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The USW recognizes that, since many of our members in the copper industry work for global companies, we must operate globally in order to effectively represent them. That’s why our Union has been at the forefront of efforts to form links with unions that represent copper workers abroad.
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Unions in Australia, Brazil, South Africa, the UK and elsewhere have collaborated with the USW in efforts to ensure that union members and other workers in the copper industry around the world are treated fairly by their employers.
USW representation of copper industry workers is enhanced by its membership in the ICEM, a federation |
that brings together unions in the copper industry and other industries on all continents for joint work.
It’s also enhanced by active participation in the Rio Tinto Global Union Network, a network that brings together unions around the world representing copper and metals industry workers employed by global mining giant Rio Tinto.
USW collaboration with other unions in the Rio Tinto Global Union Network has contributed to numerous benefits, including
- a fair settlement, with wage increases and improvements in retiree and actively employed members’ health insurance, at Kennecott Utah Copper
- ramping up pressure on Rio Tinto to grant promised wage raises to unionized mineworkers’ in Zimbabwe
- ending Rio Tinto’s attempts to de-unionize its Australian operations.
The USW actively fosters links among unions in the copper industry. The Canadian National Office of the USW is building ties with labor organizations in South America that represent workers at Teck Cominco, a metals company where USW represents over 3,000 workers. Recently, the USW has stepped up efforts to collaborate with unions representing workers at Grupo Mexico in Mexico and Peru.
The USW represents around 1,500 copper workers at Grupo Mexico subsidiary Asarco in the southwestern United States.
Our Union also works closely with other progressive organizations abroad, such as Friends of the Earth’s Indonesian affiliate, in order to ensure that USW members working in the copper industry are treated fairly and that multinational copper companies behave in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.
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GLOBAL SOLIDARITY
