BELGIUM:  The Steering Committee of the IMF Caterpillar union network met at the Elewijt Centre near Brussels on March 20-21, 2012. Formally established in 2011 in Chicago, the Committee is composed of union officers from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the USA. In attendance were also, for the first time, delegates from India Caterpillar Workers’ Union, from the CAW, Canada and the USW which represents Bucyrus workers in Wisconsin, USA. Last year Caterpillar took over Bucyrus International, which manufactures surface and underground mining equipment.

The meeting took place a few weeks after the abrupt shutdown of Caterpillar’s train locomotive plant (EMD) in Ontario, Canada, which resulted in the dismissal of 465 workers. One CAW representative commented "This struggle was a wake-up call for many. The support workers received from social groups, politicians and labour around the world was unprecedented. The fight is not over though, the CAW is demanding changes to labour laws and foreign investment rules" to better protect workers from corporate abuse.

During the meeting the delegates reviewed the results of two surveys carried out by the Network under IMF coordination – one of training and skills development and the other on occupational health and safety at Caterpillar facilities worldwide. Both surveys have shown that there are major differences between countries and there is a need for upward harmonization in terms of both training and occupation health and safety standards. In addition, discussions took place on working conditions at Caterpillar subcontractors which indicated the importance of extending the network to workers employed by subcontractors as well as dealers and engineering service providers.
 
As an outcome of the debate, the Steering Committee agreed to:

• Further expand and strengthen the network, developing links with workers at Bucyrus worldwide and Motoren-Werke-Mannheim -MWM, which Caterpillar also acquired in 2011,
• Continue to monitor collective bargaining developments at Caterpillar facilities and report to the network,
• Provide support to each other in time of need and promote the regular exchange of information between meetings,
• Carry out a survey on employment status at Caterpillar facilities as part of the IMF campaign against precarious work,
• Conduct research on Caterpillar locations in Asia,
• Do a mapping of Caterpillar operations around the world, including dealers and engineering service providers, and
• Seek to open a constructive dialogue with management to address issues of mutual concern. 

In concluding the meeting UAW’s Dennis Williams, Chairperson of the network, stated "The global network is growing stronger. With the participation of unions from more and more countries we can only better working conditions for all workers around the world. Caterpillar cannot continue to ignore the global unity of its workers through this network."

The Steering Group will convene again in Spring 2013 to assess progress in achieving these objectives and adopt further steps to strengthen the network.

The meeting was hosted by the IMF Belgian affiliates and benefitted from the support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

The repressive Mugabe regime today found six activists guilty on fabricated charges of inciting public violence. They had been arrested a year ago, together with 39 other people for discussing the Arab Spring and viewing video footage on the popular uprising in Egypt. They had initially been charged with treason, but during the course of the court process, the charges were reduced and the other 39 people cleared.

The six Zimbabwean activists, Munyaradzi Gwisai, Tafadzwa Choto, Tatenda Mombeyarara, Edson Chakuma, Hopewell Gumbo and Welcome Zimuto, face jail sentences of up to 10 years, to be handed down tomorrow.

Three of the six, Munyaradzi, Tafadzwa and Tatenda work with the Zimbabwe Labour Centre a non profit organisation that gives legal support to unions and workers on labour matters and  provides educational programmes. 

The right to meet, discuss events in the world, share ideas and speak openly and freely is a basic human right for which activists should not be victimised and vilified.  

Send your SMS text message now to the people who can limit the unfair sentence tomorrow.

Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena + 263 712 801 172

Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri + 263 712 808 290

Police Minister Kembo Mohadi +263 712 605 424

Security Minister Didymus Mutasa +263 0712 200 532

Send: "Do NOT send the 6 Harare activists to jail!"

KYRGYZSTAN: Kyrgyz government rush to adopt the new, degraded Labour Code without proper consultation with social partners. This initiative was met with strong criticism from the national unions, including IMF and International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) affiliates, as well as the international trade union community. IMF and ICEM sent a letter of protest to the prime minister of Kyrgyzstan.

On February 20 a special government task force was set with the aim of developing a new Labour Code for Kyrgyzstan. Few weeks later, on March 9 the new Code was presented to the general public. The government plans to decide on the new Code on March 23, despite the laws requiring to submit such bills for public discussion for at least a month.

The new Labour Code contains 134 articles, while the existing one includes 446 articles. If the new Code is adopted, the position of labour in industrial relations will suffer. The new Code lacks the articles concerning the rights and obligations of the parties, the concept and the principles of social partnership, health and safety, protection for several special groups of workers. Guarantees for trade unions are absent as well.

In the letter to the prime minister of Kyrgyzstan IMF and ICEM note that the new Labour Code strongly resembles the one adopted in Georgia in 2006. The new Labour Code in Georgia also contains very few guarantees and protections. It was opposed by the unions and criticized by the ILO.

“The experience of deregulating industrial relations on the global scale shows that the attempts to attract foreign investment at the cost of diminishing labour and union rights never lead poor countries to prosperity. Such attempts only preserve poverty and further impoverish the rightless workers and the society as a whole,” states the letter.

PERU: The International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) and its Swedish and Finnish affiliates met with the leadership of SINTRAMIN-CUT on March 14 and 15 to evaluate the ongoing process of building a National Union of Mining Workers (SINTRAMIN-CUT). This union was founded in 2009 and since then has campaigned to organize affiliates and to negotiate their first collective agreement. SINTRAMIN-CUT was born as an alternative response to the dire situation of subcontracted mining workers in Peru, who represent 80 per cent of the workers in the sector, most of whom are not organized, are employed under flexible temporary contracts with miserable wages and working conditions very inferior to those of the permanent mining workers.

The Peruvian trade union culture is to form company unions, which creates huge problems when seeking to organize the subcontracted workers – each time a union is organized the contractor mining company can use different tactics such as changing their name, then identifying and dismissing the newly organized workers, to destroy the union. Another major barrier to organizing in Peru is the current trade union practice of organizing separate unions for permanent workers and for subcontracted workers, even though they work side by side in the same mining centre.

SINTRAMIN proposes an alternative to these problems by organizing a national union for the sector, which can affiliate both subcontracted and permanent workers into one national industrial structure, thus avoiding having the union registration linked to the existence of a company or a contractor. For tactical reasons, it has been decided that SINTRAMIN will continue to focus on organizing subcontracted workers in the unorganized mining centres.

IMF Assistant General Secretary Fernando Lopes declared that the evaluation of the project on organizing mine workers in Peru served to show that SINTRAMIN’s leadership is prepared to take on the challenge and is committed to work hard to continue to grow and build sustainably, as the approved project period ends in 2013.

The delegation of representatives from the IMF head office and regional office, Finnish Metalworkers and the Finnish solidarity support organization SASK, IF Metall from Sweden, and USW from the U.S. and Canada also met with the Federación Minera-CGTP and the Solidarity Centre seeking to strengthen cooperation and solidarity. The IMF delegation also met separately with the main national centres CGTP and CUT to which SINTRAMIN is affiliated.

Finally, on  March 16 the Peruvian affiliates of IMF (FENA-PERU), ICEM (Federacion Minera and Petrol workers) and ITGLWF (FNTTP) all came together to discuss the creation of IndustriALL and its implications in Perú. The Union of Electricity workers of Lima, Sergio Novaes (ICEM regional vice president), Laura Carter (ITGLWF), Ben Davis (USW), Laura Ramirez (USW), and Samantha Tate (Solidarity Centre) all participated in this meeting.

Jorge Almeida, IMF representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, declared that IndustriALL will start with great possibilities for success in Peru, because the affiliates from the three GUFs are aware of their responsibilities and are disposed to work together to strengthen the Peruvian trade union movement.

SWAZILAND: IMF welcomes the merger of the Swaziland Federation of Labour (SFL) and the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU). It has also brought into the fold the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), one of the strongest unions and most vocal in its opposition to the ruling elite.  

The Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) that represents about 50,000 Swazi workers, has an important role to play in the struggle for political reform in the country. TUCOSWA takes on the challenge to maintain the mobilisations that have taken place thus far, to make concrete linkages with civil society, to strengthen links within and between urban and rural communities, between students and workers, and perhaps most importantly, not to allow the regime to divide and rule, and frighten and intimidate the people of Swaziland back into a state of submission.

At the launch, Secretary General, Vincent Ncongwane said that TUCOSWA will boycott next years national elections because political parties are banned and only individuals are allowed to stand as candidates. The labour movement will only accept multi-party democratic elections.  

PAKISTAN: The successful passage of the Industrial Relations Act (IRA) 2012 by the National Assembly of Pakistan on March 14, 2012 brings stability to industrial relations legislation in Pakistan. Earlier in April 2010, the labour laws were brought to a critical situation with the 18th Constitutional Amendment, which deleted the concurrent list and devolved the right from federal government to provincial governments to legislate industrial relations laws.

Thus the 18th amendment created a constitutional void to deal with trans-provincial industrial disputes, industrial federations and national trade union federations. Consequently, a Supreme Court ruling on June 2, 2011 abolished the National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC), the apex body that adjudicates trans-provincial industrial disputes, registration and regulation of industrial and national trade union federations.

The legal vacuum was filled with the promulgation of the Industrial Relations Ordinance on July 17, 2011 and it was to expire on November 17, 2011. After the protests staged by workers, the National Assembly gave an extension up to March 17, 2012. Now with the adoption of IRA 2012, the crisis is forestalled. It also avoided the expiration of NIRC and legal status of national and industrial trade union federations.

LEBANON: The International Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Federation (ICEM) held a Middle East-North Africa (MENA) Regional Conference and Seminar on March 14-16 in Beirut with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES). Affiliated unions from the region including Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Yemen were joined by potential affiliates from Bahrain, Tunisia and Egypt.

A major focus of discussions was the Arab Spring and the fundamental political changes that are taking place in the region. Wide-ranging discussions took place on the situation in Egypt, where long-standing ICEM affiliates in the petroleum and electric power sectors were faced across the table by new emergent independent unions in these industries.

With the exception of the old unions affiliated with the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), delegates expressed strong support to the dismissed union activists of Schlumberger oilfield services. As the general secretary of the new union was dismissed on the same day that the first Congress of the new organization elected him, it was clear that this was a blatant attack on the new structure and all delegates. Delegates called on ICEM to intensify the campaign on their behalf as well as for other union activists who had suffered similar dismissals.

Iraqi trade unions met in a work group which determined that it was essential for ICEM to revitalize its campaign to put pressure on the Iraqi government to introduce a new labour code fully compliant with ILO standards. Trade union organizations need to be able to function normally in both the public and private sectors, and the pluralistic union system that exists on the ground has to be guaranteed. Unity has to be built voluntarily by workers and their unions, and cannot be enforced by government decree.

The conference watched a graphic film made by the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) which showed the immense difficulties their members face in crossing into Israel for daily work, with check-points serving as a major form of daily harassment.

Delegates examined international instruments including ILO core Conventions, OECD Guidelines for MNCs, UN Global Compact and Global Framework Agreements. It is important to build regional industry networks as well as company networks to strengthen trade unions in the region.

ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana and General Secretary Manfred Warda as well as IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina committed the future IndustriALL Global Union to supporting efforts to build real and strong unions in the MENA region, organize training seminars, and increase the use of Arabic language for communications.

Partner unions in attendance came from Canada, Norway, Germany, South Africa and Turkey, a country often promoted since last year’s Arab Spring as a model to follow. Turkey is economically active throughout the region and a major trading bridge between Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

See additional details on the ICEM website here.

Zimbabwe: Union members gathered at Batsirai Zimcare Trust, a school for mentally disabled children. Activities included cleaning up the school premises, providing entertainment for the children and handing over donations of clothing, food, blankets and cash to the school.

Members then joined other workers at a public rally addressed by several government officials and party leaders. Minister of Public Service Lucia Matibenga encouraged all working women to champion their own agenda. 

Minister of Labour Pauline Mpariwa encouraged women to work side by side with men and to not be afraid to take charge. She said that Zimbabwe needs to look back and see the abuse, torture and neglect that the girl child has suffered culturally, socially and economically. Today’s young women are struggling to make critical decisions for life in an environment full of discrimination, harassment and gender based violence. It is not gender equality which has destroyed our culture, but our own perceptions and definition of a woman’s role in society, which have destroyed gender equality.

She went on to say that it is time for women to untangle themselves from the misconception of cultural dosage prescribed for them by society, bearing in mind that unity is of paramount importance if women are to achieve their set goals.

Nyasha Benza, Vice Chair of the Women Advisory Council of ZCTU said "It is the nation’s duty to protect the girl child, empower and educate women". She said that the harsh economic environment that has prevailed since 1990 has caused 80% of women to turn to the informal sector where police harassment and torture has followed them. A lot of young women are employed in the domestic sector where they are denied their rights. The ZCTU welcomes and demands ratification of the historic Convention 189 on the rights of domestic workers, adopted by the ILO in June 2011. 

Benza added that Zimbabwe has also witnessed the abuse of the law by some greedy employers that use casual labour on a permanent basis. This growing trend for casual, part-time or contract workers means that many young people enter the labour market with little or no social security coverage, low wages, precarious employment contracts, and in many cases, occupational hazards.

NEWU joins the ZCTU in demanding unconditional maternity protection ,a stop to domestic violence and marital rape access to free basic maternity and health care facilities,. Labour demands the respect of terms and conditions of contracts of employment,expeditious remittance of union dues by employers and respect of trade union rights, Labour also called on government to subsidise the treatment of breast and cervical cancer and forInternational Women’s Day be declared a public holiday.

Shinga Mudzimai Shinga!!!  Qina Mama Qina!!!

Article contributed by Miriam Chipunza of NEWU

UKRAINE: On March 12-15, the IMF held the first in a series of workshops within the framework of the project on Training the Trainers for the Metallurgical and Mining Industry Workers’ Union of Ukraine (MMIWU).

The project includes four workshops to be held in the next two years. It is aimed at training the union trainers. Twentyfive union activists took part in the workshop: members of the union committees, shop stewards, representatives of the regional organizations and the Central Committee, generally under 40 years of age.

The workshop was conducted by Jean-Yves Sabot, secretary of the Central Committee of FO-Metaux. Sabot has rich experience in training union activists from Russia and Ukraine.

The workshop was opened by MMIWU secretary Vladimir Kazachenko. Kazachenko emphasized the importance of education and training for preparing union activists. He also pointed out that it was the first training workshop since the MMIWU had joined the IMF. Kazachenko informed the participants that the educational project is co-financed by the IMF and the MMIWU. He suggested to hold the last workshop in France and acknowledged that the union was ready to finance such a project.

IMF representative for CIS countries Vadim Borisov told the participants about the IMF activities on a global scale and the merger between IMF, ICEM and ITGLWF. Borisov also noted that the partnership between the IMF and FO-Metaux in the field of union education started in the early 2000s and brought significant results.

The participants studied the French system of union education and compared it to the Ukrainian one. They praised the high level of training at the workshop.

The next three workshops will be dedicated to the training techniques and union communications, featuring interactive methods of education.

SPAIN: On March 11 hundreds of thousands of people came out to the streets in more than 60 cities of Spain to protest against labour reforms and austerity spending cuts proposed by the government. The biggest demonstrations took place in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Valencia.

Organizers of the protests Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras, CC.OO and the Unión General de Trabajadores UGT believe the suggested reforms are directed against the future of the country because they are against both unemployed and employed workers, is discriminatory because it hits the least protected and removes protection from young workers and working mothers.
 
Also CC.OO and UGT consider the reforms do not encourage economic growth of the country because it entails reduction of wages and worsens working conditions. In addition it undermines social cohesion in the society by victimizing the poorest, whose number has tremendously increased since the start of the economic and financial crisis.
 
According to the unions the reforms have been suggested without proper prior consultation with social partners and therefore undermine social dialogue and consultation principles.
Spain is hit by one of the largest rates of unemployment in Europe with 23 per cent registered as jobless in 2011.