Displaying items by tag: Union

Canada: Representatives of US and Canadian cement industry unions have met in Toronto. International Brotherhood of Teamsters from the US and Canada, the United Steelworkers from Canada and the US, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and the Fédération de l’Industrie Manufacturière from Canada attended the third meeting of the North America Cement Network, according to the IndustriAll Global Union. The participants exchanged ideas about over collective bargaining issues, the current situation in the cement industry and the latest developments in deals such as the CRH purchase of Ash Grove.

Uruguay: The Administración Nacional de Combustibles, Alcoholes y Portland (ANCAP) is reportedly unsure what to do with a spare kiln it owns. The state-owned oil and cement producer purchased the US$80m kiln for its Paysandú cement plant, according to the Uypress news agency. At present the parts and components are stored at the site.

ANCAP’s union would like the kiln to be installed to secure cement supply at the plant. However, the company’s cement division has built up a debt of US$207m over the past 15 years and it is expected to make a loss of US$15m in 2017. The cement producer plans to cut 60 jobs and make savings of US$20m by 2019.

Jamaica: A strike has closed down the Caribbean Cement Company’s Rockfort plant. The industrial action also prevented locals accessing a ship-based book fair via the plant’s jetty, according to the Jamaica Observer newspaper. The cement company says it is in negotiations with the National Workers' Union (NWU) to reach a new collective labour agreement. It has also informed the Ministry of Labour and Social Security about the industrial action. Work at the site was expected to resume in late May 2017. Cemex took over Trinidad Cement, the majority shareholder of the Caribbean Cement Company in early 2017.

UK: A proposed strike by Cemex UK heavy good vehicles (HGV) drivers threatens the supply of construction materials for major construction projects, says the Unite union. The 82 HGV drivers who are members of Unite returned an 87% vote in favour of strike action and action short of strike in response to wage negotiations. Continuous work to rule industrial action, where employees follow the minimum requirements of their contract will start on 22 May 2017, followed by an initial 24 hours strike on 26 May 2017. The union says that projects set to be affected by the dispute include work at Heathrow airport and the Mersey Gateway.

Australia: The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) has expressed concern over contaminated cement produced at Adelaide Brighton’s Birkenhead plant. Several large construction projects around Adelaide have used the contaminated cement the union has told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News. Adelaide Brighton says it is investigating an issue with its bulk cement that took place at the plant between 7 April and 10 April 2017.

Several companies including Boral distributed the cement. Adelaide Brighton says it has reviewed the situation and taken action subsequently to minimise the effect. This has included disposing of a large volume of cement.

Gabon: The workers union at CimGabon have held a press conference calling for state intervention in the local cement sector. They blamed ‘uncontrolled’ imports of cement for threatening the closure of the producer’s grinding plant at Owendo, according to the Binto Media Group. The calls for state action follow the suspension of investment by Ciments de l'Afrique (CIMAF) on an upgrade project at the plant. In 2014 the company shut down its clinker plant at Estuaire and its cement grinding plant at Franceville. Germany’s HeidelbergCement also has a stake in the producer.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim and employee representatives in Europe have established a new European Works Council (EWC). The forum for consultation and dialogue at a transnational level will bring together worker representatives from 19 countries with senior leaders from LafargeHolcim.

“People are essential to the success of LafargeHolcim and our commitment to social dialogue through the new European Works Council is testament to this. During a period of transformation, we recognise that ensuring the full commitment, mobilisation, and engagement of our employees is a key building block for success,” said Eric Olsen, chief executive officer of LafargeHolcim.

The EWC was established based on an agreement signed by Olsen and Executive Committee members Caroline Luscombe, responsible for Organisation and Human Resources and Roland Köhler, responsible for Europe, Australia / New Zealand and Trading as well as Sam Hägglund, General Secretary of the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers EFBWW, among other management and employee representatives. Chaired by Köhler, the EWC replaces the previous European Works Councils. Countries represented in the EWC include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

Jordan: The General Association for Construction Workers has opposed Lafarge Jordan's decision to give workers at its Fuheis cement plant a three-month paid holiday. The worker’s body has requested that Lafarge provide staff with guarantees that they will receive their full rights after the holiday period ends, according to the Jordan Times. The paid leave started on 2 March 2017 and was implemented to reduce costs at the plant. Clinker production stopped at the plant in 2013 and cement grinding and packaging stopped in July 2016. Around 200 workers are affected by the arrangements.

Venezuela: The Venezolana de Cementos (Vencemos) Guayana grinding plant in Bolivar state needs US$47m to repair its transport fleet. Union head Johnny Linares said that only four vehicles out of 65 are working correctly in comments made to the Ultimas Noticias newspaper. The fleet is used to move clinker from the cement producer’s Pertigalete cement plant to the grinding plant. Production capacity at the plant fell to 28% at 97,000t in 2016 from 346,000t in 2012. Linares added that the national cement industry only received an investment of US$7m in 2016 but that he believes it requires US$25m/yr.

South Africa: The Congress of South African Trade Unions, a federation of unions, has publicly complained about government permission granted to China’s CBMI Construction to bring workers into the country. CBMI Construction was awarded a tender for a US$90m upgrade project at PPC’s Slurry plant in 2015 and the union says it was allowed to import 242 Chinese workers to work on it. It is alleged that these workers have been working in the country since October 2015 and will continue to do so until 2018. The federation has asked the Department of Labour to look into the issue.