Workers at the Ford Motor Company’s only Russian plant have approved a pay deal offered by management, and they agreed not to repeat strike activity in the immediate future, a union official said. Workers at the plant, located near St. Petersburg, had been on strike for four weeks in November and December, demanding that their wages be increased to 28,000 rubles ($1,147) a month from 19,000 rubles. Factory officials had rejected their demand.

But last week, management offered a pay deal that increased wages by 15 to 20 percent, fixed initial monthly wages at 19,000 rubles and set average monthly wages at 25,586 rubles. ($1,030). “The majority of workers voted for the wage deal; there will be no more strikes,” said union leader Alexei Etmanov.

Ford, which produced 75,000 Focus models at its Russian factory in 2007, plans to invest $100 million to increase capacity to as much as 125,000 units in 2009 and start making the Mondeo model.

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Mexican Jean Factory Closes to Punish Pro-Union Workers

Workers at the Vaqueros Navarra jean factory in Tehuscan, Mexico, who had voted to be represented by the independent September 19 union two months earlier, were informed when they showed up for work on Jan. 4 that the factory was closed permanently. The workers responded by marching through the streets of Tehuscan to protest the closure and their employer’s unwillingness to provide full legal severance pay and other entitlements.

There is now mounting evidence that the factory was closed not for lack of orders, but because the employer wanted to rid himself of the independent union. According to the Human and Labor Rights Commission of the Tehuscan Valley, all other factories owned by Grupo Navarra investors are now up and running, indicating the company may be diverting orders away from the Vaqueros Navarra factory.

In the November election, 263 workers voted in favor of the September 19 union, 187 voted for another union, and 3 voted to stay in the government-favored union (CROM). The voting was unusual, requiring workers to stand in front of their employers and CROM officials and declare which union they favored. The Pueblo State Labour Authority has not yet certified the September 19 union as the representative of the Vaqueros Navarra workers.

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Argentina Unions Stage 1-Day Strike over Workplace Safety

ArcelorMittal steelworkers in Argentina ended a 24-hour strike over workplace safety, sparked by a blast furnace explosion Feb. 6 that injured eight people. The explosion, which occurred during maintenance work on the furnace, followed a Jan. 11 coal mine disaster that killed 30 ArcelorMittal workers in Kazakhstan. Gonzalo Urquijo, a member of the Luxembourg‹based steelmaker’s management board, said Jan. 28 that it plans to “reach top standards in safety.”

Members of the International Metalworkers’ Federation, which represents steelworkers world wide, were set to meet with the company over safety issues in Brussels, according to Rob Johnston, a senior health and safety officer for the union.

Carlos Vaccaro, a spokesman for the union, said workers at Acindar Industries, another steel plant, will be demanding higher pay when their current labor agreement expires next month. ArcelorMittal is the world’s largest steelmaker.

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Bahamas Unions Negotiate Deal with Five-Star Restaurant

The Graycliff, a five-star restaurant, signed an agreement with the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union on Feb. 6. The four-year contract, which is being hailed as a “landmark agreement,” was signed at the Department of Labour. It expires in 2010 and is retroactive to 2006.

The agreement, which represents 92 employees, offers them an 18 percent wage increase. Roy Colebrooke, union president, said he was hopeful that the entire industry will follow Graycliff’s generous offer. The union has about 7,000 members.

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French Supermarket Workers Strike over Wages

Thousands of French supermarket workers went on strike in France on Feb. 8 to demand higher salaries and better working conditions, unions said, reflecting growing concerns over rising prices and falling household buying power. President Nicholas Sarkozy’s popularity has slumped, mainly due to anger that he has done nothing to put money back into French wallets since he was elected last May.

France’s supermarkets and hypermarkets employ around 636,000 people, with between 65 percent and 80 percent participating in the strike, according to the union, Force Ouvrière. The strike was the latest in a series of protests by European workers who want to see salaries keep in step with rising food and energy prices, and which have central bankers warning against inflationary wage claims.

The Auchan supermarket chain said it “respects and has always respected the SMOC” with its lowest starting salary at 105 percent of the minimum wage. The unions will meet on Feb. 11 to discuss how to follow up the protests. They will also talk about how to respond to Sarkozy’s plan for introducing Sunday working hours.

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Hungarian Railway Workers Continue Open-Ended Strike

Employees of the state-owned Hungarian railways MAV continued their open-ended strike for the fourth day (Feb. 7) as their union failed to reach an agreement with the management the day before. MAV reported that only about 15 percent of the workers were on strike last night, but as most of the strikers hold key jobs, they could paralyze rail traffic in several regions.

VDSZSZ, the second biggest union representing a quarter of the railway workers, is demanding a one-off payment of 250,000 forints (about $ U.S. $1,450) per employee from MAV’s revenue from a privatization deal, as well as a 10 percent pay on top of the 6.9 percent already agreed to.

The MAV management says it opposes the union demands on legal, professional and economic grounds. However, it is expected to resume talks with union representatives in the near future.

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