MEXICO: The International Metalworkers’ Federation has sent a delegation to Mexico to investigate a tragic mine accident that left 65 miners dead, and the subsequent government takeover of the National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (SNTMMS).

Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, the democratically elected general secretary of the SNTMMS, was forcefully removed from his position on March 1 after speaking out against the Mexican government and mining company in response to the Pasta de Conchos mine explosion. The government appointed a new general secretary and seized all assets of the SNTMMS and Gomez.

Support for Gomez was reaffirmed by SNTMMS membership who voted overwhelmingly in favour of his leadership at a union congress held in May.

The IMF has launched a complaint with the ILO against the Mexican government citing violations of ILO convention 87.

“The IMF is shocked by the Mexican government’s recent attack on worker rights and freedom of association. This could be a critical turning point in the Mexican labour movement. The number of workers who are fighting for their right to form independent trade unions without government interference is growing, and the international business community is taking notice,” said IMF director of aerospace and specialist on Mexico, Robert Steiert.

“It is clear that recent action by the Mexican government to take over the Mexican metalworkers’ union has not resulted well. Two workers have been killed, metal prices have risen dramatically, and international outrage is growing. We hope our fact-finding mission will help us to better understand the situation in Mexico, and lend solidarity to our striking metalworker brothers and sisters.” Steiert added.

The fact-finding mission is in response to overwhelming concern by IMF affiliates and the international labour movement who are shocked by the Mexican governments blatant disregard for internationally recognized labour rights and Mexican labour law.

The delegation will be meeting with key officials in the Mexican government as well as union members and leadership.

Company	Employees*	Country	Sector	GUF	Year
Danone	100,000	France	Food Processing	IUF	1988
Accor	147,000	France	Hotels	IUF	1995
IKEA**	84,000	Sweden	Furniture	IFBWW	1998
Statoil	16,000	Norway	Oil Industry	ICEM	1998
Faber-Castell	6,000	Germany	Office Material	IFBWW	1999
Freudenberg	27,500	Germany	Chemical Industry	ICEM	2000
Hochtief	37,000	Germany	Construction	IFBWW	2000
Carrefour	383,000	France	Retail Industry	UNI	2001
Chiquita	26,000	USA	Agriculture	IUF	2001
OTE Telecom	18,500	Greece	Telecommunication	UNI	2001
Skanska	79,000	Sweden	Construction	IFBWW	2001
Telefonica	161,500	Spain	Telecommunication	UNI	2001
Indesit (Merloni)	20,000	Italy	Metal Industry	IMF	2002
Endesa	13,600	Spain	Power Industry	ICEM	2002
Ballast Nedam	7,800	Netherlands	Construction	IFBWW	2002
Fonterra	20,000	New Zealand	Dairy Industry	IUF	2002
Volkswagen	325,000	Germany	Auto Industry	IMF	2002
Norske Skog	11,000	Norway	Paper	ICEM	2002
AngloGold	64,900	South Africa	Mining	ICEM	2002
DaimlerChrysler	372,500	Germany	Auto Industry	IMF	2002
Eni	70,000	Italy	Energy	ICEM	2002
Leoni	18,000	Germany	Electrical/Automotive	IMF	2003
ISS	280,000	Danmark	Cleaning & Maintenance	UNI	2003
GEA	14,000	Germany	Engineering	IMF	2003
SKF	39,000	Sweden	Ball Bearing	IMF	2003
Rheinmetall	25,950	Germany	Defence / Auto /Electron.	IMF	2003
H&M	40,000	Sweden	Retail	UNI	2004
Bosch	225,900	Germany	Automotive / Electronics	IMF	2004
Prym	4,000	Germany	Metal Manufacturing	IMF	2004
SCA	46,000	Sweden	Paper Industry	ICEM	2004
Lukoil	150,000	Russia	Energy / Oil	ICEM	2004
Renault	130,700	France	Auto Industry	IMF	2004
Impregilo	13,000	Italy	Construction	IFBWW	2004
Electricité de France (EDF)	167,000	France	Energy Sector	ICEM / PSI	2005
Rhodia	20,000	France	Chemical Industry	ICEM	2005
Veidekke	5,000	Norway	Construction	IFBWW	2005
BMW	106,000	Germany	Auto Industry	IMF	2005
EADS	110,000	Netherlands	Aerospace	IMF	2005
Röchling	8,000	Germany	Auto industry, plastics	IMF	2005
Schwan-Stabilo	3,000	Germany	Writing material	IFBWW	2005
Lafarge Group	77,000	France	Building materials	BWI/ICEM	2005
Arcelor	95,000	Luxembourg	Steel Industry	IMF	2005
PSA Peugeot Citroën	207,000	France	Auto Industry	IMF	2006
Royal BAM Group	27,000	Netherlands	Construction	BWI	2006
Portugal Telecom	32,000	Portugal	Telecommunication	UNI	2006
Securitas	217,000	Sweden	Security Industry	UNI	2006
Euradius	600	Netherlands	Printing	UNI	2006
France Telecom	200,000	France	Telecommunications	UNI	2006
Volker Wessels	17,000	Netherlands	Construction	BWI	2007
Brunel	5,300	Netherlands	Engineering / ICT	IMF	2007
Umicore	14,000	Belgium	Metal Industry	IMF/ICEM	2007
Inditex***	79,517	Spain	Wholesaler	ITGLWF	2007
Vallourec	18,000	France	Metal Industry	IMF	2008

* The employee figures are mainly taken from the respective company’s website. The overview shows the number of employees who are directly employed by a company. Most agreements have also effects on sub-contracting companies and suppliers. In these cases the number of people affected by the agreement is of course higher.

** The IKEA agreement covers also the suppliers to IKEA and the whole supply chain as well as the IKEA owned Swedwood-Group. Alltogether about 1.000.000 employees might be covered.

*** The IFA is valid for the companies in the supply chain providing Inditex with products.

INDIA: The International Metalworkers’ Federation met with representatives of economies accounting for over 95% of world crude steel production to emphasize the need to consider the human costs to steel consolidation and globalisation.

The meeting was held on May 16-17, in India, a country where the steel industry is growing, providing direct and indirect employment to over 2 million people. It is the 8th largest steel-producing nation in the world with crude steel production of 35 million tones in 2004-2005.

The global steel industry is in the midst of massive consolidation. Most recently, Mittal Steel announced its $27 billion offer to acquire rival Arcelor SA. Mittal is the world’s largest steel producer, with an annual production capacity of around 70 million tonnes. Arcelor follows in second place with an annual shipment capacity of around 47 million tonnes.

The IMF challenged recommendations proposed by the OECD regarding international steel production. IMF director for steel, Rob Johnston, charged the group with failing to take into account employment relationships, and argued that governments and employers must consider workers’ rights when mapping out a future for steel globalisation.

“We respect the work the OECD has taken in producing this paper, but I’m disappointed that they failed to identify the human cost that globalisation has had on employment. Today, the IMF delivered a strong message to government and employers alike that more should be done to stabilise employment and promote workers’ rights.”

MEXICO: The IMF has launched a complaint with the International Labour Organization against the Mexican government protesting the government’s recent action to illegally discharge the head of the IMF-affiliated Mexican Metalworkers’ Union.

Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, the democratically elected general secretary of the National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (SNTMMS), was forcefully removed from his position after speaking out against the Mexican government and mining company in response to a tragic mine accident in Pasta de Conchos that left 65 miners dead, many of them members of SNTMMS.

Gomez, who launched an independent investigation into the mine explosion, was replaced by a government-appointed representative.

Citing Conventions 87, rights violations by the Mexican government include:

• Illegal intervention by the Mexican government in independent union activities
  
• Forced dismissal of union leadership
  
• Seizing union assets
  
• Government appointment to union elected positions

IMF affiliates throughout the world have shown their solidarity to our Mexican union brothers and sisters through letter writing campaigns, public pressure, and demonstrations.

To send a letter of solidarity on behalf of SNTMMS workers see previous news story.

PHILIPPINES: Toyota trade union representatives from some of the major manufacturing sites around the world agreed on a united approach in the fight for the reinstatement of 124 sacked Toyota workers in the Philippines at an emergency meeting in Manila on March 16.

During the meeting union representatives from Japan, Thailand, Australia, South Africa and the UK were briefed by the Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation Workers’ Association (TMPCWA) on its dispute with Toyota management. The meeting also discussed potential joint actions that will be taken if the company fails to meet the union’s demands.

The following day the TMPCWA, supported by and together with representatives of the IMF met with Toyota management and repeated its claims for reinstatement. The company stated it will reconsider its position and will respond before the end of March to inform the TMPCWA of its position.

A further meeting between the parties will be held before the end of March depending on the response of the company.

MEXICO: In an interview with a Mexican news programme, the leader of the national Miners and Metalworkers Union, Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, said the union had found a series of irregularities at the Pasta de Conchos mine, where 65 miners died last month. Gómez Urrutia is visiting the state of Coahuila, where the accident occurred, investigating the real causes of the tragedy and offering his support to families who have lost loved ones.

He said that the irregularities that have been discovered could have caused the accident. Irregularities included the presence of large quantities of carbon dust in the main galleries of the mine. This had been reported to the company, but no measures were taken to deal with the problem. Higher than usual concentrations of methane gas in the mine created a hazardous situation for miners. The company further exposed workers to danger by ordering soldering work to be done inside the mine. Only hasty and temporary repairs were carried out to remedy repeated electric faults in the mine’s transporter vehicle. On the very day of the explosion, Sunday 19 February, an electrical fault in the transporter was reported but the company ignored this warning. Electrical circuit boxes in the mine were not properly secured and neither were they placed above electric cables, as requested on various occasions by the union, to avoid a short circuit due to contact with water. The haulage shaft was never repaired, between pulleys 26 and 34, as repeatedly requested by the union. Ventilation was inadequate in the work preparation areas near the coalface.

The union also accuses the Ministry of Labour of complicity with Grupo Mexico because it has been slow in organising an official investigation to find out who was responsible.

The union claimed the Ministry was "spending its time fabricating accusations and organising illegal action against trade union independence, so as to distract attention from the main problem, which is the safety of the mines and the lives of thousands of miners."

Picture the modern ICT industry – innovative, cutting edge, constantly churning out new products at ever lower prices to make our lives easier and more productive. 

Now contrast this picture of modernity and innovation with the working lives of the many thousands of women workers labouring night and day to manufacture, at the lowest cost possible, the components that go into our PCs, laptops, mobile phones and the myriad of other available products.

The worst labour abuses are endemic in electronics manufacturing — below subsistence wages, up to 72 hour weeks, forced overtime, temporary contracts, no job security, unsafe working conditions, degrading treatment, compulsory pregnancy testing, the list goes on. In this industry, fuelled by the labour of young women workers, union rights are suppressed and these workers remain unorganised.

There are, without a doubt, many barriers to organising women workers in the electronics industry, among them the lack of government enforcement of workers’ right to organise, worker’s fear of losing their jobs, aggressive management tactics and the absence of a union culture. But we must not allow these obstacles to deter us from the necessary and urgent duty we have to these workers to help them improve their working lives.

Later this year IMF will be bringing together affiliates to discuss what can be done to improve conditions for women working in global supply chains in the electronics industry. This will include mapping the major companies’ supply chains, developing strategies to engage with MNCs on conditions in their supply chains, and finding ways to overcome barriers to organising in this difficult but important sector.

Thanks largely to the efforts of various NGOs active in the area, MNCs in the electronics industry are starting to be exposed to public scrutiny, as companies in the textiles industry have been, for the horrendous working conditions they prefer to ignore.

But if we are to bring real pressure on these companies to clean up the abuses for which they are responsible, unions and NGOs must combine their efforts both at exposing the abuses to the public and organising workers to fight for improved working conditions. This International Women’s Day, let’s make that commitment.

PARIS: PSA Peugeot Citroën joined the International Metalworkers’ Federation, the European Metalworkers’ Federation and the Liaison Committee of the European Works Council including all French affiliates, in signing an International Framework Agreement (IFA) on March 1.

The agreement commits the company to adhere to the International Labour Organisation Core Labour Standards, including clauses on freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, the right to equal pay, no forced or child labour and no discrimination. The company also agrees to:

• pay decent wages,
  
• be open to trade union activities,
  
• fully respect worker and trade union rights,
  
• provide a healthy and safe work environment, and
  
• provide training and development opportunities to its employees.

Significantly, the agreement uses strong language to describe how PSA Peugeot Citroën’s suppliers and industrial partners must also abide by the principles of the IFA to ensure a continued business relationship.

The IFA also commits PSA Peugeot Citroën and its trade union partners to consider establishing a world committee in three years time to further implement and monitor the agreement.

PSA Peugeot Citroën’s European industrial base comprises 12 production centres: six in France, two in Spain, one in the UK, one in Italy and one in the Czech Republic. The company is also a major joint venture partner in several assembly operations. Present in more than 150 countries, PSA Peugeot Citroën is focusing its international development in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and China.

The company has 207,200 employees around the world, 128,000 based in France and 79,200 in other countries.

INDIA: Police have recovered the charred remains of four workers from an Alang shipbreaking yard after it caught fire last week.

According to local press reports, the charred remains of the four labourers were recovered by police on February 21 from the engine room, four days after the fire raged through the ship. The fire occurred on board the ship 'China Sea Explorer' on February 17 at plot number V at Alang. The identities of the victims are not yet known.

In responding to the tragedy, IMF general secretary Marcello Malentacchi expressed deep sadness and condolences to the workers’ families and called on the international community to act together and ensure that similar incidents are not repeated.

“This tragedy should never have happened. Employers have a duty to provide workers with safe working environments,” said Malentacchi adding: “And society at large is at fault for not dealing with the inhumane and unsafe conditions found in many shipbreaking yards around the world.”

“Preventing this type of tragedy from occurring again will require an industry-wide approach, not just focusing on this individual yard. The international community needs to work out a practical response that can be applied in all shipbreaking yards, including comprehensive international laws that cover the whole life of a ship,” said Malentacchi.

“In extending condolences to the families of these workers I can only hope that this tragedy is the last and that the industry cleans up its act once and for all,” he said.

MEXICO: Around 65 miners are trapped inside a coal mine near the town of San Juan de Sabinas, in the north of Coahuila state, after an explosion occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The explosion occurred at about two o clock in the morning in the Grupo Mexico Pasta de Conchos mine (number 8). It is thought the explosion may have been caused by firedamp gas at the bottom of the mine. The explosion caused rockfalls that blocked the workers’ way out.

By Sunday evening, only seven miners had been rescued and the situation of the other miners was unknown.

The seven rescued miners were taken to the Mexican Social Security Institute hospital, with burns of varying degrees.

Rescue teams were working around the clock to get to the trapped miners, trapped at a distance of between two and five kilometres from the mine entrance.

The army, police force and medical emergency services are at the scene in a joint operation to rescue the miners. They said the miners only had enough oxygen for six hours when the explosion occurred and the authorities do not know whether they have access to other supplies.

Juan Rebolledo, Grupo México’s vice president for international affairs said oxygen tanks are located at various parts of the mine but that he did not know whether the miners would be able to reach them.

The miners are members of Mexico’s Miners and Metalworkers’ Union, an IMF affiliate. Union officials went to the scene of the disaster to provide support for the miners and their families, while the IMF’s Regional Director for Latin America travelled to Mexico to assist the union and meet with the IMF National Council in Mexico to coordinate solidarity for the affected miners.