PHILPPINES: The Philippines Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) calls on national authorities to conduct an “immediate and thorough” investigation into the recent murder of Celito Baccay.

On March 8, Celito Baccay, 31 year old leader and founder of the Maeno Giken Workers’ Organization (MAGIKWO) at Maeno Giken Steel plant, a Japanese-owned manufacturer of steel, iron and stainless steel products in Dasmarinas, Cavite province, was shot at point-blank range by unidentified gunmen on his way home. The police officers arrived at the scene and found one empty 9 mm shell and a deformed bullet of the same firearm inside Baccay’s jacket. The Baccay was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died.

The CTUHR, the Workers Assistance Center (WAC) and the Solidarity of Cavite Workers (SCW) carried out a joint fact-finding mission into the circumstances of the murder. The mission discovered details of an ongoing dispute between MAGIKWO and the management. Since the union’s creation, the management reportedly had been actively engaged in activities to hamper union organizing. Workers also reported continued harassment and harsh disciplinary actions.

More than three weeks after the incident, there is no clear direction for the investigation of the murder as no witness can clearly identify the gunmen or even the vehicle they used. Members of the MAGIKWO stated cautiously to the fact-finding mission that they believe there can be no other motive behind Baccay’s killing except his union affiliation and activities. One week before the incident Baccay rejected a management offer of promotion as, if accepted, he could not continue as a union leader.

“This incident is another attack on workers’ right to life. The murder of Baccay should be immediately and thoroughly investigated by the authorities to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to jail,” Armand Hernando, CTUHR representative said.

In its press-release the CTUHR expressed concern over the future of the case and its implications for MAGIKWO members. “Intimidating and virtually crushing the union appears to be the most plausible motive behind the killing. Now, the members of MAGIKWO are very much fearful for their lives because of what happened. We urge the government to protect the other unionists and immediately bring the perpetrator to justice,” added Hernando.

MEXICO:  On March 28 the second district court issued a verdict obliging the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (STPS) to proceed to legal registration of the union the Mexican United Workers’ Union of Honda (STUHM). Since its establishment back in 2009, the union has been struggling to gain official recognition. According to the STUHM Executive Committee the Ministry’s recent reason for denial of the registration was based on the failure of the union "to provide evidence on the existence of their company" where they operate.

At the press conference following the announced court verdict STUHM leaders expressed their discontent with the Ministry’s recurring absurd manoeuvres aimed at denying or delay the registration and declared that it illustrates the "rabid" anti-union policy of the Mexican Government.

The union officials also urged the Ministry "to follow its constitutional obligation to protect the rights of workers and abandon its stubbornness in preventing the registration of the union, always to the benefit of employers at the expense of labour rights". They also demanded an end to the harassment of STUHM members at the Honda plant in Mexico.

For years workers of the Honda plant tried to create their own organization facing continued attempts of retaliation and reprisals from the management supported by a protection union Central de Trabajadores de México (CTM). Reportedly this "company union" allows the company to impose low wages on workers earning between 132 – 160 pesos (8 – 10 euros) a day, as well as excessive workload, arbitrary extension of working hours and forced change of days off accompanied with harassment at the workplace.

IMF earlier denounced the outrageous dismissal of the union leader at the Honda plant in El Salto, Jalisco. STUHM together with other independent unions took an active participation in the recent Global Days of Action on Workers’ Rights in Mexico.

In February 2009 the IMF submitted a complaint to the International Labour Organization demanding the Mexican Government stop the practice of protection contracts, which allows companies to sign a collective agreement with a union of the company’s choice without informing the workers and in essence, blocking any attempts by workers to form independent unions of their own. This is a violation of workers’ rights to freedom of association as guaranteed under ILO convention 87, to which Mexico is a signatory.

IMF and its affilaites will continue to monitor closely the situation in the Honda plant in Jalisco and support the workers struggle for a democratic union.

USA: On March 27 by a majority of votes members of the UAW Local 2069 ratified a new five-year labour agreement with Volvo Trucks North America.

The agreement will cover about 1,300 workers at the Volvo Trucks’ New River Valley plant in Virginia. Within the framework of the new agreement all active workers will have their health care benefits covered, retirees will get a lump sum payment, and wages and pensions will be increased.

After ratification of the contract Volvo announced its plans to ramp up production at New River Valley adding a second shift. UAW Vice President General Holiefield, in charge of the union’s Heavy Truck Department commented "this contract moves our members forward while protecting jobs and benefits in this competitive industry, and makes way for the return of 862 UAW Local 2069 members who will be recalled from layoff".

The contract will expire on March 16, 2016.

The Volvo VN and VHD trucks are produced at the New River Valley Plant in Dublin, Virginia, while Volvo engines for North America are assembled in Hagerstown, Maryland.

GLOBAL: To  highlight what steps states should take to better manage business and human rights challenges and to provide a blueprint for companies to respect human rights, on March 24 the United Nations published the Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/TransnationalCorporations/Pages/Reports.aspx).

The Guiding Principles are the product of six years of research and extensive consultations led by the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Business and Human Rights, Harvard Professor John Ruggie. The Principles are based on consultations with governments, companies, business associations, civil society, affected individuals and groups, investors and others around the world.

In 2008, Professor Ruggie proposed the "Protect, Respect and Remedy" Framework to better manage human rights problems related to business activities which was unanimously welcomed by the UN Human Rights Council. The Guiding Principles are based on three pillars of the Framework:

• The state’s duty to protect human rights
• The corporate responsibility to respect human rights
• The need for greater access to remedy for victims of business-related abuse.

The IMF together with other global union federations actively participated in the consultation process during the preparation of the Guiding Principles, including making a submission on how precarious work systematically undermines human rights. Thanks to these efforts by the global unions and other concerned groups, the Guiding Principles make clear the obligation of companies to respect human rights throughout their supply chains. Also, the Principles clarify that company-based grievance mechanisms ‘should not be used to undermine the role of legitimate trade unions in addressing labour-related disputes’.

The UN Human Rights Council will consider formal endorsement of the text at its June 2011 session.

SOUTH AFRICA: The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and Workers World Media Productions are hosting their 6th annual Labour Film Festival. The festival will kick off at the Ekhaya centre in Diepkloof, Soweto on April 13 at 6pm, entry to the festival is free.

Opening night in Soweto will include speeches by leaders from COSATU and representatives from trade union federations from Tunisia and Egypt. This year the film festivals form part of the two organizations’ Mass Education Campaign that seeks to educate workers and poor communities on issues affecting them.

The festival will focus on the pending takeover of MassMart, the owners of Game, Dion and Builder’s Warehouse, by the U.S. company Wal-mart. COSATU and its affiliated trade unions have opposed the buyout and several of the films focus on the experience of workers and communities in North America. Wal-mart is the biggest company and employer in the U.S. and reputed to be one of the most anti-union in the world.

The festival will take place in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban, at venues are located in areas accessible to working class people, for more details and the full programme see brochure. Entry to the festival is free and organizations and individuals who wish to attend should book their places by phoning  +27 (0)11 336 1877 or +27 (0)21 447 2727.

USA: Members of the IMF Caterpillar Steering Group from Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, the UK and the USA convened in Chicago, USA on March 30-31, 2011 to advance the trade union work initiated last year in Grenoble, France.

The meeting took place shortly after the successful conclusion by the UAW of a new six-year contract covering some 9,500 Caterpillar workers at seven facilities in the USA. UAW bargainers believe the establishment of the Network provided a boost to reaching this agreement without strike action. The participants further reported on bargaining results and industrial relations in their respective countries, putting special emphasis on the need for improving employment prospects and benefits for workers as Caterpillar rebounds from the global economic crisis.

In line with the guidelines developed after the inaugural meeting of the Network, a Steering Group was formally established and UAW Secretary Treasurer Dennis Williams was elected as chairperson. Moreover each of the participating unions committed to taking the necessary steps to promote the regular exchange of information and provide solidarity support to each other when needed.

As an outcome of the discussions, the Network adopted an action plan for moving forward that includes:

• Establishing a space on the IMF website dedicated to the Caterpillar Network,
• Conducting a survey on employment status at Caterpillar facilities across the world. The collected data will contribute to the IMF campaign against precarious work,
• Tracking and monitoring collective bargaining developments at Caterpillar facilities,
• Undertaking efforts to establish contacts with Caterpillar unions not currently part of the Network, for example in India,
• Compiling information on training and occupational health and safety in the various countries with a view to formulating common policy objective, and
• Engaging in constructive dialogue with management for recognition of the Network.

The Steering Group will meet again in early 2012 to evaluate progress in achieving these objectives and to adopt steps to expand the effectiveness of the Network and further build the strength of trade unions and workers at Caterpillar.

In concluding comments to the thirty delegates gathered in Chicago, Dennis Williams expressed the consensus of the Steering Group that the development of a strong and active network will empower organized Caterpillar workers across the world to achieve better wages, benefits, working conditions and job security.

As members of the Steering Group, the IMF Australian affiliate AMWU participated via conference call and the Japanese affiliate IMF-JC contributed written proposals to the development and functioning of the network, being unable to attend due to the dramatic events in Japan. The meeting was hosted by the UAW and benefited from the support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES).

BRAZIL: The ArcelorMittal Joint Global Health and Safety Committee (JGHSC) met on March 28 and 29 at the Tubarao Steel Plant in Vitória. The plant produces 7.5 million tons of steel and has 4,870 direct employees. Safety standards within the plant were very high, but employee relations and, in particular, engagement with the local CNM-CUT union are areas that need improvement.

The poor relationship with the union was demonstrated when it became apparent that in a room of 50 attendees for an opening plenary session with the JGHSC not one representative from the local union was present. This was the first time in any of the visits undertaken by the JGHSC that this had occurred. Normally following the plenary session there are two breakout sessions one for management and the other for the union side. After an intervention from the JGHSC, eventually the local union were invited and attended the union breakout session. CNM-CUT representatives at the site had earlier taken part in the creation of the ArcelorMittal Latin American Trade Union Network.

Issues identified by the local union included the poor relationship with management and a lack of cooperation. CNM-CUT also recognized the need to organize more workers into the union at the plant, currently the density is around six per cent. The plant had at one time had a union density of 85 per cent but privatization in 1992 and the conflict between the union and management had led to a decrease.

Tony Murphy of the European Metalworkers Federation stated, "If Mr Mittal was looking to make a capital investment based on employee relations this site would be way down the list. I would urge management and unions from Turbarao to travel jointly to Acindar in Argentina to receive some training from a benchmark site."

The JGHSC then visited a number of areas on site including the steel shop, blast furnace and coke batteries. Safety standards during the visit were high and in particular housekeeping throughout the plant was very good. Best practices identified included the use of signage, overall use of personal protective equipment and conditions in the control rooms. Areas for improvement included reducing the number of contractors used on site, which total nearly 50 per cent of the workforce. The frequency and rate of accidents among contractors is far higher than direct employees.

Rob Johnston IMF Executive Director commented, "Tubarao has all the ingredients to be a benchmark site for ArcelorMittal, but it will never achieve this until it finds a way for its union and management to work constructively. The local union made an offer for dialogue while we were there and I urge management to take up this offer."

UNITED KINGDOM:  The manifestation, heard around the world, was called "The March for the Alternative: Cuts are not the Cure" and was a direct push-back to the deep, rapid, and unfair public sector cuts in the pipeline by the ruling UK Tory/Liberal Democrat coalition.

Using the argument that fiscal austerity is needed to reduce UK’s financial deficit, the right-wing government led by David Cameron wants to cripple a social welfare system that will see cuts to people and curtailment of British services. And both will fall disproportionately on the poor and on the workers of Britain.

The March 26 manifestation sponsored by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) was civil and peaceful. But the beat of drums, whistles, and chants of resistance made it clear that anger is real. Anger at the fact that for every four pounds in spending cuts, there is a one pound tax hike and that mainly is a higher VAT; anger that 50,000 jobs will disappear when the National Health Service (NHS) is cut; anger that the brutal cuts will cost 170,000 public-sector jobs.

Instead of cuts, the "alternative" should be a crackdown on tax avoidance totalling £25 billion alone taken by City of London operators; initiating a Robin Hood tax on banks and financial institutions over their transactions; a stop to exorbitant executive bonuses; and a gradual, sensible, and sustainable deficit reduction plan based on jobs, growth, and tax justice.

At the afternoon rally, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "We will fight these savage cuts and we will not let them destroy services, jobs, and lives. Today we are speaking for the people of Britain, and David Cameron, if you want to meet the Big Society, we’re here in Hyde Park."

Unite the Union General Secretary Len McCluskey called it the greatest demonstration in London in a generation, and said there is a "palpable anger in the country. If the government was brave enough, it would tackle the tax avoidance that robs the British taxpayer."

GLOBAL:  The steelworkers’ network was formed last week at meetings in the U.S., and initially will include USW local unions representing 2,600 workers in the western U.S. and western Canada.

The Unity Council is expected to expand globally with the help of International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) and its coal-mining affiliate in Russia, trade unions in South Africa, and the assistance of the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) and its affiliates at steel and related mills in Russia, Ukraine, Italy, and the Czech Republic. The company is also expanding in Kazakhstan.

Formation of the council "is an important step in bringing workers together across borders to share information, strategies, and plans with respect to a common employer," said Unity Council Chairman and USW Region 12 Director Robert LaVenture. "Workers across international boundaries know that they need to work together to balance our interests against powerful global companies like Evraz."

The USW represents workers at steel pipe and tubing mills in Pueblo, Colorado, and in Calgary, Alberta, and Regina, Saskatchewan.

"Ultimately, we would like to see a worldwide group of Evraz workers that is able to meet regularly and work to ensure that the company’s workforce, regardless of country or nationality, is treated fairly and has strong union representation," added USW Western Canadian Region Director Steve Hunt.

Luxembourg-based Evraz has nine steel mills, five iron ore operations, several coal deposits, and other mine and mill operations, including Highveld Steel and Vanadium in South Africa.

BRAZIL: The International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) held a TNC Trade Union Network Coordinators meeting in Rio de Janeiro on March 24 and 25, 2011. The purpose of the meeting was to further develop the IMF’s approach to TNC Trade Union Networks following the publication of its Guidelines on trade union networks in TNC in December 2010. Experts on TNC trade union networks from 20 countries attended the meeting and shared practical experiences.

What was clear from the start of the meeting was that the approach to networking varied greatly from region to region and depending on the participants own experiences. The TNC trade union networks highlighted at the meeting fell in to two categories: those that were recognized by management, and those that had developed despite management.

The first presentation focused on the practical experiences of Jorge Garcia Orgales of the United Steelworkers who is the global network coordinator for Gerdau and Tenaris. Jorge explained the practical steps that needed to be undertaken in his role, such as ensuring good communications, building trust within the network and developing a plan of action. During the following panel discussion on experiences of TNC network coordinators, it was highlighted that successful networks depend on the will of the local unions to work internationally. Additionally, that TNC trade union networks are built one step at a time through building contacts and relationships. Furthermore, coordinators play a central role in making the network function.

Outcomes and goals for action plans in TNC trade union networks was the second panel discussion. The panel discussion focused on how to get the interest of local unions in various countries, and what should be the role of the different parties in the network. Other areas included what preliminary work had to be carried out beforehand and how the company had reacted to the network. The experiences amongst the panelists varied, in most cases it was felt that the IMF had to play a central role. The local union leadership also had to be committed in order for the network to succeed. In terms of developing action plans it was felt that it was not possible to have a one size fits all approach.

After a presentation from CNM-CUT on their training manual for TNC Trade Union Network coordinators, participants then discuss what materials the IMF could develop for future use. Not surprisingly from countries new to networking there was a need to develop education materials and knowledge. From countries with more experience the request was to provide a better overview of existing networks. The outcome was that the IMF should develop an approach which encompasses both demands: an education program were its needed, and a publication which is based on case studies that provide an overview of the existing networks.

The final panel discussion focused on the need to develop an IMF internal mandate for other global level agreements. An extensive discussion served to highlight the different opinions and understanding among participants.

To conclude the meeting a communications workshop took place during which participants discuss good and bad examples of communication then reported back to a plenary session. The good examples highlighted the need for planning and rules, developing the appropriate tools, and building understanding among unions.