SOUTH AFRICA: On June 15 the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the IMF-affiliated National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) and the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union (CEPPAWU) announced their decision to embark on a National Day of Action in solidarity with workers and trade unions in Mexico against the continued attacks against unionists by the Mexican government.

The South African unions decided to use the occasion of the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a platform for raising the plight of the workers and the poor in Mexico.

"This is informed by our political convictions that soccer is a working class sport and it should be used to mobilize society around a particular political programme geared towards fostering solidarity, peace and friendship amongst the people of the world," states the joint press release.

In their statement, the unions demand the Mexican government to recognize Napoleón Gómez Urrutia as the democratically elected General Secretary of the National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM); to lift all charges against him and other Mexican trade union leaders; to immediately return all frozen assets to the SNTMMSRM; to restore the rights of workers to organize and embark on strike actions; to release unconditionally all trade union leaders and activists languishing in jails; and to end continued harassment and torture of trade union activists by the police.

The unions announced a National Day of Action in front of the Mexican Embassy for June 28, 2010. To put additional pressure on the Mexican Government, a series of pickets on June 17 through June 22 will be organized, on days when the Mexican soccer team will be playing.

GLOBAL: In recent decades, the use of temporary agencies to supply workers has exploded all over the world, spreading also to sectors and occupations that had previously depended on directly employed workers. Not only do temporary agency workers typically receive lower pay and fewer benefits, when the financial crisis rapidly became an employment crisis, temporary agency workers were among its first victims.

 The expansion of temporary agency labour, together with other forms of temporary, casual and precarious employment has been promoted by international organizations like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the OECD as "labour market flexibility". It has contributed to a general erosion of workers’ ability to exercise their rights to join trade unions and bargain collectively with their employers, thereby posing a major challenge to the labour movement.

Although there are varying approaches taken by trade unions in different countries and sectors to dealing with temporary employment agencies, ranging from total bans to partial bans to strict regulation, all Global Unions have reached agreement on a number of key principles. They include:

• the primary form of employment should be permanent, open-ended and direct;
• agency workers should be covered under the same collective bargaining agreement as other workers in the user enterprise: temporary agency workers should receive equal treatment in all respects;
• the use of temporary agencies should not increase the gender gap on wages, social protections, and conditions;
• temporary work agencies must not be used to eliminate permanent and direct employment relationships; and
• the use of agency workers should never be used to weaken trade unions or to undermine organizing or collective bargaining rights.

For the full text of "Global Union Principles on Temporary Work Agencies," click here.

Full text of the statement is published on the Global Unions’ website.

GERMANY: Unity of action and organization was a central theme of the discussion at the Executive Committee of the International Metalworkers’ Federation, which met on June 10 and 11, 2010.

Continuing a discussion on trade union rights, several members of the IMF Executive Committee condemned governments that are seeking free trade agreements with Colombia, which has long been the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists. Members of the committee discussed the need to increase and better co-ordinate trade union action on convincing governments in Europe and North America to disband trade agreements with Colombia while the murders of trade unionists continue.

The Committee considered the overall strategy of IMF’s work on union building. Through a series of activities focused in targeted countries around the world, IMF’s work with affiliates is focused on organizing the unorganized and precarious workers, strengthening national union structures and networking with a sectoral regional focus.  The committee also discussed how to work in co-operation not competition in the development and implementation of projects; the development of a new online database on project work is being developed as a tool to assist with this.

IMF Executive Committee established a task force to explore a potential merger process with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF). The task force was asked to look at structures, finances, and a timetable of steps to be taken..

The Committee also looked at unity and co-ordination at the global level with other Global Union Federations and the International Trade Union Confederation. While IMF is not a member of the Council of Global Unions, it continues to participate in co-ordination meetings, funds specific activities and takes joint action where possible. A review of the Council of Global Unions was tabled and the Committee decided it will reconsider whether to join the CGU at its next meeting in December 2010.

The Executive Committee also adopted the affiliation of four new affiliates:

• Nepal Auto Mechanics Trade Union – NATU, Nepal
• Council of Metalworkers’ of Democratic Republic of Congo
• Metallurgical and Mining Industry Workers’ Union of Ukraine – MMIWU, Ukraine
• Malawi Building Construction, Civil Engineering and Allied Workers’ Union – BCCEAWU, Malawi

GERMANY: The International Metalworkers’ Federation condemned the latest murder of a trade union leader in the Philippines and calls on Philippines President-elect Aquino to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators.

Edward Panganiban, aged 27, a labour leader in the Southern Tagalog region was gunned down by motorcycle-riding men while trying to catch a ride to work at 5:20 pm, in Barangay Caingin, Sta. Rosa, Laguna on June 3. He died on the spot, sustaining 12 gunshot wounds in his body. Panganiban was the secretary of the Salamat-Independent union and had worked for five years at the Japanese-owned Takata Philippines Corporation, which manufactures airbags and car seatbelts and is located at the export processing zone, the Laguna Technology Park Incorporated.

In a survey released on June 9 by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Philippines ranked No. 1 in Asia and No. 3 in the world in the number of trade unionists killed in the past year. The Philippines has been on top of the list of most dangerous countries for workers for several years now where extrajudicial killings of 96 unionists and 1,000 others have occurred during the almost ten years of Gloria Arroyo’s government.

Appealing for an immediate end to these killings, harassments and violations of workers’ rights, the International Metalworkers’ Federation welcomed promises in June by the presumptive President  Aquino for "closure" to the extrajudicial killings and solving the problem by not merely identifying the perpetrators but also by putting them to jail.

The call on the Philippines government was made at the IMF Executive Committee meeting in Frankfurt on June 10 and 11. Almost 100 people from IMF affiliates around the world gathered for the meeting, which on June 10 reviewed IMF’s work on union networks in transnational companies and trade union rights and campaigns.

EUROPE/MEXICO: At a European Johnson Controls Trade Union Coordination meeting in Brussels on June 7, European unions adopted a resolution in support of Johnson Controls workers at the FINSA plant in Puebla, Mexico.

While welcoming the company’s decision to agree to workers’ demands for recognition of their preferred union, the Mexican Miners’ Union, at the Johnson Controls Interiors plant in Puebla, the resolution calls on the company to extend the same right to workers at the FINSA plant.

"We are concerned that Johnson Controls has not been willing to meet with the independent coalition of workers at its FINSA plant, also in Puebla, and to reinstate workers who were unlawfully fired at the request of the union in that plant – a union that was not elected by the workers and has never allowed them to see their collective bargaining agreement," states the resolution.

"Workers’ ability to choose their representatives, free from employer domination, is a right guaranteed by ILO Conventions 87 and 98. Johnson Controls must afford this right to all of its employees, including the workers at the FINSA plant."

The Johnson Controls management and the "ghost union" CROM, that controls the protection contract in the FINSA Puebla plant, have found out that workers have taken steps to affiliate to the Mexican Miners’ Union (National Union of Mine & Metal Workers of the Mexican Republic-SNTMMSRM), an independent IMF affiliate in Mexico. The workers who are part of a Workers’ Coalition and several activists supporting their struggle have been subjected to physical attacks, harassment, threats and intimidation by the CROM union.

Twenty four representatives of Johnson Controls workers and trade unions from Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Poland and Slovakia attended the European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF), the European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers’ Federation (EMCEF), European Trade Union Federation – Textiles, Clothing and Leather (ETUF-TCL) and UNI European JohnsonControls Trade Union Coordination meeting which adopted the resolution.

The full text can be seen here:

http://www.emf-fem.org/Areas-of-work/Solidarity/Resolution-of-the-trade-union-coordination-group-on-JohnsonControls

GLOBAL: The International Trade Union Confederation’s Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights has documented a dramatic increase in the number of trade unionists murdered in 2009, with 101 killings – an increase of 30 per cent over the previous year. The Survey, released on June 9, also reveals growing pressure on fundamental workers’ rights around the world as the impact of the global economic crisis on employment deepened.

Of 101 murdered, 48 were killed in Colombia, 16 in Guatemala, 12 in Honduras, six in Mexico, six in Bangladesh, four in Brazil, three in the Dominican Republic, three in the Philippines, one in India, one in Iraq and one in Nigeria. Twenty-two of the Colombian trade unionists who were killed were senior trade union leaders and five were women, as the onslaught of previous years continued. The rise in violence in Guatemala and Honduras also followed a trend developing in recent years.

This year’s report again records an extensive list of violations suffered by trade unionists struggling to defend workers’ interests, this time in 140 countries. Many other violations remain unreported, as working women and men are deprived of the means to have their voices heard, or fear to speak out due to the consequences to their jobs or even to their physical safety. Along with the appalling list of killings, the Survey provides detailed documentation of harassment, intimidation and other forms of anti-union persecution.

Union busting and pressure continued to be widely used by employers. In several countries, companies threatened workers with closure or transfer of production sites if they organised or joined a trade union. Often employers simply refused to negotiate with legitimate workers’ representatives while the authorities did nothing. Some labour codes were amended to permit more "flexibility" and to unravel social welfare systems, which often impacted the existing industrial relations systems and thus curtailed trade union rights.

The undermining of internationally-recognised labour standards saw more and more workers facing insecurity and vulnerability in employment, with some 50 per cent of the global workforce now in precarious jobs. Many of the worst affected sectors have high concentrations of women workers. Furthermore, the growth of precarious forms of employment were seen across regions and industrial sectors. The difficulties faced by these workers to organise or exercise their trade union rights are directly related to their highly vulnerable position in the labour market.

The ITUC report notes that 2009 was the 60th Anniversary of the ILO Convention 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, which has still not been ratified by countries such as Canada, China, India, Iran, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. Thus, approximately half of the world’s economically active population is not covered by the Convention.

To read the survey in full: http://survey.ituc-csi.org

To read the press release on Africa: http://survey.ituc-csi.org/-Africa-.html

To read the press release on Asia and Pacific: http://survey.ituc-csi.org/-Asia-and-Pacific-.html

To read the press release on Europe: http://survey.ituc-csi.org/-Europe-.html

To read the press release on Middle East: http://survey.ituc-csi.org/-Middle-East-.html

To read the press release on the Americas: http://survey.ituc-csi.org/-Americas-.html

 

GERMANY: Within the framework of global trade union politics, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) recently published "Networking and Two-track Strategy: Perspectives of International Trade Union Activities", a paper that examines union action in the light of the current financial and economic crisis.

Effective representation of workers’ interests in increasingly multi-dimensional and transnational social spaces is a key challenge for international trade union activities. The paper argues that the global jobs crisis calls for a two-track strategy on the part of the trade unions, on the one hand strengthening company-based structures through international cooperation and on the other playing an active part at the level of the international trade union movement in the formulation of a new vision of society based on global labour and employment standards.

The paper gives different examples, including Daimler in Sindelfingen and GM/Opel, and insists that the social inequality in the world cannot be explained only with the different levels of development of nation states.

The authors of the paper are Horst Mund, head of International Relations at IMF affiliated IG Metall; Manfred Wannöffel, managing director of the Joint Panel of Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) and IG Metall, and Sarah Ganter, trade union coordinator in the department for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

Full text of the paper is available at http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/07279.pdf.

GLOBAL: A landmark conference entitled "A Global Agenda for Quality Public Services" is taking place from October 12 – 14, 2010, in Geneva, Switzerland.

The event is organized by the Council of Global Unions, which includes Public Services International (PSI) and ten other global union federations, plus the International Trade Union Confederation and the Trade Union Advisory Committee at the OECD. The IMF also supports this conference as it also believes that quality public services provide the essential foundation for decent work, democracy, equity, and quality of life for all citizens.

"Whether we work in the private or public sectors, quality public services benefit us as individuals, and our families and communities. Quality public services provide the social supports and stable jobs that build sustainable economies and societies. Investment in quality public services is a key solution to the current economic crisis," writes IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina in a letter of invitation to IMF affiliates.

Featuring discussion with international speakers, this conference will chart innovative strategies to improve and expand quality public services around the world. Everyone is invited to add comments and suggestions now and throughout the conference to the proposed global charter and action plan for quality public services.

The 400+ conference participants will include trade union, civil society and government representatives from across the globe. It’s a dynamic opportunity to strengthen alliances around public service issues.

For further details, please find a copy of the invitation letter, draft program of the conference, draft Charter, background document and a pre-registration form at: http://www.qpsconference.org/

IMF affiliates interested in attending should send the pre-registration form to Carla Coletti (and copied to Héctor Mareque) by Friday June 18, 2010.

MEXICO: Hours after the Mexican government attacked striking workers at a Grupo México mine in Cananea, at 2.15 am in the morning on Monday June 6 20 patrol cars of the State forces in Coahuila escorted Grupo México back into the number eight mine at the Pasta de Conchos mine, enabling the company to retake possession of the mine.

Sixty-five miners were trapped underground on February 19, 2006 when a methane explosion occurred in the number eight shaft of the Pasta de Conchos mine owned by Grupo México. Many of the miners that died were members of the Mexican Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (SNTMMSRM).

This tragic event precipitated and coincided with a series of actions that included the illegal removal of Napoleon Gómez as the union’s general secretary after he called the incident an act of "industrial homicide".

Only two bodies have been recovered from the Pasta de Conchos mine and the widows and families of the deceased have continued a vigil at the mine calling for the recovery of the buried miners and justice for the appalling health and safety conditions that led to the disaster.

Despite the Federal government suspending all work at the mine since the incident, it has at the same time now given Grupo México permission to recommence exploration and operations at the coal mine. The families who appeared at the entrance to the mine within minutes of the arrival of the State police were refused information, entry or to take photographs.

Cananea 

Meanwhile, the latest reports from Cananea in Mexico, where the miners have been on strike since July 2007 over massive health and safety violations in the notoriously dangerous Grupo Mexico-owned copper mine, indicate that Federal police have retaken the mine.

At about 10 p.m. on Sunday night, a force of approximately 2,000 Federal Police entered the town of Cananea. Some 400 police approached the mine gates and fired tear gas at the union members who were defending them.  At some point a fire was set in the administrative building adjacent to the gate.

The police then fired tear gas into the union office, forcing the workers inside to flee through a side door. The union office is now under government control.

There were reports of two union members wounded and possibly killed, although no names have been reported. The Mexican Miners’ Union reported that three workers had gunshot or projectile wounds, others had been beaten or were suffering effects of the tear gas.

Federal warrants were issued for union leaders including Sergio Tolano Lizárraga, General Secretary of Minerso Section 65, Juan Gutiérrez Ballesteros, Sonora delegate of the National Executive Committee, and Jacinto Martínez, a member of the local executive committee. Last night Tolano won an injunction against his arrest warrant.

Federal police arrested five Mineros: Rodolfo Valdez Serrano, Everardo Ochoa Ballesteros, Luis Alonso Borbón Pérez, Luis Alonso Torres y Marcelo Lara López.

On Monday, the Governor of Sonora, the Executive President of Grupo México, and Labor Secretary Javier Lozano held a press conference to announce a $5 billion infrastructure project in Cananea.  The company also offered a payout to striking workers in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement (approximately six times the legally required amount) provided the workers accept the money by Friday June 11. The union has said workers will refuse the severance offer as their strike is still legally existent.

Today, June 8, IMF and ICEM have both sent letters to President Calderon, urging the Mexican government to immediately stop the use of force against workers who are legally and rightfully defending their rights.

MEXICO: IMF has received reports that federal and state forces arrived in Cananea on Sunday night, June 6, to execute arrest warrants against union leaders the National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM) at the Cananea copper mine in Sonora, Mexico,

The miners have been on strike since July 2007 over massive health and safety violations in the notoriously dangerous Grupo Mexico-owned mine. Following a February 11, 2010 federal court decision giving Grupo Mexico permission to fire the striking workers and terminate the labour agreement, effectively eliminating the right to strike in Mexico, some 1,200 workers occupied the mine.

It has been reported that at around 21:00 around 2,000 to 4,000 police attacked the miners who were guarding the premises, using tear gas, before moving on to the hospital and union office.

The arrest warrants are reportedly against Sergio Tolano Lizarraga, Secretary General of Section 65 of the Miners’ Union, and Juan Gutierrez Ballesteros, delegate of the National Executive Committee of the union.

Speaking to Radio AMLO, Antonio Navarrete, propaganda secretary of the union, reported that there have been clashes between police and miners. He called on all trade union organizations to move to Cananea to support the miners.

There are reports that communications with the mine have been cut off. It has not been possible to communicate with the union leaders.

The IMF again urges the Mexican government to refrain from the use of violence against striking workers. "We insist that Grupo México, the government, and the union engage in honest dialogue to address the issues that are unresolved. The use of violence of any kind will serve only to further isolate the parties," said IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina.