Rana Plaza: from tragedy to an International Accord to make garment factories safe

Nine years ago, one of the biggest industrial homicides in the history of garment production happened in Bangladesh. Five thousand workers were forced to go to work in a factory that had clear warning signs of an early collapse. 1,132 workers died and more than 2,500 were injured.

Finally, IndustriALL and UNI Global Unions managed to convince the brands that they had to resume responsibility. We created the Bangladesh Accord. Nine years and thousands of factory inspections later, close to 200,000 potentially deadly traps in 1,600 factories have been fixed. People do not die anymore in an industry which costs hundreds of lives also in the years before Rana Plaza.

A factory inspection

Together with 160 brands, we have now created the International Accord. We have agreed to expand the scope of the Accord to more countries than Bangladesh. This means that we will be able to save lives in more countries. It means that millions of more workers will benefit from safer factories.

The universal question remains though, how can we provide for this fantastic opportunity to all textile and garment workers around the world? Garment workers need safe factories. So our work needs to continue. We need to engage more brands to join the Accord, especially in North America, to gain the leverage we need to make this a truly global Accord.

Workers who produce the clothes that we wear deserve a workplace that provides them with a living wage and decent working conditions, not a workplace and threatens to take their lives. Help us expand the Accord even further, and save lives.

Women’s involvement needed to stop gender-based violence in mining

The research in the mining sector is based on individual and group interviews with 21 women and two male leaders of IndustriALL-affiliated unions in South Africa (NUM and NUMSA), Colombia (Sintracarbon), and Canada (Unifor and USW).

The research finds that sexual harassment and sexual violence are pervasive in the mining sector. Women spoke about the remoteness and relative isolation of mining sites, which makes women more vulnerable to violence. Sexual harassment and sexual assault remain significant concerns for women workers.

Women are also overlooked for promotion, and have undervalued skills and lower earnings compared to men. In addition, women and men work and live in the same communities, making it harder to make complaints against a colleague or a supervisor.

Women’s low representation in mining jobs makes them particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment and sexual assault. Further, a lack of policies to address gender inequalities – or failure to implement them – sustains the masculinized culture of the workplace, which is also reflected in union structures and leadership.

“[Male colleagues and union comrades] question your dignity, attack you for lacking family values and they try and undermine your credibility and reputation,”

said Hidanora Pérez of Sintracarbon.

A consistent message in the interviews is the importance of women having leadership roles in unions. Union leaders also stressed the critical importance of women have responsibilities for collective bargaining, as this is where they can influence change.

“Women must be part of the negotiations as the branch chair is always male, we should make sure it is women who are at the table to discuss maternity and gender-based violence, otherwise it doesn’t get raised,”

said Mathapelo Khanye, national secretary for women in NUM.

Despite some positive developments, many women workers have not seen real change on the ground and in the workplace. Internal policies and mechanisms to address GBVH are considered largely ineffective and there was a general lack of awareness about complaints mechanisms, including whether the company even had a policy.

Domestic violence is a significant concern for women in mining. Every worksite should aim to have a policy on domestic violence, with paid leave and other support for survivors.

“If someone experiences domestic violence and they open up about it, we give them support. How do we get someone to open up about these issues, it is so awful to see them going through so much and we can’t help them as they can’t open up…we still have a lot to do,"

said a workplace union representative from South Africa.

Recommendations of the women interviewed include:

IndustriALL director for the mining sector, Glen Mpufane, said:

“This research presents an important milestone in the fight against the scourge of GBVH. Besides the invaluable contribution to the body of work on GBVH, it present a powerful perspective from women’s voices that are marginalized, unseen and unheard, made vulnerable by their position in the corporate and workplace hierarchy and in society.

“The recommendation for the effective integration of GBVH into occupational health and safety provides an important pathway to dealing with this scourge, given the pending repeal of the outdated Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935 (No. 45), and the intention to mainstream women in mining into the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No. 176) and the Safety and Health in Mines Recommendation, 1995 (No. 183).”

Photo: Ghana Mineworkers' Union

Repression against independent unions in Belarus must stop

The latest blatant attack on the independent union movement in Belarus occurred on 19 April:

The offices of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP) and its affiliated unions, including two IndustriALL affiliates – Free Metal Workers’ Union (SPM) and Belarusian Radio and Electronic Industry Workers' Union (REP) – were searched. Union leaders’ and activists’ homes were also searched, and digital devices and union paperwork was seized. Union leaders and activists were detained, including Alexander Yaroshuk, Sergey Antusevich, Irina Bud-Gusaim, Nikolay Sharakh, Gennady Fedynich, Yana Malash, Vitaly Chichmarev, Vadim Payvin, Mikhail Gromov, Aleksander Bukhvostov, Igor Komlik, Vasiliy Bersenev, and Dmitry Borodko.   

Alexander Yaroshuk

Earlier, on 7 April, the Committee for State Security of Belarus (KGB) listed the Belarusian Radio and Electronic Industry Workers' Union as an extremist organization and banned its activities. REP asked for a written explanation from the KGB as to why the union, which runs its activity in careful compliance with national and international legislation, was deemed an extremist formation. New searches and detentions came as a response.

Unions in Belarus have been under attack since August 2020, with searches of union offices and homes of union leaders and activists, administrative penalties, detentions and imprisonments of those who fight for workers’ rights. Recently, there has been an increase in interrogations of union activists, the illegal installation of video and listening devices in union offices, and pressure placed on union members to resign from their union has become widespread.

By oppressing its democratic workers’ organizations, Belarus is violating its international obligations, including the ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, which has been ratified by Belarus.

In March, the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association heavily criticized the government of Belarus for its continued failure to implement key recommendations of a 2004 ILO Commission of Inquiry. A number of the union representatives who provided testimony to the ILO on Belarus in recent years are amongst those detained. IndustriALL Global union calls on the ILO to intervene urgently in the situation.

These violations must stop immediately.

We demand the immediate release of all detained union leaders and activists, for all charges to be dropped, and to allow unions to perform their union activity in line with national and international legislation. It is imperative that the Belarusian Radio and Electronic Industry Workers' Union be removed from the list of extremist organizations and be allowed to continue carrying out its trade union activity.

We also urge Belarus to stop all repression of the union movement, and to start building a working relationship with trade unions based on social dialogue.  

South African metalworkers conference discusses bargaining strategies in a changing world of work

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) held a national bargaining conference on 11-13 April in Boksburg, near Johannesburg, to discuss the metalworkers’ bargaining strategy for the 2022 round of negotiations. The conference focused on living wages, benefits, and conditions of service.

The conference was attended by 288 delegates from the sectors that NUMSA organizes including automotive, motor components, garages, and tyre manufacturing. Other key sectors are the energy sector that covers workers from the power utility Eskom, and the metals and engineering sectors. In-house agreements where the union allowed some companies to negotiate separate house agreements – outside of central bargaining – were also discussed.

Speakers at the conference were drawn from the department of mineral resources and energy, Statistics South Africa, and research institutions that included the Trade and Industrial Policies Strategies (TIPS) and provided the country’s social and economic context and the implications for collective bargaining.

The national bargaining conference made recommendations on the various sectors. For example, on the auto sector, the conference concluded that the transition from the internal combustion engine to electrical vehicles must not lead to job losses but should instead protect workers’ interests as per government policies that included the 2025 automotive masterplan. Further, local procurement of some components remained key for the survival of some industries on the value chain.

On Just Transition, the union says this must be done in a sustainable and affordable way that considered the country’s energy mix of coal, nuclear and renewable energy. Further, coal power stations must not be shut down without guarantees of job security and a Just Transition plan that protected workers and human rights. The conference urged Eskom to stop power outages that have led to huge losses for the economy.

On state-owned enterprises, the conference recommended wage increases that cushioned against inflation of at least 7 per cent at Eskom while wage arrears should be paid to workers at South Africa Airways and Denel. The conference rejected the privatization of state-owned enterprises, arguing that they produced public goods.

In the steel and engineering sector, the union said the steel masterplan must be preserved to promote manufacturing and stop the deindustrialization of the sector which is leading to job losses.

Irvin Jim, NUMSA general secretary said: 

“This conference is a platform for us to discuss not only how we must position ourselves organizationally, but also how we envision organizing and mobilizing beyond this round of negotiations to consolidate workers’ bargaining power.

“The national bargaining conference’s task is to continuously reposition NUMSA’s bargaining strategies in relation to the engagement with the Fourth Industrial Revolution which has moved beyond globalization in the restructuring of the workplace. However, the implementation of the latest technologies without careful consideration for the Just Transition and the future of work puts existing jobs under threat.”

“The robust discussions at the national bargaining conference show that NUMSA is embracing the transformation that is taking place in the world of work and ensuring that its shop stewards are well-equipped with negotiation and bargaining skills and can effectively use digital technologies to understand industry trends and other critical information on complex supply chains. This dynamic approach is critical to collective bargaining and ensures that workers retain benefits and living wages,” says Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa.

Korean shipyard worker reinstated after 37-year struggle

Hundreds of union members attended the ceremony

Hundreds of members of IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) braved the cold weather to attend the historic reinstatement ceremony on 25 February.

Kim thanked KMWU members for relentlessly fighting for her reinstatement, saying she hoped the landmark reinstatement would pave the way towards legislation giving access to justice and remedy for workers who suffered state-sponsored violence and unfair dismissals in the fight for democracy during Korea’s authoritarian era, from 1961 to 1987.

KMWU president Yoon, Jang-Hyeok said,

“During the military dictatorship, workers including our woman comrade Kim, Jin-suk persevered through state-sponsored violence, red-baiting, kidnapping, torture and unfair dismissal to fight for democracy inside the trade union. History has shown that fighting for democratic unionism was important for social change.

Though it will not bring the fallen comrades back to life, such as Park, Changsoo, Kim, Joo-ik, Kwak, Jae-kyu, Choi, Kang-seo, and Kim, Guem-sik, and the reinstatement has taken far too long, we are pleased that she made a history to enter the shipyard and eat together in the canteen with the shipyard workers for whom she sacrificed her whole life.”

Kim joined Korean Shipbuilding Corporation as a welder in 1981. After she and her co-workers protested against unsanitary food conditions and fought to reform a company-dominated union run by corrupt union officials into a democratic union, the company dismissed Kim in 1986.

When the company changed ownership to Hanjin Heavy Industries and Constructions (HHIC) in 1989, the new management still refused to reinstate her.

Even after her dismissal, Kim continued to stand in solidarity with shipyard workers, playing a pivotal role in challenging the company’s mass layoffs in 2003 and 2011.

In 2011, Kim occupied a 115–foot shipyard crane for 309 days in protest of the layoff of 400 workers. Her bold action ignited the Hope Bus movement and led to the reinstatement of 94 union members.

In the winter of 2021, she embarked upon a 34-day march from Busan to Seoul to the office of the Korean President Moon Jae-in, to demand her reinstatement. The President did not respond to her appeal. Instead it was her fellow workers at KMWU Hanjin Heavy Industries Local who reached an agreement with the employer, HJ Shipbuilding & Construction (HJSC) on 23 February this year. As Kim has reached retirement age, negotiations on conditions will continue after the ceremony.

In addition to calling on politicians to enact legislation reforming the Korea Development Bank, in her reinstatement ceremony, Kim called on politicians to amend the Corporate Manslaughter Act to centre on surviving family and workers who lost their lives, enact a comprehensive anti-discrimination law covering LGBT, migrants, the disabled and women, to legislate for restoring the honour of other workers sacrificed in the fight for democracy and to intervene to resolve the issues of precarious workers at Asahi Glass, Asiana KO, the National Health Insurance Service, and Korea Expressway Corporation. 

“Despite the long and winding road to reinstatement, the 37-year struggle for workers’ rights and dignity is remarkable and deserves a page in the history of the Asian labour movement. Thank you sister Kim, Jin-suk for what you have done for Korean shipyard workers,”

said Shinya Iwai, IndustriALL regional secretary for South East Asia.

IndustriALL research on risks of gender-based violence and harassment and union responses

The report, financed by German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), is the result of the work by gender-based violence expert Jane Pillinger.

“It has been a real privilege to carry out this research and to give a voice to women across the world about problems they face in the world of work and how unions can, and must take, important steps to end gender-based violence. The research, involving individual and group interviews with around 100 women workers in the mining, garments and electronics sectors, has given us unique insights into the risks of violence and harassment faced by women workers.

“Most of all it has shown the power and leadership of women and men in their unions to address these risks and prevent and tackle gender-based violence and harassment and bring it the centre of union organizing, training and awareness raising, advocacy and the representation of workers.  Only then can we seriously break the silence around gender-based violence and harassment,”

says Jane Pillinger.

The report brings first-hand evidence of GBVH in the three sectors. Although employers and unions are giving increasing attention to GBVH, it remains pervasive. The research identifies women’s multiple experiences of, and harm caused by, GBVH, ranging from verbal abuse, sexist jokes and comments to more serious forms of persistent sexual harassment, sexual assault and an expectation of sexual favours in return for jobs or promotion.
 
The research builds on the provisions of ILO Convention 190 and Recommendation 206. It focuses on the risks that women face daily, laying the groundwork for the prevention of gender-based violence and harassment on the part of employers and trade unions, and for the inclusion of gender-based violence and harassment in occupational health and safety. The report also highlights the impacts and risks of domestic violence in the world of work.

“Through the recommendations of the union leaders and women workers, as well as through the insights into trade unions’ good practices, this report provides guidance on the way forward for IndustriALL and its affiliates to eliminate gender-based violence.

“We should do more to hold employers accountable. The women interviewed testified of the ineffectiveness and inadequacy of measures taken by companies and their suppliers that still too often protect the perpetrators,”

says Christine Olivier, IndustriALL assistant general secretary.
 
To be published in the coming weeks:

What would a Just Transition in Nigeria's oil and gas sector look like?

NUPENG, which is affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, hosted the conference in Asaba, Delta State on 5 April under the theme: “Just energy transition for oil and gas workers, social welfare and security.”

Speaking at the conference which is the highest organ of the union and a democratic platform for delegates which sets the agenda and mandates, Prince William Akporeha, NUPENG president said:

“The conference theme was carefully and appropriately chosen in line with the new realities of climate change. The current major energy sources are the main catalysts for climate change that the world is witnessing. Therefore, there is need to transition to more sustainable energy sources for both industrial and domestic production. Importantly, the global trade union movement is demanding a Just Transition that will take into cognizance the socio-economic impact on the working people.”

The issues discussed at the conference included the union’s 40th anniversary, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the oil and gas sector especially on retrenchments, fighting for workers’ rights through improving industrial relations and collective bargaining, and confronting precarious working conditions. Further, the conference called for national policies that supported the building of new oil refineries and sustainable industrialization that created decent jobs in the sector. The union also called upon the Federal Government of Nigeria to improve security in the country to stop “senseless killings, kidnappings” and conflict in some communities.
 
On its victories the union mentioned fighting precarious work at Shell and said IndustriALL’s support at Shell was valuable as it led to the signing of a collective bargaining agreement for contract workers with the Shell Petroleum Development Company. At Chevron, 1710 workers were paid their full terminal benefits while valiant energy also paid terminal benefits to 39 workers. To strengthen the union, women’s committees have been set and young workers are represented through a youth council.
 
Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa who attended the meeting said:

“It is important that you are meeting as part of the union’s democratic traditions to set the agenda and renew mandates for the NUPENG leadership. Participatory democracy is important in building union power. We must never forget that the Just Transition is a working class concept that emerged out of the trade union movement to protect and advance workers’ rights and interests. In this sense a just energy transition must support the decent work agenda – promote job creation, guarantee rights at work, extend social protection, and promote social dialogue.”

South African mineworkers’ union congress pledges to go back to the organizing basics to build union power

The congress, which was attended by 750 delegates, took place from 30 March to 1 April in Johannesburg. The union leadership for the next three years was also elected as follows: Daniel Balepile, president, Phillip Vilakazi, deputy president, William Mabapa, general secretary, Mpho Phakedi, deputy general secretary, Helen Diatile, treasurer general, Olehile Kgware, education chairperson, Lefty Mashego, education secretary, Duncan Luvuno, health and safety chairperson, and Masibulele Naki, health and safety secretary.
 
The diverse issues on the congress agenda included the adoption of resolutions on organizational capacity building, membership recruitment strategies, membership retention through better service and representation, strengthening collective bargaining through forums and workshops, workers’ education, health and safety, confronting unfair labour practices, and equal representation of women and youth in the union structures. The delegates said the union should support the domestication of Convention 190 to eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work which was ratified by South Africa. There were also discussions on the union’s 10-year plan.
 
The union also discussed the role of labour in the post-Covid 19 economic recovery in the mining sector inclusive of sustainable job creation and skills development for miners. Additionally, there was emphasis on union engagement through social and labour plans to ensure that communities in mining areas are beneficiaries and that mining companies adopt sustainable methods as prescribed by the laws.
 
The NUM congress discussed the union position paper, Just Transition and the Energy Sector, which is anchored on the decent work agenda: social dialogue, social protection, rights at work and employment protection and creation. Delegates at the congress concurred that a Just Transition should preserve jobs of coal miners and reskill workers. The union wants a Just Transition that will not create ghost towns in the areas where the coal mines are located but one that stimulates industrialization through renewable energy industries.
 
The NUM also celebrated its 40-year anniversary at the congress and paid tribute to 13 of its members and shop stewards who were killed in the last 10 years for conducting union work.
 
Speaking at the congress, Cyril Ramaphosa, South African President, said what has not changed in the union’s history is the recognition of the workers’ power. This is visible in the

“potential that is unleashed when workers like yourselves assert themselves, build organisations that are resilient like NUM, when they embrace change and are active drivers of change, and when they unite in pursuit of common objectives. The mining and the construction industries are the lifeblood of the South African economy […] and are our most important sectors which account for a substantial share of our export earnings.”

In his solidarity message to the congress, Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary said:

“This congress is an important platform to discuss the workers’ struggle and the crucial role of the unity of the working class. Globally we are confronted by a wage crisis. In South Africa, I have noticed the devaluation of the currency, and the increasing inflation. In this respect, IndustriALL supports the strike at Sibanye Stillwater for living wages, and that the NUM should continue fighting for better working conditions for its members.”

Unions in Armenia discuss a Just Transition in the energy sector

Currently, around 40 per cent of the energy produced in Armenia is green, since it is produced at a nuclear plant without CO2 emissions. Another 20 per cent of the energy comes from hydropower. This, however, is seasonal, and Armenia has an agreement with Iran on a mutual exchange of energy depending on the season.

Workshop participants stressed that unions need to have a seat at the table to make working conditions a mandatory topic when discussing a Just Transition to renewable energy. The documents for tenders for the construction of new solar power plants contain reference to environmental safety as well as the least required technical characteristics. However, the tender process does not pay any attention to social issues, like decent wages and health and safety. Trade unions need to petition the government to include chapters related to social issues.

Through the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia and the ITUC, unions should also petition international financial institutions that provide loans for the implementation of energy programmes and other projects with similar requirements and proposals, to include a chapter on social issues, agreed upon with trade unions. This is to ensure that projects are not realized at the expense of workers’ low wages, which will deprive Armenia of the opportunity to ever reach the decent wages level.

Diana Junquera Curiel, IndustriALL energy director, spoke on a new joint initiative by ITUC, LO Norway and IndustriALL for a Just Transition in the energy sector.

Sophia Schönborn, IG BCE trade union secretary, spoke about Germany's experience in phasing out coal mining and measures to support workers from the late 1950s until the end of underground coal mining in 2018. A budgetary expenditure of €40 billion is planned over the next 20 years to create new industries, technology and research clusters in the mining districts, modern infrastructure, new jobs, training programmes for new job skills and an early retirement scheme to reduce negative impacts on workers, regions and communities.

IndustriALL has three affiliates in Armenia: Industry Workers' Union of Armenia, Electric Trade Union of the Republic of Armenia, and Branch Union of Trade Union Organizations of Miners, Metallurgists and Jewelers of Republic of Armenia.

Steelworkers show wartime solidarity

The ArcelorMittal plant in Kryviy Rih in Eastern Ukraine is one of the world’s biggest steel plants, employing 24,000 workers in an integrated process that includes iron ore mining and processing, and steel production. The plant is organized by IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Trade Union of the Metalworkers and Miners of Ukraine.

Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, Russian troops advanced to within 10km of Kryviy Rih. The company’s top management, many of them expats, were evacuated to Poland, leaving local managers, the union and the workers to safeguard the operation.

The mining operations were closed first, over fears that miners could be trapped underground if the electricity supply was interrupted. Then, on 3 March, the workers carefully shut down the blast furnaces – a complicated process that takes seven to ten days to do safely – dug anti-tank defences and built shelters.

Despite regular air raid sirens and bombs landing close to the site, trade union activists remained behind to coordinate relief efforts to the military, territorial defence forces, hospitals and workers, and to help with the evacuation of women and children. Close to 1,600 workers were drafted into the territorial defence force and had to urgently locate protective equipment.

The head of the union at the plant, Natalya Marynyuk, sent an impassioned plea to steelworkers in other countries, asking for political support and humanitarian assistance, saying:

“The Ukrainian people are very grateful to you for you all standing with Ukraine these terrible days. Many of you joined in demonstrations for peace, demanding an end to Putin's war against the Ukraine and our people. It is your actions that are forcing hesitating governments to take action and impose sanctions against Russia.”

She included a list of essential humanitarian supplies that were needed.

Workers at the ArcelorMittal plant in Bremen, Germany, were first to respond through their union, IG Metall, sending a convoy of medicines, warm clothes, sleeping bags, fire extinguishers and generators to the Polish border, where the goods were received by their Ukrainian counterparts.

The Bremen plant sent a second shipment in early April, and members of all the unions at the ArcelorMittal plant in Ghent, Belgium – ACV, ABVV, ACLVB, BBTK, and ACV Puls –  also organized a shipment.

By the end of March, Russian forces had been repelled to about 70 kms from the plant, and although danger persists, the union argued strongly that production should restart to maintain the economic base of the city. On 2 April, work began on restarting blast furnace no. 6. The furnace was blown on 9 April, and pig iron can now be produced and steel manufactured. The union has demanded that management return from exile to run the plant. The plant now faces the difficulty of transporting steel, as the Black Sea ports are not accessible. Workers still feel unsafe as fighting continues nearby, and those who left the city have not yet returned to work.

Union members at Kryviy Rih thank IG Metall

Marynyuk thanked the steelworkers who sent support, saying:

“International solidarity aid is incredibly important for our trade union in wartime, because it inspires and raises morale, because we feel that we are not alone in the fight for our country, for freedom and European values, and also because thanks to our amazing colleagues from foreign trade unions, we have the opportunity to provide the necessary things to our employees, who are now defending Kryvyi Rih and Ukraine.”

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