INDIA: For the past three years central trade unions in India have been agitating against the Government of India’s anti-workers policies and mobilized millions of workers to pressurize the government to immediately address burning issues faced by the workers.

In response to all India general strike call given by all central trade unions, BMS, INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, AICCTU, UTUC, TUCC, LPF, SEWA on February 28, 2012, millions of workers struck work. The massive strike hit both organized and unorganized sectors of the economy namely coal, steel, petroleum, telecom, defence, banks, insurance, electricity, transport, port & dock, anganwadis, construction, brick-kilns, beedi making etc. IMF affiliates in different parts of the country took part in the strike.

Striking workers pressed on the Government to take immediate measures on following ten demands:

• Concrete measures to contain price rise;
• Concrete measures for creation of employment;
• Strict enforcement of all basic labour laws without any exception or exemption and stringent punitive measures for violations;
• Universal social security cover for the unorganized sector workers without any restriction and creation of a National Social Security Fund with adequate resources;
• Stoppage of disinvestment in central and state profit-making and socially strategic PSUs;
• No Contractorisation of work of permanent / perennial nature and payment of wages and benefits to the contract workers at the same rate as available to the regular workers of the industry/establishment;
• Amendment of Minimum Wages Act to ensure universal coverage irrespective of the schedules and  fixation of statutory minimum wage at not less than Rs 10,000/- with indexation;
• Removal of all ceilings on payment and eligibility of Bonus, Provident Fund; Increase the quantum of gratuity;
• Assured Pension for all;
• Compulsory registration of trade unions within a period of 45 days and immediate ratification of the ILO Conventions 87 (Freedom of Association) and 98 (Right to organise and Collective bargaining).

In a press release on February 28, trade unions criticized the government’s lack of willingness to engage in meaningful discussions. Though the strike was announced by trade unions on December 2, 2011, the Government of India did not care to call the central trade unions for discussion. The working people and their unions would no way accept such indifference and neglect on the part of the Government and carry forward their struggle to a higher pitch if their basic demands are not addressed through concrete remedial action, unions stated in the press release.

EUROPE: Demonstrations, rallies and information campaigns took place all over Europe on February 29. In collaboration with its member organizations the ETUC called for a day of action which mobilized unions all over Europe.

In the face of a worsening economic and social situation and tougher austerity measures being imposed by Europe’s leaders as the only solution, the ETUC called for a European day of action on the eve of the European Summit. Trade unions in more than 27 eurozone countries and beyond mobilized to have jobs and social justice placed at the heart of political priorities.

Unions in Italy, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and many more organized demonstrations, rallies and strikes. In front of European Union headquarters in Brussels, hundreds of union protesters demanded drastic policy changes from the summit leaders. The ETUC European Day of Action sent out a strong message to Europe’s decision-makers saying that enough is enough! Alternatives to austerity do exist.

On the day after the European Day of Action, ETUC took part in the Tripartite Social Summit on employment and growth. The European trade union delegation called directly on national leaders to change course at once. It called for a European stimulus plan to develop a sustainable economy and to create quality jobs.

EGYPT:  According to the information received by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on February 26 a Misdemeanor court in the city of Helwan sentenced, in absentia Kamal Abbas, coordinator of the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services, CTUWS for six months of imprisonment for “insulting a public officer” during the 2011 International Labour Conference in Geneva. The sentence refers to June 9, 2011, when Kamal Abbas interrupted Ismael Fahmy while he was delivering a speech to the Conference.

Kamal Abbas, who attended the Conference as a representative on the ITUC delegation, is accused of expressing his objection to the claim that the Egyptian Trade Union Federation, ETUF represented Egyptian workers. According to the information received, the court refers to a decision that Ismael Fahmy was the acting President of ETUF when he gave the speech.

The ITUC expressed extreme concerns by the sentence against Mr. Abbas, and its implications for Freedom of Association as well as Freedom of Expression within the confines of the ILC.

In support to the ITUC call ICEM, IMF and ITGLWF addressed a joint letter to the Egyptian authorities urging them to immediately withdraw all charges, annul the sentence, and to refrain from any further harassment against trade unionists or other civil society representatives for the exercise of their legitimate activities.

Text of the joint ICEM, IMF and ITGLWF letter is available through the link.

RUSSIA: On March 5 the management of Benteler Kaluga (Russia) agreed to negotiate a collective agreement with the IMF-affiliated Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers (ITUA). Its previous decision to refuse negotiations was withdrawn.

On February 29 ITUA local at the auto components plant Benteler Automotive in Kaluga proposed to management to begin collective bargaining negotiations. On March 1 the company announced its refusal to negotiate. Various anti-union activities followed.

In the early morning of March 2 the union held a temporary work-to-rule strike. The management hurried to the plant at night. The union reports that the main Volkswagen assembly line was nearly stopped because of the strike, as Benteler supplies components for the VW plant in Kaluga. ITUA announced its determination to go from work-to-rule to complete work stoppage if the management continues to refuse negotiations.

“The fact that the company finally agreed to begin collective bargaining negotiations inspires our optimism and hope for the good faith partnership, which will account not only for the interests of the employer, but also for the interests of the collectively organized workers — hope, that in the final instance the union won’t have to go on strike or take other forms of collective action,” comments the representative of the ITUA.

Benteler is an international auto and steel company with 23,750 employees in 38 countries.

INDIA: Building a union movement in some of India’s poorest states is not an easy challenge. But that was the challenge accepted by the International Metalworkers’ Federation’s affiliates, the Indian National Metalworkers Federation (INMF) and the Steel, Metal and Engineering Workers’ Federation India (SMEFI). To date they have organized 28,000 workers in Chhattisgarh, Jharkland, and Orissa since 2009. The activities are part of a joint project with Solidarity Support Organizations, SASK (Finland) and LO-TCO (Sweden)

In addition to the newly organized workers the project has also led to new levels of cooperation among the IMF affiliates. They have consolidated their state and national trade union structures and in two states (Chattisgarh and Orissa) they have decided to work together within the framework of a single affiliate. The affiliates do not compete among themselves to recruit members and jointly evaluate their work. At the outset of the project relations between both at the local level were difficult and sometimes violent.

By working together at the national level the unions have been able to conclude many new collective bargaining agreements. At the National Joint Steel Committee the unions were able to pursue successfully an increase in the national minimum wage for precarious workers. In the Joint Bargaining Committee Coal Industry the unions achieved a 29 per cent increase in wages and an 82 per cent increase in fringe benefits. The project has demonstrated that if our affiliates do not compete and when they cooperate with each other good results are bound to follow.

Empowering women is also an important dimension to the project and although participation in project activities has improved to around 10 per cent since 2010 further steps are needed. One such step is the creation of a National Women’s committee that will seek to identify ways in which to encourage greater participation and identify barriers for women in the work place. An example of the type of barrier facing women is the national law which prevents women from working night shift in production areas in manufacturing. Devika Singh is the Chair and she comes from Tata Robins Fraser Labour Union in Jamshedpur, Jharkland.

Standing up and fighting for local committees is not new for the unions, but the fact that 90 per cent of India’s tribal people are located in the three states has added a unique dimension. India’s tribal people are mainly poor agricultural workers with problems of access to education and living well below the poverty line. In order to build confidence and trust among the tribal people the unions have been providing food camps, informal schools and training seminars. This has resulted in the tribal people supporting the unions and the establishment of joint committees.

Having reviewed these results at the India Steel Project meeting from March 5 to 7, 2012, the conclusion was a strong desire to continue and expand the work into an additional two states in India in the coming years.

UK: Unite has escalated a campaign against the Vienna-based paper carton and packaging company primarily because Mayr-Melnhof has retracted and reduced buy-out terms in this set of talks, and has substantially broken from redundancy pay-outs and terms commonly established in past consultations.

In talks on February 29 and again on March 3, the company proposed a social fund to bridge the difference paid in its 2008 and 2010 layoffs, with lesser packages offered now.

Workers at the Bootle, Merseyside, plant began lawful industrial actions on February 10 over Mayr-Melnhof’s intransigence with six-hour “switch strikes.”  Walkouts rotated from 6 am to noon, and from noon to 6 pm. On February 18, managers locked workers out and began manoeuvring to move equipment and product out of the factory.

Workers then entered the factory and staged a shop-floor sit-in to prevent removal. Despite several sets of talks since, Mayr-Melnhof has steadfastly resisted any workable compromise proposed by Unite, and the lockout has continued.

The union has brought the dispute to Mayr-Melnhof’s Packaging Division workers in Germany and the ICEM has issued a call for solidarity action, which can be viewed and acted upon here. In the same time trade unionists inside the company’s Karton Division, led by IMF and ICEM Austrian affiliate PRO-GE, have brought attention to the company’s hostile UK labour relations inside Mayr-Melnhof’s eight European paper mills, and PRO-GE has also protested loudly to CEO Wilhelm Hoermansedar.

Unite, meanwhile, is preparing an industrial ballot at Mayr-Melnhof’s other UK packaging plant, in Deeside, North Wales, on grounds that the company is worsening redundancy terms and conditions from previously agreed. The Bootle plant produces food packaging from tea bags to breakfast cereal to pet food packaging, with Kellogg’s the plant’s biggest customer.

For more details visit ICEM website http://www.icem.org/en/19-Pulp-Paper/4924-Mayr-Melnhof-Lockout-Continues-at-UK-Packaging-Plant

GLOBAL: The London Organising Committee of Olympic Games (LOCOG) signed a ground-breaking agreement with the Playfair 2012 campaign to protect the rights of workers in its supply chains in response to a Playfair report called "Toying with Workers’ Rights".

The Playfair report investigated working conditions in two factories in China producing the Olympic mascots, Wenlock and Manderville, and London 2012 pin-badges. Researchers working undercover in the factory found a number of violations on workers’ rights, such as poverty pay, excessive overtime, child labour, unfair contracts, lack of health and safety training, prohibition from joining unions and evidence of audit fraud. The report identified a number of violations which can be found in more detail here.

The agreement signed between the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on behalf of the Playfair 2012 campaign and LOCOG commits the organizers to taking concrete steps to protect workers’ rights. These steps are based on the Playfair 2012 campaign demands which include:

• Making public the names and locations of the factories in China and the United Kingdom covering 72 per cent of the licensed products produced for London 2012, with a focus on licensees with production remaining.
• Making information about employment rights based on national laws and on LOCOG’s ethical code available in Chinese and English, and establishing a Chinese language hotline so that workers can complain if their rights are being violated.
• Providing training for workers in Olympic supply chains to make them more aware of their rights.
• A commitment to work with Playfair 2012, the organisers of Rio 2016 and the International Olympic Committee to ensure that future Games benefit from the lessons learned.

LOCOG’s actions to put the steps in the agreement into practice will be key to delivering real improvements in conditions for workers in the factories producing goods for London 2012.

GLOBAL: On March 6, 2012 the MAN SE Executive Board, the MAN SE Works Council and the IMF have signed a Joint Declaration on Human Rights and Working Conditions in the MAN Group. The Agreement defines a reliable set of minimum labour standards that all MAN employees worldwide can refer to while also laying the ethical foundation for the actions of the company and its employees.

MAN SE Chief human resources officer Jörg Schwitalla commented, “A company can only succeed if it shares values and has a culture of mutual respect. With this Agreement, we are anchoring socially responsible conduct in corporate culture and leadership as well as providing the workforce with the necessary support for its actions.”

IG Metall Chairman and IMF President Berthold Huber backed this, saying, “The Agreement stands for the joint interest in social values in the industry and the need for regulation in the interests of the workforce, not just in Germany, but all over the world. In a globalized economy, the rights of employees have to be respected everywhere. We are taking a concrete step toward this today.”

Chairman of the MAN Groups Work Council Jürgen Dorn added: “The International Framework Agreement enables colleagues and those representing their interests around the world to champion further improvements in their working conditions themselves. It is only through ideal working conditions and mutual recognition that sustainable financial success can be achieved and guaranteed for the benefit of the workforce and the company.”

The negotiation of the agreement started last year. Both parties are of the opinion that social responsibility and the ability to compete are mutually dependent. The agreed principles are based on the conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), but also take their own approach. The declaration is intended to reflect different cultures and the diversity of moral concepts in society. In accordance with the agreement the Group’s Management will yearly report on implementation of the principles and debate it with the parties to the agreement.

The MAN Group is one of Europe’s leading transport-related engineering companies, with revenue of approximately €16.5 billion in 2011. As a supplier of trucks, buses, diesel engines, turbomachinery, and special gear units, MAN employs approximately 52,500 people worldwide.

KAZAKHSTAN: In October 2011 miners and metalworkers at ArcelorMittal Temirtau (Kazakhstan) demanded a 30 per cent wage increase. Five months later, their demands are still not met. On February 25 workers held a conference and decided to hold a rally on March 10. They will also push for the changes in Kazakhstan laws, which prohibit strikes at plants with continuous working cycle.

According to the management, in the first half of 2011 wages have averaged 115,600 tenge (US$780) in the steel department and 128,700 tenge (US$870) in the coal department.

In October-November 2011 an industrial dispute continued at ArcelorMittal Temirtau. Unions suggested a compromise: wages could be raised in several steps, with an overall increase of 30 per cent achieved in July 2012. This offer was also rejected by the employer.

Metalworkers’ union Jaktau and miners’ union Korgau submitted applications to hold a rally to local authorities on three occasions, each time their application was rejected.

Following the proposal of Serik Akhmetov, akim (mayor) of the Karagandy area, the negotiations were postponed until January 15, 2012, due to the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence as well as extraordinary elections of local representative bodies.

On January 25 the administration announced 3.7 per cent wage readjustment, only 50 per cent of the inflation level in Kazakhstan. In late January the unions made a new offer — to make full readjustment (7.4 per cent), implement 10 per cent wage hike and sign an agreement to achieve 30 per cent increase in wages in 2012.

At the workers’ conference another compromise was suggested — make full readjustment,  rise wages by 10 per cent and then continue negotiations.

Speakers at the conference noted that production results in 2011 were positive, with iron sheet production raised by 7.7 per cent.

The delegates agreed to take action on March 10 with two urgent demands — to rise wages of ArcelorMittal metalworkers and miners and introduce changes in Kazakhstan laws, which prohibit strikes at plants with continuous working cycle.

“We have the right to demand wage increase. Indeed, it’s us, steelmakers, blast-furnace workers, miners and shaft workers, who ensure permanent rise in production and profits, while we work with staff shortages, take overtime, go to work on weekends,” states the address, adopted by the delegates of the conference on Feburary 25.

ArcelorMittal Temirtau is part of the multinational ArcelorMittal. It is the biggest metal company in Kazakhstan, uniting a metal plant in Temirtau, eight mine shafts in Karagandy area and four iron-ore mines in Karagandy, Akmola and Kostanay areas. The company employs over 42,000 people.

NUMSA also protested against the criminalisation of human rights activities and called for all charges against Bettina Cruz Velázquez to be dropped. Bettina, who last year addressed delegates at a NUMSA conference, is an indigenous Mexican human rights activist. She is working to protect indigenous people’s rights by resisting the take over of their land by multinational companies for wind farm projects and fighting against the privatisation of the atmosphere. These projects have terrible consequences for local indigenous people that don’t get to benefit from the power generated which is used to power other multinationals.

Bettina was arrested in Mexico on 22nd February with no information being made available of the charges or her whereabouts, raising concerns about her security and physical and psychological integrity. She was released on bail on 24th February.    

NUMSA handed over a letter to a representative of the Mexican embassy that assured marchers that their letter would be sent though to the Mexican government.