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29 JULY 2010

ENDAKO MINERS NOW STEELWORKERS

About 260 workers at the Endako Mines open-pit and milling operations near Fraser Lake, BC are now members of Steelworkers Local 1-424, based in Prince George.

Although the certification vote was held at the end of May, USW Western Canada Director Stephen Hunt says that because of employer challenges, it took until this month to get a decision from the BC Labour Relations Board to open the ballot box and grant membership. “We thank the workers for their patience in (a)waiting the decision to have the votes counted,” said Hunt. “Our union looks forward to working with our new members at Endako and we congratulate them for taking the step to unionize. We’re confident that we can work together to negotiate a good, solid first agreement.”

Endako Mines, approximately 190-kilometres west of Prince George, is owned by Denver-based Thompson Creek Metals. The operation primarily produces molybdenum, used in the fabrication of alloy metals, stainless steel, lubricants and other products.

CN, CP REPORT PROFITS

Canadian National Railway reports second-quarter net income of $534 million, a 38% jump in quarterly profit. The railroad raised its full-year forecast based on its strong results over the past six months.
CN revenues were up by 18%, while carloads increased 27%. The mix of manufactured goods and commodities it carries to customers across North America is a pretty reliable gauge of economic activity. Freight volumes were higher in all major markets and some sectors were red hot: automotive shipments were up 52%, coal deliveries by 49%, metals and minerals 46%.

Canadian Pacific Railway reported second-quarter profits of $166.6 million. Diluted earnings per share were $0.98, up from $0.80 per share in the second quarter of 2009, which included a $0.41 per share gain from an asset sale.

LET US STEEL CASE PROCEED, APPEAL COURT SAYS

The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that a case against US Steel, brought by the Federal Government over broken promises US Steel made under the Investment Canada Act, must proceed without delay.

The Appeal Court found that the case presented by US Steel was based on "opinion and argument" rather than evidence. In finding in favour of the federal Crown, the Court referred to the role and purpose of the Investment Canada Act (including encouraging employment opportunities for Canadians) as a “valid public purpose.”

“This ruling stands up for the principles for which the Investment Canada Act was created: the economic and social benefit of Canadians and Canadian communities in any foreign ownership of our natural resources and industries,” said Ken Neumann, Steelworkers Canadian director.

STEELWORKERS WELCOME COURT RULING IN FAVOUR OF LOS MINEROS

Steelworkers international president Leo Gerard and USW Canadian director Ken Neumann have welcomed a recent decision by the Superior Court of Justice of the Federal District of Mexico, dismissing an arrest warrant issued against Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, Secretary-General of the National Union of Mining, Metallurgical, Steel and Allied Workers of Mexico (Los Mineros).

The judgment forced Mexico’s Attorney General to remove Gomez from the A-G’s Federal District internet page and vindicates Gomez and four Los Mineros collegues: Juan Linares Montufar, Hector Felix Estrella, Gregorio Perez-Romo and Jose Angel Rocha-Perez from illegal conduct in relation to the administration of a trust fund first established in 1988 but not realized until 2004 in a settlement with Grupo Mexico. Linares remains a political prisoner without bail provisions in a Mexico City jail where he has been held since December of 2008, under false charges related to the same accusation. Gomez lives in exile in Vancouver.

“This recent court decision means that Napoleon Gomez and his Los Mineros colleagues have – not just for the first time – been proven innocent of any wrongdoing in relationship to the handling of a trust fund established after a number of state mines were privatized in the late 1980s,” says Gerard. “The Mexican government has repeatedly ignored previous court decisions in this regard and continues to use every device it can to persecute the leadership of an independent and autonomous trade union.”

Neumann says the important court decision remains virtually unreported in Mexico or outside. “The persecution of Los Mineros and Napoleon Gomez is one of the great underreported and inaccurately reported stories of our times,” he said. “In Mexico, we believe this is due in great part to the fact that German Larrea, the principal owner of Grupo Mexico – a corporation that has conflicts with Los Mineros at the Pasta de Conchos mine in Coahuila State; Cananea, Sonora: Taxco, Guerrero; and Sombrete, Zacatecas – has major interests and influence in sectors of the private media in Mexico and that Notimex, the state media agency, does not properly report in a balanced way.”

“The false accusations of embezzlement of the $55-million trust fund is a ‘Big Lie,’” says Gerard. The Mexican government itself has seized over $20-million of these funds and sits on the money right now. It has also frozen the bank accounts of Los Mineros and union officials in order to debilitate them.

“Whenever it loses court decisions, the Mexican government concocts new allegations – but based on the same old, worn-out set of lies,” adds Gerard. “Its actions show it is a government that is abusing its powers, not upholding its laws.” On 6 June 2010, the Mexican government sent over 3,000 armed federal and provincial police to overrun Los Mineros members at Grupo Mexico’s copper mine in Cananea. Los Mineros has been on strike since July, 2007, principally over deteriorating health and safety. The government has acted in concert with Grupo Mexico to bust the strike and has stationed police in and around Cananea to reinforce Grupo Mexico’s hiring of replacement contractors.

EI CLAIMS UP IN MAY AFTER NINE-MONTH FALL

The number of regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries in Canada increased for the first time in eight months, rising by 8,600 to 680,100 in May, reports Statistics Canada.

Since the peak of June 2009, monthly declines have offset about one-half of the increase in beneficiaries that occurred during the 2008/2009 recession. May’s rise increases concerns about the viability of the Canadian and US economic recovery.

In Ontario, the number of people receiving regular benefits increased by 8,200 to 220,900 in May, following an increase of 2,000 in April. Since peaking in June 2009, the number of beneficiaries has declined by 65,700. In Quebec, the number of EI beneficiaries rose by 4,200 to 190,700 in May, after declining by 23,500 over the preceding 10 months. This coincided with an increase in employment from June 2009 to May 2010 in many services industries, as well as in construction.

In Alberta, the number of EI beneficiaries decreased by 960 to 49,300 in May, the seventh consecutive monthly decline. Since the peak of June 2009, the number of beneficiaries in Alberta has fallen by 13,600, coinciding with increases in employment in health care and social assistance as well as in construction.

In May, the number of regular beneficiaries increased by 1,300 in Nova Scotia, 1,100 in British Columbia and 440 in Manitoba. There was little change elsewhere.

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If you have any questions, comments or information you would like to make known to Steelworkers in District 3, please feel free to contact Brother Kim Pollock, Canadian Research Representative: kpollock@usw.ca or 694-683-1117 in the Burnaby, BC office District 3