Displaying items by tag: Wages

France: 80 FNSCBA-CGT (National Federation of Construction, Wood and Furniture Workers) members protested outside CRH subsidiary Eqiom’s Lumbres cement plant in northern France to denounce the ‘outrageous’ working and living conditions of Chinese workers employed there, according to construction union BWI.

Eqiom signed a contract with China-based firm CBMI, which employed 250 Chinese workers to upgrade the plant by building a low-carbon kiln to reduce CO₂ emissions and energy consumption, which reportedly cost more than €200m. However, there are claims that the workers live in a campsite near the cement plant, sleeping in ‘overcrowded’ tents and working 12 hours a day, six days a week. The protesters have called for the full enforcement of French labour legislation and transparency regarding the Chinese workers’ wages and working conditions.

FNSCBA-CGT general secretary Mathieu Dougoud said “We cannot remain silent on the exploitation of foreign workers. It is important to stand up to defend these workers, their jobs and our national collective agreements. We only urge Eqiom to provide the documents certifying that these Chinese workers are indeed under the aegis of the French labour code.”

In a statement sent to Global Cement Eqiom said "The K6 project is carried out in strict compliance with all applicable French legislation, including labour law, and in line with the values of our company. The latest checks carried out by the competent authorities attest that the project is in full compliance with French law."

Portugal: Workers from Cimpor, along with those from its subsidiaries Ciarga Argamassas, Serviços and Sacopor, will participate in a three-day strike from 16 – 19 April 2024. The Portuguese Federation of Construction, Ceramics and Glass Trade Unions (FEVICCOM) announced that strike rallies are scheduled for 8am daily near the entrances to cement plants in Souselas, Alhandra and Loulé.

The workers are demanding an 8% salary increase in 2024, with a minimum of €200, a 37-hour work week starting 1 January 2025, annual bonuses, shift work compensation and public holidays in continuous work regimes. Cimpor management previously raised salaries by 4.5% at the start of 2024. This is above the inflation rate in Portugal and twice the increase seen by the civil service. Cimpor added that it had previously increased salaries above the rate of inflation in previous years.

Kenya: East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) says that it is ready to resume full-scale cement production at its 600,000t/yr Athi River cement plant. The Standard newspaper has reported that the plant is currently operating at 50% capacity, following refurbishment. EAPCC replaced a 16m-long section of kiln shell in the plant's clinker line, at a cost of US$3.5m. Managing director Oliver Kirubai said that the company raised the funds through the sale of land located in Athi River.

Kirubai said "Our employees have cut back a lot, in a situation where we have been struggling even to pay their salaries. We are now back on our feet." He added "A number of companies owed us millions of Shillings. They have been ordered to pay us by the government. If they honour the agreement, the problem we are facing will be a thing of the past.”

EAPCC says that it expects the scale-up of production at the Athi River plant to help lower the cost of cement for its customers.

Kenya: A court has authorised an auction of East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC)'s moveable property to proceed, in order to pay former staff. The Nation newspaper has reported that EAPCC owes the employees US$10m in unpaid wages. The court allowed the auction in favour of 60 claimants. It instructed a further 150 claimants to seek redress by other means, due to insufficient available proceeds from the sale.

India: The state government of Himachal Pradesh has announced the forthcoming reopening of Adani Group's Darlaghat and Gagal cement plants. Reuters has reported that truck drivers' unions agreed to a reduced freight rate offered by Adani Group. The producer shut the plants on 15 December 2022, claiming that it faced prohibitively high operating costs, including high freight charges.

Truck drivers will now receive rates of US$0.12/t/km for despatches in small delivery trucks and US$0.11/t/km for dispatches in articulated trucks. Drivers operating at the Darlaghat cement plant previously earned fees of US$0.13/t/km, while those operating at the Gagal cement plant had earned fees of US$0.14/t/km. Adani Group had reportedly sort to lower rates to US$0.07/t/km. Unions have criticised the newly negotiated rates, pointing out the UltraTech Cement recently raised the wages of drivers at its Baga cement plant in the state to US$0.13/t/km.

South Korea: A truck driver strike has ended after seven days. The Korea Herald newspaper has reported that the government has agreed to extend a freight rate-based minimum wage system. The total cost to the cement industry was US$70.6m,

South Korea: A total of 8200 truck drivers have gone on strike to request higher wages and an extension of the government’s freight charge system. The Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper has reported that 50% of the country’s 2700 cement truck drivers are unionised. Under the freight charge system, drivers receive minimum monthly payments in order to tackle the problem of overloading.

Canada: Workers at St Mary’s Cement’s Port-Daniel-Gascons cement plant have voted in favour of taking strike action in a dispute over matters including wages and pensions. Local press has reported that workers and the company, a subsidiary of Brazil-based Votorantim Cimentos, will sit in negotiations on 13 and 14 June 2022. Employees previously rejected a ‘final and comprehensive’ offer from the company earlier in May 2022.

Russia: SibCem’s first vice president Gennady Rasskazov says that the local production cost of cement is expected to rise by 30% year-on-year in 2022 due to the new ‘economic circumstances’ the country faces. He added that, due to economic sanctions, the price of coal rose by 76 - 86%, goods and materials by 55%, diesel by 30%, oils and lubricants by 83% and transport and logistics costs by 14 - 24% in the first quarter of 2022. The average growth in worker pay at SibCem will rise by 30% in 2022 as the company has implemented indexed salaries. Rasskazov made the comments at a meeting with cement producers, consumers and local officials at the Novosibirsk State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering.

Mexico: Cemex has expanded its Executive Variable Compensation program, which includes progress on its carbon reduction goals as a variable, to cover over 4500 executives. The initiative is part of the company's Future in Action program, which focuses on reducing the carbon footprint of Cemex's operations and products to become a net-zero CO2 company by 2050. From the start of 2022, the CO₂ emissions component will have an impact that will range from -10% to +10% in the total cash payout of the annual executive variable compensation.