Global solidarity of Sanofi trade unions

The latest global meeting of the IndustriALL network was conducted on 16 December. The group analyses the company’s operations, plans, and policies and develops joint responses.

The IndustriALL Sanofi Network exists at the global and regional levels, with three regional structures existing in Europe, Asia and Latin America. The Chair at European and global levels is Aline Eysseric of the FCE-CFDT in France, the company’s home country.

On 16 December the network decided to call on the company’s management to conduct dialogue with the global union group, in order to address a number of priority issues, and to hold information sessions on the important restructuring, new strategy rollout and new global HR Guidelines of the company.

Sanofi’s restructuring and relocations of operations have affected hundreds of union employees over the past two years, at a time of very successful business performance and high returns to shareholders.

A number of flashpoints for Sanofi unions currently include: the Indonesian IndustriALL FARKES decries their management taking advantage of weaker labour laws to cut severance pay; Pakistani affiliates were shocked to learn that the company plans to pull out of the country; European unions have been particularly affected by the major restructuring programs of the company and have concerns including around transparency and work life balance; Bangladeshi unions are still campaigning for a fair settlement for 52 employees affected by the company’s sale of operations to Beximco; and other union issues were reported from Canada, Turkey and Latin America.

Tom Grinter from the IndustriALL Secretariat, together with Network Chair Aline Eyserric are clear on the way to address the raft of challenges:

“Dialogue at the international level between our representative network and the headquarters management will provide the space to deal with all grievances. Both the company and the unions need this dialogue mechanism to support the maneuvering through of the pandemic and current historic period for the company and its employees. We expect the company to engage.”

Atle Høie: Welcome to Global Worker (#2-2021)

Welcome to Global Worker No. 2 November 2021

At IndustriALL’s 3rd Congress in September, affiliates voted unanimously to support the campaign of comprehensive economic sanctions organized by the Myanmar Labor Alliance against the military junta. The campaign calls for disinvestment from the country, and for all companies operating there to cease operations and place no new orders. Read the feature on why IndustriALL supports sanctions in Myanmar. 

The Covid-pandemic is continuing, even picking up speed in some parts of the world. With the pandemic we have seen an increase in violations of workers’ rights, but unions are tirelessly fighting back. In this issue you can read about our affiliates in Nicaragua and Eswatini who relentlessly defend their members and fight for a better future. 

Morocco’s union movement plays a central social role, with IndustriALL’s affiliates playing key roles in improving working conditions. Read about building union power in challenging circumstances. 

Organizing in India’s shipbreaking industry has significantly improved conditions for the workers, but a lot remains to be done to protect shipbreakers in Bangladesh and Pakistan. The Hong Kong Convention for safe recycling of ships is crucial going forward, so what will it take for the Convention to come into force? 

In the interview in this issue, we talk to Daniela Cavallo, president of the European and World Group Works Councils at Volkswagen, the world’s largest automotive manufacturer with more than 600,000 employees around the globe. The auto industry is going through a transformation which means changes in the work, leading to potential job losses due to digitalization and technological changes, but also to opportunities of new jobs in new areas. How is the union securing workers’ rights? 

Climate change and a Just Transition for workers are key parts of our agenda – we want a seat at the table. Nothing about us, without us, was the slogan of the union delegation attending this year’s climate conference in Glasgow, UK. So, what happened at COP26? And what does it mean for our unions and members? 

2021 is coming to an end, and already 2022 looks like it will hold its shares of challenges for workers. But another world is possible and necessary. IndustriALL adopted a new action plan at Congress, focusing on global union solidarity and cooperation for peace, democracy and rights. Our mission is to secure social justice, equality and equity, with a decent standard of living for all. 

When we come together, we win.  

Atle Høie

General secretary 

Achieving sustainable change

Two new co-chairs were elected for the next four years, Hashmeya Muhsen Alsaad, vice president of General Trade Union of Electricity Sector Employees of Iraq (GTUESE), and Ilvana Smajlovic, president of Independent Trade Union of Chemical and Non-Metal Workers from Bosnia Herzegovina.

During the two days, participants discussed priorities for the four-year Congress period. Gender-based violence, women representation and participation in unions remains high on the list to achieve sustainable change, as well as bridging the gender pay gap and what the future of work looks like for women.

Efforts to integrate gender equality in the  sectoral work of IndustriALL has been a priority since the Cape Town meeting in 2018. Recommendations from that meeting were endorsed by the executive committee and Congress took further decisions to increase women’s participation in meetings and increase and strengthen women’s representation in the unions.

And the work will continue through including language on equality in global framework agreements, and conducting training on leadership, organizing and collective bargaining training, human rights due diligence, as well as gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work.

The women’s committee adopted a framework for its work, The purpose of the women’s committee is to ensure, along with the executive committee, that policies and actions are developed and implemented by IndustriALL Global Union and its affiliates, in line with the broad IndustriALL action plan, aiming at:

The women’s committee adopted a roadmap for the implementation of the resolution adopted at IndustriALL’s 3rd Congress, calling for an end to inequalities, sexism, misogyny and gender-based violence in IndustriALL, among affiliates and in in the world of work. The roadmap will now be submitted to the Executive Committee for endorsement.

Says IndustriALL assisting general secretary Christine Olivier:

“For our women’s committee to be well equipped to tackle future challenges, we need to focus on the future of work and industry 4.0 and what it means for our unions. The women must take it further and ensure that we are not left behind.”

Carnage continues in Pakistan’s mines as IndustriALL meets with government representatives

The meeting came just days after three miners lost their lives in the killing fields of Pakistan’s coal mines on 10 December, Human Rights Day, bringing home the irony of the merciless assault on coal mineworkers. The latest deaths are in addition to the never-ending roll call of deaths.

IndustriALL is campaigning on health and safety in Pakistan, and is calling on the country to ratify and implement  ILO Convention 176 on Safety and Health in Mines (C176). IndustriALL has worked with the government, employers, affiliated unions in Pakistan, the ILO headquarters in Geneva, and the ILO country office in Pakistan to promote the ratification of C176.

IndustriALL general secretary, Atle Høie, accompanied by assistant general secretary, Kemal Özkan and the director for mining and DGOJP, Glen Mpufane, met with the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Pakistan government at the Permanent Mission of Pakistan in Geneva to push for ratification of C176. The Labour Minister at the Permanent Mission, Madam Farhat Ayesha, accompanied the Ambassador Mr. Khalil Hashmi.

Özkan briefed the Ambassador, saying that it was unacceptable that the government of Pakistan was delaying the implementation of the ILO gap analysis presented to the government and submitted to the Federal Tripartite Consultative Committee (FTCC).

“The gap analysis is an important step and milestone in the ratification process and there needs to be follow through to this milestone because these deaths keep IndustriALL awake at night,”

he said.

Mr. Hashmi explained that Pakistan’s federal constitution presented challenges, and that the governance structure of Pakistan devolved decision-making to provinces. He outlined the role of the labour ministry – the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development – in mobilizing resources needed for the ratification and implementation of C176. He gave assurances that these challenges are discussed and addressed at the FTCC.

Høie reiterated IndustriALL’s demand on the urgency and imperative for finalizing the ratification process and protocols in order to submit them to the ILO. He added:

 “While the wrangling and discussions are going on, workers were dying at an alarming rate – this points to a systemic problem within the legislative and governance system of coal mines in Pakistan, and to a situation of lawlessness.”

The productive meeting ended with agreement on the next steps, including a commitment to the ratification process by both parties, agreement to assist in the resolution of bottleneck regarding implementing the recommendation of the gap analysis, and resource mobilization towards ratification that includes capacity-building efforts. The parties would continue the dialogue and sharing of information.

The future of Industry 4.0 and green technology in the Middle East and North Africa

The meeting was introduced by IndustriALL Global Union MENA regional secretary Ahmed Kamel, and Asma Guitouni of FES. Kamel underlined the importance of the discussions and the development of a union approach, given the accelerated pace of industry 4.0, expansion of the global supply chain of various industries in the region and the impact on workers, while Guitouni spoke of the need for unions to critically engage with the issue.

IndustriALL lead on Green Tech, Matthias Hartwich, gave a detailed introduction about the reality of Industry 4.0, situating it in the context of industrial development since the 18th century. In advanced economies, manual jobs are being replaced by robots. This is not a bad thing : dirty, dangerous jobs have been replaced with clean, safe jobs.

This must be the key demand of trade unions: as new technology raises productivity, workers must demand a just share of the reward. We should abandon unpleasant work and demand clean jobs for all, and shared prosperity.

Hartwich noted that the workforce of the future will be more diverse, and that Industry 4.0 offers opportunities for women as manual jobs that required physical strength are replaced with white collar jobs. He also noted that in Europe, talk of Industry 5.0 has already begun. This integrates the technological advances of Industry 4.0 with the social needs of a Just Transition.

Dr Sami Aouadi, an economics professor at El Manar University in Tunis, presented his research on the implications of Industry 4.0 for the MENA region. The research is based on a survey carried out by IndustriALL in the region in which many union leaders participated. He noted the differences between MENA countries and those in Europe, where much of the pioneering work on this field is being done. Manufacturing plays a smaller role in the economies of the region, which rely heavily on oil and gas, and the public sector plays a much bigger role.

He recommended that trade unions educate their members and disseminate information about industry 4.0. They should work with politicians and government to propose legislation that protects jobs as workplaces transition to using more technology.

Participants raised fears that employers would use technology to get rid of workers, because there is a link between digitalization and the expansion of informal work in the region. Existing labour laws are weak and often not implemented, leaving workers vulnerable.

Dr Aouadi explained that there is little social dialogue in the region, and many manufacturing jobs are low-skilled manual assembly jobs of components manufactured elsewhere, making workers particularly vulnerable to replacement by mechanisation.

MENA countries need to implement industrial strategies that develop and retain skills.

The meeting concluded with an action plan to focus on education and sharing experiences of addressing digitalization, launching a dialogue with employers and to expand the scope of the work to sectoral and company networks while integrating the gender aspect.

Photo: © Dana Smillie / World Bank – Ain Beni Mathar Thermo-Solar Power Plant, Morocco.

South African union and communities march against privatization of Eskom

According to government announcements there are plans to split Eskom into generation, transmission, and distribution units to improve the availability of electricity and end frequent power cuts caused by increasing demand and ageing infrastructure among other factors.

During the march, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) which is affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, presented a list of demands to the Eskom management. These included stopping the unbundling, dissolving the Eskom board and the immediate resignation of the management. The union also wants conditions of service for workers to be reinstated and for a 15 per cent wage increase to be given. Additionally, it demands that the “premature” closing of coal power stations be halted.

Further, the NUM wants the renewable energy power purchase agreements to be reviewed to include Eskom as one the power producers. Currently, renewable power production is done by independent power producers. The union says it supports an energy mix policy that protects jobs, ends poverty, and stops the “looting” of state resources through corruption. The NUM is also urging Eskom to negotiate affordable payment terms with communities in Soweto, Johannesburg, whose power supplies were disconnected.

William Mabapa, NUM acting general secretary says the union is against plans to transform the power utility into a profit-making entity.

“The NUM is against the privatization of state-owned enterprises. Our government must put the interests of the people first before those of private businesses. Eskom is a vital and strategic public utility for the South African economy’s development needs and electricity must be considered a public good.”

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

“Job security and preservation of benefits are crucial issues for our affiliates – the NUM and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa – that organize at Eskom. Additionally, the unions are demanding that community and social interests should be protected in the Just Transition to renewable energy sources. To protect these interests, we call upon the Eskom management to consult with unions and affected communities before any changes are implemented.”

An agreement signed at COP26 will see rich countries funding the decarbonization of Eskom. However, unions are concerned that this will be used as a pretext for privatization, and demand that the parties stick to the Just Transition Declaration.

Ten years after Zhanaozen, Kazakh unions still under pressure

The tragic end to the drawn-out labour conflict came after authorities remained passive, bordering on intentional escalation and succumbing to pressure by the employer.

Not much has changed since in Kazakhstan. Social dialogue is still rarely used to prevent labour disputes. This year has seen a rise in spontaneous strikes in the oil sector due to increased social tension. Workers are demanding increased wages and better working conditions.

The Kazakh trade union movement has been seriously oppressed in the last decade. A regressive law on trade unions was adopted in 2014 which prevents the creation of free and independent unions. In 2017, there were direct attacks on independent unions. The Confederation of independent trade unions of Kazakhstan (KNPRK) was liquidated and the activities of its last remaining affiliate, the Trade union of fuel and energy industry workers, was suspended in February 2021. Union leaders have been harassed, intimidated, arrested and imprisoned.

The anti-union actions weaken Kazakh unions, leaving many workers unprotected.

According to the official data, there has been more than 60 large strikes this year, the majority in the energy and oil sector. All strikes were deemed illegal, and strikers are potentially subject to criminal prosecution.

In June this year, union rights violations in Kazakhstan were in focus at the ILO Committee on the Application of Standards during the International Labour Conference. Despite positive amendment of Kazakh legislation in 2020, the Committee noted the continuing restrictions in practice on the right of workers to form organizations of their own choosing, which undermine the exercise of freedom of association.

The Committee requested the government of Kazakhstan to bring all national legislation in line with the ILO Convention 87, ensure complete investigation of violence against trade union members, stop judicial harassment of trade union leaders and members conducting lawful trade unions activities and drop all unjustified charges, including the ban to conduct trade union activities, resolve the registration of liquidated Confederation and its suspended affiliate, overcome obstacles in registration of trade unions, and refrain from interference into trade unions operations.

“Kazakhstan must comply with international obligations and respect core labour standards and union rights. Free and strong unions that can handle labour disputes with genuine social dialogue will ensure that the 2011 Zhanaozen tragedy will not be repeated,”

says IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan.

IndustriALL’s new leadership team holds first executive committee meeting

President Jörg Hofmann from German union IG Metall opened the meeting, talking about the increasing inequalities in the world, but stressing that together the global union makes up a strong force of solidarity. He said that the fact that the meeting still had to be held virtually, almost two years into the pandemic, was sign of global policy failure.

“The only way back to normality is equitable vaccine access for everyone in the world,”

he added.

As a new leadership team was elected at IndustriALL’s 3rd Congress in September, general secretary Atle Høie explained the new leadership structure and division of responsibilities. The organization needs to be equipped to focus on global union solidarity, securing social justice, equality and equity, with a decent standard of living for all, in line with the new action plan.

The Executive Committee discussed action taken on the resolutions adopted by IndustriALL’s 3rd Congress in September. The pandemic, and the growing complexity of global supply chains, has demonstrated the need for unions to present a united front. Congress passed a resolution on cooperation with other trade union organizations, and a detail programme for effective cooperation with organizations including IndustriAll Europe and other global unions was presented.

Assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan updated participants on steps taken as IndustriALL continues to call for comprehensive economic sanctions against the military junta in Myanmar. The call has been made in a series of meetings and communications with multinationals in the energy, steel and garment industries as well as multistakeholder initiatives.

Hashmeya Alsadawe, from General Trade Union of Electricity Sector Employees of Iraq and women’s committee co-chair, gave a report from the committee’s meeting held last week. Bridging the gender pay gap is among the priorities, as well as enhancing social dialogue and ensuring women are part of discussions on the future of work.

On the resolution Calling for an end to inequalities, sexism, misogyny and gender-based violence in IndustriALL, among affiliates and in the world of work adopted at Congress, IndustriALL assistant general secretary Christine Olivier stressed that gender-based violence and sexual harassment continues to be a reality for many women workers and it is also a reality in many unions.

In the women's conference in 2019, women called on their unions to be agents of change and fight stereotypes that perpertuates discrimination in the workplace and society at large. Christine Olivier reminded affiliates of the important Pledge taken in 2017 to fight gender-based violence in workplaces and in unions, calling on the Executive Committee to take the issue seriously.

Inclusiveness and capacity building are key to ensure a place for young workers in the union. As an organization, IndustriALL must be able to reproduce itself, to build a second level of leadership, which can only be done if young workers are included.

There was a significant debate on how IndustriALL and its affiliates should use the concept of global action days to draw public attention to the importance of reduced inequalities in the world. The Executive Committee agreed to task the secretariat with developing a concept for a global action day on inequality and present it to the affiliates in the first quarter of 2022. The Executive Committee meeting on 30 June next year will decide whether or not this action day will happen.

Delegates expressed confidence in the new leadership team, and in the strength of the organization to confront challenges together. Future executive committee meetings will be held twice a year, once virtually and once physically, if pandemic conditions allow.

UPM cuts down collective bargaining in Finland

The company has said that a company-wide collective agreement is unnecessary, and that work will continue on the basis of “labour law, UPM practices and personal employment contracts.”

The current national agreement for the sector expires at the end of the year. In October 2020, the employer’s group withdrew from national sectoral bargaining, meaning that the national collective agreement needs to be replaced by agreements negotiated with each company.

Unions have negotiated, and in some case concluded, agreements with other companies in the sector, but UPM has refused to engage in collective negotiations with the three unions representing its workers. Instead, the forestry giant is demanding five separate agreements with different groups of workers – and refuses to negotiate with representatives of white-collar workers.

UPM has said that it is willing to negotiate a separate agreement per business area with unions representing blue-collar workers, IndustriALL Global Union affiliates Teollisuusliitto (Industrial Union) and Paperiliitto (Paper Union).

Paperiliitto has announced a three-week strike, starting in January.

UPM has refused all negotiations with the white-collar union Proliitto (Pro Union). In a move clearly intended to undermine the union, the company has also cancelled dues check-off for Proliitto, a practice that has been in place since the 1970s.

The stance of UPM in Finland has raised concerns internationally with unions organizing the company’s plants, and the Uruguayan paper workers’ union FOPCU – also an IndustriALL affiliate – wrote to the CEO expressing concern at the company’s retreat from good practice in industrial relations.

Finnish unions are concerned that UPM’s intransigence, which is unusual in a country typically noted for industrial harmony, will set a precedent in undermining labour market security.

IndustriALL director for pulp and paper, Tom Grinter, said:

“UPM is trying to dilute workers’ collective power by insisting that there is no need for a company-wide agreement. The company believes that it will gain advantage by dividing workers, and hopes that it will cause unions to compete with each other.

“We are here to tell them that this will not work: pulp and paper workers across the world stand united in their condemnation of this unfortunate tactic that undermines the good work achieved over the company’s long history.

“As the only forestry company on the United Nations Global Compact, UPM claims to lead on sustainability – but there can be no sustainability without workers’ rights, including the right to bargain collectively.”

UPM was started as United Paper Mills in the early 1870s.

Photo: UPM

FEATURE: Why does IndustriALL support sanctions in Myanmar?

FEATURE

From Global Worker No. 2 November 2021

Country:Myanmar

Text Walton Pantland

As a consequence of this decision, IndustriALL has written to multinational companies with business relations in Myanmar, including major energy and steel companies and fashion brands, asking them to cease their operations. Several have responded positively. IndustriALL has also approached multi-stakeholder initiatives to seek support for the campaign.

Why did IndustriALL take this decision?

The call for sanctions came from trade unions in Myanmar, and was debated at length within IndustriALL and its affiliates over the summer. A representative of an IndustriALL affiliate, the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM), addressed Congress to ask delegates to support the campaign for comprehensive economic sanctions. IndustriALL trusts the judgement of affiliates, and of the organizations that comprise the Myanmar Labor Alliance, on the most appropriate course of action for themselves. Support for sanctions was a statement of solidarity with a beleaguered labour movement suffering under a brutal military regime. Congress delegates felt they were are not in a position to criticize demands made by unions in an extreme situation.

Virtually the entire labour movement in Myanmar, under the umbrella of the Myanmar Labor Alliance, which includes the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar and the IWFM, is part of the campaign for comprehensive economic sanctions. Unions in Myanmar made a judgement call: although sanctions would be painful, the human rights abuses committed by the military were so extreme that the priority had to be overthrowing the regime as soon as possible. 

The call for sanctions does not exist in isolation, but is part of a coordinated campaign to isolate the military junta, by imposing an arms embargo and denying it diplomatic recognition at UN bodies. The Myanmar unions call for international recognition of the National Unity Government (NUG), made up of the democratically-elected lawmakers who were ousted in the coup. However, they maintain independent policy, based on workers’ demands. The NUG opposes comprehensive sanctions, but has called on citizens to join an uprising against the regime. The unions prefer the non-violent solution of sanctions, diplomatic pressure and industrial action.

The call for sanctions has been widely criticized, both by apologists for the military regime, and by those acting in good faith who support democracy in Myanmar. Most criticism points out that sanctions will cause job losses and further hurt workers who are already suffering. Some also say that there was insufficient consultation with workers prior to the decision. Critics support their position by finding examples, usually anecdotal, of workers opposing sanctions, and calling for constructive engagement and targeted sanctions against only those companies with military links.

The labour movement in Myanmar has responded to critics by pointing out that while they cannot claim to represent every worker in the country, democratic union structures are more representative than anecdotal data. They stress that due diligence and constructive engagement is impossible due to the nature of the human rights abuses. Factory owners have passed the details of trade union members to the military. Many trade unionists have been arrested, some have been killed, and many more are in hiding. The regime launched a large scale offensive campaign aimed at crushing opposition, recently shelling a town in Chin province with heavy artillery. So far, the military has killed more than 1,200 people.

Historical precedent

Although it is unusual for trade unions to call for economic sanctions against their country and against their employers, it is not without precedent. During the struggle against apartheid, unions in South Africa called for comprehensive economic sanctions against the country, a boycott of all South African goods, and for foreign companies to disinvest from the country. The call for boycott and sanctions was controversial at the time, both within South Africa and internationally, with many calling for constructive engagement with the racist regime. 

Two factors were important in the case of South Africa: sanctions were not an isolated tactic, but part of a comprehensive struggle against the apartheid regime, and the call for sanctions came from the workers who would be most affected.

The sanctions call was never universally supported by all workers – but as the apartheid government increased its brutality in the 1980s, assassinating political leaders and using the army to maintain order in workers’ neighbourhoods, a majority came to support the idea that “sanctions hurt, but apartheid kills.”

In 1984, unionized supermarket workers at Dunnes Stores in Dublin, Ireland, refused to handle South African fruit, eventually striking for three years until the Irish government banned South African imports. Support for sanctions grew within the global labour movement, leading to the economic and political isolation of the regime. The economic basis of the regime was further undermined by waves of industrial action and civil disobedience within South Africa. As a result, apartheid quickly became unsustainable and the regime was forced to negotiate a transition to democracy.

Are sanctions in Myanmar working?

The February coup in Myanmar faced significantly more resistance than the military junta anticipated. Widespread resistance saw the launch of the Civil Disobedience Movement, strikes by workers and the refusal of the civil service to work under the regime. This led the regime to act with increased brutality, using military special forces, who are usually deployed to suppress ethnic minorities in border regions, against ordinary people in the cities.

Despite this repression, the military regime has not yet been able to consolidate its control of the country, and resistance remains strong. To support the military offensive, the regime has to purchase weapons from countries that are unlikely to extend credit indefinitely.

Myanmar is currently close to economic collapse. The value of the currency has dropped by 30 per cent, and the economy has contracted by 18 per cent since the beginning of the coup. This is likely to grow as more companies finalize orders and leave the country. Sanctions are making it much more difficult for the regime to operate.

The strategy of those who support sanctions is to starve the regime of all resources so that it collapses as soon as possible, before it is able to consolidate its power and begin to normalize diplomatic relations. Unless the regime finds generous foreign backers, it will not to be able to sustain the current levels of oppression.