INDIA: BYD Electronics, a Nokia supplier company located in a Special Economic Zone at Orggadam near Chennai, terminated the services of 2,500 contract workers, sacked 37 permanent workers, suspended 23 more and ordered 437 others to sign a letter of apology to keep their jobs and announced an illegal lock out on November 1.

This grossly unjust act by management against workers that are subjected to appalling working conditions is in response to their demands for union recognition and improved working conditions. It comes after an earlier protest when more than 3,000 workers held a three day sit-in strike from October 28 to 30 at the factory in support of their demands.

The International Metalworkers’ Federation is supporting the LabourStart campaign calling for protest emails to be sent to the Indian government authorities on this case and another similar ongoing dispute at Foxconn India located in a neighbouring Nokia special economic zone in Chennai.

To send an email protest letter to the Indian authorities in support of these BYD Electronics and Foxconn workers go to the LabourStart campaign page at: http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=814

Protesting against job insecurity and low wages, the workers at BYD Electronics held a meeting on October 9 to form a union, with the help of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). In response management planned to lay-off around 100 workers. On October 21 workers conducted a 24-hour sit-in strike forcing management to talks at the Assistant Commissioner of Labour Office. Talks broke down when on October 27 the management insisted that they will only talk about directly employed workers and not discuss contract workers’ issues.

The level of intimidation and threats from management during this dispute resulted in one worker who handed out union leaflets attempting to commit suicide on October 27 by drinking isopropyl alcohol after intense questioning by management. In another case a contract worker was forced by the contract agency to sign a resignation letter, when he refused he was stripped off his uniform and identity card and forced to go out of the factory. The contract agencies also went to the workers’ houses and threatened the parents that if their son or daughter continues to engage in union activities, they will be dismissed and a police complaint will be launched against them.

BYD Electronics is one of the major cell phone parts suppliers to Nokia India Private Limited and employs around 3000 workers, of which 850 workers are directly employed by the factory while remaining contract workers are employed through recruitment agencies. These contract workers are laid-off at will without any compensation. Everyday workers have to call their supervisors to find out whether to come to work or not. All workers have to work for 12 hours a day from 8am to 8pm without any compensation for overtime. A worker with four years experience receives the salary of only Rs 5,400 (US $121)

Among others, the union is demanding:

• Recognition of the trade union chosen by the workers;
• Conversion of contract workers who have completed 260 days work in the company to regular workers;
• Compensation and paid leave to the worker who recovering from the suicide attempt and reinstatement of the sacked contract worker;
• A similar uniform for all workers (currently there are 6 colours of uniforms are  used for different categories of workers);
• An eight hour working day;
• Basic Salary of:
  • 1 year experience Rs 8,000 (US$180)
  • 2 years experience Rs 10,000 (US$225)
  • 3 years experience Rs 12,000 (US$270)
  • 4 years experience Rs 15,000 (US$337)
• Improved medical facilities in the factory; and
• Three months maternity leave with pay.

To send an email protest letter to the Indian authorities in support of the BYD Electronics and Foxconn workers go to the LabourStart campaign here.

INDIA: The 12 imprisoned Foxconn workers and union leaders were released on October 22, having spent 13 days in jail after police arrested 319 striking workers on October 9 at the Foxconn India plant located in the Nokia Special Economic Zone in Chennai. The 12 union leaders and workers were released on bail, but continue to face criminal charges and have to sign at the Kanchipuram court everyday.

The International Metalworkers’ Federation is supporting the LabourStart campaign for a second round of letters to Indian government authorities on this case and another similar dispute which has emerged at BYD Electronics, where the company has resorted to mass dismissals and is refusing to recognize a union.

To send an email protest letter to the Indian authorities in support of these Foxconn and BYD Electronics workers go to the LabourStart campaign page at: http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=814

An earlier LabourStart campaign and a call for action from IMF in support of the Foxconn workers launched in mid-October resulted in thousands of emails and letters of protest being sent to local Indian officials and Foxconn management, putting the company and the government on the back foot.

Further pressure for recognition of the workers’ right came on October 27 when the Chennai High Court asked Foxconn management why an election was not conducted at its plant to identify which union has the support of the majority of workers.

The struggle for union recognition of the more than 1,200 permanent workers belonging to the Foxconn India Thozhilalar Sangam (FITS) union was undermined when the company refused to recognize the union and responded by entering into an agreement with an alternative and less representative union, the Foxconn India Thozhilalar Munnetra Sangam (FITMS).

The High Court has given the company two weeks to explain why a union election did not occur and has ordered management not to go for further agreements with any union. The Court also directed the Labour Welfare Department to submit a report on the situation at the Foxconn India plant in Chennai

Prior to the Court’s ruling, on October 26 and 27, 307 workers and union leaders were served with a charge sheet stating that if the workers did not return to work and give an explanation of their actions within three days they would be suspended. The FITS demanded the company revoke these threats in a meeting with management on October 27 held at the Labour Commissioner’s Office. During the meeting the company agreed to reconsider the suspension of the 307 workers, but not the suspension of 23 union leaders and members that occurred on September 24, or the subsequent suspension of one other union member, bringing the total suspensions to 24.

FITS filed its case with the High Court after stumbling across an old letter sent by Foxconn management to the Labour Commissioner’s Office requesting the Office facilitate an election in factory to decide a union which has the support of majority of the membership. However the Office remained silent.

To send an email protest letter to the Indian authorities in support of these Foxconn and BYD Electronics workers go to the LabourStart campaign here.

NORWAY: On November 2 an International Framework Agreement (IFA) was signed for the second time between Fellesforbundet, IMF and Aker ASA in Oslo. The agreement was first made on October 28, 2008 with two years duration and without changes the newly signed IFA will continue for another two years.

The agreement covers provisions on freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, discrimination, forced labour, child labour, health and safety, living wages, employment conditions, working hours, HIV/AIDS, environmental issues and skills training, referencing the standards as established by the core labour conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

In the past years, Aker Solutions, a part of Aker ASA, with approximately 22,000 employees and 8,000 contract staff in around 30 countries, has been establishing the system to integrate the IFA into the company’s People Policy based on following principles:

• Integrate the IFA as a part of the Operating System
• Establish a IFA communication strategy
• Implementation through the line management using Human Resource function and Country Manager set-up
• Follow-up through the operating system

Fellesforbundet, IMF, and Aker ASA will continue to work together for building, developing, and managing this networking which secures implementation of the IFA in all workplaces.

A copy of the agreement in English is available on the IMF website here. Other languages will be published as they become available.

CANADA: On October 27 the IMF-affiliated National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers’ Union of Canada (CAW) organized more than a hundred protest demonstrations during lunch time at worksites in the province of Ontario.

According to the union over the recent years the Canadian auto parts industry was hard hit by unmanaged trade, high value national currency and excessive imports. In addition the most recent strong impact was made by the global financial crisis and following recession. The workers who were not the reasons of the crisis now have to pay its costs.

"During the turbulence of the past few years, auto parts workers provided painful cost savings through wage freezes and cutbacks to benefits, work rules, and time off," said CAW President Ken Lewenza in his address on the eve of the Day of Action.

The protest actions serve to deliver a clear message of the Canadian autoworkers to the right wing government and employers that no further concessions will be accepted by the workers. "We are not going to cut wages or pensions, or sign two-tier agreements with permanently lower conditions for the next generation. We did not go down that path during the worst of the financial crisis, and we are not going to now," reads the union statement.

The protests also served to mobilize non-unionized auto parts workers across the industry. The CAW represents interests of 21,000 auto-parts workers, the additional 40,000 workers in Canada were welcomed to join CAW’s protest campaign.

Further details about workplace rallies, photos and the union statement is available at the CAW website here.

CHILE: The 535,000-tonne copper mine, the world’s third largest, is 44 per cent owned by Xstrata and 44 per cent by AngloAmerican, with the remaining 12 per cent held by a consortium of Japanese companies led by Mitsui & Co. Collahuasi miners ended a three-year contract just days ago, a contract that came into place after a four-day strike in 2007.

Miners are seeking a 10 per cent wage increase, and a bonus comparable to the one awarded by BHP Billiton (57.5 per cent) and Rio Tinto (30 per cent) at its joint venture Escondida mine in Region II last year. That bonus was US$28,000. Collahuasi management is offering a wage increase of two-to-three percent less than the union’s demand, and a bonus of US$19,000.

An industry representative involved in the 2007 talks told Reuters there is no question that the company can pay what miners are demanding. A strike could prove costly for mining giants Xstrata and AngloAmerican with the price of copper at record levels. The mine posted net earnings of US$1.56 billion last year.

The strength of a strike by workers represented by Chile’s national private-sector miners’ union federation will largely depend on whether or not contract workers at Collahuasi honour strike lines. They are quite likely to do so, after staging their own week-long blockade of roads in May 2010 that caused the company to declare force majeure. There are some 4,000 contract workers employed by scores of sub-contractors at Collahuasi, which is just finishing the first phase of a US$750 million expansion project.

A strike could also set the template for other unions representing copper miners in Chile, most notably in state-run Codelco’s Radomiro Tomic mine in Region II. It is part of the company’s largest and most profitable operation – Codelco Norte – and the 760 miners at Radomiro Tomic already rejected an inferior offer in September. The collective agreement expires at the end of November.

Radomiro Tomic contributed 23 per cent of Codelco Norte’s first-half 2010 net earnings of US$1.28 billion. The Codelco Norte division also includes the Churquicamata and Mina Sur mines, and the three mines produced 440,000 tonnes of copper in the first half of 2010, up from 391,000 tonnes in the same period of 2009.

MEXICO: The sacking of Moisés Flores Salmerón of Coatacoalcos, Veracruz State, is a clear attempt to intimidate workers and to block effective organising. He was informed of his "retirement" by the manager of labour relations of PEMEX, Francisco Javier Ramirez Rodriguez. There was no disciplinary procedure of any kind, and ironically came nine days after the PEMEX CEO appeared before the Mexican House of Deputies on October 13, and expressed recognition and respect for UNTyPP.

PEMEX white-collar staff of UNTyPP achieved official trade union recognition on December 19, 2009, following several years of struggle. After this successful legal battle, culminating in certification from the Secretary of Labour and Social Welfare office for the Registration of Associations (STPS), members of the new union were informed by company management that in order to retain their jobs, they would be required to sign two documents, one calling for the cancellation of the registration, the other a resignation from the union.

Those who refused, along with organizers of the UNTyPP, were fired and violently removed from their workstations by paramilitaries, including the entire National Executive Committee of the union.

A global campaign putting pressure on the Mexican House of Deputies from March 2010 did lead to some reinstatements of those sacked, and to some limited progress in negotiations, although the PEMEX management chooses to conduct dialogue mostly with the corrupt union STPRM, with whom "protection contracts" have been agreed.

This is the second time that Moisés Flores Salmerón has been sacked by PEMEX for trade union activity. The first sacking came seven years ago. He was reinstated last year.

Also in Mexico, the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) held a strategy meeting on union building in Mexico City on 13-14 October, seeking ways to jointly build democratic union power in Mexico. The meeting, which included participation by the ICEM, was a follow-up to the Mexico Teach-In conference in Toronto, 20 June. ICEM proposed to carry out action days at Mexican embassies and a tour for Mexican trade unionists in the US and Canada.

GERMANY: Volkswagen’s world works council gathered 150 participants to an annual meeting on October 27-29 in the German city of Emden. The delegates warmly welcomed labour and management participants from China who attended the meeting for the first time.

In a presentation, the works council member from Shanghai informed the world council of recent improvements in Chinese labour law, which offer workers new rights. About 80 per cent of VW’s 23,000 workers in China are unionized. A works council was set up to discuss among other things collective bargaining and health and safety issues. The Chinese workforce will more than double in the coming years.

IMF general secretary Jyrki Raina and automotive department director Helmut Lense addressed the meeting on IMF’s work on international framework agreements (IFA) and trade union networks. They called Volkswagen a benchmark and an example for other transnational companies.

Several speakers emphasized the need to ensure union presence at a plant under construction in Chattanooga, Tennesee in the U.S. The local business community and Republican politicians have vehemently opposed unionization at the facility which will start production next year and will eventually employ 2,000 workers. Volkswagen’s production facilities around the world are unionized.

VW’s international framework agreement with the IMF acknowledges the basic right of all employees to establish and join unions and employee representations. According to this joint declaration, the company, unions and employee representatives respectively work together openly and in the spirit of constructive and co-operative conflict management.

The world council discussed the implementation of a charter on labour relations signed a year ago. The charter aims to improve world-wide labour relations standards and guarantee workers’ rights to information, consultation and participation at all locations.

Volkswagen employs 375,000 people around the world and encompasses other well-known brands such as Audi, Skoda, Porsche, Seat, Scania, MAN, Bentley and Lamborghini.

FRANCE:  French trade unions have held an unprecedented series of protest action against the Government’s reforms of the national pension system. Despite massive protest action across the country in recent months, this week both houses of parliament voted to raise the legal minimum retirement age from 60 to 62 years and is expected to become law by mid-November

Starting in June with the participation of 2.5 million people the strikes and protest actions. On September 7 and September 23 around three million people went out to the streets to disagree with the announced reforms. The protest continued on October 28, which included industrial action in crucial areas, such as air traffic control, rail transport, refineries and ports.

The International Metalworkers’ Federation sent a message of solidarity support to affiliated French unions on October 27, supporting their actions to defend the retirement age.

"This project to increase to 62 years the lawful age of retirement is unjust and unacceptable. It does not answer the current problems such as unemployment, the degradation of workers’ purchasing power, and increasing precariousness and inequalities in employment and society. This plan also does not take account of its painful effects for workers in many metalworking trades," wrote IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina.

In the letter the IMF expressed its support for the days of action, including on October 28 and November 6.

INDIA:  The problem of enhancement of women’s participation in the Indian national trade union movement was the main subject of a workshop organized on October 21 and 22 by the IMF South Asia regional office in Delhi.

The participants, 21 women from different corners of India, gathered and discussed challenges faced by trade unions and women workers in India, identified their daily needs and problems as well as spoke about potential trade union strategies to strengthen women’s position and profile within national unions.

Over the recent years women enjoy increasing employment in different industrial sectors of India. This increase is not however reflected in female union membership, let alone union leadership. The reasons of insufficient representation of women and ways to solve the problem were thoroughly analysed by the workshop participants in course of the workshop.

The participants also got an understanding of how IMF communications work is organized. They also learnt about recent solidarity campaigns organized by the IMF, as well as what the global, regional and national communication channels are used by the IMF to promote and achieve success in the global solidarity campaigns.

Problems of women workers’ organizing, their insufficient participation in the work of trade unions, qualities necessary for an effective trade union leader were some of the important issues discussed in plenary and group sessions, enabling the participants of the workshop to understand the reasons of the existing problems and ways to overcome them.

One of the important results of an intensive work during two days of the workshop was the creation of a pool of committed trade union female activists ready to start the work which will modernise the present gender situation in trade union movement of India and will raise the profile of women leaders within it.

GENEVA:  Using global trade union networks in transnational corporations (TNCs) as a means to organize workers and promote international solidarity was the focus of discussion at an IMF working group meeting in Geneva on October 26 & 27, 2010.

The working group, charged with the task of drafting guidelines on how to build and maintain global trade union networks in TNCs, heard how anti-union approaches by TNCs results in infringements of workers’ rights and prevent unions from organizing.

Participants discussed the conditions required for international solidarity to assist with organizing in anti-union environments such as the U.S. Learning from previous experiences and preparing and coordinating union work in different countries was identified as one of the strategies unions should adopt.

The meeting also debated how to negotiate and implement international framework agreements with the support of the union in the mother country and to the benefit of workers globally.

Christy Hoffman, Assistant General Secretary of UNI, Kirill Buketov of IUF and Eric Lee, creator of LabourStart, were guest speakers at the meeting and spoke about corporate campaigns used by unions against TNCs with the goal of organizing and defending workers’ rights to join a union.

Participants also discussed how to identify the priority TNCs and the next steps that should be done by the group in the next year. This will include eight network meetings covering Tenaris, Gerdau, Ford, Boeing, Nokia, Philips, Caterpillar and Siemens.

This was the second meeting of the IMF working group on trade union networks in TNCs and included representatives from IMF affiliates in Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway and the U.S. An earlier meeting took place in May 2010.

The draft guidelines will now go to the IMF Executive Committee in December for consideration. In addition a meeting looking at the role of network co-ordinators is being proposed to take place in Brazil in March 2011.