Unionizing in response to dramatic changes in ICT, electrical and electronics

In their respective opening statements, sector chairs Masashi Jimbo, president of Japanese Electrical Electronics & Information Union, JEIU, and Prihanani Boenadi from Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers' Union (FSPMI), both noted how dramatically the industry has changed of over the past year.

Energy and raw material prices are soaring due to the decoupling of the US and China and the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and countries are reviewing their supply chains. While there are positive aspects, such as increased investment in semiconductors and batteries, the pandemic and further developments have brought challenges, like increased outsourcing, psychosocial pressure at work contributing to the increasing uncertainty of workers.

IndustriALL affiliate Japan Council of Metalworkers' Unions plans to establish human rights due diligence guidelines for trade unions by the end of this year. In addition, since this year's spring offensive, Japanese unions have been taking steps to address human rights due diligence in both industrial and company level collective bargaining.

Key for the unions of the sector is to organize and protect the workers, improve their welfare in the supply chains. Women make up the majority of the workers in the sector, and their participation in unions must be promoted. Forty per cent of the delegates of the meeting were women.

After IndustriALL gender director Armelle Seby presented conclusions from IndustriALL’s women’s committee meeting in May and the gender pay gap, participants discussed how to raise visibility of women in the sector and recommendations for preventing and addressing gender based violence and harassment.

Achieving that includes, among other things, creating safe spaces where women can talk about and make complaints about sexual harassment; strengthening complaints mechanisms; increasing visibility on domestic violence also being a workplace issue; training and awareness raising on GBVH; integrating GBVH in existing occupational health and safety policies; and more women in leadership in unions and as negotiators for collective agreements.

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

“The market for ICT, electrical and electronics is projected to grow, defence industry electronics is currently in high demand and the demand for semi-conductors has exploded.

"Coupled with a shortage of raw materials, supply chain issues and a talent shortage, the continued acceleration of the digital transformation presents challenges to the workers and their unions. We must help our affiliates and double our efforts on organizing as many workers as possible both in the industry and the supply chain.”

Participants agreed on an action plan. The unions representing workers in semiconductors sub-sector agreed to create a special union network. A similar strategy will also be pursued in the sub-sector of electronics manufacturing service (EMS) companies.

The gender perspecitve remains an important part of the work in the sector; a special focus will be put on education and tools enabling trade unions to adopt gender responsive approach to occupational health and safety.

IndustriALL and affiliates will use the increasing opportunities for promotion of worker and union rights in the sector through the series of legislative acts on human rights and due diligence being adopted in Europe and outside.

Good jobs and a Just Transition into wind technology

Workers want good jobs and just transition in the energy sector. This workshop looked at offshore and onshore wind technology, which employers and government see as a potential pathway for oil and gas companies to diversify their assets and bring down emissions. The information is not always easy to get but unions want to see how many jobs there are, when they will come, what kind of jobs they will be, what kinds of skills workers will need for these jobs, and the transition that workers will be faced with.

To get a better view of what the future holds, participants looked at the value chains of oil and gas, and onshore and offshore wind, breaking both value chains down to production, processing, distribution, and end-use (upstream, midstream, downstream). 

According to Michael Brenner from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the wind sector employs approximately 1.3 million workers globally and ranks amongst the top five renewable technologies in terms of workforce.

“Gender balance is quite poor in the sector, mainly due to access to education, hiring practices, discriminatory workplace policies and a lack of flexibility,”

Brenner said.

“This is an indication that unions have work on public policy when it comes to gender equality and bringing youth into these emerging sectors.”

Brenner explained that new installations drive jobs in the wind sector, as they in turn drive jobs in construction, manufacturing, and project design. But long-term employment is determined by the installations that are in place and that create the jobs in operations and maintenance. Since wind technology is not that new and many installations are reaching the end of their life, there are also potential jobs in dismantling and recycling of old wind turbines.

Restrictive spatial planning and other polices make wind technology difficult to bring into some countries. The lengthy process for securing permits for new wind farms has a major influence on the technology developing further and in many countries there is a need for strategic industrial policy. 

In the UK, the focus has been on lowering costs, in particular labour costs. Component production is outsourced and some of the offshore vessel crews use cheap labour from abroad. Capital expenditures are what drive jobs in the supply chain and construction. A recent study showed that only 29% of capital expenditures on UK offshore wind projects are spent within the UK. If you include development cost and maintenance and operations, that rises to 48%.

In comparison, Denmark, a much smaller country, has a much more complete domestic supply chain and is home to major turbine manufacturers like Vestas. Danish companies have an estimated 40 per cent of the European offshore market, primarily in operations and maintenance, but also installations.  The number of jobs that Danish companies can create in and outside of Denmark is significant. 

Ole Philipsen from Dansk Metal presented the Danish model; a highly unionized workforce that have managed to secure quality jobs in the wind sector, demonstrating that unions are crucial in ensuring that workers get quality jobs in the is transition.

The industry’s equipment manufacturing footprint is a big factor affecting where jobs are created. It determines a country’s abilities 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. 

“Unions have set clear targets for the development of the sector: Norwegian working conditions, safe working conditions and preparedness and security,”

said Ane-Beth Skrede from LO-Norway.

Manuel Riera from UGT In Spain, reported that the UGT and CCOO have put together a manifesto, in view of the potential for wind technology in the country. They have involved companies in the sector, ports and shipyards in the value chain, universities, and research institutions. The manifesto is an attempt to be ready in view of the emerging wind technology, unions want to be prepared and make sure that workers and communities will be part of the discussion. 

Lebogang Mulaisi from COSATU reported that South Africa relies heavily on oil, gas, and coal for energy, but there is a rush for clean energy. There is potential to develop wind powered energy and to organize workers in this new sector. 

“Wind technology is piloted in South Africa and studies show conflicting results. But there is hope that this technology will create many jobs, especially if there is local manufacturing. Our demand is to have public and worker ownership, including through worker cooperatives,”

Mulaisi concluded.

The country reports gave a snapshot of how the technologies are developing in each country and to what extent unions can be a part of the transition. While regional challenges are different, participants drew from the examples to better prepare for the future.

Two more workshops on energy transition technologies will follow later this year: 

Hydrogen workshop meeting report here: Good jobs and just transition into hydrogen

Union win for Turkish workers

In 2017, IndustriALL affiliate Birleşik Metal-İş attempted to organize the 420 workers at the Posco Assan steel plant in Kocaeli, Turkey, after they expressed deep dissatisfaction with wages and working conditions. When management heard about the organizing effort, they organized individual meetings with workers to intimidate them into leaving the union. Those who refused to resign from the union were fired.
 
In 2017, the company also changed registration of their office to a metal factory to prevent Birleşik Metal-İş to gain the required majority at the factory. Turkish trade union law requires a union to have at least 50 per cent +1 membership of the overall workforce in the company to be the legal representative.
 
After five years, Turkey’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, ruled earlier this month that the union did in fact have majority in the workplace and that Posco has to recognize the union as a collective bargaining partner.
 
The court had previously ruled that as the dismissals in 2017 were for joining a union, they were nul and void and that the 80 workers should be reinstated. Posco was ordered to pay a total of 16 months of salary, in addition to the severance pay.
 
However, Posco refused to reinstate the workers and instead had to pay extra compensation.
 
Birleşik Metal-İş has reached out to shareholders of POSCO Steel since 2017, and the Nordea Bank in Sweden decided to disinvest from POSCO and add POSCO to their exclusion list over“violation of established norms.”

Says IndustriALL assistant general secretaty Kemal Özkan:

“This case clearly shows how restricted the fundamental right of freedom of association is for Turkish workers. It is unacceptable to have to wait five years to get union recognition and at the expense of workers’ jobs and livelihoods. POSCO and its partner exploited the legislative process to prevent workers from the protection of a collective bargaining agreement.

“IndustriALL is urging POSCO to respect the final court verdict and engage with Birleşik Metal-İş for a collective bargaining process in good faith.”

Posco is the world’s fifth largest steel company. There is no union representation in the home country of Korea because of the company’s anti-union stance.

Unions reject poverty minimum wages in Zimbabwe

The money can only buy two dozen loaves of bread. The unions say to avoid living in poverty, the workers must be paid over ZWL $130,000 or US$400, and that the government must engage trade unions through social dialogue platforms before making the wage announcements.

The wage crisis in the country is leading unions to negotiate for shorter collective bargaining agreements with clauses stating that the wages must be adjusted to the inflation rate. Unions are also requesting employers to pay workers in the more stable US dollar.
 
Some grocery stores have stopped selling goods in the local currency, which is fast losing value. This puts workers into in a dilemma as they are forced to buy the US dollars on the streets where the rate is higher. According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, year-on-year inflation in May was 131.7 per cent while the current exchange rate to the US dollar is ZWL$325.56.
 
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, to which some IndustriALL affiliates are members, says the country’s workers are the working poor as they earn below the poverty line. With high unemployment, estimated to be 47 per cent by Zimbabwe National Statistic Agency using the expanded rate, the workers are likely to be the breadwinners in their households. with most workers employed under precarious conditions in the informal sector, unions dispute the official unemployment rate as low.
 
Joseph Tanyanyiwa, the chairperson of the IndustriALL National Council for Zimbabwe says:

“It is our strong view that the gazette minimum wage is too paltry and in no way related to the prevailing macro-economic fundamentals in Zimbabwe. The reality on the ground is that the prices of basic commodities are rising while the ZWL continues to depreciate against the Unites States Dollar. It is with this gloomy scenario that we wonder what criterion the minister used to set such a low minimum wage. A minimum wage of ZWL$25 000 is unreasonable, inadequate and a slap in the face of the workers.”

“For years, Zimbabwean workers have been losing savings, pensions, and the value of their wages to hyperinflation and the unresolved economic crisis. When we thought the crisis was over, we are shocked to see that hyperinflation is again eroding workers’ wages. We call upon the Government of Zimbabwe to implement sustainable economic policies that will protect the value of the workers’ wages, improve living conditions, and stop the precarious working conditions prevailing in the country,”

says Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa.
 

Tunisia’s public sector workers launch general strike

The decision to go on strike was taken several weeks ago after the government announced its economic and social programme, which includes lifting subsidies, freezing wages and employment in public jobs, all of which will have serious repercussions on workers.

A last-minute negotiation took place on 13 June between the government and UGTT, but the parties failed to reach an agreement.

UGTT has called a general strike in the public sector on June 16. Among the demands are the:

Sami Al -Taheri, UGTT assistant general secretary, says:

“The strike is a way to add pressure as the government is neglecting the workers' demands. The strike aims to protect public companies from government’s attempts of privatization. The UGTT is open to serious negotiation, but the government does not want to reach solutions.”

In an attack on democracy, fundamental rights, and rule of law, the Tunisian government recently dismissed 57 judges. The removal of the judges clearly violates one of the fundamental principles of democracy, the separation of power between executive, legislative and judicative.

The sackings coincide with a number of decrees restricting fundamental rights and freedoms in the country. Among the most worrying is that any negotiation with unions requires the prime minister’s permission, in violation of international standards, including ILO Convention 98.

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, says:

“IndustriALL fully supports UGTT’s legitimate demands and stand should-to-shoulder with our Tunisian sisters and brothers.

“The difficult financial and political situation in Tunisia has a direct impact on workers and their families. This requires serious dialogue and negotiation with UGTT as a significant labour and social force in the country. We urge the government to immediately respond to UGTT’s demands.”

South African unions end three-month strike in the gold sector

The collective agreement is for three years, and miners and artisans as well as officials will get an increase of 5 per cent or R1000 (US$62) to the standard rate of monthly pay in the first year, 5.5 per cent or R900 (US$56) in the second year, and 5 per cent or R750 (US$47) in the third year. Further, the workers will be given a once-off hardship allowance of R3000 (US$187).

At a Congress of South African Trade Unions organized May Day rally in Rustenburg the striking workers forced President Cyril Ramaphosa off the stage before finishing his speech demanding that he intervenes to resolve the wage dispute. The workers sang during the speech making it hard for others to hear the address.

The NUM, which is affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, commented that it was unfortunate that workers “disrupted their own event” while also recognizing that the rally was “a workers’ platform” to express their demands. This led to the convening of meetings between the strikers and the department of mineral resources and energy.
 
The unions also argued that if Sibanye Stillwater could pay the chief executive officer, Neal Froneman, R300 million per annum ($18.67 million), the mining company could afford to pay the workers’ demands.
 
William Mabapa, NUM, general secretary says:

“The 2022 wage negotiations were very tough and took more than a year to be concluded – the longest wage negotiations in the history of the NUM. The pressure that the unions exerted on Sibanye Stillwater through the rolling mass actions and the strike to force the company to sign the wage agreement has yielded good results. The union wishes to express sincere gratitude to its members at Sibanye-Stillwater on a successful strike that ran concurrently with negotiations until they gave us the mandate to sign this wage agreement.”

“The unity of the workers during strikes and negotiations is key to building workers power in the gold mines. We also join the workers in their joy after winning in the negotiations and commend the NUM for working in solidarity with AMCU,”

says Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining.
 
 

India’s mining unions fight for women and precarious workers

More than 40 per cent of the participants were women working in coal mines, including in coal blasting and separating heavy machinery.

Women miners stressed the need for trade unions in coal mines to address concerns like the availability of clean washrooms on mining sites, workplace sexual harassment and paid leave. Space should be made for women in traditionally male dominated unions, and negotiations, collective bargaining and other bipartite bodies need to include women workers.

Participants discussed how unsafe mining is and how the government and coal mining authorities ignore health and safety, especially related to precarious workers. Employers fail to train precarious workers, there are poor monitoring mechanism, and a lack of safety equipment. When union representatives raise health and safety issues, they face management retaliation in the form of transfers and show-cause notices.

 

The national coal wage agreement (NCWA), which represents the wage structure and other conditions including fringe benefits, expired in 2021. There has been no discussions to renew it since.

The unions expressed deep concerns over the government’s attempt to outsource public sector companies, including Coal India Limited, and to monetise coal assets. The government is set to monetise 39 coal blocks worth Rs 75,220 crore (US$9 billion) in the current financial year FY23.

Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL South Asia regional secretary, said:

"As the nature of work shifts from permanent to precarious, it's critical that unions address the concerns of precarious workers, and in particular women, who are more likely to be employed in insecure and unsafe working conditions."

Improving social dialogue at TK Elevator

The delegates represented over 50,000 men and women from 16 countries, covering the major geographical areas where the company operates. Strengthening social dialogue was the and discussions were lively, sometimes passionate, but always to the point.

During the second day of the virtual meeting, company management, represented by Phillip Voet van Vormizeele, member of TKE Group management board and chief human resources officer, participated.

Opening the meeting, IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary, Christine Olivier, stated:

“It’s important that we have clear guidelines when we discuss social dialogue. And here you must help us to develop guidelines, taking into account we have different experiences and situations globally.
Your assistance is important, as one of the things we don’t want to do, is to come with ready-made processing, avoiding a top-down approach.

The first day consisted of internal preparation for the workforce delegation, input from Christine Olivier, representatives from the Group Works Council, as well as the international committee. Armelle Seby, IndustriALL gender director, discussed gender-based violence and anti-harassment policies, also related to ILO convention 190.

The second day saw an intense discussion on the company’s future in the market and management views on social dialogue in the countries, regions and worldwide.

Wolfgang Krause, spokesperson of the international committee, said:

"Global social dialogue requires trust and solidarity among all participants and partners. These preconditions are paramount and will be the basis for a future agreement."

The over 60 delegates discussed pathways and what a social dialogue body within TKE could look like.

Susanne Herberger, chairwoman of the group works council, said:

"With this meeting, we got one step further. Our global network has grown bigger and we receive even more information from the countries and can support each other better. From now on, we will work on drafting a joint agreement."

TK Elevator employs more than 50,000 men and women, with major operations in over 50 countries. In late 2020, the company signed a global framework agreement (GFA) with IndustriALL. Now, with support from German FES foundation, IndustriALL and affiliates are creating a global social dialogue body to improve workers’ participation in this group. 

“After our experience with the strong GFA at TK Elevator, we want to take it a step further and add proper instruments for a social dialogue on the global level. We have seen that some issues, in Brazil, France and India for example, require intense discussions beyond a conflict resolution model. We want to develop a progressive and inclusive social dialogue body where workers and their unions can raise issues and enter into proper dialogue with corporate management,”

said IndustriALL director for mechanical engineering, Matthias Hartwich.

Joint action in Croatia’s textile industry

Croatia’s textile, garment, shoes and leather (TGSL) industries employ 22,000 workers. Attracting young workers is a major challenge; other industries offer higher wages and many young people leave for Western Europe.

The profile of the TGSL industries could be raised by focusing on innovative and high-quality products and investing in decent working conditions, better wages and career opportunities. 

Importance of well-functioning industrial relations, social dialogue and collective bargaining was highlighted by the HUP employer association and the TOKG trade union. The Austrian Economic Chamber and PRO-GE union presented their cooperation, ranging from negotiations to education and industrial policies.

Participants agreed to work together on building a winning concept for the TGSL industries in Croatia. Instead of low-cost fast fashion, it should be based on sustainable, green and technologically advanced products, in line with the European Union’s new textile strategy.

As experience from countries like Austria and Portugal shows, success requires the support of the government. The partners agreed to approach the decision-makers together with their proposals to secure coherent industrial strategies.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“Croatian employers and government representatives must be committed to promote sustainable and socially responsible businesses. Unless workers are properly paid, they will look for more attractive jobs in Croatia or elsewhere. To be truly sustainable, the industry must provide decent wages and conditions that enable workers to live with dignity.”

Luc Triangle, industriAll Europe general secretary:

“We welcome that social partners and education providers in Croatia are calling on the government to strategically focus on TCLF. The social partner now need to invest in building their own strength and capacity so that they can act together in pushing the government.”

The workshop was part of an EU-funded project, “Ensuring a sustainable future for the Southeast European textile, clothing, leather and footwear industries”, carried out in cooperation with European industry associations Euratex, Cotance and CEC, industriAll Europe and IndustriALL Global Union. The 2-year project covers Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia, where the TGSL industries employ over 400,000 workers.

Health and safety is now a fundamental principle

It is estimated that more than 3 million workers die every year because of their work, and tens of millions are injured.

The decision by the ILC on 10 June to make health and safety a Fundamental Principle and Right at Work, means that all ILO member states commit to respect and promote the fundamental right to a safe and healthy working environment, whether or not they have ratified the relevant ILO Conventions.

“This is a huge union win and a crucial step to make working life safer for the world’s workers,”

says IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie.

“It is a milestone in the global efforts to stem the tide of deaths in the world of work. We can now look forward to a better tomorrow, where workers will be safe in the knowledge that health and safety will be a fundamental principle and right at work."

This is the first extension of workers’ fundamental human rights, since the four rights were adopted in 1998:

Each of the fundamental principles is associated with the most relevant ILO Conventions. The new fundamental Conventions will be the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No.155) , and the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187).