GLOBAL: In a statement issued on February 16, 2012 the United Auto Workers (UAW) announced good news for the GM workers in United States. They will receive US$7,000 in profit-sharing based on the results of 2011 earnings. The UAW welcomed the policy of the company, which invested more than US$3.6 billion in the U.S. and created or retained more than 9,500 jobs.

“UAW members at GM went into negotiations this fall with a strategy to make the company successful and to share in its success. And that strategy paid off,” commented UAW Vice President Joe Ashton. Follow the link to read the full UAW statement on GM 2011 profit sharing.

The situation is not as positive in Europe where the GM owned European Opel/Vauxhall reported a loss of US$ 0.7 billion in 2011. However, given that US$ 0.3 billion of this is the cost of restructuring the GM business in Europe, it showed a 1.6 billion better results in 2011 than in 2010, when the company registered US$ two billon losses.

In a joint statement the EMF, the European Employee Forum and the Opel/Vauxhall European trade unions said, “In order to put Opel/Vauxhall on a sustainable business foundation, worker representatives and management need to work on common solutions on the basis of the existing agreements — also in economically challenging times. The agreements provide for product and competence commitments and exclude plant closures and forced redundancies until the end of 2014.”

They furthermore added, “Based on the existing agreements we demand that Opel/Vauxhall develops and promotes a long-term sustainable business plan to take advantage of the predicted overall market growth.” The full text of the statement is available on EMF website at the link: http://www.emf-fem.org/Press/Press-releases/Joint-statement-of-the-European-Metalworkers-Federation-the-European-Employee-Forum-and-the-European-trade-unions-on-the-Opel-Vauxhall-business-result-2011.

In South America GM reported a loss in 2011 of US$122 million against US$818 million earned in 2010.

AUSTRALIA: The denial is a victory for Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), which took the case forward, and a victory for legitimate collective bargaining rights. It also stands as a rebuke to Rio Tinto in its efforts to avoid 2009 changes in Australian labour law.

The ruling serves as an invitation for iron ore miners — and others — in West Australia’s rich Pilbara region to join a union, with the aim to negotiate real enterprise labour agreements through the union. The High Court ruling will also negate other mining firms such as BHP Billiton, which also converted individual work agreements into non-union labour agreements that were intended to keep trade unions away from workers and workers without a union voice.

In Rio Tinto’s case, it brought ten new hires of its Pilbara Iron Company Pty. Ltd. subsidiary into a bogus Pilbara Iron Employee Agreement for a five-year duration that was meant to include all other new hires during that time. The ploy was done to avoid changes in law that took effect with the July 2009 effective date of the Fair Work Australia law.

Some 20 such delusionary labour agreements are said to have been put in place to avoid the Fair Work law, and Rio Tinto’s legal failure last week is expected to strike the ones that are still in effect null and void.

More details are available on ICEM website at the following link
http://www.icem.org/en/5-Mining-DGOJP/4889-Australian-High-Court-Denies-Rio-Tinto-s-Appeal-to-Evade-Union-Contracts

INDIA: The workshop, organized in the backdrop of the EU-India Summit on February 10, analysed developments in India’s trade policy and ongoing EU India FTA negotiations. Concerns were expressed on the lack of transparency in the negotiation process and the absence of meaningful consultation with social activists, including trade unions and civil society organisations.
 
The possible negative impacts of EU India FTA were analysed with the focus on implications for employment, food security, impact on key industrial and services sectors such as automobile, SMEs and retail trade. Risks were also highlighted with regard to the loss of policy space and the possible elimination of export tariffs on raw materials, which would limit the country’s ability to produce value added products and create skilled jobs.
 
On top of the unions’ priorities is the protection of India’s capacity to produce affordable generic medicines for domestic and other developing countries’ markets. Concerns were also expressed on the limitation to fulfil development and poverty reduction objectives at the prospects for financial sector liberalization with consequent reduction in the country’s ability to regulate the banking sector.
 
Trade unions from European countries shared the same concerns and the commitment to work together for significant improvements in the direction of the ongoing negotiations and denounced the complete lack of information and meaningful consultation.
 
Important contributions to the workshop were made by NGOs active in the areas of food sovereignty, foreign direct investment (FDI), financial services and health care. The contribution of the representative of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) focussed on the business perspective and concerns, and paved the way for ongoing fruitful dialogue.
 
All participating unions asked the IMF South Asia office to continue promoting these exchanges between unions in different regions and coordinate the joint action of the Indian affiliates of IMF and other GUFs.

ISRAEL: Following a four-day national strike in solidarity with precarious workers organized by the Israel Federation of Trade Unions, Histadrut, thousands of temporary workers will be directly employed and will get better wages. The victory will improve the situation of thousands of public sector workers across the country. Potentially the move may also improve the situation for workers in other sectors. The total number of agency workers amount to 300 to 400 thousand people.

The labour dispute began in October 2011 with Histadrut demanding a reduction in the number of agency labour contracts in Israel by transforming these contracts into direct employment contracts. The first warning four-hour strike was held in November 2011.

Later, when the resumed negotiations with the Ministry of Finances came to a deadlock on February 8, Histadrut announced another all-national strike. Workers from different public sector services took part in the massive action across the country including railway workers, agencies, stock exchange, airport and seaport workers and others.

The strike resulted in two agreements signed by Histadrut with the Coordinating Bureau of Economic Organizations (Israeli employers’ association) and the Ministry of Finances determining principles of employment conditions and improving wages for workers employed through labour agencies. One of the conceptual approaches of the unions was to render the employment through agencies economically not profitable stimulating the employers to choose direct relations with workers.

Full text of the Histadrut press-release with all achieved conditions is available at this link.

ITALY: On February 13 the Italian court in Turin put a final dot in the case of Eternit Group. The owners and managers of the Group, Swiss billionaire Stephan Schmidheiny, 65 years, and Belgian Baron Louis de Cartier de Marchienne, 91 years, have been found guilty of ecological disaster entailing deaths of thousands of workers and members of the community of Casale Monferrato in province of Piemonte, Italy where a large enterprise of the Group was located. Multimillion fines are imposed on the defendants.

The court accepted the prosecutor’s charges against asbestos magnates for wilful and deliberate environmental disaster by polluting and scattering the asbestos killer fibres and deliberate and wilful failure to implement precautions in the work place. More details are in earlier IMF report.

The prosecutors Raffaele Guariniello, Gianfranco Colace and Sara Panelli during 62 hearings since 2009 showed how the defendants, despite their clear understanding of asbestos deadly consequences for people and nature, chose to maintain operation of Eternit factories for the sake of profits. Relatives of almost three thousand dead and ill victims exposed to asbestos from 1952 until 1986 at Eternit Group enterprises, welcomed the guilty verdict with tears and applauses.

Pursuing a global ban on asbestos for many years in partnership with the global trade union movement including the Building Workers’ International (http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?Index=3926&Language=EN), the IMF and ICEM welcome the decision of the court of Turin and hope it will serve as a clear warning for all producers, exporters and importers of the deadly substance to stop immediately all production and use of asbestos all over the world.

KYRGYZSTAN: Workers of the Kumtor gold mine went on indefinite strike on February 7 following a one-hour warning strike on January 28. They demand compensation for rising contributions to the government insurance fund as well as compensation for the family of the worker who died after a workplace accident.

Mining and Metallurgy Trade Union of Kyrgyzstan (MMTUK), an IMF affiliate, claims that the employer hadn’t paid full contributions to the government insurance fund for many years. When the government compelled the company to do so, it began withdrawing the contributions from workers’ wages.

Striking workers are also demanding compensation for the family of Asanbek Orozaliev, who died after a workplace accident. The company didn’t pay the compensation even after the court decision.

Despite the warning strike, the employer rejected the demands of the mining workers. They went on indefinite strike as they had promised to do if their demands are not met.

IMF regional representative Vadim Borisov informed the affiliates in CIS countries about the strike. Mining unions from Kazakhstan and Ukraine sent letters of solidarity.

IMF general secretary Jyrki Raina also sent a letter of protest to Robert Wander, president of Kumtor Operating Company. The company is currently owned by Canadian-based Centerra Gold.
“The union will keep fighting for the demands of Kumtor workers until these demands are met,” states MMTUK president Eldar Tadzhibaev.

KOREA: Kiryung Electronics workers, a group of formidable contract workers, mostly women, who took on a company and the full force of the state after being fired for trying to join the Korean Metal Workers Union, are among 50 unionists embarking on a 67 kilometer trek from Seoul to Pyeongtaek stopping at 16 sites along the way to support workers fighting for fundamental labour rights.
The march is an outgrowth of last year’s Hope Bus Tour which has brought together trade unions and civil society partners, broadening the debate on precarious work.
 
An agreement between Kiryung Electronics and the workers was reached on November 1, 2010. The company promised to hire the remaining 10 union members on strike into permanent positions– a first in Korean history where an employer has agreed to directly hire dismissed irregular workers into permanent positions. Still, the workers have had to wait until May 1 to return to the factory floor.
They keep busy.

A 30-minute train ride outside of Seoul, a crowd of 50 trade unionists and activists gathered for a candle- light vigil, one stop on the 13 day march which will culminate in an “OCCUPY SSANGYONG” event on February 11. Workers at Ssangyong Motor have been fighting for reinstatement since the company failed to honour an August 2009 agreement. The bloody battle shocked the world and prompted intervention by Amnesty International, labour and human rights groups and the International Labour Organization.

“On behalf of the International Metalworkers’ Federation and the 25 million metalworkers we represent, I am very proud to be here with such strong and revolutionary trade unionists,” said Kristyne Peter of the IMF to the crowd. “Korean metalworkers have a proud history at the IMF, and my fellow sisters at Kiryung have inspired us all around the world. Their struggle, their courage, and their indomitable spirit have taught us that we can go one day longer than the company, we can persevere, and we can win!”

Just before the rally in a nearby restaurant, the mood with the Kiryung workers was jovial and celebratory. “We went to all the headquarters of the major companies in Seoul,” said a full-cheeked So-yeon Kim, who at the height of the struggle was a walking skeleton after waging a 94-day hunger strike that ended in hospitalization.
 
The women are dedicating their time before returning to Kiryung to lend solidarity to other workers’ struggles. When asked if they might find the plant work boring after all this time, Kim replied, “this is what we have been fighting for.”

GERMANY/FINLAND: On February 7 Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), the Finnish-German telecom equipment maker, said the company is going to cut 4,100 jobs in Germany and Finland. Earlier in November last year the company declared there would be 17,000 jobs slashed out of the 74,000 global workforce.

In Germany, NSN plans to close 30 of its Germans plants, including the biggest one in Munich, which has about 3,600 employees. The work will be concentrated in five remaining plants. Both IMF affiliate IG Metall and the works council have organized constant protests against the announced cuts. On February 1 public protests started in Munich with about 2,000 participants attracting significant media attention. Similar actions took place in several other cities including Berlin, Leipzig and Bruchsal.. Munich and the other threatened plants got full solidarity support including public protests from colleagues who are not directly affected.

IG Metall and the works council put forward the following demands to NSN:

• deep analysis of the actual economic situation,
• revision of the closure plans, especially for Munich as NSN’s headquarters in Germany,
• major changes in the management obviously responsible for the economic problems leading to the crisis in the company, and
• active involvement of the former owner Siemens (holding 50 per cent of NSN) in finding a responsible solution for employment and the future management of NSN.

In Finland, the unions foresee two processes. The legal one is a round of negotiations inside the company between the management and shop stewards from the trade unions inside NSN which include IMF affiliates Finnish Metalworkers’ Union, Trade Union Pro, Union of Professional Engineers in Finland (UIL) and Tekniikan Akateemisten Liitto (TEK), signatories of the collective agreement with the company. 

The second process consists of finding jobs and other possibilities for the affected workers through tripartite negotiations between the management, involved unions and the Ministry of Employment and Economy.

In Finland by the end of 2011 NSN employed 7,200 workers. The reductions will potentially affect 700 jobs in Espoo, 150 in Oulu and 350 in Tampere.

MEXICO: The International Metalworkers’ Federation joined with representatives of the Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Unions (JAW) in late January to offer their support for fair and neutral elections to be held at Honda in Mexico, according to Conventions 87 and 98 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

The JAW expressed its expectations for fair and free elections to be held at Honda Mexico during a meeting with the IMF in Mexico from January 25 to 28, held to discuss the situation with the independent union Sindicato de Trabajadores Unidos de Honda de México (STUHM).

The workers at Honda Mexico have been covered by a protection contract with a CTM union for over 25 years. Seeking real representation and collective bargaining rights and resisting the CTM protection contract, the workers chose to create an independent union called STUHM, which gained official recognition in September 2011.

A short time later some of the leaders of the union, including General Secretary Jose Luis Solario, were dismissed by the company. The dismissed workers are seeking reinstatement and the process is still ongoing. At the end of 2011 company management also sent a letter to all employees clearly denouncing the independent union.

Concerned about the situation in Mexico and having discussed the matter with STUHM at an IMF auto meeting in 2011, the JAW sent its delegation to Mexico to investigate further and assist in building a relationship based on direct communication and mutual trust between the independent union and company management.

For at least 25 years Honda Mexico has had a protection contract in place with a CTM "pseudo union". Through a complaint to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the IMF is seeking redress against the undemocratic principles of protection contracts, which are currently supported by Mexican authorities. (See previous story: http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=18937)

Companies operating in Mexico frequently enter so called "protection contracts" which often only provide for minimum wages and conditions or slightly better conditions. Crucially, employees often have no knowledge of these contracts and are therefore excluded from the negotiation process. In addition democratic elections for union representatives rarely take place, leaving workers with no real representation. Employers "protect" themselves with such agreements with CTM against the demands and interests of their employees through the widespread use of this "protection union" or "protection contract" system.

At some companies in Mexico workers are now resisting this undemocratic system and are attempting to organise independent unions. These attempts are being suppressed by most companies with the support of CTM through threats against the employees including dismissal of union leaders.

The IMF is strongly pushing back against this undemocratic system of "protection unions" and is actively supporting the formation of free and democratic unions.

AUSTRALIA: A series of 23 public hearings taking place around Australia on the impact of insecure work on Australians will commence in Brisbane on February 13, after more than 500 workers, unions and community groups lodged submissions with the Independent Inquiry into Insecure Work in Australia.

The Independent Inquiry was commissioned by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) to examine the impact of insecure jobs on the workplace and the community. Insecure work – casual, fixed or short-term contracts, labour hire, and contracting – has almost doubled in the last two decades to make up about 40 per cent of the workforce in Australia today.

"Job security is one of, if not the most important issues affecting the Australian workforce right now and we have seen recently just how easy it is for major employers to cut jobs and turn people’s lives upside down," said ACTU President Ged Kearney.

"Workers who are engaged in insecure work constantly live with the threat that their hours could be cut or their jobs may disappear completely. These workers have no job security and they have told us they cannot plan their futures, they find it hard to get a mortgage, to go on a holiday, and even to watch their children play sport," said Ms Kearney.

The inquiry has been swamped with more than 500 submissions, including from around 450 workers eager to tell their stories and give first-hand accounts of how insecure work affected people’s personal and professional lives.

Affiliates of the IMF, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation is a Global Union Federation have all made submissions to the inquiry.

Submissions can be downloaded and the full hearing schedule is available at: www.securejobs.org.au