IMF's Union Roadshow screened at film festival

GENEVA: Union Roadshow: Organisning EPZ workers in Indonesia hit the big screen this year at the third annual Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival. The film, produced by the International Metalworkers’ Federation, was one of fourteen films selected to be shown.

"It has always been extremely difficult for unions to organise EPZ workers, with employers and even governments crushing unionisation attempts," said Jenny Holdcroft, IMF’s Director of Equal Rights and EPZs and one of the film’s producers. "But in Indonesia, unions are helping workers to move from temporary contracts to permanent employment. Wages are increasing and so is union membership."

The video showcases the successful organising strategies that Indonesian unions are using to organise EPZ workers. The IMF is hoping that the lessons learned in Indonesia may inspire unions in other parts of the world to intensify their efforts to organise EPZ workers.

Other films screened at the festival include a Bollywood meets 1970s horror flick health and safety training video for Indian mine workers; a satire on U.S. immigration policy; the story of Palestinian migrant workers living in an abandoned mall outside of Tel Aviv; and the festival’s winner for Best Labour Film Short, Abandoned, not forgotten: the plight of Burma’s migrant fishers which exposes the brutal treatment of migrants working in Thailand’s billion dollar export fishing industry.

The event took place on June 16 and was hosted by all global union federations, the ITUC and TUAC. For more information visit the festival website at: http://www.labourfilmshorts.org/.

Union Roadshow can be viewed online here.

Berthold Huber, IMF President

Berthold Huber was elected President of the International Metalworkers’ Federation in May 2009, at the 32^nd World Congress in Gothenburg.

Born in February 15, 1950, in Ulm/Donau Germany, Berthold Huber has been a member of IG Metall since 1971.

He completed his apprenticeship as a toolmaker and was employed at Kässbohrer (now Evo-Bus) in Ulm. In 1978 he became head of the Kässbohrer works council and general works council. In 1990 he became a full-time officer for IG Metall in East Germany and in 1991 the Director of President’s Office.

In 1998 Mr. Huber became Regional Director for Baden-Wuerttemberg before becoming Vice President of IG Metall in 2003. He has been President of IG Metall since 2007.

Workers call on ILO to improve rights of precarious workers

GENEVA: The International Metalworkers’ Federation joined with other global unions to organize a special forum during the International Labour Conference (ILC) to draw delegates’ attention to the many abuses of labour rights suffered by precarious workers.

Shin Seung-Chul, General Secretary of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions described how dispatch workers in Korea are prevented from joining a union and bargaining with their employer. Chair of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union’s Kiryung Branch, Kim So-Yun, then updated delegates on the situation in Kiryung Electronics where precarious workers have been on strike now for over 1400 days in a protracted, and at times violent, struggle for regular employment status.

The experiences in Korea are typical of how companies are acting throughout the world to evade their responsibilities as employers and pass risks onto workers. Jenny Holdcroft of IMF explained how IMF affiliates see the explosion of precarious work as a devastating threat to wages and working conditions as it undermines workers’ rights to join a union and bargain collectively. She also briefed delegates on steps the global unions have taken to insist that the ILO give greater recognition to the situation of precarious workers in its work, including application of labour standards.

Kirill Buketov of the IUF gave a further illustration of the damage wrought by this trend by presenting the employment practices of food multinational Unilever. In factories producing Lipton Tea, up to 100% of the workforce are now casual or daily hire workers and have no right to join the union, nor to medical benefits, sick leave or annual leave.

Jim Baker, Coordinator of the Council of Global Unions summed up the presentations by saying ”This is a key issue which will undermine or even destroy the ILO if it is not reversed."

The ILC delegates present expressed their support for an increased focus on the rights of precarious workers and there was consensus on the need for the ILO to take stock of how Conventions 87 and 98 on the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining can be effectively applied in an employment environment dominated by precarious work.

IMF argues against job losses at OECD Steel Committee

GLOBAL: IMF representatives, senior government officials and industry representatives from major steel-producing economies met in Paris on June 8-9 at the OECD Steel Committee. Participants heard how in virtually all economies, the global economic crisis has led to a sharp contraction in steel production, consumption, prices, trade and employment.

Most steel using sectors have experienced sharp output contractions over past months, especially the automotive sector, pushing world steel demand to its lowest level in several years. Demand for steel is particularly week in North America, Europe, the CIS and Japan, but is now showing more stability in some emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil. Risaburo Nezo, Chairman of the OECD Steel Committee stated that, "there is considerable uncertainty as to the timing of the steel industry recovery. A moderate upturn might occur towards the end of 2009 but could well be delayed by a further six to nine months into 2010."

Reacting to comments from industry representatives Rob Johnston, Director IMF Steel Department, informed participants that the trade unions did not believe that the burden of the current crisis such be put on workers through major job losses or cuts to benefits. Steel employers were slow to reward employees during the recent peak demand but have quickly tried to claw back benefits as a result of the current crisis. The crisis however is not a steel crisis as before but a financial crisis that has impacted on the steel industry, as a result there should be no forced job losses or closures. The IMF’s submission made it clear that trade unions had acted as guardians of the steel industry in the past and that was a role that they where prepared to take up again.

Copies of all submissions made to the Committee, including the IMF’s submission, are published on the OECD website at the following address: http://www.oecd.org/document/40/0,3343,en_2649_34221_42965160_1_1_1_1,00.html

Financial crisis intensifies attacks on workers' rights

GLOBAL: The global financial crisis is not only threatening job security and incomes, but also workers’ rights. As documented in this year’s International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC) Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights Violations, the global trade union rights situation is worsening.

According to the report, 76 trade unionists were killed due to their actions to defend workers’ rights, and many more were attacked physically or subjected to harassment, intimidation or arrest by the authorities. While the worldwide total of killings fell from 91 the previous year, the number of killings in Colombia, which is notorious as the most dangerous place on earth for trade unionists, reached 49 – an increase of 10 over the previous year.

Countries where widespread and grave anti-union practices have unfortunately continued include: Colombia, Burma, Belarus, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Iran, Pakistan and the Philippines. The ITUC believes that countries such as Honduras and Guatemala should this year be added to this list.

The Survey also reports that new forms of employment relationships are affecting fundamental rights. The use of bogus self-employment as well as subcontractors or labour agencies is increasing in industrialised and developing countries. The report documents cases in Korea, Croatia, Poland, Montenegro, Georgia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, South Africa, Chad and Morocco, among others.

Trade union rights are universally-recognised human rights at work. Two key International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions which define and guarantee them (conventions 87 and 98) have been ratified by 149 and 159 Member States of the ILO, respectively, out of a total of 182 worldwide.

The complete report can be viewed in English, German, Spanish and French at: http://survey09.ituc-csi.org/

Precarious work is focus of 2009 labour film festival

GENEVA: The struggle for precarious workers to win equality on the job takes centre stage at the third annual Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival, featuring films that tell the story of irregular workers in Korea and the drastic measures they take to be heard; the fight for equality among contract workers in India; the struggle of migrant workers living outside of Tel Aviv in an abandoned shopping mall; and union successes in organising EPZ workers.

A film about undocumented Burmese migrant fishers was awarded Best Labour Film Short of 2009 by the film festival jury. The film, Abandoned, not forgotten: the plight of Burma’s migrant fishers, produced by the International Transport Workers’ Federation, exposes the brutal treatment of migrant workers from Burma who work in Thailand’s billion dollar export fishing industry.

Other films to be shown address the need to defend independent media, union strategies to end child labour, the need for maternity protection for women workers and a united steelworkers’ response to the global financial crisis.

This year’s jury is made up of members of the Global Union Communicator’s Task Force, representing global union federations and the International Confederation of Trade Unions.

The event will take place in downtown Geneva at the historic Grütli Theatre (rue du General-Dufour 16) on 16 June from 19h00 to 22h00, a reception begins at 18h30 to welcome filmgoers. The festival is hosted by all global union federations, the ITUC and TUAC. The films are in English or have English subtitles and admission is free.

For more information and film programme, visit the festival website at: http://www.labourfilmshorts.org/

Renowned social activist assassinated in Mexico

MEXICO: The IMF calls on Mexican authorities to urgently investigate the assassination of a well-known workers’ rights advocate, Dr. Manual Arroyo Galván in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, on May 29.

Dr. Arroyo cooperated with the IMF on a range of worker rights projects and research on working conditions in the maquiladoras.

Dr. Arroyo was a professor of sociology at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez and had been involved for many years with different social justice organizations, including the " Organización Popular Independiente" which he formed.

He was currently writing a book to call on the social movements to join forces to improve human rights and working conditions in the maquiladoras and was a long time advocate and coordinator for the campaign to defend freedom of association and labour rights in Ciudad Juárez.

Dr. Arroyo was 44 years old and was shot six times in the head on the open streets in Ciudad Juárez, but so far no perpetrator has been arrested. According to the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Mexico D.F (FESMEX), Dr. Arroyo is the seventh university professor killed in the last two years. All of those killed have been involved in non-government organization activity or human and labour rights projects.

Ciudad Juárez is one of the most violent cities in Mexico. In the last year around 1600 people have been victims of violence and in most cases these crimes have not been investigated and have gone unpunished, despite the fact that some 8500 soldiers are stationed in the city.

The IMF joins the international labour movement in mourning Dr. Manuel Arroyo Galvan’s death and demands that the State of Chihuahua and the Federal Government take urgent action to identify and punish those guilty of his murder, and to guarantee the right to life and physical integrity of human rights defenders and the population in Ciudad Juárez.

"A real challenge to neo-liberalism"

GLOBAL: On the third day of the IMF World Congress, delegates debated and adopted section 3.4 and section 3.5, thereby adopting the IMF Action Programme 2009-2013 in its entirety unanimously.

Speaking in support of section 3.4 Build a counterweight to the power of transnational corporations Bernardo Rangel Sergio (SITIMM, Mexico) said, "We need a global policy to counter the power of TNCs with increased cooperation between unions to ensure greater equity."

Bob King (UAW, USA) pledged his personal commitment and urged others to join him in engaging and involving members in direct action in the fight to build union power.

Valter Sanches (CNM-CUT, Brazil) introduced section 3.5 Fight for sustainable trade, development and employment and argued that while countries have the right to protect themselves during this time of crisis, indiscriminate protectionism was not the answer.

Wolfgang Rhode (IG Metall, Germany) supported section 3.5 and the work of the IMF on this topic and stated that, "For weaker countries we need exceptions, developing countries need enough room to develop."

Upon adoption of these two sections, the IMF World Congress thereby unanimously adopted an action programme focused on building strong national unions, strengthening collective bargaining, defending workers’ rights, building a counterweight to the power of transnational corporations and fighting for sustainable trade, development and employment.

As first introduced by Julius Roe (AMWU, Australia), the chair person of the Action Programme Committee, during the Congress on the second day, "the things that unite us are much greater than the things that divide us. This is an action program which can lead to more effective solidarity, better rights for workers, growing union power and a real challenge to neo-liberalism."

"Strength lies in unity, not division"

GLOBAL: "This Congress of the International Metalworkers’ Federation in Gothenburg is not a normal Congress taking place in normal times," said Berthold Huber, who was elected by the delegates to the Congress as the new IMF President on Monday.

In his statement Huber referred to the devastating effects of finance capitalism in almost every country: "Millions of workers fear for their very existence, and millions have been plunged into dire poverty," he said. The way to the future must therefore be taken together, with genuine international solidarity. "The international community has the obligation to help build decent social safety nets in countries where they are lacking," said Huber in reference to the increasing unemployment in countries where there is no support for the unemployed.

Huber, who is also the President of IG Metall in Germany, called upon political leaders to rein in the financial markets. "They must be democratically regulated and monitored. The gambling casino must be closed!"he said. In addition the IMF President wants to combine the existing regulations of international organizations into a new legal instrument. "If we succeed, the rules of the market will finally take the concerns of labor into account: secure employment, International Labor Organization (ILO) core labor standards, social protection, regulated working conditions and industrial relations, in short: decent work."

The IMF is for solidarity in the fight for prosperity, justice and social security for everyone in this world, not just for the wealthy. The first requirement for that, in Huber’s view, is open information among the member organizations. "The IMF is only as strong as we make it," stressed the IMF President, who intends to make a substantial contribution to strengthening the IMF.

To confront the challenges of the future, more global union networks and more effective international framework agreements are urgently needed. With united forces precarious employment must be fought and union rights in every country must be realized. As Huber said, it is also important to strengthen the IMF’s regional work and to ensure greater involvement of the unions in countries of the South. As IMF President Berthold Huber put it in his statement on Tuesday, "strength lies in unity, not in division."

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