MEXICO: On September 13  the government agreed to negotiate with the SME over outstanding grievances and to find a solution for more than 16,000 laid-off members to return to work, in exchange for the dismantlement of SME’s protest camp in the Zócalo.
 
The government finally recognized the legitimacy of the union’s elections of SME Secretary General Martin Esparza delivering the “toma de nota” to the 26 elected union leaders, “unfreezing” 21 million pesos (US$1,626,000) of the union’s funds, and thereby  publicly retracting on its allegations against Esparza for “illegally trying to access the union’s property.”

The conflict between the government and the SME began in October 2009, when the publicly owned and SME-organized Power Company Luz y Fuerza del Centro (LFC) was liquidated with its 44,000 employees and the task of delivering power to Central Mexico was handed over  to the equally publicly owned power company CFE, organized by a union with a reputation for passivity and corruption. Since then, the remaining 16’500 SME union members, who rejected severance pay and continued to fight for their jobs, have demanded that the government finds a “substitute employer” as stipulated in Mexican law.

The aim of the ongoing negotiations between SME and the government is now to resolve the employment issue by November 30. The union has presented three possible solutions and is open to other proposals from the federal government. Priority demands include speeding up the judicial proceedings to release 12 detained SME members.
 
SME stays on its toes. On September 13, before over 50’000 protesters in the Zócalo, SME leader Martin Esparza told union members that they needed to keep up the pressure on the government: “This signed agreement is part of our struggle but we need to keep mobilised to ensure it becomes concrete; we do not trust this government, we trust in the capacity of the workers to mobilise and to win this struggle.”

MEXICO: STUHM, Sindicato de Trabajadores Unidos de Honda de México (United Honda workers of Mexico) has been struggling to gain official recognition since its establishment back in 2009. Poor working conditions, harassment, low wages and lack of a real union to defend the 2200 workers were the main triggers of this struggle, which led to the dismissal of four young union leaders.

On January 28 the District Labour Court ruled that the Secretary of Labour must grant registration to STUHM. The company challenged this ruling, but it was upheld in Court on August 18. José Luis Solorio Alcalá, STUHM Secretary General, said the union registration had been systematically denied, including through trickery and illegal and corrupt practices. STUHM called the courts decision a historic victory for the working class of Jalisco, as it is the first time ever an independent union is recognized in this Mexican state.

Despite the recent Court decision on union registration, on September 6 Honda dismissed two more workers; José Lamas and Héver Gallardo, after they openly admitted to be STUHM members. Both José and Héver have worked for over 5 years in the Honda plant and were exercising their legitimate right to organise. Several other workers report that the local management is harassing and intimidating workers and offering them bribes and financial advantages if they sign letters renouncing their affiliation to STUHM.

STUHM continues to organise and defend workers rights, and has demanded a wage increase of 30 percent for all workers. Honda pays the lowest wages in the sector, on average one thousand pesos per week (US$ 72) for skilled workers, the "most miserable wages of the auto industry."

"We only want to leave the misery in which most of the workers live," STUHM writes in an official notice. 

FRANCE:  500 metalworkers gathered on September 9 in a joint union protest of CGT-CFDT-FO-CGC/CFE against the decision to idle the blast furnace

On the whole, more than one thousand workers may be affected, says FGMM, in addition to more than 400 temporary employees already dismissed and several hundred workers at subcontractors.
 
The shutdown would be implemented in spite of the fact that ArcelorMittals’ coastal sites run at full capacity including overtime work.

The FO Métaux condemns ArcelorMittals’ decision, and warns that it endangers the ULCOS project (Ultra-Low Carbon dioxide Steelmaking) for CO²-scrubbing at blast furnaces, a European programme for which France alone has contributed 150 million Euro. Instead, the FO asks for the distribution of the production between the three French sites: FOS, Dunkirk and Florange.

FGM-CGT calls ArcelorMittals’ decision a speculative step, and reminds that ArcelorMittal recorded net profits during the first six months of 2011 of 2,6 billion US$, compared to 2,3 billion in the first half of 2010.

According to CFE-CGC Métgallurgie the closing makes it difficult to maintain the employees’ skills and motivation, endangering a relaunch of the blast furnace.

French Labour Minister Xavier Bertrand and Minister for Industry  Éric Besson intervened with ArcelorMittals CEO for France Hervé Bourrier, who assured the ministers that the company will make the necessary investments to be able to restart the blast furnace in Florange as soon as demand picks up, writes Le Figaro.

3000 metalworkers are employed at the site in Florange.

TURKEY: Participants from Global Union Federations and their Turkish affiliates, as well as the ITUC and the Council of Global Unions, came together in Istanbul on 8-9 September in an effort to develop joint campaigns to improve labour rights in Turkey. The meeting also welcomed international NGOs such as Labourstart and Amnesty International who consistently support labour rights in Turkey.

"To qualify as a modern and dynamic democratic country Turkey needs first to fix the clear deficit of rights that exists in Turkey today. A key part of this deficit is the absence of respect for rights at work for Turkish workers," read a statement by the GUFs following the workshop.

The use of various kinds of precarious employment is growing in Turkey, and the global unions supported their affiliates’ common opposition to the expansion of the role of temporary employment agencies in Turkey.

In particular the unions urged both the government and private employers to stop the constant threats against workers and union leaders seeking to use and defend their  rights – including the use of physical violence by police and security forces. They also demanded an end to the systematic dismissal of workers who choose to exercise their universal human right to join a trade union.

For their part, the present unions promised to engage in solidarity campaigns and mobilization, including days of action, to pressure and influence the behaviour of the government and employers.

The global unions will cooperate with their Turkish affiliates and among themselves to improve the quality and increase the effect of practical and concrete solidarity action, including ILO and OECD complaints and other procedures, to strengthen workers and their legitimate, democratic trade unions.

GEORGIA: The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) sent a letter of protest to the president of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili concerning the situation at Hercules Steel in Kutaisi, Georgia.

On August 4, 2011 147 workers at Hercules Steel founded a union and elected its officials. The workers protested over poor wages and working conditions at the plant. It is reported that the plant lacks the dining facility and the locker rooms, and the infirmary doesn’t work during the night shift, which is the most hazardous time for the workers. The wages at the plant haven’t been adjusted to the inflation for three consecutive years.

The management refused to recognize the union and fired six elected officials on August 11. On September 2 the workers held a warning strike, demanding the reinstatement of dismissed union leaders and to begin collective bargaining with the union.

The administration responded by firing more union activists. On September 13 the union launched a full-scale strike with the participation of about 90% of the workforce, with several workers also going on hunger strike.

On September 15 the police raided the strikers and detained several of them. The striking workers were released after several hours, however the managers went to workers’ homes to threaten them, and police made several more workers sign statements that they would go back to work.

‘The situation at Hercules Steel represents an egregious violation of trade union rights both by management and the government,’ states Sharan Burrow in a letter of protest.

‘A role for the government in this situation should have been to attempt to mediate the dispute. Unfortunately, local government not only condoned this illegal activity but actually furthered its objectives through the use of overwhelming police power. This is an outrage’, adds Burrow.

ITUC urges the Georgian government to stop rights violations at Hercules Steel and to recommit itself to uphold international standards.

‘The international community is closely monitoring this situation and
the situation of workers generally in Georgia. In the absence of evidence of substantial and immediate change, we will have no choice but to continue and intensify our international campaign to bring about labour reforms in Georgia,’ concludes Burrow.

The full text of the ITUC letter of protest to the president of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili is available on the IMF website.

INDIA: Everything happened at the negotiation hall under the eyes of the Maruti-Suzuki management and representatives of the management-favoured union MUKU. The Haryana Labour Minister and labour Commissioner had left the hall, after which police entered and arrested leaders of the Maruti Suzuki Employees’ Union (MSEU).

Since the commencement of the dispute on August 29 the IMF regional office in India has closely coordinated with the workers, national centers and senior leaders and made efforts to bridge the gap. The workers are willing to make a settlement. The Maruti-Suzuki management on the other hand resorted to this extreme step. The arrest of the MSEU officers Sonu Gujjar, President, Shiv kumar, General Secretary and Ravinder Kumar will further worsen the situation and make rapprochement more difficult. Production at the Manesar Suzuki plant is at a standstill, while the local management continues to recruit replacement workers.

The Indian IMF affiliate SMEFI, Steel, Metal & Engineering Workers’ Federation of India, is arranging bail of the arrested MSEU leaders.
Prior to the latest events, negotiations were being held daily in the office of the labour minister at the instance of SMEFI and  the union federation HMS. Maruti-Suzuki workers and representatives of MUKU and SMEFI participated in the negotiations.

They centered around disciplinary proceedings and enforcement of a good conduct bond, that prohibits strike action and deprives workers of their basic rights according to ILO conventions. So far 62 workers face disciplinary proceedings; 29 workers have been placed under suspension, 15 workers have been dismissed, and 18 trainees’ employment have been terminated.

The management previously announced its willingness to take 18 trainees back and to convert dismissals into suspensions, and to revoke the suspensions of a few workmen.

The union is demanding that all workers be reinstated pending disciplinary proceedings and that the good conduct bonds are withdrawn. The representatives of the Maruti-Suzuki union would sign a good conduct undertaking on behalf of the workers, while the management should counter sign that they will not indulge in unfair labour practices. 

USA: The current contract between General Motors and the United Auto Workers of America (UAW) expired on September 15. The new agreement with GM now sets the bar also for wages at US auto parts companies and US factories run by non-US automakers, with hundreds of thousands of employees. The contract talks are the first since GM and Chrysler received government aid to avoid bankruptcy in 2009. To get the aid, UAW had to agree not to strike over wages at GM and Chrysler. Also, unresolved issues can be taken to binding arbitration.

"In these uncertain economic times for American workers and faced with the globalization of the economy, the UAW approached these negotiations with new strategies and fought for and achieved some of our major goals for our members, including significant investments and products for our plants," said UAW President Bob King.

"First and foremost, as America struggles with record levels of unemployment, we aimed to protect the jobs of our members. And we have done that. This contract will get our members who have been laid off back to work, will create new jobs in our communities and will bring work back to the United States from other countries," King added.

Exact details of the proposed agreement are being withheld until UAW members have had the opportunity to review it, but the UAW successfully fought back efforts to weaken the retirement plan, and also obtained some significant improvements to health care benefits.  In addition, the agreement includes improved profit sharing with far greater transparency than in the past.

"We prove again today that through the collective bargaining process, we can provide decent wages, benefits and employment rights for workers while ensuring quality products and healthy profits for employers. We stand recommitted to our goal of organizing and fighting for all workers in the entire US auto industry," added King.

"We are proud of this tentative agreement and what we have achieved, but as long as unionized workers are being forced to compete with nonunion workers who in most cases receive lower pay and benefits – many in temporary jobs – there will continue to be a downward pressure on the wages and benefits of all autoworkers," King said.

The question of an International Framework Agreement  and a World Works Council for the US Auto makers has been kept on the table in the talks with GM and Ford.

TURKEY: The first joint IMF-EMF Global Conference on Safe, Sustainable and Green Jobs in Shipbuilding/Shipbreaking took place on 13-14 September 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. 45 participants, 19 unions and 9 organizations from 15 countries had an active discussion about creation of strategic links between shipbuilding and shipbreaking workers. The discussions at the conference were organized in three sessions:

Session 1: OHS (Occupational Health & Safety), Green Jobs, and Organizing at Workplace;

• Panel Discussion 1: How we can improve working conditions at the workplaces,
• Panel Discussion 2: Sharing good practices of OHS and Green Jobs,

Session 2: Promoting a “Sustainable and Green” Industry;

• Panel Discussion 3: Implementation of International Rules and Standards in Industry on OHS and Environment,
• Panel Discussion 4: Making the shipbuilding/shipbreaking industry more sustainable and greener- providing sustainable jobs,

Session 3: Developing Future Activities in the shipbuilding-shipbreaking sector

• Panel Discussion 5: Achieving fair and leveler playing field for our future

At the end of the conference, the conclusions were unanimously adopted. IMF and EMF will continue to cooperate with other GUFs, international/regional organizations to make their sectorial activities more effective and stronger.

Many fatal accidents still occur in this sector all over the world, especially in Turkey (both in the shipbuilding and shipbreaking industry) and in the South Asian region (in shipbreaking). Prior to the conference, on September 12, Kan Matsuzaki, IMF Director for shipbuilding and shipbreaking, raised the OHS and organizing issues faced by the workers employed in this sector at the ITUC symposium “Unions make work safer — Trade union strategies for tackling unhealthy workplaces” at the XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work.

The IMF-EMF conference also called all the participants to give their solidarity support to the struggle of Hanjin workers and Korean Metal Workers’ Union, KMWU.

GLOBAL: The organization will unite 50 million workers in more than 140 countries in automotive, aerospace, mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, mining, energy, metal, chemicals, paper, rubber, building materials, textile, garment and leather industries.

It aims to connect workers, fight for labour rights and build global solidarity across entire supply chains. It will be a strong counterweight to multinational companies and promote social justice, democracy and a sustainable future in the whole world.

Such a powerful organization needs a fresh and identifiable name. Your contribution is welcome. Please send your proposal by e-mail to [email protected] at the latest on 31 October 2011.

A joint Executive Committee meeting of the IMF, ICEM and ITGLWF will decide upon the name at the end of February 2012.

GENEVA: Working groups established by the Executive Committees of the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) took steps to finalize the Statutes and launched the discussion on an Action Plan for the new global union federation. Members representing affiliates from all five continents met on August 30-31 in Geneva.

The Statutes Working Group examined the key points agreed at a joint Executive Committee meeting in May and made some final adjustments in the draft Statutes. The new International will be governed by an Executive Committee of 60 members until 2016, after which it will be reduced to 40 members. At least 30 per cent of the members shall be women.

The Statutes foresee regional structures and offices that will implement the organization’s general policies and address matters specific to the region. There will also be 14 industrial sectors as well as sections for women and non-manual workers.

The Action Plan Group agreed on producing a short and punchy program, which will summarize the main priorities for the new global union. Some of the suggested headlines are building union power by organizing workers throughout supply chains and creating a powerful counterweight to transnational companies by uniting the workers in networks for solidarity and joint action.

Later the same week the IMF, ICEM and ITGLWF held a first joint global staff seminar in Geneva. The participants shared their experiences about the way of working of the three organizations and identified opportunities to combine strengths for more powerful action.

The Statutes and Action Plan will be discussed at the decision-making bodies of the three partner federations, including ITGLWF’s Executive Committee in September, ICEM’s Congress in November and IMF’s Central Committee in December. The final proposals are expected to be adopted at a second joint Executive Committee meeting in February 2012, to be presented to the Founding Congress in June 2012 in Copenhagen.