GLOBAL:  In its report "A Strange Case: Violations of Workers’ Freedom of Association in the United States by European Multinational Corporations", Human Rights Watch provides a detailed description of violations of internationally recognized labour standards including fundamental workers’ rights on freedom of association by European multinational companies in their U.S. operations.

The companies spotlighted in the report include Norway-based Kongsberg Automotive, Germany-based Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA and Deutsche Post’s DHL, UK-based Tesco’s Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets and G4S Wackenhut security, France-based Sodexo food services and Saint-Gobain industrial equipment,  and the Dutch firm Gamma Holding.

Human Rights Watch reveals the hypocrisy of the companies who publicly adhere to the core labour standards of the International Labour Organization, including the principles of freedom of association and collective bargaining, yet in practice trample on workers’ fundamental rights. Violations by the companies include harassment of workers, different types of union busting activities, promotion of anti-union messages while preventing pro-union voices, recourse to strikebreakers during strikes and spying on and dismissing employees involved in organizing.

All cases are based on interviews, legal testimonies, official decisions of U.S. labour authorities, company documents and written exchanges with company management.

The full report is available on Human Rights Watch website. Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization developing research and advocacy on human rights.

Swaziland: Exhausted but not broken, Comrade Christine Olivier, IMF executive committee member and second deputy president of South African affiliate the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) relates how the Swazi police detained and deported her, along with other South African and trade unionists that were in Swaziland on a solidarity visit to give their support for the calls for democracy.

She describes how police stormed a meeting of organisers the day before the planned march, declaring that it was a political gathering which is banned under the repressive government of Swaziland’s monarchy. When Swazi participants refused to single out their foreign guests, everyone present were arrested and detained at police headquarters.

At the police station, the South African trade unionists were separated from the group and their passports and cellphones confiscated.. The police accused them of "invading the country with the intention of overthrowing the monarch".

Several hours later the Swazi detainees, among whom was Frank Mncina the General Secretary of IMF affiliate Swaziland Amalgamated Trade Union (SATU)  were released.

The South African unionists were held and questioned for five hours, after which six trade unionists were taken in the night on a three hour journey accompanied by about a hundred police to a South African border point. The Pongola border point was deliberately chosen to ensure that the unionists were most inconvenienced as it is very far away from Johannesburg, where they all reside.

At the border, the police released all but one of the six trade unionists. Sikhumbuzo Phakathi, a Swazi citizen working in Johannesburg for a South African trade union is also the deputy president of PUDEMO, a banned political party opposed to King Mswati III government is presumed to be in jail now but Swazi activists have been unable to get confirmation on his whereabouts and well being.

Since this incident, more arrests have taken place of Swazi activists as well as the detention and deportation of other foreign activists including more South African trade unionists.

Mncina of SATU reports that about 700 people took part in yesterdays march in Manzini despite intimidation and the fact that police turned back buses bringing other protestors to the march. He says that the march was organised as a lawful labour protest after political and socio economic issues that were put forward to the Labour Advisory Board could not be addressed in that forum.

Swaziland is one of the world’s last absolute monarchies ruled by King Mswati III, who is presiding over the 37^th year of the world’s longest state of emergency. Political activist and journalist Mike Marqusee writes after a recent visit with trade unionists and democracy activists in Swaziland "King Mswati III controls the parliament, appoints cabinet ministers, judges and senior civil servants and makes and breaks the law at will. Political parties are banned, along with most demonstrations and meetings. Shouting the wrong slogan or wearing the wrong tee shirt can get you locked up as a "terrorist". Trades unionists and human rights activists face surveillance, house searches, arbitrary detention and torture. Strikes are illegal. Gatherings of any kind are often broken up by police assaults. The media is subject to constant harassment and intimidation. During the latest wave of repression, in May, democracy activist Sipho Jele, who had been arrested and interrogated, was allegedly "found" by police hanging from the rafters in a prison toilet." In July this year Mswati ruled out future political dialogue, rejecting public consultation.

Mswati is ranked 15^th richest monarch in the world, only two below Queen Elizabeth II of the UK. Mswati’s lavish lifestyle is incongruent with the absolute poverty of his people. More than 70% live on less than a dollar a day and 25 percent on food aid.  Official unemployment is at 40%, with many Swazis seeking employment in South Africa as migrant workers. Swaziland has the highest HIV prevalence in the world with one in four Swazis between the age of 15 and 49 living with HIV/AIDS. It has the highest annual rate of AIDS deaths and 15% of households are headed by orphaned children.

Another march is scheduled to take place today in Swaziland’s capital Mbabane. The Swaziland Democracy Campaign has also organised a picket at the Swazi Consulate today in Johannesburg, South Africa to demand an immediate end to the arrests and intimidation in Swaziland.

"Our detention and deportation won’t silence us on the oppression of the Swazi people, it just makes seeking democracy more urgent" says Olivier of NUMSA "we will do it again and again and again until the people of Swaziland are free."

eSwaziland Siyaya: We are going to Swaziland no matter what!.

South Africa: Participants compared working conditions and shared experiences on dealing with local operations of the multinational. They discussed common strategies that could be developed over time to push for harmonizing conditions of employment across operations in the region.

On the second day, participants met with management of Nampak subsidiary Bevcan, formerly Metalbox, the only beverage can manufacturer in Sub Saharan Africa. The division has four plants in South Africa, thus the meeting had a South African focused agenda discussing transformation in the group and amendments to the current consultative agreement. South African unions also raised HIV/AIDS as an important issue that needed to be addressed and pushed for medical aid for workers.

Tanzanian and Zimbabwean participants gained useful insights on negotiations. It was agreed that in the future it would be useful to engage Nampak at a group level so that worker representatives from operations in the region are able to seek address to issues collectively. Regardless of whether this can be achieved, the complex structure of the Nampak Group in divisions, subsidiaries and  joint ventures  means that there is much to be gained for workers from increasing solidarity amongst those organising within the group.  

However, many of Nampak’s African plants remain unorganized and participants agreed that IMF had a critical role to play encouraging unions in Swaziland, Namibia, Angola, Zambia and Mozambique to recruit workers at these plants for better representation at a regional level.

As a packaging company, Nampak operates across several sectors including paper and plastics and not all unions organising in these sectors are IMF affiliates adding to the challenges of developing a united labour approach to dealing with the multinational.

Whilst Nigerian and Kenyan affiliates organising workers in Nampak subsidiaries could not attend due to difficulties in securing travel documents, these affiliates will be involved in follow on initiatives.  Also discussed was the possibility of including representation from Nampak’s European operations.

INDIA: Today, September 7, India witnessed one of the biggest ever workers’ strikes in the post-independence history. Around 100 million (10 crore) workers from various sectors such as banks, insurance, coal, power, telecom, defence, port and dock, road transport and petroleum and unorganised sectors like construction joined the strike. Impact of the strike was felt along the length and breadth of the country. Particularly, left ruled Indian states of West Bengal, Kerala and also in other states such as Manipur, Assam and Maharastra witnessed large number of workers’ participation in the strike.

Dr G Sanjeeva Reddy, convener of the Coordination Committee of Central Trade Unions and member of the IMF Executive Committee said that with the implementation of neo-liberal policies workers have lost their bargaining power and central and state governments’ policies were framed to protect the interests of the big business. He said that the strike was organised to reassert the bargaining power of trade unions.

The five-point charter demands:

• Contain the price rise of essential commodities;
• Take proactive measures to link employment protection in recession hit sectors;
• Strictly enforce all basic labour laws without any exception;
• Announce INR 5000 million for an unorganised workers’ social security fund; and
• Stop disinvestment in central public sector enterprises.

IMF affiliates INMF and SMEFI actively participated in the general strike. The strike call was given by the Coordination Committee of Central Trade Unions consisting of eight central trade unions including INTUC, AITUC, CITU, HMS, AIUTUC, TUCC, AICCTU and UTUC. Public sector, cooperative and rural bank employees also joined the strike and opposed the FDI in the banking sector and grant of licences to private banks.

BRAZIL: A wage increase of nine per cent, the largest real increase in the last ten years representing approximately 4.5 per cent, was agreed to for metalworkers in three main metal sector groups including:

• Group 8 (Wire Drawing and Rolling of Ferrous Metals, Refrigeration, Heating and Air Treatment, Electrical Conductors, Wire Drawing and Rolling of Nonferrous Metals),
• Group 3 (Autoparts, Forging and Bolts), and
• Foundry.

Workers in the Autoparts and Foundry sectors will also receive180 days maternity leave.

This was the draft agreement approved by metalworkers in the ABC region located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil on September 4 at a meeting held in the street next to the union building.

Meanwhile negotiations continue in the Automotive, Stamping and two other metal sectors where workers are struggling for the same agreement.

Sergio Nobre, president of ABC Metalworkers’ Union, affiliated to CNM/CUT, says the negotiations will continue this week with the automakers, who have labeled the nine per cent wage increase as "absurd".

"This behaviour shows that it will be a challenge to extend to these workers the same deal. This is only possible with a lot of mobilization of our members," he said.

Valmir Marques "Biro Biro", president of the Metalworkers’ Federation of CUT (FEM/CUT-SP) in São Paulo and coordinator of the workers’ representatives at the bargaining table, in negotiating the wage campaign said the automakers and the other three groups claim that they can not afford to follow the  nine per cent agreement.

"The automakers’ arguments do not portray reality, since production is high. Everything depends on the mobilization capacity of the metalworkers, not only in ABC but in the entire state of São Paulo," he said.

INDIA: At a national conference held from August 24 to 26 in New Delhi, Indian trade union centres, global union federations and the International Labour Organization called on the Indian government to ratify the remaining four ILO core labour conventions. 

A resolution adopted by the conference called on the Government of India to immediately convene a tripartite dialogue and set the time frame to ratify ILO Convention No. 182 on Abolition of Child Labour by December 2010, Convention No. 138 on Minimum Working Age by December 2011, and Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining at the latest by June 2012.

The conference was organised by the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), with the support of ILO/ACTRAV, and included the participation of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) and Global Union Federations such as International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) and Public Services International (PSI).

At the conference Dr. G Sanjeeva Reddy, President, INTUC and member of the IMF executive committee addressed the conference and stated that, "with the help of ILO, we need to find a solution and iron out the apprehensions of the government of India to ratify the core conventions. This will also put pressure on countries like the U.S. and China to ratify the core conventions."

The conference heard that India’s failure to ratify the conventions 87 and 98 on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining has led to increased attacks on trade union rights and violation of labour laws.

The Indian trade union centres resolved to establish a united front to launch campaign activities for the ratification of the core conventions. The ILO representatives present at the conference expressed full commitment to providing assistance to the Government of India in this process.  ^

 See the IMF report from the conference for more details.

SPAIN: Spanish trade unions, Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), two affiliates of the International Metalworkers’ Federation, are calling for a general strike on September 29. They agreed to hold this strike to protest against the labour reform approved by the government.

The general strike will express the refusal of workers to accept the policies of social cuts and removal of rights decreed by the Government, under the pretext of "protection" and European guidelines. The labour market reform was approved without the agreement between unions and employers that have been negotiating unsuccessfully in the past two years.

The decision to take strike action was made in June at a meeting of the leadership of the two unions.

The unions report that labour reforms taking place in Spain will allow for the "express" dismissal and termination of contracts, without requiring employers to comply with objective reasons for the dismissals. The changes will also pave the way for lowering of wages as it will be impossible to prevent dismissed workers from being replaced by workers on lower wages.

This national strike coincides with a Europe-wide trade union Day of Action against the excessive austerity measures being pursued by European governments.

BANGLADESH: On August 29 the Bangladeshi Department of Environment fined the Sultana Shipbreaking Yard located in Sitakunda upazila of the Chitagong district for ignoring workers’ safety and environmental pollution.

The proceeding started after one worker died and four others were injured as a result of a fire on July 12, 2010 while cutting an oil tanker at the shipbreaking yard. According to the certificate of the department of explosives the fire started because of residual petroleum substances contained in the tanker.

Following an investigation the national Department of Environment noted violations of health and safety provisions at the yard, lack of safety measures and rescue facilities for workers. The Department also noticed the yard pollutes the air through burning the oily substances.

Based on the violations the yard was fined for an amount of 700,000 BDT (around US$10,000). This is a first time in over 30 years that a shipbreaking yard has been penalised for the lack of safety for their workers in Bangladesh.

PAKISTAN: Late July an agreement negotiated between the IUF, the USA-based The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) and Coca-Cola Icecek (CCI) successfully resolved a long and bitter conflict over employment and trade union rights at Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan (CCBPL), which is jointly owned by TCCC and CCI.

Under the agreement, all unfairly dismissed workers are reinstated with full compensation. The company recognizes the People’s Employees’ Union (PEU) as the representative union of IUF members at the Multan bottling plant and guarantees no more harassment or victimization of union members and officers.

To rectify precarious employment practices, which undermine the right to trade union membership in CCBPL’s bottling operations, the agreement created 187 permanent positions. The agreement will be overseen internationally by the IUF and CCI/TCCC and implemented through a local process and implementation group established between the IUF and its affiliates and CCBPL in Pakistan

IMF strongly condemned the outrageous behaviour of the management at the Coca-Cola plant in Pakistan and sent a strong message of solidarity to the workers supporting them in their fight for the creation of a genuine union through IUF’s campaign page.

 

SOUTH AFRICA: The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) has decided to call for a sympathy strike on September 9 in support of the tyre workers presently on strike since August 30. The companies involved in the tyre sector are Continental, Goodyear, Apollo-Dunlop and Bridgestone.

In order to compel Bridgestone to comply to workers demands and in the spirit of worker solidarity NUMSA has written to auto shop stewards to take action. The secondary strike will involve refusal to touch and handle any products associated with Bridgestone.

Negotiations in the tire manufacturing sector are a deadlock and the dispute remains unresolved. NUMSA states that, "Bridgestone has adopted apartheid-style, separatist conduct in the negotiations by unilaterally tabulating a different wage increase offer, seven per cent lower than that of the New Tyre Manufacturing Industry Employers’ Association (NTMIEA). Bridgestone has also adopted a fatal attitude by refusing to negotiate, as part of the NTMIEA, other demands that the union has submitted."