GENEVA: The decision on February 15 by French President Jacques Chirac to recall the toxic warship Clemenceau back to France underlines the depth of the crisis in the global ship-breaking industry. The aircraft carrier, containing tonnes of asbestos and many other hazardous substances, was due to have been broken at the Alang ship-breaking yard in India, however decisions by Indian and French judicial authorities led to the French government's change of course.

"This case shows just how serious the lack of decent global standards is in ship-breaking", said Marcello Malentacchi, General Secretary of the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), adding that "thousands of workers in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and elsewhere face daily exploitation and exposure to life-threatening hazards due to the inability of the international system to establish and enforce standards".

The IMF and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has been sharply critical of the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) blocking of a process involving the IMO, the International Labour Organisation and the Basel Convention to harmonise shipbreaking guidelines. The IMO's stance at a December 2005 meeting on harmonisation is believed by the IMF to have set progress back by as much as five years.

"There have been grave doubts as to whether the Alang facility is properly equipped to handle the asbestos and other toxic substances in the Clemenceau, but this one ship is just the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of workers at Alang and similar yards in a number of countries depend on ship breaking for their livelihoods, and to date little if anything has been done to ensure that they are able to earn a decent living in safe and hygienic workplaces," said ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder. "Governments, international agencies and in particular the global ship breaking industry have a responsibility to sort out this mess," he added.

A substantial proportion of the workers at the Alang yard are paid less than US$1 per day, and the great majority are employed on a daily or sometimes monthly basis. Local trade unions are working with the workers, many of whom are migrants from other parts of India, to help them organise to improve the working conditions and increase their incomes, however resistance from employers and lack of enforcement of labour laws makes this particularly difficult.

The IMF will be continuing its support to the local trade unions in their efforts to organise the workers and is, with the ICFTU, the ITF and other Global Unions partners, step up pressure on governments, international agencies and the companies involved, to bring the world ship-breaking industry up to acceptable employment, health, safety and environmental standards.

GLOBAL: The IMF expressed concern about Mittal Steel’s bid for Arcelor this week, wanting assurances the International Framework Agreement (IFA) on respecting core labour standards signed by Arcelor and unions will be maintained or extended.

Last month, Mittal Steel, the world’s largest steel maker, made an unsolicited bid to buy out European steel maker Arcelor. Speaking on the issue, Rob Johnston IMF director for steel said the stakes for workers are high because there is a genuine fear of what the future will hold.

"In their dealings with both companies unions have had both good and bad experiences. However the IMF has successfully negotiated an IFA with Arcelor. This agreement gives us greater confidence that Arcelor will respect core labour standards in its operations throughout the world," said Rob Johnston.

"While many of our affiliates tell us that their experience of Mittal Steel has shown the company to be fair and reasonable, in some cases Mittal’s ownership has precipitated job losses,” he said.

“Despite a difference in opinion on the bid between European and North American unions, all IMF affiliates agree that job security and workers’ rights remain the most critical issues,” he said.

GLOBAL: In 2006 the IMF will develop a strategy on Export Processing Zones (EPZs). A major contribution to this initiative will be discussion on EPZs at all IMF regional meetings. Here the focus will be on:

• direct experiences with organising in EPZs, successes and failures, and
  
• identifying potential targets for organising in EPZs and assistance needed.

To facilitate discussions at the regional meetings and to gather relevant information a questionnaire on EPZs has been circulated and is available on the IMF website.

In particular the IMF is seeking to identify companies operating in EPZs that are supplying TNCs which are signatory to an International Framework Agreement (IFA). Further information on which companies have signed an IFA with the IMF can be found at
www.imfmetal.org/ifa.

“We are looking for opportunities and breakthroughs in EPZ organising. If we can identify strategies that are working, we can try to apply these elsewhere,” said IMF director for EPZs Jenny Holdcroft.

“The information we gather and the discussion from each regional meeting will form the basis of an IMF strategy for EPZs,” she said.

VENEZUELA: In Caracas, thousands of trade unionists are attending the World Social Forum, which began January 24. They are participating in discussions on how the labour movement can obtain more and better jobs in the continent and how the movement can consolidate its unity in the Americas. These issues were also debated at the Second Trade Union Forum of the Americas, organised by ORIT and CLAT, the regional organisations of ICFTU and the WCL.

The fifth theme of the World Social Forum is ‘Work, Exploitation and the Reproduction of Life’. Trade unionists from throughout the continent will discuss how decent jobs can be created, as a fundamental part of a strategy for sustainable development; how to deal with the growing number of free trade treaties and increasing economic globalisation; what kind of regional integration should be pursued for the continent; and how to increase the unity of the continent’s labour movement.

These issues are in debate because of the situation currently being lived through by some of the region’s countries — with official unemployment levels at 7.7 per cent and 75 million of those in work paid less than two dollars a day. And let us not forget that workers are in almost as bad a situation, afraid of losing their jobs, and working longer hours for lower wages. Meanwhile, trade union organisation is hampered by the pressures put on by employers.

The best way of approaching these problems, say the Forum’s organisers, is through a united trade union movement. They hope that this Sunday, January 29, trade unionists can celebrate progress in the international programme to obtain decent jobs for all and strengthen regional trade unionism.

HONG KONG: The outcome of the 6th WTO Ministerial Conference confirms the concerns expressed by the metalworkers’ unions before the meeting: consideration of the impacts on development and on employment of further trade liberalization has not been taken into account, the IMF delegation says in a statement.

The IMF joins the international trade union movement in denouncing the absence of consideration for sustainable development and for the working and living conditions of workers in all countries. None of the crucial issues has been resolved yet, with no clear commitments in areas of key importance for developing countries. Corporate interests on the contrary, in services like in agriculture, see their concerns met, while workers seem not to exist in the liberalization game.

In particular the text on trade liberalisation for industrial products, the so-called NAMA, does not take into account the potential employment repercussions in all countries, with risks of further relocations and jobs losses. The agreement on the use of a Swiss formula with coefficients that still have to be defined, does not allow for cuts on an average basis, which would have been preferable. Furthermore, the inclusion in the main text of recognition of sectoral negotiations will severely affect metalworkers in several countries and sectors of our industry.

Requests from developing countries for flexibilities adequate to allow them to manage the adjustment of sensitive sectors, especially labour intensive ones, and to prevent social disruption caused by job losses and closure of enterprises was ignored. Their appeal “Reclaiming Development in the WTO Doha Development Agenda” was not listened to.

The request of trade unions and social movements for a preliminary assessment of the potential repercussions on development and on employment as a pre-condition for further trade liberalization has been disregarded. The crucial importance of decent jobs as the only way out of poverty for poor countries and for sustainable development in industrialized ones has been completely ignored. The word “employment” is absent from the Hong Kong text.

The common fight for quality employment, for decent jobs with respect of fundamental workers’ rights must be the key of unity and solidarity between workers of all countries, in the North and the South. This is the unifying goal around which trade unions and democratic organisations must continue building a strong alliance.

The International Metalworkers' Federation will accompany developments at the WTO in the coming crucial months, together with sister trade union organisations. It calls its affiliates to mobilise workers at regional and national level and to closely collaborate with social movements in the widest possible alliance for employment and sustainable development.

HONG KONG: "Aid for trade" must not be a quid-pro-quo for far-reaching concessions by developing countries that could hamper their development efforts for the foreseeable future, warned the international trade union movement yesterday, December 12, following its last internal strategy meeting prior to the opening of the WTO Ministerial Conference.

"Trade-related development assistance is certainly desirable," commented Guy Ryder, general secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), "but it must not become a pretext for arm-twisting by industrialised countries pretending that it obliges developing countries to mortgage their future industrial development and public services in exchange."

Unions called for developing countries' legitimate demands to be adopted at this WTO Ministerial, through decisions such as the setting of an early end-date to the dumping of agricultural products through export subsidies and other export support, which has had a disastrous impact on the billions of farm workers who constitute the majority in developing countries.

The union meeting strongly backed a proposal from Argentina, Brazil and South Africa that countries be allowed to change their WTO liberalisation commitments if serious job losses and social disruption were the result.

The International Metalworkers' Federation is joining the ICFTU, other global unions and social movements at the WTO meeting, to demand that effects on development and employment are assessed before trade rules are changed. IMF director of international relations Carla Coletti, Numsa general secretary Silumko Nondwangu and CNM/CUT general secretary Fernando Lopes are in Hong Kong, participating in trade union and civil society activities associated with the WTO meeting.

The ICFTU is posting regular reports, press releases and daily blogs on what is taking place at www.workersvoiceatwto.org.

CANADA: Speaking at a United Nations Climate Change Conference news briefing in Montreal yesterday, December 7, USW Vice-President Jim Pannell said: “Failure to ratify Kyoto puts US workers at a massive disadvantage. We will work with trade unions from the United States and the rest of the world to help build support for the Kyoto Protocol.”

Also at the Conference, Marcelos Temistocles of the Brazilian trade union confederation CUT reiterated the need for targets to cut greenhouse gases. Marcelos called for strong future targets for industrialized countries, but underlined that developing countries also had to join greenhouse gas reduction schemes. “We recognize the impact of climate change on jobs but it is necessary to address the problem though concrete employment and social transition measures”, he said.

The trade union delegation at the meeting has engaged in a country-by-country lobby highlighting the importance for governments to recognize the role of worker participation in specific Kyoto implementation mechanisms.

Unions are encouraging governments to create national frameworks for social dialogue and consensus building, to promote just employment and social transition planning. A key demand is joint trade union – employer plans to cut CO2 emissions at the work place level.

Note: The IMF Action Programme, section 1.5, says that "All countries in the world should implement policies that would contribute to making the goals of the Kyoto Climate Protocol a reality."

USA: Gerdau Ameristeel, a U.S. subsidiary company of Brazilian steelmaking giant Gerdau, has decided to terminate its lockout of 300 workers at its mill in Beaumont and call workers back to work, starting December 12.

The lockout began on May 26 when workers refused to agree to the company’s concessionary demands. In a statement, the United Steelworkers (USW) says that “the company’s decision to terminate the lockout amounts to a confession on the part of the company that the American management and their anti-union lawyers made a mistake originally in forcibly shutting down the plant."

During the lockout, Gerdau workers have received solidarity support from all over the world, including IMF affiliated trade unions in Brazil and dozens of other IMF affiliates.

United Steelworkers and Gerdau Ameristeel are continuing to negotiate at all three company locations — Beaumont, Texas; Wilton, Iowa; and, St. Paul, Minnesota — where the previous collective bargaining agreements have expired.

"Unless the American management and lawyers begin to match the union’s good faith efforts, there is grave danger that a work stoppage could occur at any or all of these plants early in the New Year,” USW says.

"We’re pleased to see the end of the lockout, but remain committed to the workers at the Gerdau plants. International solidarity does not end with the dispute," says Rob Johnston, IMF Director for Steel.

GLOBAL: Trade unions and civil society organisations are calling on World Trade Organisation (WTO) members to stop negotiating new trade rules.

The call comes amid concerns that the current negotiations will lead to the massive destruction of livelihoods, mass unemployment and the degradation of work.

The IMF joins more than 100 organisations in signing a statement calling for a full public assessment of the impact of trade on employment and development and a stop to the current round of WTO negotiations.

“The proposals to further liberalize agriculture, industrial production and services will lead to an immense new wave of unemployment and the worsening of existing jobs and livelihoods in developed as well as developing countries at the expense of the profits of a few transnational corporations.”

A copy of the full statement can be viewed in English, Spanish, French, German and Swedish at the Public Services International (PSI) website: http://www.world-psi.org/wtoandjobs

Organisations (not indiviuals, please) wanting to sign the statement should send a message to Mike Waghorne and Violaine Roggeri at the PSI with the full name of your organisation.

PHILIPPINES: Despite a Supreme Court decision and an International Labour Organisation (ILO) ruling in the workers’ favour, the Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation continues to overlook the fundamental rights of workers at its plant.

The Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation Workers’ Association (TMPCWA) first sought certification as the bargaining agent at the plant in February 1999, a move that was vigorously opposed by the company. Certified in October 2000, the TMPCWA submitted a collective bargaining proposal to the company.

The company again appealed the certification of the union and the government called for a hearing on the issue. Dismayed by this turn of events, the workers staged a peaceful protest during the hearing.

In response the company dismissed 227 union officers and members and suspended 64 union members for 30 days for taking part in the peaceful assembly. Meanwhile the government once again confirmed the certification of TMPCWA as the collective bargaining agent.

The union took strike action in March 2001 calling for the reinstatement of the workers. This strike was eventually violently dispersed by police and security guards and the government’s labour relations commission stepped in to mediate the dispute, ultimately ruling in favour of the company.

The TMPCWA then lodged a complaint with the ILO, which ruled in November 2003 that the company had infringed on the workers’ rights to freedom of association and their rights to bargain collectively. The Supreme Court of the Philippines has also ruled in favour of the union.

Despite both of these rulings the company refuses to recognise the union, will not reinstate workers sacked for trade union activities and fails to negotiate a collective agreement.

The IMF fully supports the TMPCWA’s efforts to have its fundamental trade union rights recognised by Toyota, and is appalled by the anti-union stance taken by the company.

The IMF is consulting with its affiliates in Japan to find a satisfactory resolution for the union and workers in the Philippines.