Piloting workers in mechanical engineering towards a greener future

Participants discussed the research report from late 2021 and its implications for the future trade union work in the sector, as well as potential organizing and campaigning in the growing segment of green tech. The war in Ukraine overshadows the sector’s economic situation in many regions of the world, in particularly by causing disruptions in the supply chain.

For IndustriALL, green tech activities in the sector are part of the overall strategy to work on a just transition and to create a sustainable industrial policy, in accordance with the strategic goals adopted at the 2021 congress.

“Green tech represents the future of mechanical engineering and goes hand in hand with digitalization. We face a double challenge to be present in the smart plants of the future. Our most promising approach is to embrace the changes and pilot our members through it. We are here to work on a better future for our members,”

said sector director Matthias Hartwich.

Rainer Wimmer, president of IndustriALL Austrian affiliate Pro-Ge and sector co-chair, said:

"Five years ago, we started to look more closely at green tech. We made it the main topic of our world conference in Stuttgart in 2019, we have had a lot of input from individual countries and regions, and we commissioned a scientific study together with Syndex. Now we want to bring this knowledge to the ground with our power and make sure that green jobs become good jobs.”

The meeting took place as COP27 was under way in Egypt, underlining the urgency of greening the industrial production in all discussions. Participants agreed that the transition must be a just transition, and renewed the position from the Green tech manifesto, adopted in November 2020.

According to the manifesto, affiliates in the sector are willing to   

REPORT: Energy crisis – an opportunity for unions to achieve a Just Transition for workers sooner?

Report

From Global Worker

no 2 November 2022

  

Region: Global

Theme: Just Transition and the energy sector   

Text: Cherisse Gasana

Why a Just Transition Initiative for the energy sector now?

The energy sector plays a critical role in national, regional and global economies. National and international energy companies have provided millions of organized jobs in the past and energy sector revenues are key for national budgets.

Geopolitical conflicts, growing instability, strategic competition, and security threats have made some countries reassess their energy systems; from importing fossil fuels to speeding up growth of all forms of clean energy. Energy security is a critical issue that, combined with climate concerns, is accelerating efforts to develop clean energy with secure and domestic supply chains. 

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the energy sector employs about 65 million people worldwide (around two per cent of the global formal workforce) in 

Although clean energy is fueling employment growth, job losses are acute in certain regions and sectors. A lot of investment is needed to ensure a good transition. Rapid employment growth also represents risks: more skilled workers needed, growing skills gaps, and insufficient focus on decent work.

While projections show significant growth in jobs in a transition to clean energy, no single clean energy technology or activity will involve as many jobs, and as many quality jobs, as workers have in today’s oil and gas sector. While today’s jobs in oil and gas are among the best jobs in the economy, so far jobs in new clean energy companies are often lower quality than fossil fuel jobs, with some employers hostile to unions.  

In 2022, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), LO Norway and IndustriALL Global Union collaborated on a global union initiative on Just Transition in the Energy Sector. The initiative aims to ensure that the union movement has the information, tools, and plans to get good jobs and Just Transition for energy workers. 

The initiative provides a table for unions around the world to exchange information, examples and strategies. It is an opportunity to listen to experts on the renewable technologies that are set to replace and create jobs in the energy sector. It has also explored the potential for a new, tripartite process led by the UN and focused on Just Transition in the energy sector, starting with oil and gas.

A Just Transition leaves no one behind

Just Transition is a term coined by the trade union movement, referring to policy needed to secure workers' rights and livelihoods when economies shift to sustainable production. The goal is that the transition must be as fair and inclusive as possible, creating decent work opportunities and leaving no one behind.

The pandemic and the energy crisis have propelled Just Transition to one of the most important priorities, accelerating the need for unions to have a seat at the table before industries shift with only the interests of governments and capital. 

Many countries have plans to invest in clean energy transition technologies, but there is no guarantee that a move to these technologies will keep and create good jobs. Companies unilaterally invest in energy transition, leaving workers out of the process, but are not investing enough to attain the commitments set by the Paris Agreement.

“Trade unions are not satisfied with efforts by energy companies so far. Existing collective bargaining, climate target-setting, and responsible business initiatives are not getting enough results,”

says Diana Junqera Curiel, IndustriALL energy sector and Just Transition director.

Lives and livelihoods at stake

What does Just Transition mean for the refinery engineer in the US set to lose his job next month, as the refinery will close? 

What does Just Transition mean for the gas extraction engineer in Denmark who has just found out about the cancellation of latest round of gas extraction licensing due to government climate goals?

Workers in fossil fuel industries are often portrayed as resistant to clean energy, but the resistance is more often driven by uncertainty about what happens to traditional energy jobs. Climate change has a direct impact on communities and on workers’ livelihoods in these communities. 

Supply chains are crucial to Just Transition

“Unions must be present on the ground, on national and on international levels to make sure that Just Transition is dealt with not only in the global north, but throughout the supply chain,”

says Anne-Beth Skrede, LO Norway special advisor.

Global unions represent workers throughout the supply chain, and building climate resilience into supply chains requires that workers be involved, especially if no one is to be left behind.

Clean energy technologies fuel employment growth

There is no single industry that could replace the oil and gas industry in terms of jobs and income. Unions are studying multiple technologies when discussing about where jobs are moving to. The Just Transition and the Energy Sector initiative looked specifically at 

Breaking down the value chains from production, processing, distribution, and end use (upstream, midstream, downstream) provides a clearer view of where the jobs are and where there is a future for workers in renewable energy technologies.

Workers in fossil fuel extraction are highly skilled, with skills applicable to the growing renewable sectors. This is particularly true in oil and gas, where there is transferability and real potential for unions to tap into.

A gender transformative and inclusive Just Transition 

Gender balance is poor in the renewables sector, with women representing only 30 per cent of the workforce due to gender stereotypes, lack of access to jobs, education, hiring practices, discriminatory workplace policies and a lack of work-life balance. Strategies and programmes addressing the effects of climate change must include the participation, experiences, and voices of women.

Unions must address cultural and social norms, as well as structural barriers that stand in the way of gender equality. The gender pay gap and the undervaluation of women’s work are still lacking from conversations on Just Transition.

Trade unions need to build power and alliances with civil society – feminist, youth, communities, racialized, indigenous and environmental organizations. Unions must ensure that their structures are representative of the entire workforce they represent, not only the male workers. All workers must benefit from equal opportunities and equal treatment. They must also defend the rights of the communities they are part of and integrate them in the planning of a Just transition.

What does a successful Just Transition look like for workers? Trade unions must ask if a successful outcome only benefits male workers. Have women, disproportionally under-represented in male dominated sectors like energy, been considered. What about racialized or indigenous workers over represented in precarious and outsourced work? 

“Clean energy jobs are for everyone. The next phase of the Just Transition initiative plans to include gender and racial justice issues to a greater extent and explore what the union movement can do to make sure more women, racialized and young workers get good jobs in clean energy and most importantly, join unions,”

said Samantha Smith, ITUC Just Transition Center director.

Just Transition needs unions at the table!

Energy sector unions and national confederations have mobilized on the issue of good jobs and Just Transition. Their members are experiencing both changes to jobs and job losses, as well as new organizing opportunities due to decarbonization. 

Good examples of Just Transition are usually found in countries with high union membership and where unions have been involved early on. Therefore, unions must make sure that they are prepared. Inclusivity and taking advantage of organizing the new jobs that the transition brings is key for achieving a successful Just Transition for all workers.

Workforces across the world face different challenges and there are significant gaps in the industrial capabilities between country’s different transition pathways. It is a messy and complex picture withno one size fits all when dealing with a Just Transition.

Though many jobs in the oil and gas sector have high skills transfer to clean energy jobs, this is not universally true. The transition will require skilling and reskilling. Similarly, newer technologies such as hydrogen raise new health and safety issues that will require new OHS regulations and skills. Even older technologies, like solar panels require more attention to skills and OHS, as there is currently not enough focus on risks such as falls and high voltages.   

Workers are present throughout supply chains – unions and organized workers will ensure that there is justice in this transition

Renewable energy has pushed businesses to transform their operations and supply chains to meet record demands for clean energy. But the renewable energy sector supply chain especially the solar, wind and battery ones, face criticism over human rights violations. Legislation is developing quickly as a response. 

Companies have a significant role to play in Just Transition; they can no longer make surface changes, they have a duty to make real efforts to achieve sustainability goals, and simply not cosmetic changes to tick Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) criteria check boxes.

Due diligence is discussed on national and international levels – from the European Commission’s proposed a Directive on Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence, and discussions on a UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights, to Japan’s Council of Metalworkers’ (JCM) guide on Trade unions’ role and responses to human rights due diligence, submitted to the parliamentary vice-minister of economy, trade and industry (METI).

The most advanced due diligence initiative that we have seen so far is the German supply chain legislation, the Lieferkettengesetz. From 1 January 2023, workers and their advocates will be able to sue German companies in German courts for environmental and human rights breaches, including breaches of workers’ rights.

A successful Just Transition includes taking responsibility for supply chains and human rights due diligence laws will be instrumental. Workers need to be involved to make sure that due diligence doesn’t fall short of expectations.

Just Transition agreements between unions, employers and led by the UN has the potential to get and enforce global decent jobs and Just Transition agreements between oil and gas companies and trade unions. If successful, global unions plan to expand to include other energy and industrial companies.  

These developments have created a moment in time where unions have an opportunity to build the table that we will sit at.

If businesses fail to implement due diligence measures throughout their supply chains, especially in the renewables sectors there will likely be consequences on their business, as investors, customers and financial institutions are developing human rights-related requirements applicable to everyone that they do business with.

The joint initiative between the ITUC, LO Norway and IndustriALL comes at an important moment in time when unions must reclaim Just Transition. It cannot be hijacked by capital as a tool to tick their ESG boxes. It is ours, and to achieve it we must be at every level of the discussion because workers are in every level of the supply chain.

Overview of what is happening globally around Just Transition

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the USAaims to create clean energy jobs, drive investment in renewable energy, revitalize the manufacturing sector and lower health care costs. The act is projected to create 1.5 million jobs in construction and manufacturing sectors. There are still concerns around the transition itself. There are still no provisions for workers in the fossil fuel industries. The act has its limitations and unions will continue to fight for those workers.

Denmark has a highly unionized workforce that have managed to secure quality jobs in the wind sector.

The industry’s equipment manufacturing footprint is a big factor affecting where jobs are created. It determines a country’s ability to establish a strong local domestic supply chain and the ability to implement and to upgrade and update power grids to feed wind electricity into the grid.

In Norway, eleven offshore floating wind installations will be developed with employers, governments, and unions. These will be the first floating wind facilities powering offshore oil and gas installations. As oil and gas production emissions represent a quarter of Norway’s CO2 emissions, it was important for Norway to electrify these platforms. 

Spain's Just Transition strategy for the energy sector is part of a larger decarbonization effort for the whole economy. Social dialogue is a big part of this process and unions are closely involved. Unions report a complex yet positive start to the process, which started with a coal phaseout and a rapid build-up of renewable energy and in 2021 expanded to include a ban on new oil and gas drilling.

In Brazil there has been an increase in prices and demand in the solar photovoltaic sector since 2021, creating about 151,000 jobs, 43% of those jobs are outside of Brazil, and the jobs are concentrated in construction and characterized by precarious working conditions and low wages in Brazil. 

Energy transition in Brazil is at a critical moment. Presidential election results will have a considerable impact on the country’s direction for Just Transition.

In South Africa unions have developed a Just Transition Blueprint for Workers for the coal-energy value chain, agriculture, and transport. The Blueprint provides policy, collective bargaining, and other tools for unions to ensure that workers can drive the agenda of a radical transformation of the economy. South Africa’s energy mix going forward is under discussion after recent announcements by the government. There will be more renewables, and potentially a greater role for natural gas.  

Japan has an ambitious roadmap to tackle climate change. Cooperation between unions and the government is strong. With tight electricity supply and high natural gas prices, the government and unions see roles for solar power and nuclear energy. To maintain security of supply, the Japanese government is looking for natural gas suppliers.

In Colombia, the mining industry has seen difficult times in the country. Glencore for example, took advantage of the previous government’s softer regulation to dismiss workers.

Workers want to move towards clean energy. With the newly elected government unionsbelieve that they can make progress on a Just Transition, not only in the energy sector but in other sectors as well, like agriculture.

In Iraq transition plans and investment have come to a halt due to instability in the country. There is opportunity for renewable energy in Iraq, yet there is flaring gas all over the country. 

Unions must look at the global picture to see where multinational companies are investing, for example, the German company Siemens has signed an agreement with the Iraqi government to produce Hydrogen in the country. IndustriALL has a Global Framework Agreement with Siemens that can provide unions with leverage to demand workers participation in the transition process.

The German government came up with a hydrogen strategy in 2020 to create strong energy partnerships around the world dominated by technical details, with no worker perspective. Engaging trade unionists, works council members, and value chain experts, DGB produced their own literature on the subject. They carried out interviews with 20 different experts and produced a position paper: Trade union demands for the hydrogen economy – towards a H2 ready workforce.

In Nigeria, trade unions are part of a tripartite social dialogue process on delivering the country’s commitments to the UN climate goals, but more needs to be done especially on what unions can do collectively to have a seat at the table.

The government still invests heavily in oil and gas exploration. Oil and gas exports account for 65% of Nigeria’s national revenue. While oil jobs are below 5 per cent of direct employment, they are the best quality jobs available. 

Indonesia has a net zero roadmap to phase out coal fired power by 2060. However, unions are concerned that there is no clear plan on how to reach these targets or what they mean for the 1.2 million workers in coal mining. Unions want tripartite social dialogue to shape this plan and to include discussions on the future of the oil and natural gas industries. 

unions are focusing on training and upskilling to be able to prepare workers. Including Just Transition language in CBAs and educating on climate change impact is key.

PROFILE: Mexico's Los Mineros mark 88 years of union struggle

Union profile

From Global Worker

no 2 November 2022

  

Country: Mexico

Union: Los Mineros.        

Text: Kimber Mayer

Los Mineros, representing more than 3.5 million workers in Mexico, has marked a number of victories in 2022. It won several union votes giving it the right to negotiate collective bargaining agreements, including at Canada’s Americas Gold and Silver, which runs the Cosalá mine in Sinaloa, and Teksid Hierro, which operates in Frontera, Coahuila.

The union was up against unions affiliated to the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM). Los Mineros say that the companies tended to back these unions because they guaranteed cheap labour and disregarded safety conditions. So far in 2022, Los Mineros have secured wage increases of more than 8 per cent and other benefits, and have managed to protect workers' real wages against inflation.

IndustriALL Global Union followed the process at Teksid Hierro closely where Los Mineros won a resounding victory in September 2022. Almost 80 per cent of the workers voted for the union to become the sole legal representative of the collective bargaining agreement at the company, ending an eight-year-long struggle. Since 2014, workers had condemned the anti-union tactics used to block Los Mineros' initiative to establish a democratic union at the company. 

The elections were held as part of the 2019 reform to the country’s Federal Labour Law. The reform aim to build real industrial relations through new, democratic unions and thus improve freedom of association in the country. It ensures that workers can freely decide, through a secret and direct ballot, which union to join and which leaders should represent them. 

The law also stipulates that workers must approve the provisions of their collective contracts within a period of no more than four years, through an individual, free, direct and secret ballot. This is to ensure that workers are aware of the provisions of their collective agreement and that the collective bargaining is a free process. As part of this procedure, unions first decide whether to keep or reject the existing collective agreements, which helps to eliminate the so-called employer protection contracts.  

The labour reform is being phased in across each of the country's states. The first phase was completed in 2020, the second in 2021 and the third and final stage began in October 2022. According to official government figures, so far:

Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, Los Mineros’ general secretary, a Mexican senator and member of IndustriALL’s Executive Committee, said:

"Los Mineros has faced and overcome many challenges and setbacks since it was created on 11 July 1934, nearly 9 decades ago. Our work has focused on achieving decent wages, fair benefits, better safety conditions that prevent fatal accidents, and respect for the environment.

“We are proud of our history. We are also proud of the role we have played in Mexico’s major social and workers' struggles and our continued commitment to the fight for labour justice, democracy and trade union freedom. "

The official deadline to legalize all collective labour contracts in the country is six months. There are hundreds of thousands of contracts registered with the Secretary of labour and social security. Many contracts will still be won by protection unions as the capacity to fight and win this enormous amount of contracts is overwhelming. IndustriALL hopes affiliates have the power to turn around as many contracts as possible; Mexican workers deserve nothing less

INTERVIEW: Swasthika Arulingam

Interview

From Global Worker No 2 November 2022

  

Country: Sri Lanka

Union: Commercial and Industrial Workers Union (CIWU)

Text: Kalyani Badola

How did you become a trade unionist?

“I finished my law degree in 2012, after which I joined the Legal Aid Commission of Sri Lanka (LAC) as a lawyer. LAC provides legal aid services to marginalized sections of society who cannot afford to pay for legal counsel. 

“When I joined LAC, the organization was just starting a project to set up centres in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka to provide legal aid services to war-affected communities in the region. Since I speak Tamil and a significant portion of the population in the area is Tamil, I was asked to oversee the project. During this period, I spent a lot of time with the working class of the country, trying to understand their issues and providing support wherever it was possible. Since I was based out of Colombo, I was also part of the legal aid panel there. This gave me an opportunity to interact with workers from Free Trade Zones (FTZ) and familiarize myself with the situation of industrial workers in the country. We were doing a lot of pro-bono cases of workers’ rights violations in FTZ areas. This is when I encountered organizers from the Commercial and Industrial Workers Union (CIWU). My political ideology and the work that CIWU was doing intersected, and I decided to join the union in 2019. Since then, I have been working as an organizer with CIWU.”

Why is it important for unions to have young women leaders?

“In 2021 I was approached to be on the union’s executive committee. They believed the union and workers could benefit immensely from a young woman in the leadership position. Being a feminist, I couldn’t agree with them more. I decided to participate in the election and was elected deputy general secretary. Unfortunately, the union president, Linus Jayatilake, passed away earlier this year. After his demise, the executive committee approached me to take the post. And in July this year, I took on the role of the president of CIWU.

“In Sri Lanka, like everywhere in South Asia, a majority of trade union leadership is male-dominated. This greatly affects the types of worker's issues that unions take up. We see that in industries like garment, which has a disproportionately high number of unskilled and fluctuating women workers, having a male leadership makes it extremely difficult to raise issues like night work, harassment on the shop floor including sexual harassment, gender pay gap, transport facility, and childcare, as factory issues. These are frequently not regarded as worker issues, but rather as issues affecting women and are most of the time not made a priority. 

“Even when they are raised, the approach of a male leadership is very different. For example, sexual harassment is treated as a one-off incident which it is not; it is deeply embedded in the production process. For night work, male unionists usually say that women need to go home early as they need to take care of the household and children. So, we see patriarchy playing out even within unions and in the formulation of workers’ problems. 

“In such a scenario a woman leader or a woman organizer can make a huge difference. Women-led unions have demonstrated a strong feeling of camaraderie and a collective spirit. In contrast to male-led unions, where leaders assume the role of God and other members feel like they are pleading for help, in women-led unions, everyone feels like they are a part of the process. The union culture changes when women are in leadership positions. It is still good to have a woman who sounds like them even though I did not come to this position from the shop floor. It gives them hope that one day they will be able to lead.”

What challenges do young women face within union spaces?

“As I mentioned earlier, patriarchy plays out even within unions. Women unionists are constantly subjected to sexist remarks, harassment, and sub-delegation of tasks. Low-paid administrative tasks are usually assigned to women, and the face of the leadership is always a man.” 

How have unions, including CIWU, responded to you being elected president?

“CIWU has been very supportive. I am not treated any differently from our other senior leaders. They see it as an opportunity to articulate new positions, formulate new campaigns, and bring in more young people. But of course, it will take time to get used to a woman leader in the decision-making body. Our society does not view assertiveness as a quality that women should possess. They are ‘supposed’ to be subservient. The National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) of Sri Lanka, which IndustriALL affiliates are also part of, was formed in 1995 but has just welcomed its first female trade unionist. 

“But then it’s not just about one woman. We need women at all levels. In our executive committee, there are three women out of 15 members. That figure must rise. Additionally, we must make sure that we do more than simply participate in the decision-making process in name alone.”

What is the situation for workers in Sri Lanka now?

“The current economic crisis is the making of the ruling class. We lacked an economic strategy when liberal economic policies were introduced in 1977. The ruling class wanted to appease individual employers and be in their good books. They did not think of methods to restructure the whole economy. There hasn’t been any industrialized growth in the country. There are no decent jobs. And the situation continued to get worse. And now with Covid and the current economic crisis, the economy has hit the rock bottom. 

“Exporters are keeping the funds outside the country. Employers are only worried about their interests and the political class is not holding them accountable. The current economic structure perpetuates the victimization of workers through diluting labour laws, eliminating social protection, paying starvation wages, and busting unions. Workers are being exploited by businesses, but there is no one to speak up to management about their exploitative practices. Where there are collective bargaining agreements, management is pressuring unions to settle for less-than-ideal agreements or to forgo having any at all. Even within NLAC which is a tripartite body, the position of unions is weaker as there is a strong presence of anti-union government officials and employers.

“Wages have stagnated. Overtime, attendance bonus, transport fares, or any other incentives, are not paid and the cost of living has shot up. Food inflation hit 94 per cent last month. We are paying thrice as much compared to what we used to pay earlier for utilities. Public transport and fuel have become expensive. Taxes, both direct and indirect, have risen. There is a huge burden on workers. it has become impossible to live. They are skipping meals because they can’t afford to pay for food items anymore. Nutrition has been severely affected. Children are not going to school. So, the overall situation is very pitiable.”

What are unions doing in the face of the crisis?

“We have been running a community kitchen programme for union members in FTZ by pooling resources, easing the economic pressure on individual workers and their families. We have written to the government several times to engage with trade unions and to convene a meeting of NLAC so that issues pertaining to workers’ rights can be discussed in the tripartite forum. 

“We have demanded that the minimum wage be raised from LKR16,000 (US$44) to LKR26,000 (US$71). We are also demanding a monthly economic relief allowance of LKR10,000 (US$27) for all workers. We wrote a letter to the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) requesting brands who source from Sri Lanka, to continue to place their orders in Sri Lankan factories so that economy doesn’t collapse further and workers can retain their jobs.”

Trade unions strategize for week two of COP27

Just Transition is crucial as the implementation of the Paris Agreement is negotiated. The term mustn’t be hijacked and Just Transition must be about workers’ rights, good jobs and social dialogue.

On Saturday the trade union delegation at COP27  joined the massive demonstration together with civil society organizations for the “global day of action for climate justice”.

The march was an opportunity for unions to communicate their perspective on just transition. Trade unionists held slogans like:

“Trade unions 4 just transition”

“there are no jobs on a dead planet” 

“there is no climate justice without labour rights”

The march was held inside the conference venue because free protests on the streets are not allowed.

On Sunday the trade union strategy day, organized by the ITUC and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, brought together about 80 trade union delegates to COP from around the world to develop a strategic approach to the climate negotiations, as well as lobbying national governments and including Just Transition in collective agreements with companies.

The delegates were updated on the current status of the negotiations at the halfway point of COP27. The Paris Rulebook was finalized last year at COP26. This year focuses on implementation, and there are important negotiations on loss and damage, climate finance and the implementation of Just Transition in national plans. 

Participants broke out into group sessions to address three important elements of Just Transition:

  1. National Just Transition agreements and laws, with Boitumelo Molete (COSATU) and Anne-Beth Skrede (LO Norway)

"There is political momentum around Just Transition. More and more countries are incorporating it into their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the UNFCCC. Social dialogue and democracy are prerequisites  for Just Transition – so we can use this to demand freedom of association, create space for unions to organize and to raise their status and bargaining power at national level." 

said Walton Pantland, IndustriALL Global Union.

  1. Trade union climate action and mobilisation with Babacar Sylla (CNTS), Sacha Dierckx (ABVV) and Alex Callahan (CLC)

“It’s not simple to collaborate with civil society organizations due to the diversity of views in the trade union movement. We must look for areas to work together. We will not see eye to eye on everything, but we need to create space to communicate with civil society. We must educate on how trade unions function to build our base and create coalitions to strengthen our movement towards climate justice for all.”

Said Alex Callahan, Canadian Labour Congress

  1. Just Transition in collective bargaining with John Mark Mwanika (ITF) and Diana Junquera (IndustriALL Global Union)

“We need to be sure that Just Transition and climate policies are included in collective bargaining, at local, national, global and company level. Unions have to include specific language to cover workers through the different challenges that they are facing due to climate change and the energy transition“

said Diana Junquera Curiel, IndustriALL Global Union.

Samantha Smith from the Just Transition Centre presented the work of the Centre and the newly launched initiative of Just Transition on the Energy Sector.

“We are working hard with affiliates on Just Transition. Our members know that the transition is here, and they want to be ready, we are here to support this process. We have fought for a seat at the table, and we will win a Just Transition for our members!”

The strategy day concluded with closing words from Eric Manzi of ITUC Africa: 

“Let us continue to work hard in these negotiations. Next week is crucial, and we expect good outcomes.” 

Solidarity visit to Alang shipbreaking yards

The solidarity visit, by trade unionists from India, Bangladesh, Singapore, Japan, France, the Netherlands and the Geneva head office, was part of a series of activities organized through the shipbuilding and shipbreaking action group. The events included a workshop on the Hong Kong Convention on 6 November, a meeting of the action group on 7 November, the solidarity visit, and safety training delivered by the Dutch union FNV on 9-10 November.

Considered the world’s most dangerous job, shipbreaking has taken a terrible human toll in the shipyards of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. However, India’s shipyards have improved dramatically since the local union, ASSRGWA got organized, and the country ratified the Hong Kong Convention on the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships in 2019.

Although there are still issues at the workplace, including low wages, long hours and precarious work, the situation is much improved. Delegates toured two shipbreaking yards where workers have the right to stop work they feel is unsafe. Workers are provided with protective equipment and safe working plans.

The delegation witnessed a demonstration by the union through Alang, and a rally at the ASSRGWA compound, which was built with funding from Japanese affiliate JBU. The rally was addressed by action group co-chairs Eileen Yeo and Kenichi Kanda, IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kan Matsuzaki and sector director Walton Pantland.

 

Kanda introduced listeners the Japanese greeting from JBU union members “Goanzenni!”, which means “be safe!”

Matsuzaki said:

“We have seen how much we can win through organizing. Our challenge now is to organize even more workers, so we can change the balance of power in the industry. We need to organize in Bangladesh and Pakistan and set those countries on the path towards sustainability that India has taken.”

The delegation visited several downstream operations. Outside the gates of the shipyards, men worked in a makeshift workshop, hand cutting steel plates into discs that would be used to make ploughs and other agricultural implements.

Fifty kilometres up the road, in Bhavnagar, the delegates visited women organized by SEWA who were processing e-waste and recycling old anchor rope into woven mats which are used to created chairs, beds and other furniture.

 

At the action group meeting, delegates discussed the situation in the shipbreaking industry, as well as trends in shipbuilding. The International Maritime Organization target of a 50 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from shipping is leading to changes in the way ships are designed, as well as experimentation in alternative fuels and propulsion methods. The meeting had a hybrid format with participants also joining online from Australia, Europe and Latin America.

On 6 November, stakeholders in the Indian shipbreaking industry met to discuss progress made towards the ratification and entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention. Employers were represented the Ship Recycling Industry Association and cash buyers, who play an important intermediary role between shipowners and yards, were represented by GMS. A representative of the Gujarat Maritime Board also attended.

The meeting was opened by the general secretary of Hind Mazdoor Sabha, Harbhajan Singh Sidhu, and Matsuzaki, who explained that 2023 is a crucial year for the ratification of the Convention, and that if Bangladesh fails to ratify during that time period, momentum will be lost. He noted that Pakistan had recently pledged to ratify.

Since India ratified the Convention, almost 80 per cent of yards have been upgraded to compliant standards. Unions believe that India is halfway through the process – tremendous improvements had been made, but significant work remains. Unions identified the immediate priority as the establishment of an industry wide joint safety committee.

Matsuzaki proposed the development of a tripartite Alang Standards Committee to agree common standards in wages, safety, workers accommodation, transport, training, downstream and other areas of concern to all stakeholders.

COP27 must deliver on a Just Transition for all

There is a lot of pressure on this year’s COP to deliver as we are far from the objectives set by the Paris Agreement. Global warming is increasing and financing the transition is at the heart of discussion. 

The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance which must be finalized by 2024 and is set to replace the US$100 billion climate finance goal set in Glasgow. It is clear that we should be looking at trillions to seriously achieve anything.

Developed industrialized countries in the Global North whose emissions have largely driven global warming are called on to pay up for this transition. However, we are far from and achieving an adequate financing as the discussion is moving very slowly with developed countries dragging their feet.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. Its 2022 report says: 

The IPCC also estimates that much greater annual investment from all sources will be needed globally for the world to transition to a low-carbon future and avoid warming exceeding 1.5°C.

This year’s COP is also referred to as “Africa’s COP", as it must address Africa’s climate challenges and deliver on climate finance. 

Africa has challenges but a transition is possible. But how will it be done? Economies today are based on exploitation of natural resources; looking to Just Transition to create more decent jobs with investment in environmentally sustainable production is key.

600 million people in Africa don’t have access to energy, so improving access is key. There is a need in Africa to focus on renewable technologies in energy, agriculture, and transportation to improve the welfare of communities.

Barely one week into the conference and trade unions are working fiercely to ensure that Just Transition standards are included in all levels of the negotiations. Mobilizing around ministers and government representatives is important. Key areas unions are focusing on are climate financing, loss and damages, response measures and mitigation.

“We must ensure that the Paris Agreement commitments are implemented and that those who are the worst impacted by climate change are guaranteed real solutions. Workers cannot pay the bills of the climate, energy and price crisis, and as trade unions, we must ensure a Just Transition for all. No one can be left behind”

said Diana Junqera Curiel, IndustriALL energy director.

COP27 is taking place in Egypt. On Thursay morning a demonstration was held where everyone wore white in solidarity with jailed activists.

British-Egyptian Alaa Abdel-Fattah was jailed almost a decade ago by Egyptian authorities on charges of spreading disinformation. He has been on hunger strike for months and on Sunday stopped drinking water to bring attention to his struggle and that of rights activists like him during COP27.

"Human right abuses are our business, they are at the heart of our business. If we don’t have strong democracies committed to fundamental human and labor rights, then our fight to achieve just climate goals will be impossible!"

said Sharan Burrow ITUC general secreatry.

Madagascar garment workers formulate strategies to confront gender-based violence and harassment

For example, workers at Marine et Moi formed a committee to fight GBVH at their factory in Antananarivo. Speaking at a training workshop attended by 30 participants, 22 women and eight men, from IndustriALL affiliates SEKRIMA, SEMPIZOF, and SVS, from 7-8 November, which focused on sexual harassment and how to reduce the risk factors, the workers said the committee met and discussed an action plan. The workshop follows on a GBVH workshop held in July.
 
Participants said they were engaging their enterprise committees on GBVH and carrying out awareness campaigns to sensitize workers on fundamental rights at work. GBVH is also included in union recruitment and organizing activities. The workers also identified social dialogue as another platform that is useful to the campaign, and for the ratification of Convention 190 by Madagascar. The workers said the campaigns should include the workers’ rights to maternity protection, health and safety at work, and social protection.
 
The workers identified gender discrimination as stressful to women workers in the factories and made a commitment to confront it through their union activities and campaigns. The workers also said decent wages are key to addressing GBVH as low wages and precarious working conditions increase vulnerability of women.

 

In the many testimonies that were shared in the workshop, the workers said GBVH took many forms from demanding sex to extortion. Financial forms, especially bribes for women to keep their jobs, deprived the workers of their hard-earned wages. In some instances, women paid monthly bribes of up to 20 per cent of their wages.
 
At the factories, some women workers said they shared toilets with men, which violated their privacy. Further, some changing rooms used by both male and female workers were in open spaces next to offices and had no privacy. Sometimes supervisors stopped women workers from going to the toilet by yelling through the public address system in the factory that they must go back to their workstation.
 
Harmful cultural practices that discriminated against women, domestic violence, and a justice system that did not give stiffer sentences to perpetrators, increased the risk to GBVH.
 
There were deeper discussions on what is sexual harassment and its different forms in the world of work. Discussions included social practices that privileged men while oppressing women.
 
Holitiana Randrianarimanana, a gender expert, who facilitated at the workshop said:

“It is important for unions to work with non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations on ending GBVH in Madagascar.”

Remi Botoudi, the chairperson of the national council for IndustriALL affiliates in Madagascar said:

“Unions must continue to campaign for social dialogue on GBVH and educate members on the issue.”

Armelle Seby, IndustriALL director for gender said:

“As trade unions, we must break the cycle of GBVH because it happens on a continuum and is caused by unequal power relations between men and women. Gender inequality is worsened by patriarchy, harmful social and cultural norms, and discrimination. We must address these root causes, carry out risk management, and stop the abuse of power. Additionally, we must find ways to deal with reprisals that women face when they resist GBVH that include dismissals and other forms of harassment.”

Photo credit: ILO, garment factory in Antananarivo

Two factory fires in India in less than a week

Two workers were killed and eighteen others sustained serious injuries in the fire that broke out on 1 November in a footwear manufacturing and packaging factory located in Delhi.

According to media reports, the fire was caused by an explosion in a polyurethane (PU) machine used to produce the soles of the footwear. Around 300 workers were working in the factory when the fire broke out and many jumped out of the building to save their lives.

Prior to the explosion, workers had requested that the PU machine, which was faulty, be replaced but the factory owner took no action. In addition, the factory was operating without the relevant certificates from the fire department and had no firefighting equipment.

Just four days later, another fire broke out in another footwear factory in the same industrial area of India’s capital. Luckily no casualties were reported.
Most of the workers employed in these factories come from remote rural areas of the country. Workers reported to the media that they earn INR12,000 (US$147) per month, and work for around ten hours a day.

Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL south Asia regional secretary, says:

“It’s horrific that workers continue to lose lives due to employers’ complete disregard for workplace safety. Factory inspectorate must ensure that factories adhere to safety norms.

"It’s also important that we hold retailers who purchase from factories that do not follow safety standards, accountable.”

The injured workers are under medical care. The deceased have been identified as 24-year old Sonu Thakur, and 20-year old Akhil Kumar.
Police have registered a case against the owner and the contractor of the factory.

IndustriALL forms gender equality task force

Addressing the delegates, IndustriALL general secretary Alte Høie said:

"Discussions within the women’s committee prioritizes due diligence and a Just transition as it is critical to ensure that IndustriALL develops gender receptive actions and policies. Women are always most affected by calamities. We strongly condemn the war in Ukraine and hope to find solutions to help rebuild.”

IndustriALL assistant general secretary, Christine Olivier, said:

“The Ukraine war is continuing and accelerates our struggles. Inflation is increasing and there is little protection for women. We must applaud ourselves for our completed work and the progress that we continue to make so that women have safe spaces to speak.”

Gender expert Jane Pillinger presented IndustriALL’s future pay equity toolkit. This resource focuses on why pay equity is an important trade union and workplace issue, bringing the issue into collective bargaining, and protection for workers in the informal sector. 
 
Business and human rights expert, Liz Umlas, addressed delegates about gender-transformative human rights due diligence (HRDD). She emphasized the need for due diligence. However, existing instruments are partially failing to develop a gender responsive approach. Trade unions have an important role to play to promote gender equality in supply chains. Investors have shown an increased interest in gender equality.
 
A panel discussion focused on three sectors and their work on gender mainstreaming. Speakers from FO Metal France, USW Canada and IndustriALL regional office in South Asia stressed how women should be enticed to entering technical or engineering STEM jobs in ICT Electronics, the beneficial outcomes of the GFA with H&M in advancing the fight against GBVH and the development of codes of conduct on sexual harassment for the suppliers of the brand, and how trade unions, including the mining sector, should integrate gender equality into Just Transition debates. 
 
IndustriALL’s sector directors, from mining, garment and textiles and ICT Electronics, discussed women’s challenges including discrimination and gender pay gap, GBVH, job segregation and under-representation in union structures and leadership. Directors also voiced the strategies that were being established to protect and grow women, including industry bargaining to set living wages for garment female workers, negotiation of similar agreements like the Bangladesh accords Accord securing the safety of thousands of women in this sector, establishment of women sectoral structures and development of tools for affiliates to develop gender responses to OHS.
 
An IndustriALL 2023 action plan to advance gender equality was presented. Campaigns for the ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 190 will continue. Everyone will closely monitor the outcomes of these campaigns. Further discussion and work around mainstreaming gender in IndustriALL action on HRDD and Just transition will be organized. Affiliates expressed a need for a mentoring programme for young women to grow women in all sectors. The Secretariat is working on putting together a project that will address this need.