Wheels India workers on strike

TURKEY: On April 4, 2011, all Birlesik Metal-IS members at the MAS-DAF Makina Sanayi factory were fired, a total of 110 workers. Since that time workers have held simultaneous pickets outside the factory gates in Duzce and at MAS-DAF headquarters in Istanbul.

On May 10, a group of about 20 dismissed workers embarked on a week-long, 219 kilometer journey from the factory to company headquarters to raise awareness over the labour rights violations committed at MAS-DAF, and to garner support for their quest for reinstatement.

The marchers are expected to arrive in Istanbul on May 18, where the union will hold a massive demonstration outside of MAS-DAF headquarters. The IMF and EMF sent a letter to MAS-DAF management calling for the immediate and unconditional reinstatement of all Birlesik members.

The mass dismissals come just months after the same company attempted to undermine union organizing efforts in August 2010 by firing 22 of the union’s strongest supporters when the trade union applied for the authorisation to the Labour Ministry. Birlesik, with coordination with the EMF and IMF, won reinstatement for the workers, but five declined to return to the company.

IMF and EMF Spanish affiliate CC.OO sent a letter to the HR manager of Spanish company, Bombas Ideal SA, a leading customer of MAS DAF products.IMF affiliates are invited to send letters to the company urging immediate reinstatement of Birlesik members.

Send letters to:

MAS DAF MAKINA SANAYI A.S.

Tayfun Basaran, MAS DAF General Manager
Ozer Polatoglu, owner of MAS DAF
Atasehir Bulvari, Ata Carsi Kat:4 No:59
34758 Atasehir, Istanbul, TURKEY
Tel: +90-216-456 47 00
E-mail: [email protected]

MAS-DAF Makina Sanayi A.S. Factory

1,Organize Sanayi Bolgesi Parsel 249/5
Beykoy, Duzce, TURKEY
Tel: +90-380-553 73 88, Fax: +90-380-553 71 29

(Please cc: [email protected] and  [email protected])

INDIA:  Workers of Wheels India Employees’ Union an affiliate of Shramik Ekta Maha Sangh (SEMS) are on strike from March 11, 2011 demanding increased wages, regularization and equal remuneration for contract workers engaged in work of a perennial nature. Earlier on March 23, Mr.Sudhershan Rao, Director, IMF South Asia Office visited the striking workers and extended the solidarity of IMF.

The union submitted a charter of demands covering all workers employed in Wheels India Ltd. Workers had to go on strike as the management, against the provisions of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970, has been employing contract workers and trainees on the same assembly lines where regular workers are also working. Wheels India workers demand that the company should abide by the statutory provisions of Contract Labour Act. Wheels India unit at Ranjangaon, Pune employs about 159 regular workers and more than 800 contract workers and trainees.

Workers also demand productivity linked compensation for additional system & method improvements and cooperation to more flexible work practices, based on comprehensive work study conducted in compatibly with ILO norms and incorporation of cyclic and extra cyclic work. The management has been engaged in anti-union activities by changing the workers’ designation so that they cannot engage in collective bargaining and union activities.

Wheels India is one of the leading manufacturers of steel wheels for passenger cars, utility vehicles, trucks, buses, agricultural tractors and construction equipments in India. The company is promoted by TVS group. As per company information, it supplies two thirds of the domestic market requirement and exports 18 per cent of the turnover to North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and South Africa. Its customers include major Indian and international automobile and heavy vehicles manufacturers namely Caterpillar, Komatsu, Volvo, JCB, Hindustan Motors, L&T, Hyundai and Mitsubishi. Apart from Pune, other units of the company are located at Padi and Sriperumbudur in Tamilnadu, Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, Bawal in Haryana and Pant Nagar in Jharkhand.

PERU: The annual evaluation meeting of the IMF organizing project in the mining sector in Perú was held in Lima on May 16-17 with the participation of IF-Metall from Sweden and SASK’s regional coordinator for Latin America.

As an introduction to the workshop, Professor Antonio Zapata provided the participants with an in-depth analysis of the current political situation in Peru in this pre-electoral period, pointing out the risks for the workers and civil society if the right-wing candidate (Keiko Fujimori, daughter of the infamous Alberto Fujimori) wins the election on June 5. Fujimori promotes an explicit neo-liberal agenda and her victory will represent a return of the corrupt and anti-democratic regime installed by her father, meaning that the unions will need to enter a period of resistance.

Zapata also warned the participants that despite the fact that all the Peruvian unions are supporting Ollanta Humala, they need to be prepared to struggle for their agenda in the case of a victory by Humala. Brother Julio César Bazan, President of CUT-Peru to which SINTRAMIN is affiliated, explained the main challenges the Peruvian unions need to address jointly while reaffirming CUT’s commitment to consolidate SINTRAMIN.

In two days of intensive debates the participants discussed the advances made and problems they face in their efforts to build a national union for subcontracted workers in the mining sector. SINTRAMIN-CUT was registered last year as a national union and now needs to increase membership and build their capacity to defend the subcontracted workers rights and improve their dire working conditions

For the next year a strategic plan focusing on four main areas was adopted: organizing and financial sustainability, political education, collective bargaining and freedom of association. Fernando Lopes, IMF Assistant General Secretary, closed the workshop saying that organizing the unorganized is one of the priorities of the IMF and building a national union with the capacity to organize all the workers (permanent and temporary) is the best tool to combat precarious work.

BRAZIL. Workers at Volkswagen’s Sao José dos Pinhais plant remain on strike since May 5, 2011 because the company has not presented a proposal on profit-sharing for 2011 since the strike began.

The workers union, the Greater Curitiba Metalworkers Union, affiliated to the CNTM/FS national metalworkers’ federation, an IMF affiliate, is asking for R$ 12,000 (US$ 7,340) in two instalments, R$ 6,000 (US$ 3,670) in May and R$ 6,000 (US$ 3,670)in January 2012.

Volkswagen employs 3,600 workers at San José and produces 810 Golf, Fox, Fox and Cross Fox cars per day for export. The company has lost the production of 5,000 vehicles during the strike. In addition to workers directly employed at the company, the strike indirectly affects 20,000 workers in the supply chain, including suppliers of auto parts and outsourced work.

USA: Showing strong international solidarity, European labour federations called on Honeywell’s CEO in the U.S. to take all measures to end the 11 month lockout of United Steelworker (USW) members at the company’s uranium processing plant in Metropolis, Illinois.

In a letter sent on May 12, the European Metalworkers Federation (EMF), the European Mine, Chemical, Energy Workers’ Federation (EMCEF) and the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) expressed concern about the safety of the plant following recent incidents and emphasized the importance of running nuclear facilities with highly trained and skilled workers. "We believe the safety of the plant has been compromised on several occasions by the present temporary workforce. This is unacceptable in an industry which has such societal and environmental responsibility," wrote the federations.

On May 10, The European Works Council of Honeywell adopted a statement on behalf of all 30,000 workers in Europe reminding the company of its responsibilities to all employees and communities in which they live, stating: "We have agreed to support our fellow workers using all possible means, and would demand that this lock out should be ended immediately, with all workers to be welcomed back to their plant without any reprisals, and with full agreement of their union the United Steelworkers."

Honeywell began the lockout of its union workers on  June 28, 2010, over a dispute when the workers refused to accept the company’s proposal to eliminate retiree health care and pension plans for new hires and increase workers’ out-of-pocket health care expenses to $8,500 a year.

The Honeywell-Metropolis plant is operating during the lockout with inexperienced temporary workers to convert uranium for use in commercial nuclear reactors. According to a USW report issued early in the lockout, up to 1.12 million pounds of hydrofluoric acid at a time were in use at Honeywell Metropolis Works. Honeywell has acknowledged that a release of just 16 per cent of this amount of hydrofluoric acid could impact as many as 128,000 people in the surrounding 25 mile radius.

USW Local 7-669 leaders John Paul Smith and Steven Lech, together with USW District Director Dan Flippo, were hosted by UK’s Unite the Union in Europe in May and met with national works council members in Germany and the European trade union federations in Belgium, as well as with members of Honeywell’s EWC in Brussels.

For additional reporting see the following websites:
USW – http://www.usw.org/media_center/news_articles?id=0772
EMF – http://www.emf-fem.org/Areas-of-work/Industrial-Policy/Activities/honeywell
ICEM – http://www.icem.org/en/3-Energy-Oil-and-Gas/4429-EMCEF-EMF-EPSU-Condemn-Honeywell-Lockout-in-US

AUSTRALIA: On May 12 and 13, 82 delegates from 15 countries attended the IMF Asia-Pacific regional conference in Sydney. The meeting was hosted by the IMF’s Australian affiliates the AWU, AMWU and CEPU. Participants expressed their support for the unifying process of workers in the extractive and manufacturing industries in a long and detailed discussion. A political action plan on the focus areas of the new organization should be presented to IMF’s Central Committee this December, which will decide whether to convene an extraordinary Congress in 2012.

 

Concerns were expressed about the multitude of unions affiliated to the IMF, ICEM and ITGLWF in many countries. It was made clear that cooperation has to be strengthened in order to build unity at national level.

Participants suggested that one third of the Executive Committee members should be women, and women should also be elected in leadership positions. Adequate women’s representation needs to be ensured in the new global union.

In the women’s workshop that was organized in conjunction with the regional conference, participants debated equal pay, equal opportunities, women’s participation and representation in union bodies. Some progress was made but there is still a long way to go on the road towards equality.

A discussion on the implementation of the IMF’s Action Program focused on organizing, building stronger unions and trade union networks in transnational corporations. One of IMF’s  projects has helped the Indian unions organize 10,000 new members in the growing steel industry, and Australian unions have used networks in their campaigns on Rio Tinto and Caterpillar.

Fighting precarious work and improving social protection remain key priorities in the region. Indonesian affiliates mobilized over 100,000 workers in the latest demonstration on May 1, to expand social security coverage to all citizens.

The conference adopted a resolution proposed by the Korean Metal Workers’ Union KMWU on the regulation of carcinogenic substances, following shocking findings on the wide use of toxic chemicals in the Korean automotive industries. The campaign to ban asbestos will also continue in cooperation with the BWI and ICEM.

MEXICO: The International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) convened a Strategic Union Building Planning meeting in Mexico City from May 10 to 13,  where it was decided to implement a joint programme to resist unrelenting government and company attacks against the democratic unions in Mexico.

Seven independent and democratic unions in Mexico, including SNTMMSRM (Los Mineros), SME (Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas), STIMACHS-FAT and SNTRM – both UNT affiliates, UNTyPP (Unión Nacional de Técnicos y Profesionistas Petroleros),  SGTM (Sindicato General Tire Workers Mexico), and STUHM (Sindicato Unico de Honda Mexico),  were joined by several labour-friendly NGOs, representatives from IMF, UNI and ICEM and affiliated unions from Finland, Sweden, Netherlands, the U.S. and Canada at a meeting in Mexico City aimed at increasing the cooperation among the Mexican unions and the international labour movement.

On the first day, the participants discussed and approved a plan to strength the power of the movement against the attacks the democratic unions have been suffering. Several instruments like the Tri-National Solidarity Alliance, the International Tribunal on Freedom of  Association, the Campaign against Protections Contracts, as well as the recent ILO rulings on ILO complaints against the Mexican Government were analyzed and all the delegates agreed to improve coordination and action focusing on opposition to the Labour Reform bill and the National Security bill that are in discussion in Congress. If these reforms are approved, precarious work will be legitimized, protection contracts reinforced and the situation of the democratic unions will become even more difficult.

On the second and third days the participants discussed ways to strengthen the capacity of the unions by "a professionalization" of the unions and plans to increase their membership. A innovative educational program for organizers where the main focus will be on creating the conditions to discuss and implement a new structure for the democratic unions’ movement (auto- reform) will be jointly designed by the unions and hopefully implemented starting next year. The participating GUF’s and international guests committed themselves to seek extra funding for this program. The Mexican unions and labour friendly NGOs agreed to share their educational, financial, logistical and media resources to make this program possible. The unions discussed and presented their plans to organize more workplaces, which will require support from IMF, ICEM and UNI as well as from European, Canadian and U.S. unions. At the end of the meeting several working groups were defined to continue work on the different issues and to report back to the participants.

Fernando Lopes, IMF Assistant General Secretary, stated that the high level of participation in this meeting shows the commitment of the international trade union movement to strengthen and grow the Mexican democratic unions. Lopes also said that the IMF and other GUF’s will continue to support the struggles of the Mexican unions for Freedom of Association, in particular Los Mineros and SME.

SWEDEN: Global cooperation between trade unions representing workers within the transnational company AB Volvo (trucks) is leading to better resolutions of local workplace problems. This was the experience of participants at a meeting of the AB Volvo European Workers Council and unions from outside Europe, which took place on May 9 to 11 in Gothenburg.

Around fifty union representatives from around the world participated in the meeting with each reporting on the current situation in their country and exchanging information about union issues. AB Volvo management also reported to the group on various topics, including corporate social responsibility, health and safety issues, and the economic situation of the company.

All the participants took the opportunity to ask management several questions, which was particularly important for the unions outside Sweden and therefore more distant from the global decision-making headquarters of the company. The meeting provided unions with an opportunity to put forward unresolved problems from their country with the support of all the trade unions present from around the world.

Earlier, Mikael Sällström, President of the EWC, and others union representatives from Sweden travelled to India and Poland to directly assist the unions in those countries with specific problems with local management.

Aside from the European Works Council members, unions from Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Japan and the U.S. participated in the meeting. All the activities of the EWC and the extended global group of unions are funded for by the company, illustrating the strength and influence of the Volvo unions and workers’ representation bodies.

This meeting, which normally takes place once every two years, was postponed last year due to the crisis, so the next meeting will be held in Poland next year.

CHINA: A new report finds that Foxconn has failed to uphold its promises to improve conditions at its factories in China following the series of worker suicides that hit the headlines in the first half of 2010.

The report released on May 6, Foxconn and Apple Fail to Fulfill Promises: Predicaments of Workers after the Suicides, documents how workers continue to be subjected to low pay, excessive overtime and inadequate health and safety and remain without effective means to handle workplace grievances.

Foxconn a Taiwanese owned subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industries Ltd., is the world’s leading electronics manufacturer and currently has a workforce of a million workers all over China. A number of Foxconn’s customers, notably Apple, HP and Dell, pledged to "work with Foxconn" to live up to higher international labour standards.

Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) prepared this report on working conditions at Foxconn operations in China after its researchers visited two Foxconn production facilities in Chengdu and Chongqing municipality in Western China, where the company manufactures Apple iPad 2 and HP laptops. SACOM researchers also revisited Foxconn’s flagship plants in two industrial towns, Longhua and Guanlan in the Shenzhen, where employees are still housed in dormitories surrounding with anti-suicide nets.

While Apple commends the measures taken by Foxconn to improve working conditions, SACOM found that the predicament of workers remain. According to the workers interviewed, they continue to work excessive and forced overtime in order to gain a higher wage. Workers are exposed to dust from construction site and shop floor without adequate protection and are threatened by potential harm of occupational diseases in various departments. Additionally, military-styled management is still in practice, characterized by "military training" for new workers.

SACOM reports that throughout the investigation, when researchers asked about the feeling of Foxconn workers about the hardship of workers, like low wages, potential harm of occupational diseases, work pressure and exhaustion, the typical answer is "I get used to that" and that the workers feel it is helpless to try and seek changes.

"Foxconn is responsible for the labour rights abuses documented in this SACOM report. But its clients, including Apple and HP, also have indispensible obligations to ensure international labour standards are met in their supply chains," said IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina.

The report can be found at: http://sacom.hk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2011-05-06_foxconn-and-apple-fail-to-fulfill-promises1.pdf