International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, on 25 November, marks the start of the 16 days of activism, concluding on commemoration of the International Human Rights Day (10 December). This campaign aims to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls around the world, calling for global action to increase awareness, promote advocacy and create opportunities for discussion on challenges and solutions.

“Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today that remains largely unreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding it.”

(UN Women)

Five years ago, the #MeToo movement sparked a global mobilization for the prevention and response to violence against women and girls. In this context, the adoption of ILO Convention 190 (ILO C190) and Recommendation 206, in 2019, has generated an extraordinary momentum to prevent and eliminate gender-based violence in the world of work. In many countries, trade unions, allied with feminist and other human rights organizations, are campaigning for the ratification and the implementation of the Convention.

22 countries have ratified ILO C190, 13 of which in the last twelve months. The pace of ratification is accelerating. ITUC expects that by 2030, 50 will have ratified this instrument.

IndustriALL affiliates have actively participated in the movement and campaigns that have led to this ratification in many countries. In parallel, IndustriALL and its affiliates have been conducting education, awareness raising, collective bargaining and campaigns for the implementation of these instruments in the workplaces.

ILO C190 – as well as existing legislation and agreements – needs to be fully implemented in order to prevent the impunity of the perpetrators of violence. Trade unions also need to create safe spaces for women to denounce cases of harassment, and overcome the fear, the shame or any other obstacle for them to speak out.

Gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) is still prevalent in all our industries, despite all our efforts and the work done in terms of awareness and education. A world of work free of violence and harassment is still a long way off. This fight against GBVH should be a daily struggle, throughout all the days of the year!

Fighting against GBVH in the world of work is a core trade union issue. Efforts of all are needed in our organizations. Women shall not be left alone in addressing GBVH. Trade unions must provide continued support to the women workers and trade unionists who are fighting for their rights and defending themselves, because it cannot be guaranteed that the violence will not be repeated. Men need to be more than mere bystanders; we expect them to fully take part in preventing and addressing GBVH.

IndustriALL’s Gender Equality Task Force, which will operate under the Women Committee, was established in October. It comprises of 12 members, out of whom six are men trade unionists. We strongly believe that this Task Force will contribute to reinforce IndustriALL’s response to this blight.

The 16 days of activism give us an opportunity to highlight GBVH through awareness, going out to the workplaces. The 16 days of activism is the time to campaign and mobilise. We encourage all IndustriALL affiliates to seize this opportunity to go to the workplaces, and to educate their members, including men, on GBVH and the ILO C190.

These 16 days should be also the occasion for IndustriALL affiliates to share their successes and good practices. It is also the occasion for us to exchange on obstacles and challenges. In October, the Women Committee stressed the importance of monitoring the results of all these continued efforts by IndustriALL and its affiliates, to build on the progress and develop strategies that would overcome existing obstacles.

Let’s use these 16 days to all intensify our efforts against GBVH, and to come up with renewed strategies and programmes for the rest of the year!

Hashmeya AL SAADAWI & Ilvana SMAJLOVIC, IndustriALL Women committee co-chairs,
Christine Olivier, IndustriALL assistant general secretary
 

Why we focus on gender-based violence in 2022

During 2022, IndustriALL Global Union, together with H&M Group and Swedish union IF Metall, have focused on building more robust ways to prevent, detect and handle cases of gender-based violence in the supply chain. A global brand, a global and a national trade union have key parts to play in preventing gender-based violence in the textile and garment industry. 

It is our conviction that collective agreements including gender-sensitive protection, together with strong company policy, zero tolerance from the top of factory management, awareness raising and empowering workers in representative structures and trade unions, are all essential components in creating a safer workplace for everyone ending gender-based violence and harassment in the garment sector.

Since the start of the year, we have together worked on raising awareness and providing workers and management with the right tools, creating a space to bring forward and resolve issues through joint trainings with key local H&M Group production offices and local trade unions. There is a need for increased knowledge on handling violence and harassment in the workplace, as well as a need for establishing a shared understanding and definition, and how to prevent and remedy it.

The next step is to set up joint global guidelines, clearly stating what is expected from suppliers when it comes to creating a safe workplace environment and ending gender-based violence and harassment.

These guidelines will give clear instructions on how to detect, prevent and manage gender-based violence and harassment cases for suppliers and for H&M Group teams and National Monitoring Committees (NMCs). The guidelines will be added to H&M Group’s code of conduct as well as to the global framework agreement (GFA) between H&M Group, IndustriALL and IF Metall.

The GFA demonstrates a commitment to fundamental rights of workers across the supply chain, covering around one and a half million garment workers at the over 1,500 factories from where H&M Group buys their products.

The guidelines will be completed early 2023, to be rolled out to during the year together with capacity building activities, setting a new standard for what is expected from a workplace in the supply chain.

Educating and empowering workers and management on gender-based violence and sexual harassment is a crucial step towards ratification of C190. As strong actors in the textile and garment industry, together representing millions of workers in the supply chain, we have to lead by example.  

New report on Just Transition in the energy sector

Report: Just Transition in the energy sector
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“The report is based on the initiative on Just Transition in the energy sector. We want the world to know about the conclusions and recommendations after months of organizing workshops on new technologies and how they will affect workers in the energy sector,” said Diana Junquera Curiel, IndustriALL energy director.

“Governments are setting net zero targets, but unions are not involved. Workers need to know what is going to happen to their jobs. Everyone in our movement knows what Just Transition is, they know it is happening and if we don’t plan for it then it is going to happen without us,”

says Samantha Smith ITUC Just Transition center director.

“Our members tell us that they want to share experiences and information. Unions have been discussing this at large and have found common ground. Experiences of social dialogue varies from country to country, but the outcome clearly shows that Just transition is only possible with social dialogue and a well-organized workforce,”

says Anne- Beth Skrøde, LO Norway special advisor.

Ten meetings with experts, energy unions and national confederations were held between April and October 2022, focusing on what net zero means for energy sector jobs. Participants came together from all over the world to exchange information on emerging technologies, what the transition looks like in different parts of the world, as well as union strategies for ensuring good jobs and a Just Transition.

Technology and country workshops in 2022:

Unions and civil society organizations cooperate to protect migrant workers’ rights in Malaysia

According to the official data, there were 1.98 million migrant workers employed in Malaysia in 2019, the majority from Indonesia (about 700,000), Myanmar (140,000) and the Philippines (52,000).
 
Migrant workers often suffer violations like lower salaries, and bad working and living conditions. With wages that are too low to live off, migrant workers work overtime to pay off debts and to survive, resulting in less money sent back home than what the recruiters had promised. The fear of losing their jobs and being deported keeps migrant workers silent.
 
In the meeting, twenty-five unionists and activists from sending and receiving countries, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Myanmar, Philippines, Taiwan and Malaysia, explored organizing workers and the development of practical remediation tools for workers suffering supply chain injustice.
 
The first part of the event focused on increasing organizing capacity of the unions in Malaysia’s electronics industry, as well as challenges specific to organizing migrant workers in the country. The second part was dedicated to developing worker-driven remediation principles and exploring how they might be put into practice with the support of the public buyers.
 
More migrant workers should be organized into trade unions and be protected under collective agreements. Participants expressed solidarity with workers abused by employers, and committed to enhance cooperation between stakeholders in protecting their rights.

“Trade unions play a vital role in protecting migrant workers and their right to obtain justice. Our affiliates’ ability to organize workers, including migrant workers, in Malaysia is crucial and we will continue to assist them through building alliances with other trade unions, NGOs and civil society organizations,”

said Alexander Ivanou, IndustriALL ICT, electrical and electronics director.

 

Participants discussed the shortcomings of Malaysia’s current remediation mechanism and proposed to reform regulatory practices that enable abuses, like work permits tied to specific employers, and the lack of comprehensive pre-departure and post-arrival training. They agreed that a flexible work permit system in the event of abuse should be introduced in Malaysia. Union leaders explained how they are urging the government to include industrial unions in the post-arrival briefing for migrant workers to make them aware of their rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
 
During the remediation discussion, participants agreed that not only migrant workers’ organizations should be involved in the remediation process, but an effective process can help to bridge the gap between civil society and lead to their joint cooperation.
 
Trade unions organise and represent migrant workers in electronics factories that supply public sector institutions affiliated to Electronics Watch, which buy from those factories and must make sure fundamental workers’ rights are respected in the process of public procurement. Therefore, their leverage to help stamp out illegal worker exploitation and interference in trade union activities is very important.

"The role of public procurement in workers rights has been underutilised for too long. Collectively public procurers have enough buying power to influence multinational companies to discourage anti-union practices and encourage respect for labour rights so that the number of collective bargaining agreements increases and working conditions for all workers improves. And the Electronics Watch model offers public sector and private sector unions an important opportunity to work across sectors to achieve more together than we can alone,”

said Gemma Freedman, UNISON international officer.
 
 
 
 

Make Amazon pay!

Amazon Fashion is a growing brand within the global garment supply chain. The company has become the leading apparel retailer in the United States, quoted as the number one destination for apparel shoppers, beating Target and Walmart.

Amazon’s supply chain stretches across the globe with production in Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Vietnam.

IndustriALL affiliates in Indonesia

Nazma Akhter, president of the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation and member of IndustriALL TGSL steering committee, says:

“Garment workers, like those I represent, toil to swell Amazon’s coffers often without any recognition that we are even Amazon workers. Amazon is the third largest direct employer in the world, but when you take us in the supply chain into account, it is even larger. At work we can face sexual harassment from management and victimisation when we try to organise in a trade union against that violence and for better pay and conditions."

Nazma Akhter

Nazma Akhter

“In Bangladesh, we are on the frontline of climate breakdown, so we know climate justice and social justice cannot be separated.”

Please join the workers, unions, global unions and activists taking action on 25 November, showing your solidarity for Amazon workers around the world.

#MakeAmazonPay

Asia Pacific paper unions determined to fight precarious work

Indonesian unions FSP2KI, CEMWU and FSPMI said it is important to lobby the government to enact a new regulation prohibiting outsourcing activities.

Malaysia’s PPPMEU emphasized that more training and social dialogue on precarious work should be held at the worksite level.

Unionists from New Zealand, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines said unions must add a new article in collective agreements to limit the number of subcontracting workers. The government must ensure job security for workers.

 

Participants identified other common issues like wage and benefits, upskilling of women workers, aging and retirement age, union busting, health and safety.

It is in collective agreement that unions must find ways to attract young workers as many of them refuse to join unions. Employers must include unions in occupational health and safety committees to make them effective.

“It is a worrying trend that robots have been deployed to replace paper workers in Thailand. We must strengthen the collective agreements to avoid layoffs, and existing workers should be upskilled or relocated to other factories,”

said Thawatchai Buabkhom, president of Thailand's SIG Workers' Union, affiliated to the Confederation of Industrial Labour of Thailand.

“Asia Pacific is a crucial part of the global pulp and paper network. We need to strengthen the network by integrating provisions in CBA protecting workers’ employment especially with the introduction of paperless communications.
“Let’s continue to organize more workers, we must stand together and make a difference for paper workers in your countries, region and globally,”

said Tom Grinter, IndustriALL director of pulp and paper, rubber Industries.

Twenty unionists from Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam joined the hybrid Asia Pacific Pulp and Paper Trade Union Network meeting on 11-12 November 2022 in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Alarm sounded over safety and health in Iraq's oil and gas sector

The issue must be addressed with an integrated vision taking into account the climate change resulting from global warming and environmental pollution. The emission of gases from extraction operations and oil industries is considered one of the main reasons behind the aggravation of the issue.
 
Participants pointed to the phenomenon of disease outbreaks directly related to certain occupations due to the poor compliance of employers with occupational safety and health measures.
 
This bleak picture requires that government, business owners, unions, civil society organizations, international organizations and development partners take serious steps to improve working ocnditions.

An important step is the development of a legislative framework, in particular a speedy enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Law in line with IILO Convention 155 on Occupational Safety and Health, as well as the adoption of safe and healthy work environment as a fundamental principle and right at work by the International Labour Conference earlier this year. 

Participants called for the establishment of national policies and mechanisms to effectively monitor the compliance of companies the oil and gas sector, taking into account the steps recently taken by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs through its close cooperation with ILO in Iraq. This includes the preparation of a national policy, profile and programme for occupational safety and health, emphasizing the continuing technical cooperation in  implementing the provisions of this policy, activating the notification and recording system of accidents and work injuries for workers, as well as occupational diseases developed by the ILO in Iraq, and periodically building the capacities of the Ministry in the area of ​​strategic compliance planning for occupational safety and health inspections.

Participants appealed to all parties to develop plans and programmes for a Just Transition, to an environment that uses clean energy and technology, placing the protection of workers’ health and safety at the top of its priorities. 

This article was originally published in its entirety by the ILO.

No agreement in sight as COP27 negotiations enter final stretch

At the time of writing, the first draft of the cover decision – the broad outline of a political statement – had been released, with many obvious gaps indicated by the word “placeholder” in the text.

COP26, held in Glasgow last year, saw a number of high profile announcements: the Just Transition Declaration, the first Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), and the Glasgow Climate Pact, calling on countries to submit improved targets within the year.

Billed as a COP of implementation, COP27 has seen fewer dramatic announcements, and has focused on working out the detail of previous commitments. The main areas of negotiation have been:

On most of these measures, very little progress has been made. The world needs to cut emissions by 45 per cent by 2030. Currently, we are on track to increase them by 10 per cent, and emissions hit a record high in 2022. On finance, the already insufficient US$100 billion per year committed by developed countries has never been met, and much of the finance made available has been in the form of loans.

There is also no agreement on loss and damage, with the US climate secretary John Kerry announcing that the country – responsible for 40 per cent of emissions – will not accept liability.

Unlike COP26, which was characterized by vibrant participation from civil society that took the form of an alternative COP outside the green zone, COP27 has taken place in a context of repression, with many Egyptian climate activists imprisoned and unable to participate, and delegations spied on by security officials. Trade unions have had to be careful to ensure the security of meetings.

Outside of the plenary sessions where negotiations have taken place, trade unions focused on lobbying their country delegations to include pro-worker language in the texts, as well as in ensuring practical implementation. A particular area of concern was that the term “just transition” has been coopted by many stakeholders, including corporations and countries, and used to argue that they should be compensated for decarbonization.

Union activists intervened in many sessions to insist on the correct definition of Just Transition as transition achieved through social dialogue with unions. The IndustriALL Global Union director for energy and just transition, Diana Junquera Curiel, spoke on a number of panels to reinforce this point.

Speaking at a panel with Revierwende and the German union confederation DGB, Junquera introduced the idea of global just transition agreements with companies, overseen by the UN. She also spoke on a panel with IRENA about the potential for job growth in renewables.

Unions also closely monitored the progress of the South African JETP. The first phase of this project is underway now, with the Komati power station being shut down and replaced with renewables on the same site, with no loss of jobs. The project aims to significantly reduce South Africa’s emissions by funding the shift from coal to renewables. A just transition framework is in place, and IndustriALL will monitor implementation very closely.

A US$20 billion JETP was signed with Indonesia at the G20 in Bali this week.

Diana Junquera Curiel said:

“We are going to be watching the implementation of these JETPs very closely – particularly the first live example, at Komati in South Africa. If this project is successful, with a genuine just transition for all the workers in the value chain, it will provide a pathway to climate finance that will be emulated around the world. If it fails, trust will be broken, and we will be further than ever from our goals.

“We aim to bring our Indonesian and South African affiliates together to share experiences and strategies to ensure workers are not left behind.”

IndustriALL’s Executive Committee strategizes for global challenges

Jörg Hoffman, president of IndustriALL and German union IG Metall, opened the meeting saying that the victory for Lula in Brazil, is a victory for us all. 

“Faced with several crises around the world, our strength as unions will lie in how we can increase our power on the international level. We need to organize more workers; with that strength we will be a counterforce to capital attacking workers’ interests.”

COP27 is in its second week in Egypt, and IndustriALL is present, working hard to ensure Just Transition standards at all levels of the negotiations. 

"In Egypt, the International Labour Organization pavilion is called the Just Transition Pavilion, a token of the work we have put in and the success we have had in making sure it is on the agenda,"

said Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary.

“There is a need for a clear roadmap on Loss and Damage and an institutional financial framework that creates a fairer cost distribution between rich and poor countries.” 

Hashmeya Alsadawe from Iraq reported from the Womens’ Committee, which met earlier in the month, focusing on the establishment of a gender task force, advancing gender equality and due diligence in global supply chains.

On global framework agreements (GFAs), IndustriALL assistant GS Christine Olivier presented the discussions from the working group. IndustriALL has over the past ten years signed numerous GFAs and has developed tools to monitor and evaluate the implementation of GFAs.

“Our biggest challenge in implementing GFAs are along the supply chain, and we need to increase awareness in understanding GFAs and building union power to counter pushbacks from employers,”

said Christine Olivier. 

As the war continues, around 18 million people in Ukraine need humanitarian assistance, IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan told the Executive Committee.  

After nine months of war where the people of Ukraine have been subjected to looting, violence and rape, and missiles are again raining over Kyiv, Valeriy Matov, president of Nuclear Power and Industry Workers of Ukraine, voiced concerns over Russian troops reaching Ukraine's largest nuclear plant. 

Mykhailo Volynets, chairperson of Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine, described the urgency as energy infrastructure in the country is destroyed.

IndustriALL president Jörg Hoffman urged all affiliates to continue to provide concrete support to Ukraine, as nine months into the war, the needs are still great. 

IndustriALL affiliates in Belarus have been disbanded by the Supreme Court. The Executive Committee adopted a resolution, condemning the dissolution of the independent trade unions, demanding the immediate release of all trade unionists in Belarus. 

Unions in Korea are trying to change the country’s trade union act. On 12 November, 90,000 workers rallied on the streets of Seoul, demanding labour law. IndustriALL Executive Committee adopted a resolution urging Korea’s national assembly to pass a bill implementing ILO Conventions 87 and 98. 

With human rights violations, including abuse of labour rights, on the rise, there is a need for strong regulation to address and prevent violations along the supply chains. Voluntary codes of conduct and other unilateral approaches are simply not credible. 

The Executive Committee discussed trade union strategies on supply chains and due diligence, with Kemal Özkan stressing the need for transparent supply chains and trade union involvement. 

“Full involvement of workers and unions to safeguard freedom of association, collective bargaining, and health and safety is needed.  Due diligence is an important tool for unions to achieve their main objectives, that is to defend and promote workers’ rights and interests.”

IndustriALL will hold a mid-term policy conference in South Africa next year in June. The conference will look at achievements since IndustriALL’s 3rd Congress in September 2022, and key issues to further advance the fight for workers’ rights. ExCo participants engaged in a lively discussion on the proposed programme.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kan Matsuzaki presented action taken by affiliates in September and October as part of the joint work of IndustriALL and industriAll Europe on fighting inequality and the cost-of-living crisis. Unions from the Philippines and Bangladesh to Tanzania and Peru took action to demand a better future.

“Working people everywhere are facing a cost-of-living crisis, with wage increases not meeting soaring inflation and rising energy costs, combined with attacks on unions and workers’ rights,”

said Kan Matsuzaki.

“We are continuing our call that is time to pay up with more action throughout the year.”  

Health and safety as a strategic organizing tool

Participants in the cross-sectoral online meeting on 26 October heard how Indonesia’s Chemical, Energy and Mines Workers had used OHS to organize workers, after more than 100 workers had died at mine sites.

CEMWU has developed educational material and training on health and safety for organizers in different provinces, including OHS principles in collective agreements, and holding related social dialogue with employers.

Julius Carandang, general secretary of Metal Workers’ Alliance of Philippines (MWP), underlined that OHS is an important strategy to organize, adding that when an electronics factory in Philippines forced pregnant women workers to work the night shift, workers were outraged and joined the union in response.

Participants discussed the ratification, implementation and monitoring of ILO OHS Conventions, like C176, C155 and C187, critical parts of the global victory of ILO declaring health and safety a fundamental principle at work.

“IndustriALL adopts a rights-based approach on OHS. Every worker has the right to know, participate and refuse, and that cannot be bargained with. When employers deny trade unions entry in the area of OHS, it is the duty of unions to regain control to save workers’ lives,”

said Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL mining and OHS director.

While unsafe and unhealthy workplace practice affects both men and women, women workers are exposed to greater risks due to their reproductive roles in society.

“We need a gender-responsive OHS policy. Companies and unions should conduct joint OHS risk assessments for women workers, and women should be given opportunities to join OHS committees,"

said Annie Adviento, general secretary of the Confederation of Labor and Allied Social Services of Philippines (CLASS).

IndustriALL’s manual for health and safety activists, Saving ourselves, is a resource for union health and safety activists, particularly those who are just starting out. The manual provides an overview of basic structures and programmes that workers need to understand when fighting for safer and healthier workplaces.

65 unionists from Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Philippines attended the meeting and agreed to set up a regional cross sector OHS platform.

Photo: E. Tuyay / ILO