FRANCE & SOUTH KOREA: After repeated demands by Valeo Compressor Korea (VCK) liquidator to the Korea Electric Power Company, the main power to the Cheonan plant in South Korea was shut off at 14:00 on June 3, 2010 leaving about 100 Korean Metal Workers’ Union members without electricity and without water for toilets, washing and drinking.  The Valeo Compressor Korea workers have been peacefully sitting in the VCK plant since October 27, 2009, upkeeping the machinery, cleaning the premises and awaiting the return of management.  In South Korea, many are concerned that the unconventional method of cutting off of water and electricity to persuade the workers to give up their claims on Valeo portends further coercive action by the company against the workers in the plant.   

It was on October 26, 2009 that the workers, who had come to work as usual, received a phone call from the VCK representative director KIM, Sung-ho around 11 am, notifying that their plant would be closed as of that very same day and liquidated along with his instructions that they go home from work.  Because there had been no rumors of plant closure and the company had not approached the union with documentation regarding the financial situation, the workforce was surprised and sat down. 

The workers have been sitting down inside the plant 24 hours a day, seven days a week for over seven months protesting this extreme case of union exclusion in the process of going about a plant closure and calling for the company to enter into genuine dialogue with the trade union without preconditions.  The lack of prior notice and negotiation breaches the collective bargaining agreement which requires 90 days prior notification and coming to agreement.

The average worker had worked at the plant for 15 years; producing compressors supplied to the Renault Samsung plant and Ssangyong Motor plants in Korea was the first job going into the workforce for almost all the workers.  French transnational automotive components maker Valeo, which has facilities in 27 countries with a workforce of 52,000 and does not appear bankrupt or to have stopped supplying the Renault Samsung and Ssangyong Motor plants, only took over the plant in 2005, to subsequently sell its real estate assets, take monthly royalties, take monthly branch commissions and fail to reinvest. 

Despite this longer history predating Valeo, the lack of effort on the part of the Valeo Group to disclose the plant closure in advance of the day the plant closed, the failure to search for alternatives and the failure to hold genuine discussions between the trade union and company representatives with authority have prompted some 120 organizations in the local community and nationally to form a "Citizens Countermeasure Committee for the Normalization of the Valeo Compressor Korea Plant". 

The KMWU has also sent a delegation of Valeo Compressor Korea workers to France to request talks with the company.  The delegation has holding a day and night sit-in in front of the company headquarters in Paris since May 24, 2010 while French unions have supported the workers’ efforts to seek genuine dialogue with those with authority in Valeo.  All five French unions in Valeo have supported a resolution to support the Korean workers’ struggle at the national Valeo works council meeting (Valeo CGE) and the major automaking unions of Europe have also called on Valeo to enter genuine dialogue with the union to find solutions and alternatives (see here).

On June 3, 2010, Valeo Group held its annual general meeting for shareholders at the Palais des Congrès in Paris where Valeo Group CEO Jacques Aschenbroich specified its results outlook for 2010 announcing, "Valeo has set as its objective for the first half 2010 to achieve sales of 4.7 billion, a 35% increase versus the first half 2009, and an operating margin level of close to 6% of sales, the highest half-yearly level for the past 8 years." Meanwhile the shareholders adopted extraordinary resolutions 15 and 16, which reward Mr. Aschenbroich’s performance with 100,000 shares of stock options and 50,000 free shares.

GENEVA: At a side event of the International Labour Conference in Geneva on June 3, organized by the ILO Multinational Enterprises Subcommittee, the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, John Ruggie, discussed the implications for the ILO of his ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ framework for reducing human rights violations by transnational corporations. Addressing more than 200 representatives of governments, employers and workers as well as ILO staff, Ruggie said that the issue of precarious work had been raised in his consultations with stakeholders and also in submissions by worker organizations, referring to the submissions made by IMF and IUF. However he said that he lacked the expertise to address the issue and called on the ILO to provide him with advice on how to go about this.

Responding to Ruggie’s remarks, the employer spokesperson declared that precarious work is not a human rights issue and that Ruggie should not give it consideration in his work. Speaking on behalf of the workers, Sam Gurney of the UK TUC stressed how important it is for Ruggie to include consideration of the negative effect of precarious work on human rights and told him that trade unions stand ready to assist him in this work. He also explained how increasingly complex and opaque supply chains effectively prevent workers achieving remedies as it is difficult to identify who to seek the remedy from.

IMF, together with the other global union federations, has been urging the ILO for some time to take concrete action to address the many circumstances under which precarious workers are denied the effective right to organize and bargain collectively. The commitment that John Ruggie has made to examine precarious work in the context of the responsibility of transnational corporations to respect human rights is a positive step. It also strengthens the call for the ILO to devote more attention and resources to protecting the rights of precarious workers.

BELGIUM: Manual and non-manual workers in Belgium continue to be subject to different legal regimes. In the inter-professional agreement of 2001-2002, the social partners undertook to elaborate a lasting solution, over a six year period, to resolve the differences of status between the two categories of workers. Over the years, discussions of this issue have been difficult, but today, given the offensive being waged by the employers, who are trying to take advantage of the crisis to roll back social gains, the unions are calling for mobilization to protect the workers against any further worsening of their working and employment conditions.

The unions do not deny that the distinction between manual and non-manual workers is now obsolete, but what they want is "upward harmonization of the statuses" and a comprehensive agreement on all aspects, negotiated by the social partners. In two areas, the status of non-manual workers is more favourable: the period of notice for dismissal and the absence of an unpaid first day for sick leave. Manual workers enjoy a shorter trial period and a more advantageous method of calculating vacation pay also including bonuses.

The most important disagreement with management is on the question of prior notice for dismissal. The unions want the reference to be the period of notice for non-manual workers, while the employers are pressing for the right to dismiss with a shorter period of notice for white-collar workers and professionals, as well as a shorter period of entitlement to unemployment benefits, and including a net dismissal bonus exempt from taxes and social security charges. The unions consider that these management proposals can only lead to further precariousness of work and employment. They want an agreement containing an improvement for all wage-earners without discrimination. This is a question of social justice and fairness.

The harmonization of statuses is a fundamental issue for the unions in Belgium, and solidarity between blue- and white-collar workers is essential to achieve a status favourable to all workers. This harmonization will inevitably have major consequences for trade unions and their operation.

EUROPE: Unions agreed to waive one-time payments, postpone a planned 2.7 per cent salary increase, and reduce Christmas and vacation bonuses by 50 per cent for two years in return for job security and the long-term prosperity of General Motors’ European operations.

According to the agreement reached by unions representing the workforce and the company, the annual cost savings of 265 million euros ($328.4 million) shouldered by the workers will be managed by a trustee and have to be invested in the development of new models.

The agreement gives workers guarantees on investments, innovation, job security, co-management and amendment of the company’s status. The worker’s savings will be returned if GM reneges on agreements to invest in new models and electric-powered vehicles.

The restructure includes plans to close the Opel plant in Antwerp, Belgium, if GM doesn’t find a buyer for the site by the end of September.

An outline of the changes was agreed on May 21 and management and unions signed the restructuring plan on May 31. Opel management and union leaders have been negotiating the restructuring plan for months in an effort to return Opel to profit by 2012.

Investments from GM and the concessions made by the workers will fund half of the cost of the restructuring. GM is requesting loan guarantees from Germany and other countries where it operates for the rest.

GM Europe owns plants in Belgium, Germany, the U.K., Spain, and Poland, and employs about 48,000 people in Europe, more than 24,000 are in Germany.

LUXEMBOURG: The Tenaris Workers’ World Council hand delivered a letter to a representative of the border of directors and participants in the Tenaris’ shareholders meeting on June 2, asking them to join the Council in a minute of silence for Rodrigo Lopez Amarilla and all other Tenaris’ workers that have died because of their jobs.

Armed with certification of share holding and copies of the Council’s letter and flyer, a representative of the Tenaris Workers’ World Council attended the Annual General Meeting on June 2, 2010 in Luxembourg.

Although not an agenda item and despite repeated attempts by the chair to interrupt, the representative explained that the Tenaris Workers’ World Council is a network of the International Metalworkers’ Federation, and is very concerned about health and safety across the company’s operations.

"One of our colleagues has passed away, though his whole life was ahead of him. The IMF and the Tenaris Workers’ World Council invites management to discuss its health and safety policy with the Council in a separate meeting, but here, as a point of order, asks to include in the agenda a moment of silence for Rodrigo Lopez Amarilla and all other workers of Tenaris who have died due to accidents that have occurred or illnesses contracted in their workplaces," said the representative, IMF’s Hyewon Chong.

Rodrigo Lopez Amarilla, a worker of Tenaris in Campana, died on May 10, 2010 at the age of 24. He was found in a pool of blood with a head injury caused by machinery that was not properly fastened. Rodrigo had been on the job for only four months and was without adequate training for the difficult and dangerous job he was engaged in resulting in the accident that cost him his life.

The Tenaris Workers’ World Council, which includes union representatives of Tenaris workers from six countries, is very concern about this death in Campana, Argentina and is seeking a meeting with the company to discuss the its policy on health and safety to see how these terrible situations can be avoided in the future.

Chong reports that the chair of the AGM, Tenaris Director Roberto Bonatti, agreed to the moment of silence, but at the end of the meeting stated his position that, "Tenaris negotiates with unions in different individual countries not other bodies."

GENEVA: Film has not only proved to be an efficient communication medium, but also an excellent organizing and mobilizing tool. More and more film festivals and film competitions surrounding social, economic and environmental issues are taking place. In line with this trend, a broad civil society campaign in Britain, backed by 24 unions and led by the Trade Union Congress and the charity Oxfam launched a short film competition, which will be judged by Sienna Miller and Richard Curtis.

The Robin Hood Tax campaign is calling for "a tiny tax on banks that would give billions to tackle poverty and climate change" and contestants are encouraged to submit videos that focus on everything from malaria, HIV, climate change, education and gender equality. The top prize will be a masterclass with Richard Curtis and camera equipment is also up for grabs. There will be a separate category for under 18’s, judged by Harry Potter star Tom Felton.  For more information visit the official website at www.robinhoodtax.org/competition

Taking place on June15, at the Theatre Grutli in the heart of Geneva, the fourth edition of the Labour Film Shorts Festival features 15 films in both English and French. Among other issues, the current financial crisis takes centre stage in this year’s line-up, primarily focusing on the voices of workers and their unions.

The main feature presentation, Like a Bird in a Cage, begins with the resistance of Emine Arslan, a Turkish female textile worker fired from the Desa Safaköy factory as a result of her union activities. Directors Güliz Sağlam and Feryal Saygılıgil document the subsequent resistance of the women workers at Desa. The documentary reveals the working conditions of women, the experience they gain through organizing, the advantages of their resistance, their relationship with the union and their hopes and expectations.

Another film being featured is the chilling documentary on the atrocities conducted by Zimbabwean government in defiance of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) treaty. of the film documents torture, vandalism and violence on Zimbabwean farm owners and farm workers in the face of the land reform programme issued by the President Mugabe.

For more details go to:

www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=23082&l=2

CHINA: Production restarted at a Honda auto parts factory in China on June 3 after the company offered a 24 per cent pay rise to its striking workers. Around 1,900 workers at the plant in Foshan, China began industrial action on May 21demanding an increase in wages.

The average wage at the transmission plant was around $150 dollars and workers were reported to be demanding an increase of around $117. The strike at the plant drew media coverage when it closure resulted in the shutdown of several of Honda’s assembly plants in China. The company has announced that production of cars at four plants will restart on June 4.

According to press reports, the official China Daily newspaper ran an editorial on May 28 citing the Honda strike as evidence that government inaction on wages might be fueling tension between workers and employers. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions reports that nearly a quarter of Chinese employees have not had a pay rise in five years.

Honda sold 576,223 vehicles in China last year, up 23 per cent year-on-year. The vehicles sell at prices that are unaffordable for most Chinese workers.

GENEVA: Opening the 99^th International Labour Conference on June 2, which will last till June 18, Juan Somavia, ILO Director-General, warned in his annual report that, "in response to pressure from financial markets, many countries are being pushed into stringent fiscal policies that jeopardize recovery, making it less likely that investments, growth, employment and wages will pick up in the short run or that tax revenues will recover any time soon." Somavia’s opening speech called for a "balanced" response to address debt crisis and promote jobs recovery.

This year ILC agenda includes the quadrennial global report on child labour, international labour standards, and four technical items: a discussion on decent work for domestic workers; an autonomous recommendation on HIV/AIDS in the world of work; a discussion on the strategic objectives of employment; and a review of follow-up to the 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

A detailed Conference agenda is published on the ILO website here http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_norm/—relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_123401.pdf

Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations is available on the ILO website here http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_norm/—relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_123424.pdf

COLOMBIA: The presidents of three trade union centers in Colombia rejected the Free Trade Agreement signed by President Álvaro Uribe Vélez with the European Union in a joint statement. They described the agreement as unsuitable for the country because it would harm domestic production and affect many jobs.

Julio Roberto Gómez, vice president of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA) and director of the CGT reiterated the rejection of the Free Trade Agreements that Colombia negotiated with the U.S. and Canada and state their position is the same on the agreement with the EU.

"The concept of a Free Trade Agreement is not the problem," he affirmed. "The problem is the content, because they do not have the clauses needed to protect Colombian production and this will bring us many problems in terms of unemployment and loss of economic resources."

He added that the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union in particular does not consider the great imbalance between the economies of Colombia and the European countries.

MEXICO/CANADA: The International Metalworkers’ Federation and UNI Global Union, will join the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Union (ICEM) and North American unions the Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada and the United Steelworkers (USW), and the Solidarity Centre in Mexico, to conduct a teach-in event in Toronto, aimed at raising solidarity with and understanding of the struggle by democratic trade unions in Mexico. The event will be held on June 20, as part of the Peoples’ Forum events around the G8 and G20 summits. It is an open event. View the agenda here.

Entitled "Conference on Building Solidarity with the Democratic Labour Movement in Mexico," the forum is targeted at making an impact in both Mexico and Canada, following Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s recent visit to the Canadian Parliament, and the continued anti-union strategy of the Mexican government.

Mexican union leaders from different sectors will share experiences of repression and their fight for decent work, under the four following agenda items: Legal & Political Framework of the Labour Movement Crisis; The Mexican Labour Movement in Crisis; Organizing Strategies in Response to the Crisis; Solidarity Strategies in Response to the Crisis.

The event will take place at 89 Chestnut St., Chestnut Residence Hotel, University of Toronto, 2nd floor. Registration is at 08h30am. For more information, write to [email protected].