NETHERLANDS: On November 23 and 24 representatives from unions present in Philips and supplier companies met in the home country of Philips to discuss how to strengthen cooperation between themselves and to build a global trade union network. Hosted by FNV, as the home country union, and IMF, the meeting focused on concrete actions that could be taken by unions to ensure a continuing and sustainable exchange of information between the different trade unions on issues of concern to Philips workers.

Delegates from France, Belgium, Netherlands, Brazil, Philippines, Germany, Romania and Singapore shared information on the many issues facing Philips workers worldwide and discussed the role a trade union network could play in building trade union strength to confront them. A major issue that will continue to impact on workers for a considerable period is the gradual shift of production from incandescent lighting to LEDs. While the shift is inevitable, the speed and scale with which it will move is unpredictable so workers in Philips Lighting face a particularly uncertain future. Information from the Philips website which was prepared for investors but has not been discussed with trade unions shows that the company intends to reduce the number of Philips Lighting plants from 70 in 2011 to only 46 in 2015. Elsewhere in Philips outsourcing and divestments continue apace.

The meeting determined a number of initial objectives for the development of the network which start with establishing contacts with all unions present in Philips and starting an exchange of information. A description of the network’s aims will be developed and circulated widely within Philips. The meeting also discussed activities that could be conducted jointly once the network is more firmly established. These should include a focus on organizing the unorganized.

GERMANY: The negotiations were concluded on November 21 in Düsseldorff, after IG Metall had called out members for extensive two-hour warning strikes involving tens of thousands of steelworkers.
"This result allows workers to share in the company’s success. It shows that IG Metall has a reliable bargaining policy even in times of insecurity," said IG Metall president Berthold Huber.

Wage increases will go into effect on December 1, and the new agreement runs to the end of February 2013. Trainees will now as a rule acquire permanent status at the end of the training period. Exceptions have to be agreed with the Works Councils. Senior workers possibilities to work part time were renewed and improved – the employers contribution to pensions insurance was raised from 95 to 100 percent.

"Our many members, and their strong participation made this success possible, said Oliver Burkhard, IG Metall representative in North Rhine-Westphalia.

More information (in German) on the IG Metall website.

EUROPE: On 7 December, workers will be taking part in strikes and stoppages, demonstrations and assemblies at all ArcelorMittal locations throughout Europe. They will be protesting against the company’s current strategy and in favour of alternative solutions that provide guarantees for the future development of the company and jobs.
 
Behind the action stand the 28 European metalworkers’ unions with members in ArcelorMittal, assembled in the European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF). They criticise ArcelorMittal for maintaining a policy to maximise short term profit and for 30,000 job cuts since 2006, lack of strategic investment and low R&D, poorly planned redundancies and unilateral decision-making.
 
Instead, they call for innovation and R&D, a policy to develop competence and human capital, consultations with the unions and using slack production periods to invest in training for employees and modernization.
 
The European trade unions promise to use all their power to ensure that steel remains at the core of an integrated and independent European industrial policy, including state intervention in the governance of the steel industry.
 
More information on the European Metalworker Federation website.

PORTUGAL: Workers in Portugal are confronted with an ever more severe austerity programme, unprecedented since the start of democracy in the country. It includes an increase of the weekly working time from 40 to 42,5 hours, cuts of the Christmas allowance for all workers in 2011 and of the holiday allowance for public and state workers – as well as all pensioners – for two years, further cuts in salaries and pensions, tax raises on consumption and work incomes, cuts in unemployment benefits, elimination of the family allowance, closures of public services and cuts in healthcare and education.
 
In addition, government and employers intend to eliminate core labour rights such as the prohibition of unfair dismissals, the right to collective bargaining, redundancy pay, social protection of the unemployed and working time regulation.
 
The announced measures risk to plunge the country even deeper in economic recession (the government admits that the economy may shrink by 3 percent in 2012), which increases the debt burden and starts a destructive cycle of austerity policies, recession and higher debt.
 
The union confederation calls for a different policy, including renegotiation of debts, deadlines and interest rates – to promote growth and jobs, enhancing the productive sector, and pay and pension rises, ensuring the protection and strengthening of the state social duties and public services, valuing work and dignifying the workers. 

More information on the CGTP website.

 

INDONESIA: The meeting sequence starts with the IMF Women’s Conference on Monday December 5. The IMF Executive Committee will meet December 6, and the IMF Central Committee meets December 7 and 8. The delegates will be welcomed by the IMF Indonesia affiliates Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers’ Union (FSPMI) and Federation of Metal, Machine and Electronic Workers (Lomenik-SBSI).

The main issues for discussion concern the implementation of the IMF’s Action Programme 2009-2013 with focus on trade union rights, trade union networks and building stronger unions. There will also be a panel on precarious work and social security — an area where the Indonesian unions recently won a landmark victory.

The union representatives will then discuss the creation of a new global union federation for workers in the manufacturing industries, and a new global unionism, and decide on an extraordinary congress on June 18-20, 2012 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

It is rainy season in Indonesia, so the delegates are encouraged to bring an umbrella. In December, temperatures vary from 22 to 34° C with an average of 19 wet days and 80 per cent humidity. More on the peculiarities of the country, hotels and conditions, read the practical information guide.

Find all photos here: www.flickr.com/photos/imfmetal  

CHILE: A national seminar on strengthening trade unions was held in Chile, November 17-18, and was attended by representatives of Constramet, Consfetema, FTC and Huachipato. The project’s main objective is to promote trade union unity at the national level among metalworkers’ unions.

The trade union strengthening project, which has been under way since 2008 and is supported by the Swedish union IF Metall/LO-TCO, is also being implemented in Colombia with IMF affiliates, Fetramecol and Utrammicol.

The seminar was attended by representatives from Constramet, Consfetema and FTC, which belong to affiliated organisations in Chile and have participated in seminars throughout the year. The activity was also attended by representatives from Colombian affiliates, the IMF Geneva office and the Latin America Regional Office.

Participants conducted an evaluation of the project, made a critical analysis of activities that have taken place so far this year, discussed the main obstacles encountered so far and formulated new strategies for overcoming these obstacles. The seminar also stressed the importance of the project’s joint political project, the need to turn ideas into action and the need to formulate guidelines.

Fernando Lopes, representing the IMF, said that everything is going well. "Even though these initial steps towards unity only involve two unions, any change is an achievement. Everything that changes the structure indicates progress and will set a marker for all other affiliates."

Delegates agreed to continue working on the project, to reduce the level of trade union fragmentation and promote the struggle for a single collective agreement in each sector. The IMF highlighted the efforts of the trade union leaders who have participated since the start of the project and praised the work of Constramet and Consfetema in achieving project objectives.

UK: Workers Uniting, the transatlantic alliance set up by Unite the Union and the United Steelworkers held its first Congress under the theme "Fighting Back Globally" on November 11-12 in London. Delegates from the USA, Canada, UK and Republic of Ireland along with guests from Bangladesh, Colombia, Mexico, the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy and Mineworkers (ICEM) discussed a number of motions on joint action.

Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey said in his opening speech that the first Congress "is taking place against a backdrop of global economic chaos and a global attack against working people".  "We can globalize the fight for working people all around the world", said USW International President Leo Gerard.

The motions centred around the following themes:

• Political action in favour of job creation and against public sector and health care cuts
• Organizing with the help of strategic research and targeting joint companies
• Coordinating collective bargaining in joint companies
• Statement against behavioural health and safety
• Promoting equal rights
• Developing education and electronic communications
• Solidarity action to support unions in countries such as Mexico, Colombia and Bangladesh

ICEM’s General Secretary Manfred Warda thanked the USW and Unite for their strong support for the process between the IMF, ICEM and ITGLWF to create a unified global union organization for basic and manufacturing workers in 2012. IMF’s General Secretary Jyrki Raina said the unions were showing the others the way to go in developing concrete cross-border action.

Workers Uniting represents 2.5 million active and retired workers in the United Kingdom, Ireland, United States and Canada.

 

GLOBAL: The 17th conference of the parties (COP17) to the UN framework convention on climate change will be held in Durban, South Africa, from November 28 to December 9, 2011. The international trade union movement led by ITUC will urge the governments to agree on a legally-binding climate regime and a concrete climate finance scheme, including provisions for a Just Transition.

To support ITUC’s contribution, ICEM, IMF and ITGLWF will hold a joint event, "Cutting Emissions – Transforming Jobs" on November 30 at 14.30-16.00 in the COP17 World of Work Pavilion, at the Civil Society Space – University of KwaZulu, Howard College Campus, King George Av., Berea, Durban.

The event will promote a common industrial workers’ position to ensure the "greening" of existing jobs, the creation of new, sustainable jobs, and a Just Transition, with concrete policies for green technology innovation and a sustainability fund securing the future for both today’s and tomorrow’s workers.

The discussions will focus on:

• Post Kyoto framework: Could a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol be a solution to avoid a gap in emission reduction commitments and to re-build the legally-binding framework covering all countries in the future negotiation process?
• Building a Foundation-Climate Finance: How should the funding be designed/realized to achieve sustainable jobs and a Just Transition? What are the components of a strong financing scheme e.g.  mandatory contributions from governments, the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), levy on maritime transportation & aviation, or?
• Just Transition: What kinds of programme are needed for industrial workers who are most dramatically affected by the climate change issues? How can both today’s and tomorrow’s workers benefit from the transformation to a sustainable economy? What support will be needed?  
• Developing Industrial Strategy: Industrial strategies which aim towards sustainable production, the transformation and enhancement of existing jobs, and the creation of new, greener jobs are needed at local, national, regional and international levels. How could developed and developing countries be engaged to harmonize/develop respective industrial policies. 
• Union’s role for the future: How should unions get involved to transform industry and create new, greener jobs be designed and implemented with the full participation?

For more information on the ICEM, IMF and ITGLWF event, contact Brian Kohler, ICEM Health, Safety and Sustainability officer ([email protected]) or Kan Matsuzaki, IMF Director of Shipbuilding-shipbreaking, Non-Manual Workers and climate change ([email protected]).
 
See also ITUC’s contribution to COP17 at http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/ituc_durbancontribution.pdf.

More information on COP17 WoW will be posted at
ITUC: http://www.ituc-csi.org/climate-change-and-green-economy.html.

RUSSIA: The Saint-Petersburg area is a major auto production cluster and home to the first ITUA local at the Ford plant in Vsevolozhsk. Since February 2011, the IMF and the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) is supporting ITUA organizing at several auto plants in the area targeting the 4,300 to 4,700 workers at the Nissan, General Motors, Nokian Tires, Hyundai and Faurecia plants.

ITUA organizers held a workshop for union activists at the Faurecia plant in Luga, a city near Saint-Petersburg on September 18. The key demand was to raise wages, since the workers earn just 400-500 USD on average. On September 30 the workers held a conference and agreed officially on a list of demands, and on October 5 the list was handed to the company management.

At GM, the management introduced a new working schedule, substituting the normal 5-day working week with a 4-day week with extra-long hours. This was extremely unpopular among GM workers, and the ITUA organizers came up with an idea of a protest action. They offered some workers to wear red bands on their wrists as a sign of protest against the new schedule. The action was a breakthrough, and some 100 workers agreed to wear red bands during the whole working week.

On September 19-20, ITUA organizers distributed leaflets with red bands attached to them at the shuttle bus stops. The action was very successful in terms of visibility of the union – ITUA even held a press-conference and the situation was featured in the national news.

The IMF-CAW project has allowed ITUA to bring together a strong team of organizers. Their work with Faurecia and GM activists has already brought concrete results.

INDIA: Workers at the Mumbai shipbreaking yard faced yet another fire accident on November 14 in which three workers suffered 40 percent burn injury. The incident took place at about 4.00 PM Monday as three workers, Ram Saroj 35, Sunil Rai 33 and Bijay Jena 28 were engaged in breaking the engine room of the ship M V Khalijia III at Lakri Bundar Plot No 8. The ill fated ship belongs to the employer Pratap Bohra, who is also the office bearer of Indian Steel Scrap and Shipbreakers’ Association.

Injured workers were immediately taken to Sairaj Hospital in Sewri and workers’ condition is said to be serious. All injured are migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Orissa and they worked under labour contractor Dharmaraj & Co. Office bearers of Mumbai Port Trust and Dock General Employees’ Union (MPTDGEU) immediately rushed to the spot and informed the police about the incident. The police has filed a First Information Report and launched an inquiry into the accident.

This accident is yet another painful reminder of harsh working conditions and poor occupational health and safety measures at Mumbai shipbreaking yards. We will once again take the issue to the concerned authorities to improve the working conditions and to get due compensation for victims and their families, said VV Rane, Secretary of MPTDGEU.