Young trade unionist’s deportation ordeal in Zimbabwe

Mamisa arrived at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Zimbabwe from Nairobi at 3 am on 30 May, to attend a capacity development workshop on advancing due diligence in the energy transition supply chain in Sub Saharan Africa.

When asked by an immigration official what she did for a living, Mamisa replied that she was a trade unionist.

“This sent the official into a fury. He took me to an office where they were two other officials, and they said ‘we don’t want trade union activists in our country. And we decide who comes in and who doesn’t. You are going back home,’”

says Mamisa.

“They gave me a form to sign. And I refused saying that I cannot sign a form before reading it. They then threatened me and said I was wasting their time by requesting to read the form. If I refused to sign, they will lock me up at a police station, and even the meeting organizers will not know where I am. After that scary threat I signed the form. I pleaded with them to explain why I was being treated this way — as if I had committed a crime. And they kept saying they did not want trade union activists and non-governmental organizations in Zimbabwe, and that her name did not appear on the data base for the ministry of foreign affairs,”

narrated Mamisa, who was detained for four hours, before boarding the next plane to Nairobi. There was no Internet connection at the airport, and the Zimbabwean officials refused to explain why she was being deported.

The section of the law that was used to deny her entry requires a visitor to the country “to produce documentary or other evidence relative to his (her) claims to enter or leave Zimbabwe.” Mamisa says she presented the required documents to the officials. Surprisingly, a young worker she was travelling with to the workshop was allowed to enter the country whilst she was denied entry. When the colleague asked why, he was told not to talk to a “suspect” or risk being “questioned.”

It was only in Nairobi that she was able to get her passport back – after another four hours without food or water. She was also given the form. Even after reading the deportation form, Mamisa says it is not clear why she was deported, except that she was a trade unionist.

Joseph Tanyanyiwa, chairperson of IndustriALL Global Union national council for Zimbabwe says:

“We are disappointed by this treatment of unionists by the immigration officials. If the Government of Zimbabwe says it is open for business, it should also be open for trade union activities.”

“I find it deplorable that three young trade unionists were denied entry into Zimbabwe and deported to their home countries of Tanzania and Uganda after being harassed and threatened with arrest. They were denied of their rights and never given a chance to explain that they were in the country to attend a youth capacity development workshop. The invitation letters and documents that they presented to the officials were ignored. Shockingly, they were told by the officials that trade union activism is not allowed in Zimbabwe,”

says Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary.

The workshop which was attended by 25 participants including from IndustriALL offices in Geneva, Switzerland and the Sub-Saharan Africa regional office in Johannesburg, South Africa, FES Zimbabwe, and FES Trade union Competence Centre for Sub Saharan Africa. The discussions ranged from the roles that young workers can play in the Just Transition and their demands, the future of the energy mix and developing a Just Transition plan that included a decent work agenda.

"Workers need a strong, independent voice"

Opening the meeting, IndustriALL president Jörg Hoffman stressed that a further escalation of the war in Ukraine must be avoided and that as part of the international trade union movement, we have a responsibility.

"IndustriALL has taken a strong stand against the war and has set up a solidarity fund, visited Kyiv, workers in Europe has collected necessary items for their colleagues in Ukraine. The war affects us all as supply chains are breaking down, energy and food prices sky rocketing. Those who lived hand to mouth before the war are even harder hit. We must not allow people in the global South to pay the price for Putin's war.
"The war in Ukraine cannot allow us to close our eyes to other troubled spots in the world. War, violence, climate change that has followed on the pandemic – never has a strong commitment to freedom, peace, equal rights been more needed. We need a strong independent voice of the workers and we can provide that strong voice."

In the secretariat report, IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie said that we must stand up for democracy and rights.

"The right to organize and collective bargaining are grounds for peace. But it is not all dire; in Brazil, Renault workers won increased wages after a 16-day strike; SINTTIA in Mexico won an important symbolic victory when they obtained the right to bargain collectively at a General Motors plant; garment workers in Haiti faced rubber bullets but did not back down and GOSTTRA won the minimum wage for its members; in Thailand a 13-month campaign led to legal severance finally being paid to garment workers who were illegally fired during the pandemic; and the tremendous victory by Finnish paper workers on strike for 112 days, fighting back against the employer who wanted to break the CBA."

IndustriALL affiliates from Ukraine reported on the situation on the ground, describing a very dangerous situation, giving the example from a mine where miners were caught underground, in the dark, due to a power cut. Schools and educational institutions have been destroyed beyond repair in the war. Hundreds of children have been injured or killed, people are raped, killed and tortured.

"But we continue to do what we can and we need your support."

Affiliates took the floor in support of people in Ukraine and the Executive Committee endorsed a statement condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and calling on the aggression to stop immediately.

Following a meeting in May, IndustriALL’s Women's Committee reported on the discussions to the Executive Committee. Advancing gender equality in all IndustriALL sectors, empowering and promoting the participation of young women, how to use global framework agreements to advance gender equality, and ending the gender pay gap – there is lack of understanding of what it is and that it actually exists. Classification alone does not prevent gender pay gap.

Following up on the Congress resolution on youth, the meeting heard that throughout the year, young workers in each region will establish their priorities ahead of the road map to implement the resolution next year. Capacity building is needed and building a second layer of leadership should be a priority, supported by the Women’s Committee who has proposed a mentor programme to advance young leaders.

The Executive Committee was challenged to discuss the strategic direction of IndustriALL’s work on multinational companies. This included the scope and mandate of the working group on global framework agreements. There was agreement that the scope has to be extended to deal with all leverage points towards multinational companies, not only GFAs. The working group might have to split up into smaller action groups to deal with different challenging topics. To safeguard workers’ rights in the supply chain, there is a need for binding and enforceable global rules to confront global corporate power. The discussion is carried over to the next meeting of the Executive Committee in November, where the new working group will be finalized.

The meeting endorsed a global day of action against inequality on 7 October. From the proposal:

“Inequality is growing around the world despite increased productivity, and workers in many countries face a cost of living crisis. Workers need a fair share of the wealth they produce. Until we address the question of the unequal distribution of wealth, we will be unable to advance in other areas, including Just Transition.”

The Executive Committee also endorsed

A campaign week on Just Transition, ahead of COP 27, which will be held in Egypt 8-20 November
Proposed roadmap for the implementation of Congress resolution on sexism and misogyny
Proposed steps to advancing gender equality in IndustriALL sectors

FEATURE: Achieving pay equity through collective bargaining

FEATURE

From Global Worker No 1 June 2022

Theme: The gender pay gap

Text: Armelle Seby

The pay gap – IndustriALL

What is the gender pay gap?

Women and men have the right to receive equal remuneration for work of equal value. Men and women should get equal pay for doing the same or a similar job, and when they perform work that differs in terms of responsibilities, tasks, efforts and working conditions, but, through objective criteria is of equal value.

Equal remuneration (or pay) for work of equal value is the principle designed to achieve pay equity and to address the gender pay gap. According to ILO Equal pay An introductory guide, the gender pay gap means the gap between women’s and men’s pay in a workforce and measures the difference between male and female average earnings as a percentage of the male earnings.

There is a widespread belief that there is no gender pay gap because women workers are paid the same salary as men for performing the same work. As USW explains it in its guidelines on closing the gender pay gap, unions are often successful at ensuring equal pay for equal work. But that alone does not eliminate the gender pay gap. Salary scales do not prevent the undervaluing of women’s work, or occupational segregation where women work in lower paid job categories. The concept of pay equity, or equal pay for work of equal value, seeks to eliminate the lower pay in female-dominated jobs or sectors.

There are gender biases in wage structures, which lead to indirect discrimination. For example, physical strength has a higher value compared to dexterity or eye concentration. The latter skills, considered to be of less value, gives preferential treatment to men. Although not a conscious bias, wage setting is constructed in a way that gives men a greater advantage. (Manuela Tomei, February 2018).

The basic or minimum wage is often only a small part of the overall payment and benefits that a worker receives. ILO C100 defines remuneration to include the ordinary, basic or minimum wage or salary and any additional emoluments whatsoever payable, directly or indirectly, whether in cash or in kind, by the employer to the worker and arising out of the worker’s employment. Remuneration includes for example overtime and bonus payments, company shares, and family allowances paid by the employer, as well as benefits in kind.

Discretionary pay can contribute to indirect discrimination and gender pay gap. For example, women have less opportunity to get overtime bonuses due to an unequal share of unpaid work and care responsibilities.

A recent report from Comisiones Obreras in Spain, shows that almost forty per cent of the monthly pay gap between women and men is found in allowances/bonuses. In the UK, companies with over 250 employees are obliged to report on the gender pay gap, including on bonuses. This contributes to raising awareness on the part that plays in the gender pay gap.

By negotiating transparent, objective and gender-neutral criteria to be used in granting allowances and bonuses, collective bargaining can help to address the part of the gender pay gap caused by discriminatory pay settings.

The role and challenges of collective bargaining

Collective bargaining remains the most important tool for trade unions to implement the principle of equal pay for job of equal value and achieving more transparent pay systems. Evidence shows that collective bargaining contributes positively to reducing pay inequalities between women and men. (Jane Pillinger and Nora Wintour, 2019).

Where collective bargaining is centralized or conducted at sectoral level, it covers a wider proportion of workers and have a larger impact on reducing pay inequalities between men and women. Trade unions should prioritize to promote inclusive wage setting by extending the coverage of minimum wages and collective agreements to precarious workers and part-time workers, as women are disproportionally represented in these groups of workers. (ACTRAV/ILO, 2019)

Collective bargaining is important, as many countries’ legislation does not reflect the principle of equal pay for job of equal value. Collective bargaining then becomes the main way to determine terms and conditions of pay. Where existing legislation promotes pay equity, collective bargaining remains a critical tool for implementation and monitoring of these principles.

Gender balance and a bargaining team trained on gender issues are key to advance gender equality through collective bargaining. Evidence shows that collective bargaining outcomes are more gender sensitive with women in trade union leadership and on negotiation teams. According to an ACTRAV survey, women make up only 30 per cent of trade unions’ wage negotiation teams. Around half of the unions responded that negotiating teams are briefed or trained on gender issues.

The TUC in the UK has set quotas for women representation on negotiation teams. In South Africa, the national gender structure of NUMSA has made training collective bargaining teams on gender equality, including on the gender pay gap, a priority.

Raising the wage floor

Evidence shows that an increase in minimum wage contributes to decreased earnings inequalities and the gender pay gap (ILO).

According to the ACTRAV survey, unions would primarily focus on improving wages for low-paid workers and unionizing or extending coverage of legal minimum wages or collective agreements, to groups of workers found in vulnerable types of employment, when wage setting for gender equality.

Minimum or living wages are key to reducing the gender pay gap since women are more likely than men to work in the lowest paid jobs. As a significant proportion of women workers are found in non-unionized or precarious work not covered by collective bargaining; the negotiation of minimum wages at national or sectoral level would benefit them.

The concentration of women at the very end of global supply chains in industries like garment or electronics, in lower paid jobs with low level of unionization, is contributing to the gender pay gap (ACTRAV/ ILO, 2019). Through ACT, IndustriALL is working with other stakeholders to establish systems of industry-wide collective bargaining, supported by brand purchasing practices as a primary means of wage-fixing in the global garment industry. This will enable setting living wages for workers (mostly women workers) in the garment industry.

However, minimum or living wage policies are not sufficient to close the gender pay gap. To maximize the effect of minimum wage or living wage policies on gender pay, they must be linked with efforts and negotiations on equal pay for jobs of equal value. The low pay of women in feminized jobs and sectors, is linked to the undervaluing of women’s work. Those wages must be compared to those of men in male dominated jobs and industries, otherwise the minimum and living wages policies risk, directly or indirectly, discriminating against vulnerable groups of workers (e.g. by setting lower wage levels in sectors or occupations held by women or excluding migrants from coverage of minimum wage laws). (Jane Pillinger and Nora Wintour, 2019)

Pay transparency and equal pay for jobs of equal value

To properly implement the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, collective bargaining must address the undervaluing of women’s work and segregation of women in job classifications. The lack of pay transparency makes pay discrimination a hidden phenomenon. Gender disaggregated data and statistics at all levels (national, sectoral and company level) are key to identifying existing bias, discriminatory job evaluations and classification schemes.

Trade unions need this information to negotiate gender-neutral wage settings. In several European countries, it is done through legislation on pay reporting obligations for companies with a certain number of workers. In Austria, the gender pay transparency law introduced in 2011, has raised awareness on the extent of the gender pay gap. IndustriALL affiliate PRO-GE has developed tools and guidelines to educate their representatives.

The way pay audits or pay reports are currently set means that they do not report on whether existing job evaluation and job classification schemes are discriminatory. Unions do not have access to information about how pay is determined and to have the potential to tackle the undervaluing of work predominantly carried out by women. (Jane Pillinger, 2020).

The ETUC and European trade unions have campaigned for a strong EU directive that would ensure that jobs are evaluated and assessed in gender-neutral and non-discriminatory ways. ETUC is demanding that the value of work is assessed and compared to objective criteria, including skill, effort, responsibility, working conditions. Ensuring that comparisons for job evaluation can take place at the workplace, company and/or cross-sectoral levels, has been central in the unions’ demands.

Another request is to include those employers with more than ten employees are obliged to provide workers and trade unions with regular pay reports and pay audits. The pay audits should contain analyses of women and men in each category or position, as well as job evaluations and classification systems used, and detailed information on pay and pay differentials on grounds of gender. Trade unions want to end pay secrecy restricting a worker from disclosing information about their pay, or to seek information from other workers on their pay.

The European Commission’s proposal for a Pay Transparency Directive published in March 2021, addresses binding measures on pay transparency aimed at strengthening the application of equal pay for work of equal value. However, it fails to recognize the central role of trade unions and collective bargaining. In its response, the ETUC is calling for trade union involvement, including in assessing the criteria for equal pay for work of equal value, for comparisons to be made across sectors, for trade unions to be involved in determining how the pay gap is measured, and an obligation for employers to negotiate a plan to close the gender pay gap. Involving trade unions in job evaluation is critical to make sure that gender biases are considered and that a new wage setting will not replicate gender pay inequalities.

Trade unions in Canada are building pay equity committees, as provided by the new Pay Equity Act. Unifor has developed tools and guidelines to enable representatives on the committees to fully play their role. Through the pay equity committees, employers must compare all work of equal value and develop pay equity plans defining compensation increase and pay adjustment for female dominated job classes that have been undervalued, compared to same value male dominated work.

“We are expecting a lot of push back from employers who are already approaching trade union representatives, saying that they have already done a review of the job classification systems. They are attempting to outsource job evaluations to consultants that try to influence trade union representatives. Our representatives are quite anxious to get the work of the committees started, as it is a lot of work ahead of them. We are raising awareness on the importance of equal pay for jobs of equal value. We are educating them, and providing them with new tools,”

says Tracey Ramsey, director for women, Unifor.

For collective bargaining to effectively contribute to closing the gender pay gap, a radical shift in wage negotiations is needed so that all pay negotiations in all sectors bring the value of the work carried out to the centre of negotiations. (Jane Pillinger, 2020)

Pay transparency measures need to take account all the intersecting forms of discrimination, with the obligation to provide intersectional data and analysis in the reports and action plans.

Ensuring fair and inclusive career development for women

To fully implement pay equity, unions need to ensure that women enjoy equal opportunities and benefit from the same chances of career development.

NUMSA and NUM is South Africa have negotiated training for women returning from maternity leave. The unions report that women often lack new skills to cope with technology that has evolved during their pregnancy and maternity leave, hindering their career development.

Trade unions are also negotiating for more women to be recruited into more technical and managerial jobs.

“We are negotiating to make employers recruit more women into high paid jobs. In Kenya’s auto sector, nearly all engineers are men, and all secretaries are women. Women represent only 25 per cent of human resources managers, even though their proportion is increasing this job category. We need to make sure that women get the same opportunities as men,”

says Rose Omamo, general secretary of Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metalworkers.

Awareness raising, training and education on equal pay for work of equal value should be a priority for IndustriALL and its affiliates to implement pay equity. Campaigns around the gender pay gap and pay equity, as well as the development of guidelines and other material, will contribute to raising awareness and building a better understanding of trade unions and this issue.

“IndustriALL and its affiliates should include pay equity in all the work that networks and sectors do,”

says, IndustriALL Latin America vice president Lucineide Varjão.

INTERVIEW: IndustriALL Global Union general secretary Atle Høie

INTERVIEW

From Global Worker No 1 June 2022

INTERVIEW: Atle Høie

Text: Petra Brannmark

How did your trade union career start?

“I worked at Norway’s trade union confederation LO after I finished university. After a few years as advisor on European affairs and sustainable development, I moved to Fellesførbundet as international secretary. At the time, Fellesførbundet was affiliated to several global union federations; ITGLWF, ICEM, IMF. I started attending executive committee meetings in all three federations in the 1990s.”

You were elected assistant general secretary in 2016 and then general secretary in 2021 – what made you decide to run?

“I was very active in the process of merging IMF, ICEM and ITGLWF into IndustriALL. I was on the motions committee at the Congress in Vienna in 2005 when the first resolution on the merger was passed.

“Ahead of IndustriALL’s Second Congress in Rio in 2016 I felt I wanted to continue to be active, but on a different level. I truly believe that IndustriALL is the right construction and I want to contribute to the work.
“After five years as assistant general secretary, I saw that changes were needed, changes I could help implement. I ran as general secretary on creating a more transparent and inclusive organization. We want everyone to feel involved and to feel responsibility for the action plan.”

What are your priorities?

“My main priority is to create the infrastructure needed so that IndustriALL can deliver. It sounds technical, but the whole organization, including the head office in Geneva, the regional offices and the affiliates, need to be united behind strategies and implementation.
“This means that we need to change the way we operate. We need to be more open and have more in-depth deep discussions in our Executive Committee and with our affiliates. To achieve results we need everyone onboard, and for that people need to feel that they have ownership.
“The biggest and most important task for IndustriALL is to deliver the infrastructure, basic trade union rights; the right to organize and to collective bargaining. That provides workers with the foundation for everything else, like safe workplaces and freedom from discrimination.”

How will the organization achieve this?

“Employers and governments must be forced to implement the right to organize and to bargain collectively. Everything we do must have these fundamental rights in mind – we must focus on capacity building, help unions reach out to their members, secure companies’ acceptance of unions, ensure that the right to organize is on the agenda at ILO CAS, in the OECD, the international financial institutions, the WTO, everywhere where trade and industry is discussed.
“Currently, we do a lot of firefighting, both in terms of individual cases and violations of country legislation. We get messages every day that workers’ rights are violated. We then contact the owner of the factory, the company that sources from the factory, the government to make sure legislation is complied with, and we call on international support. To know that people outside of your country are aware of your case and that pressure is being put on the employer makes a difference.
“Congress sent a clear message that we must move towards binding and enforceable agreements. Together with UNI Global Union we have developed an arbitration mechanism through the Hague tribunal which is included in the International Accord. It can be applied in other agreements as well, and we will try to implement it into our global framework agreements. We need to make use of the instruments available and be involved in creating new ones, like the International Accord – something no one would have thought possible ten years ago.
“We have to help people understand how important it is to be a member of a trade union, to join forces and stand up to employers and governments. Through the projects IndustriALL runs, we do an enormous amount of capacity building. In the last Congress period, 75,000 of our members were involved in 1,000 activities on collective bargaining, women, health and safety and youth. Participants go back to their workplaces and use what they have learned and have the possibility to help colleagues to improve. And through the projects we have organized 680,000 new members.”

Has Covid changed IndustriALL’s strategic goals?

“The strategic goals are as important as ever, but in the wake of the wage theft in the garment industry for example, the need for global social security has become more obvious.
“People in countries with a social security system came through the pandemic fairly well. However, in poor countries, poor people became poorer when they were thrown out on the streets from one day to the next as workplaces closed. Migrant workers couldn’t get back home as public transport was shut down.
“The current supply chain model is built on cheap labour and avoiding responsibility; taking production to countries with no labour rights and little social protection. Without social protection, societies fall apart. Social protection is a public issue, but until that is a reality, we need to work with companies on how to push for social security in their production countries. We need bridging solutions, as it is will be very costly for poor countries to set it up.

What are IndustriALL’s greatest challenges ahead?

“The greatest challenge for unions it is to make themselves attractive for the workers for tomorrow. Big workplaces with 1,000 people are probably not the workplaces of tomorrow; they will be smaller and more prone to fast changes. People are increasingly individualistic and what attracted people 50 years ago won’t be the same tomorrow.
“This is an important discussion to have, as affiliates need to adapt, and we can support. The action plan asks us to change the world. This can obviously not be done by the secretariat alone, it has to be done together with the 50 million people we represent.”

SPECIAL REPORT: Comprehensive sanctions on Russia: why not Myanmar?

SPECIAL REPORT

From Global Worker No 1 June 2022

Country: Myanmar

Text: Walton Pantland

Since the military coup on 1 February 2021, Myanmar’s junta has committed human rights abuses which the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said “may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity”. She added that “the appalling breadth and scale of violations of international law suffered by the people of Myanmar demand a firm, unified, and resolute international response.”

More than 10,000 political prisoners – including union activists – are in detention, and at least 1,800 civilians, including 54 worker activists, have been killed by the junta. 16 unions and federations, including IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Industrial Workers’ Federation of Myanmar (IWFM), have been banned.

Despite this, it is still business as usual for many global garment brands. Brands which left Russia within days of the invasion of Ukraine are finding excuses to stay in Myanmar – the most common being that they are a force for good and can protect workers by doing “enhanced due diligence”.

For workers and trade unionists, the situation is very difficult: the ILO estimates that 220,000 garment workers have lost their jobs, and the IWFM estimates that a further 120,000 may have lost jobs and pay due to temporary closures, furlough or reduced production which have not been reported in the unemployment figures.

Unionized workers who were protected by collective agreements before the coup have been fired and replaced by casual workers with no rights. The IWFM has documented numerous cases of workers being dismissed without compensation, and of security forces coming to the homes of trade union leaders to arrest them after being given their personal details by factory managers. There are cases of protesting workers being shot, of workers unfairly dismissed, union leaders whose lives have been threatened and have been targeted by security forces.

IWFM organizers, educators, negotiators, and leaders are being sought by the military. Most garment workers now earn less than US$1.80 per day, while hundreds of thousands have been fired from the public sector, hospitals, schools, universities, and railways for refusing to work for the military.

In a letter to the ILO, the IWFM said that it

“cannot properly protect workers’ rights under the military dictatorship, as democratic trade unions cannot operate freely. Nonetheless, we tried to protect workers through 2021 by working with brands through the dialogue mechanism we have built.

“The experience gained during the whole year of negotiation now clearly shows that Western brands cannot protect workers’ rights.”

Many cases have been reported in factories, often Chinese-owned, producing for brands such as Adidas, H&M, C&A, Tesco, Bestseller and Inditex. The IWFM has raised these violations with the brands, and many have been resolved. But because due diligence is impossible in a military dictatorship, factories have denied the allegations and other cases have remained unresolved. The IWFM has documented instances of workers being threatened with dismissal if they don’t lie about conditions, and of the military forcing workers to return compensation at gunpoint.

Because trade unions cannot operate freely and due diligence is impossible, unions in Myanmar believe that the country risks being turned into a vast slave labour camp. In summer 2021, the Myanmar labour movement issued a call for comprehensive economic sanctions, arguing that the priority must be starving the regime of resources, and particularly foreign exchange.

IndustriALL supported the sanctions call at its Congress in September 2021, and wrote to companies operating in Myanmar, calling on them to cease their operations until democracy and fundamental labour rights are restored. Many companies have subsequently left the country, including Voltalia, POSCO, Telenor, Total, Chevron, Shell, Woodside Petroleum and Bridgestone, with Total saying that growing human rights abuses mean it can no longer make a positive contribution to the country.

However, most garment producers have remained. While some producers have committed to placing no new orders, the production cycle means many have ongoing commitments through 2022. The textile and garment industry is a significant source of foreign exchange for the country, and unions fear that as time passes, working with the military dictatorship will become normalized.

Garment brands claim that leaving the country responsibly is a complex task, but the experience of Russia shows that where the political will exists, it is possible to act quickly. In the face of global sanctions and widespread outrage from the general public, H&M, for example, closed all its stores in Russia within days of the invasion of Ukraine. The company is still sourcing from Myanmar.

One of the biggest obstacles is that, unlike Russia, the international community is divided on the situation in the Myanmar, and the usefulness of sanctions. While the military junta’s State Administration Council (SAC) has been increasingly isolated from international diplomacy – for instance, being denied credentials by the UN– Myanmar’s democratic government in exile, the National Unity Government (NUG), does not have widespread international recognition as the legitimate government. The global trade union movement supports the call of the Myanmar unions for diplomatic recognition of the NUG.

The NUG has stressed the importance of not providing income to the junta, saying in a recent statement that “the NUG would like to remind that all business are instructed NOT to pay any tax or provide any income to the military regime of Myanmar. If it is not possible to avoid payment to the military, then the only option is to suspend the business operation until democracy is fully restored in Myanmar.”

It's not possible for global brands operating in Myanmar to avoid providing income to the military, in the form of tax, import duties on fabric, utility costs to military-owned companies, and fees at Myanmar’s two ports, both of which are military-owned.

The biggest obstacle to the campaign for sanctions is the EU, which currently gives Myanmar tariff-free access to its markets through the Everything But Arms (EBA) programme of trade preferences. The EBA has been a great benefit to the economy of Myanmar, with the EU receiving more than half of Myanmar’s apparel exports.

While in the past the EU has used sanctions to nudge Myanmar towards democracy, commercial interests have lobbied against this approach and the current position of the EU is that economic links and constructive engagement is the best way forward. This is the same thinking that led Europe to become heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas. While the existential threat of a war on the European continent, and floods of refugees entering the EU, led the EU to act quickly and forcefully to economically isolate Russia, Myanmar appears to be sufficiently far away to avoid taking equivalent action.

EBA was originally developed as a way to support democracy through trade, but the EU has become addicted to cheap production in global value chains. Myanmar is a very attractive destination for garment brands, which have made substantial investments in the country. The failure to withdraw EBA is at odds with a growing body of legislation, including German due diligence law and an EU directive.

Myanmar unions are concerned that the Ukraine crisis and other issues will result in the world’s attention moving on. If the military can buy enough time, is can strengthen and consolidate its rule through a fake election process, and work on normalizing diplomatic and economic relations.

As the space for bringing about peaceful change shrinks in Myanmar, many people are joining the armed insurgency. This raises severe environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks for garment brands. By choosing to operate in a conflict zone, they become responsible for demonstrating human rights due diligence and avoiding complicity in violations. Brands risk reputational damage, litigation, OECD complaints and shareholder revolt. There is also a risk of supply chain disruption due to the growing conflict.

IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie said:

“The situation in Myanmar risks degenerating into a civil war. After more than a year of armed attacks by the military on civilians, people are now joining armed militias to defend themselves. This is because of the closure of democratic avenues for change.

“Comprehensive economic sanctions are the non-violent solution to bring democracy back to Myanmar. The longer global garment brands continue to source there, the greater their complicity and longer the agony of Myanmar will continue.”

UNION PROFILE: Paperiliitto wins historic strike

UNION PROFILE

From Global Worker No 1 June 2022

Country: Finland

Union: Paperiliitto

Text: Petra Brännmark, Walton Pantland

Covering nearly all workers in the sector – and managing to maintain the organizing rate – means that Paperiliitto is well represented in the country’s paper mills and is well placed to negotiate and push for its members working conditions.

The union work takes place mostly in good conditions, with a smooth dialogue with the employers. However, a drawn-out strike which lasted for 112 days and ended in April this year presented an unusual situation for the union.

The strike was unprecedented in size in the sector in Finland and was caused by the anti-union beliefs of Finnish forest industry company UPM’s executive management, determined to break union power held by its blue-collar employees, members of Paperiliitto.

The build-up to the conflict started in early 2021, when Finnish forest industry company UPM announced that it would no longer negotiate collectively on wages, bonuses, sick leave pay, maternity or paternity leaves thus violating its workers fundamental rights at work.

As the contract was to expire at the end of 2021 UPM left the industry-wide bargaining that had been in place for decades and refused to sign a single collective agreement with the union. Paperiliitto announced a three-week strike starting in January 2022. The strike however dragged on and 2,200 workers at all UPM business units were on strike, with dockers and railway workers showing solidarity by refusing to handle the company’s goods.

The striking paper workers in Finland received international solidarity, with unions organizing the company’s plants, and the Uruguayan paper workers’ union FOPCU – also an IndustriALL affiliate – writing to UPM’s CEO expressing concern at the company’s retreat from good practice in industrial relations.

IndustriALL, Uni Global Union and Building and Woodworkers International wrote a letter to UPM’s 20 biggest shareholders and investors ahead of the annual general meeting on 29 March, to warn that the company’s anti-union stance was an investment risk.

In April, the conflict was resolved with both parties accepting a final proposal of the National Mediator. Under the proposal, five separate collective bargaining agreements are signed, one for each industrial segment of the company, with a duration of four years and salary renegotiation after two years.

Paperiliitto members at UPM returned to work on 23 April after 112 days of strike that brought the company to a standstill at all sites in Finland. The management attack failed to destroy the union, failed to break the collective bargaining system, and failed in its attempt to set pay and conditions unilaterally without Paperiliitto representing workers.

Petri Vanhala, Paperiliitto president, says:

“Under these circumstances l am satisfied with the outcome of the negotiation process. Our union stood firm against the employer’s demands; the strike lasted 112 days, but we held the line. Paperiliitto was greatly assisted by the efforts of both international and Finnish trade unions.”

Union reaches wage agreement with ArcelorMittal South Africa

The increase, signed on 25 May, means that housing, retention, compulsory overtime, pension, shift, standby and other allowances will also increase by the same percentage. According to NUMSA, the increases will be backdated by June and workers will also receive ex-gratia once off cash payments of R5000 (US$320) each.

The strike started on 11 May with demands for a seven per cent increase. During the strike NUMSA, affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, highlighted that the steel manufacturing company had declared high profits in 2021.

ArcelorMittal, with plants in Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging, Saldanha and New Castle, wanted to stop the strike through the courts, but lost. The union argued in the Labour Court that the workers have a constitutional right to strike, protected by labour laws. The court concurred with NUMSA's arguments that the strike could not be stopped because ArcelorMittal had a pending application for workers in some sections of its steel production to be declared essential services – where workers would be barred from going on strike. The strike continued after the court ruling, while negotiations continued.

Says Irvin Jim, NUMSA general secretary:

“We signed a one-year agreement effective from April and expiring on 31 March 2023. The employer started by offering zero per cent, and we have moved significantly to achieve this result. This agreement is a victory for all NUMSA members who made the ultimate sacrifice to fight for improved wages and conditions. They did not do this only for themselves, but also, for future generations of workers. To achieve an above-inflation increase during the Covid-19 pandemic is a major achievement and it would not have been possible without them. We also wish to thank NUMSA officials for working extremely hard to secure this deal on behalf of employees.”

“We congratulate NUMSA for this wage settlement which comes at a time when the cost of living is increasing in South Africa. It is commendable that the union remains resolute and militant when fighting for living wages and improved working standards,”

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

Philippine unions fight for living wage

Associated Labor Unions (ALU-TUCP) has filed petitions at twelve out of 17 RTWPB to demand an increase to the minimum wage, currently ranging from PHP724 (US$13.9) to PHP1007 (US$19.3).

ALU national vice president Eva Arcos travelled across the country to file the petitions and said:

“It is frustrating that our new minimum wages are below poverty thresholds. It is due to an anti-union environment, a low CBA coverage, Covid-19 and the increase of prices on goods.
“Although the new minimum wage rate will increase workers’ budget for basic needs, it has never ever been substantial. We need to use it as a benchmark to push companies to adjust salaries and avoid wage distortions.”

Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines (MWAP) have organized wage forums and protests to demand that the daily minimum wage rate be increased to PHP 750 (US$14.3) as a national standard.

MWAP president Mary Ann Castillo said:

“The government has not approved any wage increase since 2018. Our meagre wages can't cope with the rising prices of commodities. The new minimum wage will only serve as a temporary cushion to the devastating impact of inflation and wage erosion to our livelihood.”

Since Mid-May, RTWPBs have announced the new minimum wage for different geographical areas. In the greater Manila area, the daily rate increased 6.1 per cent, from PHP 537 (US$10.3) to PHP 570 (US$10.9) for non-agricultural workers. The daily rate for the other regions increased by PHP 350 (US$6.7) to PHP 450 (US$8.6) for non-agricultural workers.

However, the rates are still far from a living wage. In 2018, the National Economic and Development Authority of Philippines (NEDA) spokesperson said a household income of PHP 42,000 (US$804, or US$26.8 per day) is required for a family of five to subsist.

Shinya Iwai, IndustriALL South East Asia regional secretary said:

“Trade unions must be involved in determining the minimum wage. Social dialogue should be established not only in determining the minimum wage, but in all matters related to the lives of workers.”

Photo: E. Tuyay / ILO

Glencore workers on strike in Canada

A demand for genuine respect from Glencore is a major issue for the union members, who often work eleven-hour shifts, for 21 consecutive days, at the isolated, fly-in/fly-out nickel mining operations in Nunavik.

The increased use of subcontractors, who work under inferior conditions at Raglan Mine, is another key issue in the labour dispute, and on 27 May, the 630 unionized workers went on strike.

“It has reached the point where there are often many more contractors at the mine site than unionized workers. It doesn't make sense. This means fewer economic benefits for the regions of Quebec, while this multinational corporation extracts huge profits by exploiting our natural resources,”

says Eric Savard, president of Steelworkers Local 9449, which represents the striking workers.

In addition to the shameful use of subcontractors, other stumbling blocks in negotiations include vacations, working conditions and wages. Above all, however, workers are demanding respect from Glencore.

“Glencore has been continually pushing the limits. It even balks at providing a proper lunch hour to workers who are working eleven hours a day, 21 days in a row. Living conditions at the mining camp have deteriorated over the years. The employer systematically quibbles over the living and working conditions of employees who are away their families for long periods of time. It’s time for this company to show greater respect for the workers who are generating its profits of tens of millions of dollars each year,”

adds Savard.

The parties met on Friday in the presence of a mediator, without breaking the impasse in negotiations. The union members therefore decided to exercise their strike mandate, which they had approved last week by an overwhelming majority vote of 97.5 per cent.

“IndustriALL fully supports the demands of Steelworkers’ local 9449, which resonates with the wider call for respect for workers and their fundamental rights by Glencore mineworkers around the world, including in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa.

“This is a classic race to the bottom, as Glencore races to supply the critical raw minerals for the low carbon energy transition and meet its multiple long-term supplier agreements with a host of downstream customers, including the auto sector."

The strike comes on the back of false promises by Glencore to enter into meaningful dialogue with IndustriALL, and IndustriALL Colombian affiliates, together with Swiss, Dutch and British NGOs, protesting at the annual general meeting against Glencore’s shameful conduct and treatment of workers, including a refusal to enter into a Just Transition dialogue.

IndustriALL will embark on a global corporate campaign against Glencore to seek redress and to demand meaningful global dialogue.

Cover photo: Glencore AGM, Switzerland, 2017

IndustriALL solidarity visit to Ukraine

IndustriALL affiliates in Ukraine welcomed the first solidarity visit from the international trade union movement. The affiliates have a strong history of international solidarity and participation in the work of the International in mining, energy and manufacturing industries.

The union delegation met municipal authorities in Bucha, who discussed plans and efforts to rebuild the city, In Irpen, local authority representatives explained how they defended their city when it was attacked by Russian forces. A decision has been made to leave some war damage unrepaired as a memorial.

The solidarity visit continued to Kyiv, meeting IndustriALL’s affiliates, as well as the leadership of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine, FPU and Federation of Independent Trade Unions KVPU. They all provided detailed accounts of the current situation where their members are facing extremely complex challenges to maintain trade union activities during wartime.

“From the first days of Russian aggression, the FPU member unions have supported the Ukrainians. We are thankful for the support and solidarity from the international trade union movement,”

said FPU chairman Grigori Osovyi.

The meetings made clear that the war is creating an urgent need for financial support from financial institutions and the European Union.

“Ukrainian unions have mobilized to help people and defend our country. But we need support for our work to help war victims and preserve jobs, as well as for rebuilding infrastructure, the economy and fair labour and social legislation. Thank you to IndustriALL and its affiliates for the solidarity extended,”

said Mykhailo Volynets, KVPU chairman and member of the national Parliament.

IndustriALL is demanding that multinational companies operating in Ukraine take their social responsibility and do not abandon Ukrainian employees. Instead they should provide support, continue to pay salaries, and provide other material assistance. IndustriALL is working with affiliates to ensure financial solidarity payments to Ukraine.

Kemal Özkan said:

“The world admires Ukrainians for their courageous defense of their values and sovereignty. Ukraine can and must rebuild and recover. IndustriALL will always stand alongside our affiliates.

“We continue to support affiliates against a weakening of workers’ rights when the Ukrainian Parliament moves the deregulation and flexibilization of labour legislation back on to its agenda at a time when unity is needed.”

Valery Matov, chairman of Atomprofspilka and member of IndustriALL’s Executive Committee, said:

“IndustriALL is the first international trade union to visit Ukraine in war time, and affiliates here strongly appreciate not only financial support, but the moral support and solidarity above all.”