the ties. He closed his
speech by saying “we don’t want to fight stupid, we want to fight
smart and with a strategy that will deliver.”
The conference was then addressed by Jon Geenen, USW Vice
President who spoke about taking what we’ve achieved during the
conference forward.
Conference then closed.
Day Three
Wednesday 18th August
Blog by Linda Pollock, Unite representative -
The day started at 8am with more council meetings and workshops. I
attended the health and safety workshop. The workshop opened with a
power point presentation of the tragic unnecessary death of 3rd
generation papermaker John Bergen. The key factors where that the
company investigation blamed John for the accident, saying he was
not paying enough attention to the task he was doing. When in fact
they had not taken the correct action in making sure this type of
accident could occur.
The main topic of discussion was about a USW survey compiled a
year ago. The survey covered a lot of issues, but the main
concern’s that came from it was the company’s emphasis on
behavioral safety systems and how to combat them. Participants
spoke passionately on all the issues and gave a real sense of
caring. The message was clear: use legislation, your rights and
ensure your members are behind you in your efforts to make the
changes required. The paper mills in the US have seen 34 workers
lose their lives at work since 2005, that is an average of 7 people
a year. Clearly that is unacceptable.
Unite workplace representative from Georgia Paciffic, Craig
Foster gave an overview of how health and safety committees work in
the UK. He also went on to explain the legal rights health and
safety reps have under UK law.
After lunch everyone met in the main conference room for the
afternoon plenary session, Peter Ellis, Unite national officer gave
a speech on social dialog. During the late afternoon session on
international trade unionism, Unite National Officer spoke
passionately about the need to build strong free trade unions in
developing countries especially in China, South Asia, Africa and
across the globe and received a standing ovation.
In the session where bargaining councils reported back to the
main conference Unite's Iain Eld gave the report on Meadwestvaco
council's proposed policy agreed on a co-ordinated health and
safety strategy. First time a Unite- Workers Uniting delegate has
undertaken this role."
Peter told the conference: “To talk about social sialog in Europe I
need to give you a bit of a history lesson, 
The EU itself is a
political entity that elects representatives from 23 member states
every five years. These representatives- MEP’s- legislate on issues
with a European dimension. But of course all the member states have
their own autonomy, and they run their own affairs through national
parliaments. Because of the social dimensions of the EU we as a
Labour movement in the UK have a good reason to appreciate the
benefits of EU membership, giving us such things as the working
time directive (whereby workers can insist on a 48hr maximum
working week over a period of 52 weeks). Another part of social
dialog is EWC’s that give us the information and consultation
rights. It facilitates for dialog between European trade unions and
the European employers bodies. What happened was that the European
commission decided in 1998 (and was endorsed by all later that
year) that if two sides of industry (that is capital and labour)
wish to talk together on matters of mutual interest, then the
commission will facilitate that process through finding expert
advice. At the same time as this the social dialect forum will be
able to submit it’s findings and conclusions to the E.U. on
relevant matters that may become the subject of future legislation.
So that’s the history lesson over. Our union Unite is affiliated to
the European, Mining, Chemical and Engineering Federation (EMCEF)
and for years that body has engaged in informal talks with the
Confederation of European Paper Industry (CEPI) with a view of
setting up a social dialog forum.”
Peter went on to explain how the employers were scared that we
would try to do European collective bargaining on all issues from
pay to holidays. How after a period of time we wore them down and
in 2010 were just about to sign the agreement when our brothers and
sisters in Sweden went on strike over pay. We had to do a last
minute smoothing of feathers and got things sorted. Peter explained
to the conference that with this sort of social dialog we can make
a difference not just in Europe but across the globe. We must come
together to work against the multi-national and international
companies if we are to protect jobs, standards of living and all
issues that effect the working man.
I have found the conference to be enlightening in many ways but
especially in that we all are dealing with the same issues at
work.
Day Two
Tuesday 17th August
Blog from Charles Shieber, Unite representative -
Today 900 delegates attended the USW paper and pulp conference.
It’s amazing that there are more delegates here than there was at
the first Unite conference at Manchester and this is just one
sector of the USW.
Jon Geenen, USW International Vice President
opened the conference by speaking about globalisation and discussed
that we are all affected by this. He mentioned that in the last two
years the USW have lost 100,000 jobs in the country.
Chad Apaliski, USW researcher addressed
conference about the state of the paper industry in the US. He
mentioned about how people are using electronic mediums more and
more now, thus the need for paper is reducing. The result being
that jobs are being lost and companies are closing down. Since 1999
the industry has seen an overall drop of 20% in production.
Newsprint has dropped 17%, Coated freesheet has dropped 12%,
Boxboard and containerboard has also dropped. He spoke about the
way the union movement can counteract this by restricting imports.
The main places these come from are China and Indonesia where we
have a problem with illegal logging and currency manipulation.
The next speaker was Tony Burke, Unite
Assistant General Secretary; he opened by thanking the USW for the
invite to the conference. This is the third time Unite has attended
this conference and on this occasion we have a wider representation
from the Unite Graphical, Paper & Media Sector. He gave
delegates an outline of Unite’s structures, the paper sector within
Unite and the links we have with the USW. Tony talked about the
state of the industry and political situation in the UK.
Ian Eld, Unite member from West Mead Vaco and
Shig Noguchi, USW member from California then delivered a joint
presentation. They explained all about the similarities of the two
unions and how we must work together. They showed a video in which
the members from both unions talked about globalisation of
companies and its impact it has on employment, economies. The video
contained a message from USW President, Leo Gerard and the Joint
General Secretaries of Unite. After the video Shig explained about
the structure of the USW and Iain the Unite structure. Shig
explained the problems that must be over come for the creation of a
global union and what the benefits are in the success of this being
achieved.
The Unite delegates then took to the rostrum
to give an introduction of themselves and what roles they play in
the union. After the introductions Nigel Gawthrope addressed
conference which was greatly received.
After the lunch break the conference split
into council meetings which are company based and resemble our
company reps meetings. At these meetings the reps get to discuss
the ongoing problems they are experiencing in their work places and
to formulate a strategy of tackling these at both local and
national level. Also while these where going on there where
workshops going on various subjects which all Unite participants
where free to attend.
Day One
Monday 16th August
Blog from Nigel Gawthrope, Unite representative
Today is the first day of the Workers Uniting paper conference in
Pittsburgh PA. The meeting of Workers Uniting opened with a joint
address by Jon Geenen, USW International Vice President and
Tony Burke, Unite Assistant General Secretary to some 20 delegates
at the headquarters of the USW. 
Jon Geenen talked about the importance of Workers Uniting and
together the unions we must build on the base we have. Jon talked
about networking using social media such as Facebook and other
mediums on the internet.
Tony Burke talked about how different sectors in the union other
than the paper sector are looking to forge links with their sectors
in the USA and Canada. He touched on the help that Unite was able
to give to the USW members at Vale Inco during their recent strike.
We now need our lay reps to build stronger links with USW reps to
help each other deal with common issues and try to build a common
agenda working on issues that will help colleagues on both sides of
the Atlantic.
Ian Eld Unite workplace representative talked about the recent
Workers Uniting training course (leadership course) at Esher
Hall, where an exchange with the USW members occurred. This course
allowed the members from both unions to find out how they negotiate
with management and how thing differ between the USA and the
UK.
A debate on the reasons for forming a global union took place
and how if we don’t succeed in our efforts for a global union we
will struggle to fight against the multi national and international
companies that operate in our countries and others. Participants
discussed how we can help developing countries build a strong union
base to not only protect the workers in those countries, but also
protect the jobs in our countries by stopping these companies
taking advantage of low paid workers and illegal practices that
occur. What became apparent was that it is difficult to get the
grass roots members to understand why this is important. Their
attitude was “well it does not affect me at work so why should I
support a global union”.
Everyone agreed that it was important to look at getting the
message out to the members by the use of Workers Uniting DVD’s and
the website.
The conference then discussed the issue of temporary and agency
workers, outlining the difficulties we have in dealing with the
conditions that people have to work under i.e. lower pay. Also how
if they attempt to join a union they are finished from a company.
It was interesting to hear how different workplace reps have dealt
with the issue of temporary and agency workers and how in some
cases they have been successful in the removal of temp/agency
worker form the company. These successes are a direct result in the
companies working together on both sides of the Atlantic.
Blog of Ben Johnson, President of USW Local 801
As a member of the Steelworkers Union (USW) I am pleased to welcome
representatives from Unite the Union to attend the Workers Uniting
paper sector conference in Pittsburgh this week. I’ve enjoyed
meeting Assistant General Secretary Tony Burke, and the rank and
file members who have travelled with him.
We are learning a lot from each other. We have a lot of shared
experiences. We’ve listened to problems about Agency workers
in the UK. In USW-represented workplaces we have the same problems
but we refer to it as temporary employees or contracting-out
work.
We’ve discovered that U.S. companies are exporting to the UK
their behavior-based safety programs in which workers are
reprimanded when they get hurt on the job. In many USW
workplaces, we managed to take control of the safety programs under
the terms of our labour agreements. Union reps are in charge
of safety.
These are just two examples of how shared knowledge makes us
more powerful. All the delegates here, from the U.S., Canada and
the UK agree on the need for a global union, Workers Uniting. Many
of our employers are global corporations and unions must be able to
stand up and challenge them whenever necessary.
Whenever a corporation makes a decision, it affects its
employees everywhere. We must make sure that every worker on
every shop floor, no matter what country, comes to understand
that.
In union workplaces we do not allow employers to pit one worker
against another. We must work toward a time when we are
able to prevent an employer from pitting one group of workers
against another group of workers, no matter what country they live
in. The delegates here are committed to working together to achieve
that goal.