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1st Meeting of Union Leaders Representing DuPont Workers Social responsibility, outsourcing, special retirement, the creation of the network committee, the profit sharing scheme, worker health and the environment. These issues were on the discussion agenda, at the national level, of the problems discussed at the 1st National Meeting of Union Leaders representing DuPont workers, which was held at the vacation lodgings of the São Paulo State Chemical and Pharmaceutical Workers' Federation (Fequimfar) located at Praia Grande, on April 18-19. Participating at the meeting were brothers and sisters from the DuPont units located in Guarulhos (São Paulo state), Barra Mansa (Rio de Janeiro), Camaçari (Bahia), Porto Alegre and Esteio (Rio Grande do Sul); the international relations secretary of the labor federation CUT, Nelson Canesin; Sergio Novais from the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM); Carolyn Kazdin, the representative from the United Steelworkers – USW (which represents steelworkers in the U.S. and Canada, including the union representing DuPont workers in New Jersey); and the international relations secretary of the National Confederation of Chemical Workers (CNTQ), Antonio Nakamura, known as Kazuo. According to the president of the local chemical workers' union Sindiquímicos Guraulhos and the National Federation of Chemical Workers (CNTQ), Antônio Silvan Oliveira, this first meeting served to reveal, at the Brazil level, the problems faced by DuPont workers. "We have observed that they operate in different ways in each region of Brazil, mainly in the aspects of the profit-sharing scheme, social responsibility, special retirement and health and the environment. As for work-related accidents, in several different cases oddly the fault is never of DuPont. The proposal is to discuss the profit-sharing scheme at the national level", said Oliveira. Another problem highlighted by Oliveira at DuPont's Guarulhos unit is the six-day work week, a problem he wants to include in the negotiations with the company, eliminating or modifying Saturday shifts so that workers can rest on the weekends. "We are also focusing on the problem of Work-Related Accident Reports (CATs), which DuPont refuses to sign when workers are victims of work-related illnesses or accidents", he said. As is the case at the other units, in Guarulhos various sectors of the plant are operating with outsourced workers. According to the director of the Chemical and Oil Workers' Union of Bahia State, José Orlando Dias de Miranda, today everything that happens at DuPont is the fault of workers. "We must change this situation. They can't continue to sell the safety package without investing in internal safety. They create safety codes, but they do not make any investments", said Miranda. According to the participants at the meeting, at various DuPont units workers that are ill are obligated to work, even if they undergo outside medical services. "Doctor's declarations of illness must be approved by the company's physician. In other cases, DuPont goes to the employee's home, asks a series of questions, which amounts to moral harassment, and forces the worker to go to the company to work in another position until his health improves", explained Aralei Cunha de Freitas, director of the Food Industry Workers' Union of Porto Alegre. According to Freitas, in Rio Grande do Sul state, DuPont formed a partnership with Bunge and Solae for soybean crushing and the production of hydrogenated fats. "Of the total of 1,500 workers, 1,000 are outsourced. Workers do not even receive food tickets or basic foodstuff baskets", he said. The international relations secretary of CNTQ, Antenor Nakamura, or Kazuo, confirmed that the unfortunate practice of refusing to sign the CAT reports is a common occurrence at DuPont units. "The importance of creating the network of DuPont workers in Brazil is so that we can adopt unified strategies on how to act when they refuse to sign a CAT when someone suffers a work-related accident", he said. At the company's Barra Mansa unit in Rio de Janeiro state, which has 60 employees, DuPont creates obstacles to the special retirement process, explained Hélio Vieira da Silva, director of the Barra Mansa Chemical Workers' Union. "The company supplies information in different ways for the same problem, which consists of social security fraud", he said. DuPont's Barra Mansa unit produces gas for refrigeration. The unit has already outsourced the packaging and cleaning areas and part of the administrative area. The international relations secretary of CUT, Nelson Canesin, stressed the importance of strategic thinking when creating the DuPont Workers' Network. "It is important to learn about the functioning of this type of system in various different countries of the world, comparing the economic differences", he suggested. Carolyn Kazdin, the representative from the union representing DuPont workers in New Jersey, was pleased to see DuPont employees thinking about developing this Network. "The network will make it possible to compare the positive and negative actions of this multinational here in Brazil, and also to unify workers' demands", she said. According to Sergio Novais from ICEM, the local problems are resolved on a daily basis, but at the Brazil level the use of a network is needed. "DuPont, which is selling a worker safety package, is unable to take care of its own house, and it also restricts dialogue with union members", he said. The leaders of the unions representing DuPont workers agreed at this first meeting with the creation of a newsletter to be distributed at all of the company's units in Brazil. The publication will include the positive and negative points that exist at the company's units that were discussed at the meeting held in Praia Grande.
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For more information please e-mail Gary Guralny & Shawn Gilchrist |