YESTERDAY IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, representatives of
Imerys management and representatives of the union
federation, PACE (Paper, Allied Industrial, Chemical and
Energy Workers) attempted to solve a local dispute that
has taken on an international dimension.
The establishment of a trade union branch in Sylacauga,
Alabama at a plant that is part of the Imerys Group, a
world leader in the valorization of minerals, provides
unions the occasion of a symbolic struggle to denounce
what they consider to be the double talk of
multinationals.
This problem is not new. Mercedes and BMW, just to cite
two examples, set up production in Carolina [sic].
Leaders of joint management in Germany, the two companies
- without much difficulty - fit into the legal mold of
one of the 32 [sic] American so-called Right to Work
states, which all have similar labor legislation designed
to set up numerous obstacles to the existence of trade
unions. Klaus Zwickef, the president of the German
metallurgic union, FIG Metall, and a member of the
oversight committee of BMW, found himself refusing the
admission of the American plant into the Group.
Imerys, the result of the merger in 1999 of the French
company, Imetal, and the English firm, China Clays,
employs 10,000 people worldwide, nearly half of whom are
in North America. Within the process of restructuring
following the merger, Imerys informed the PACE trade
union that its union branch at the Sylacauga plant,
united with another plant, would no longer be recognized.
TWENTY-TWO[sic] AMERICAN STATES HAVE SIMILAR LEGISLATION
DESIGNED TO IMPEDE THE EXISTENCE OF UNIONS.
In the United States, recognition of a union takes place
following a vote of employees. If a majority votes to set
up a union, the union becomes the contact for management
to negotiate collective agreements with. In those states
without repressive union laws, all employees
automatically belong to the union. In Right to Work
states, each employee is free either to join or not.
In the case of Imerys, one company had a union branch,
while the other did not. Company management decided to
provoke the anger of PACE, and announced that the
restructured company no longer had union representation.
In the aggressive tradition of a part of American
business management, the administration of the company
launched a propaganda campaign against the union in order
to prevent the vote requested by PACE that would again
permit a branch to be set up. This time, however, the
Federation decided to respond. PACE is still a huge
organization: it's affiliated with an international
federation composed of 20 million workers. Last Tuesday,
at the General Meeting of Imerys held in Paris, Jyrki
Rainas, a representative of the union, spoke on behalf of
Walden Asset Management Fund to attack the "anti-union
practices of the company," and explained to the surprised
shareholders that those practices could affect the stock
share market value. A speech made by Penny Schantz, the
coordinator of the campaign in Europe, who received
assurances from Patrick Kron, the French chairman of
Imerys, that Imerys hoped to establish a dialogue with
the employees, but not "against the unions."
PACE, which received the support of CFUT and of the FCTB
of Belgium since one of the shareholders is the Albert
Frere Group intends to lodge a complaint if no agreement
is reached in Sylacauga.
The organization of the Chateau de la Muette is currently
getting its driving manuals for multinational companies
by acting as the advocate of a more extensive dialogue
between the business partners.
Under such conditions, "why does the company pursue
anti-union practices in the United States when it seeks
closer relationships with unions in Europe?" This is the
question posed by representatives of PACE, who plan to
carry on their struggle, which they consider particularly
symbolic of the dangers of globalism.