Union win for Turkish workers producing smart phones
Last month, workers at Salcomp decided to join IndustriALL Global Union affiliate Turk Metal. In return, company management launched a union busting campaign; workers were intimidated, threatened and 170 union members were dismissed. Around 80 per cent of the dismissed workers are women.
When workers protested against the union busting on company grounds, management responded by locking all doors. According to reports, workers inside the factory were not allowed to use the toilets and were banned from using use their mobile phones, cutting off communication with other workers.
But after six days the protests yielded result. Salcomp management agreed to reinstate all dismissed union members, withdraw from the lawsuit challenging the CBA certificate issued by Ministry of Labour and start collective bargaining negotiations on 1 October.
“When we come together, we win. Thanks to the action taken and the attention from international solidarity, the workers’ right to organize has been recognized,”
says Pevrul Kavlak, president of Türk Metal and member of IndustriALL Executive Committee.
“We congratulate Türk Metal and their members on this union win, and welcome the company’s commitment to engaging in genuine social dialogue,”
says Atle Høie, IndustruALL general secretary.
Xiaomi is a multinational electronics company founded in April 2010 and headquartered in Beijing. Xiaomi makes a wide range of electronics products, such as smartphones, laptops, home appliances, and consumer electronics.
23,000 Leoni workers in Tunisia receive record wage increase
The increase was announced at a signing ceremony on 17 September, attended by union representatives organizing the 23,000 workers at four different work sites in Tunisia.
Tahar Berberi, FGME-UGTT general secretary, says that the wage increase reflects the conducive social climate, based on a permanent dialogue between the various UGTT unions organizing workers at Leoni.
“The increase is important and will have an impact on the workers’ purchasing power in a generally difficult economic situation."
In 2017, Leoni workers in Egypt were able to join their Tunisian and Moroccan colleagues and organize a union representing the company’s workers at different sites, currently working on developing a dialogue with the company on the national level on social security, health care and pension systems.
During IndustriALL’s MENA Automotive Union Network meeting in 2019 in Casablanca, the Leoni MENA Union Network was launched. German union IG Metall supported the establishment and development of dialogue with the parent company in Germany. The network meets regularly, as well as with management in Germany, Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt.
At the Leoni MENA union network meeting next month, the future of the company and management’s plans to overcome the Covid-19 related financial crisis will be discussed.
"Thanks to a well-established social dialogue, the company succeeded in balancing development and sustainability while guaranteeing the rights of workers. Capital has a role in production, but the real and essential production power is a labour,”
said Noureddine Taboubi, UGTT general secretary.
Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary, said:
"Congratulations to the workers and our affiliate FGME-UGTT to an agreement that shows how far joint union action and a sound sound dialogue can reach.”
IndustriALL and Leoni signed a global framework agreement in 2012.
Unions oppose regressive labour law reform in Ukraine
Among the proposed draft laws is draft law № 5371, which excludes workers of small and medium-sized companies from legal protection by setting a new "contractual regime for regulating labour relations", where all working conditions are determined by an employment contract instead of by labour law.
Dismissals would be at the employer’s discretion, as the employment contract would determine the grounds for dismissal instead of the current strict list of grounds provided by the labour code.
Another draft law, №5388, would allow for an almost unlimited use of short-term employment contracts; determine additional grounds for dismissals; deprive single mothers, people with disabilities, young workers and specialists retired after military service of their current guarantees; and deprive workers of guarantees for overtime.
“Union proposals have not been included and the draft laws undermine the balance of rights and interests between employers and trade unions. In addition, a number of the current provisions could lead to violation of human rights and elimination of core labour rights,”
says Lesia Semeniaka, IndustriALL Executive Committee member and international secretary of the Nuclear Power and Industry Workers Union of Ukraine (Atomprofspilka).
Both draft laws infringe on trade union rights by limiting the scope of union coordination, and are in violation of the national constitution and international core labour standards, including ILO conventions and EU directives.
“Under the cover of adapting labour and social legislation to modern realities and creating improved conditions for investors, Ukrainian authorities continue their attack on workers’ and trade union rights,”
said Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine (NPGU) chairman Mikhailo Volynets addressing IndustriALL’s 3rd Congress.
Last year, the draft labour law №2708 was defeated thanks to mass union protests in Ukraine and global solidarity action and subsequently abandoned following the resignation of the government. However, legislators have instead drafted separate laws, which they are now trying to push through Parliament.
IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan, says:
“Ukraine must abandon the anti-worker law reform and act in accordance with international labour conventions, ratified by Ukraine, and the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. We urge Ukrainian legislators to seek ILO technical expert advice and support in amending the current legislation, in cooperation with social partners, to ensure full compliance with international core labour standards and norms.”
Belarus authorities intensify attacks on independent unions
Today in Navapolatsk, the house of Volha Brytsikava, local BITU chairperson at Naftan, was searched and her computer was seized. She was detained, but has since been released.
Two more union members, Andrey Berezovsky and Roman Shkodin, were arrested for seven and 15 days respectively.
The local BITU office in Navapolatsk is currently being searched.
IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan says:
“These continued attacks on independent unions and fundamental rights in Belarus are unacceptable. We demand the immediate release of all union leaders and activists who are unlawfully detained over their union activities and struggle to protect fundamental rights.”
In the last week, several local BITU union leaders and members have been arrested; vice-chairperson at Grodno Azot, Valiantsin Tseranevich, union members Andrei Paheryla and Vladzimir Zhurauka remain in custody.
In Zhlobin, local BITU secretary-treasurer at the Belarusian Metallurgical Plant (BMZ), Aliaksandr Hashnikau, disappeared last Friday. His family only found out today that he has been arrested.
BITU president Maksim Pazniakou was detained on 17 September, but was subsequently released following a fast and strong condemnation by global unions. However, on 20 September, Pazniakou was fined US$350 for a social media post from last year, featuring a Belarusian music group, later labelled by authorities as extremist.
Pazniakou’s detention coincided with his speech at IndustriALL’s 3rd Congress, where he spoke of the deteriorating situation of human, workers’ and trade union rights, ongoing attacks on independent unions and mass repression in Belarus.
BITU and IndustriALL are concerned that Ihar Povarau, sentenced to three years in prison for an attempted warning strike at BMZ in August 2020, has been kept in the solitary confinement for an unspecified period of time, which could severely harm his psychological and physical health.
In the joint letter on 17 September, IndustriALL and the ITUC called on the ILO for an urgent intervention with Belarusian authorities to demand the immediate release of Ihar Pavarou and Maxim Pazniakou.
IndustriALL jointly with the ITUC have also written to the Prime Minister of Belarus, Roman Golovchenko, and demanded to release all union leaders, activists and members who have been unlawfully detained realted to their union activities and struggle to protect fundamental rights.
Kan Matsuzaki
Kan Matsuzaki was elected Assistant General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union at its 3rd Congress on 14-15 September 2021. He was previously ICT, electrical & electronics and shipbuilding-shipbreaking sector director at IndustriALL.
Earlier in his career, in 1998, Matsuzaki joined the Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Unions (JCM), an umbrella organization representing a broad range of unions in Japan’s metal industry such as automobile, steel, shipbuilding, machinery, electrical and electronics. He was responsible for coordinating and instituting industrial policies on strengthening the manufacturing base and securing sustainable jobs. He was given specific tasks to promote international solidarity throughout metalworkers in Southeast Asia.
In August 2010, he joined International Metalworkers’ Federation(IMF) and was responsible for Shipbuilding and Non-Manual workers until the formation of IndustriALL in 2012, when he was appointed director of ICT, Electrical and Electronics and Shipbuilding and Shipbreaking. In the both sectors, he has been active in expanding union networks, promoting sustainable industrial policy and leading organizing projects (for shipbreaking workers in South Asia and ICT EE workers in Southeast Asia), which have been successful in organizing precarious workers.
IndustriALL’s 3rd Congress elects new leadership to overcome challenges
The world's unions and their workers face several crises, growing inequality, changing forms of work, climate change and now the pandemic. Workers need strong organizations to build a pathway through these crises, and to ensure that workers don't pay the price.
IndustriALL’s 3rd Congress was a crucial meeting for the global trade union movement, as it will influence the priorities of unions in the mining, manufacturing and energy sectors across the world for the next four years. A virtual meeting meant that more people could participate; the Congress welcomed more than 3,000 delegates and observers from more than 100 countries.
Although the meeting was held virtually and not in South Africa as planned, the spirit of the anti-apartheid struggle was present throughout the Congress, with music, historic posters and a video. Delegates were reminded of how Black workers organized into unions to take on the might of the apartheid state and bad bosses, and won. What lessons do they have for today’s labour movement?
Delegates paid a fond farewell to Valter Sanches, who stepped down as general secretary.
Online elections were held for a new leadership team. Atle Høie, former assistant general secretary, was elected as general secretary. Jörg Hofmann, president of German union IG Metall will continue as president of IndustriALL. Kemal Özkan was re-elected as assistant general secretary, and was joined by Kan Matsuzaki, previously ICT, electrical & electronics and shipbuilding-shipbreaking sector director at IndustriALL, and Christine Olivier, international secretary at South African union NUMSA.
There are also six new vice-presidents from IndustriALL regions:
Asia-Pacific – Akira Takakura, Japan
Latin America and the Caribbean – Lucineide Varjao, Brazil
Middle East & North Africa – Abdelmajid Matoual, Morocco (2021-2022), Hashmeya Al Saadawi, Iraq (2022-2023), Saleh Kandil, Morocco (2023-2024), Habib Hazami, Tunisia (2024-2025)
North America – Anna Fendley, USA
Sub-Saharan Africa Joseph Montesetse, South Africa
Europe – GarbineaEspejo, Spain (first two years) Marie Nilsson, Sweden (next 2 years)
Winning the war on workers’ rights
In his opening statement, IndustriALL and IG Metall president Jörg Hofmann spoke about the need for vaccine justice: the pandemic has left millions without income, too many have died, human and workers’ rights have worsened, and there has been a rise of discrimination and segregation. Poor countries have very low access to the vaccines.
“This is profoundly unjust: we need a fair, global distribution of vaccines.”
As Congress delegates debated the proposed action plan for the next four-year period, IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie stressed the need for input from affiliated unions:
“Workers’ rights are trampled on and under attack every day of the year. We have every right to expect that these rights, recognized by the OECD, UN bodies and many governments, are respected. We are the organized force that stands between multinational corporations and complete dictatorial power over the entire production process. How do we win the war of rights?"
IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie
Assistant general secretary Christine Olivier spoke about building union power:
“We need to go back to basics, to build democratic, worker-controlled unions that deliver. Any agreements reached, including global agreements with multinationals, must advance workers' rights.”
Assistant general secretary Kan Matsuzaki made an introduction on confronting global capital:
“We need more powerful international tools to impose binding obligations to multinational companies, not only asking them to respect the fundamental workers’ rights.”
Introducing the discussion on sustainable industrial policy, assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:
“The global labour movement has a historic responsibility to confront the megatrends that influence the future of work, including climate change, digitalization and industry 4.0. We demand a Just Transition.”
After many speakers took to the floor to discuss and debate, Congress delegates moved to adopt the ambitious action plan on advancing workers’ rights, building strong unions, confronting global capital and sustainable industrial policy.
Solidarity is central to IndustriALL, and Congress adopted a number of resolutions. Trade union leaders from Algeria, Belarus, Korea, Eswatini, Indonesia and Myanmar spoke of the difficult situations in their respective countries, where trade union work is paralyzed due to the massive attacks on workers’ rights.
Khaing Zar, president of Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM), introduced the resolution on Myanmar, which coincided with the global union day of action on Myanmar.
“My country is run by military thugs, killing and imprisoning working women, men and activists. It is time to intensify the campaign; workers in Myanmar need your help now more than ever. Thank you for your solidarity and support.”
Maksim Pazniakou of Belarus reminded Congress of the terrible repression being experienced in Belarus, where many of his trade union colleagues have been imprisoned and how the support of the international union movement is crucial.
Discussing the resolution on youth, Amy Bracegirdle from AMWU, Australia, said:
“The structures that have enable many union leaders to develop their skills and commitment to the cause of labour have changed. Young workers are often at the sharp end of rights violations. To advance workers’ rights, Congress should pass the youth resolution, to create more space in union structures for young workers.”
Congress also adopted resolutions on Afghanistan, on cooperation with other global unions, on building a strong, united and vibrant Industriall Global Union and to address sexism and gender-based violence in union structures.
Monica Veloso, of CNTM Brazil, spoke of how the pandemic made the precarious situation of women worse:
“We must fight for the ratification of ILO C190 to fight against violence and harassment in the world of work. There is no future without equality: we need to send a message to the world’s working class that women leadership in our global union is critical to the future of the global trade union movement.”
For more coverage of Congress, along with images and quotes from the more than 200 speakers please visit YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and twitter.
Resolutions
Building a Strong, United and Vibrant Industriall Global Union
Three Zimbabwean textile, garment, shoe, and leather unions merge
The three unions that merged – the National Union of the Clothing Industry (NUCI), the Zimbabwe Leather, Shoe and Allied Workers Union (ZLSAWU), and the Zimbabwe Textile Workers’ Union (ZTWU) – agreed to work collectively in strengthening recruitment and organizing towards building a stronger union. As part of its plans to be inclusive, the CLTWF also formed youth and women committees during the launch.
However, the CLTWF is confronted by many of the challenges that the sector is facing globally. Further, in Zimbabwe the challenges are worsened by an economic crisis that has seen factories close and workers retrenched while wage theft is spreading.
The working conditions in the sector are precarious. In some instances, working days have been reduced and wages are low with some workers saying they earn $8 000 Zimbabwe Dollars (US$94 on the official rate and US$57 on the parallel market). The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe says a family of six needs over $40 000 Zimbabwe Dollars per month, and this means the current wages are not enough for workers to pay for their basic needs.
According to reports, the decline in manufacturing industries caused by the country’s deindustrialization, weakened the cotton-to-clothes value chain and leather and shoe manufacturing. Further, the unstable local currency, foreign currency shortages, high inflation, and huge imports of second-hand and cheap clothing is adversely affecting the sector. Economic policies are also failing to revive the textile and garment industries.
Joseph Tanyanyiwa, the newly elected general secretary of CLTWF says:
“Although the merger is long overdue, it is an opportunity to plan collectively and shape the future of our sectors by fighting for workers’ rights, living wages, and organizing more members. We would also like to thank IndustriALL, national affiliates, and unions in Sub Saharan Africa for supporting the merger and for giving us support in developing our five-year strategic plan.”
“We welcome the merger as it brings unity and strength to the union. This is important in building union power in the textile, garment, shoe and leather sectors in Zimbabwe considering the challenges that have been brought by the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis,”
says Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa.
Union adopts a decent work campaign strategy for organizing artisanal and small-scale miners in Ghana
The union explained its strategy at the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung-IndustriALL crossing the divide project workshop on 2-3 September in Accra. The project aims to complement the International Labour Organization Recommendation 204 on transition from the informal to the formal economy and promotes the use of innovation by trade unions in engaging with the miners.
The aims of the workshop were to bring together key stakeholders: trade unions, researchers, civil society organizations, government, ASM associations, traditional authorities, communities, and other stakeholders to find ways of improving the sector. According to the GMWU, this could be done through using the decent work pillars of full and productive employment, rights at work, social protection, and promoting social dialogue and international labour standards. Further, emphasis was put on health and safety.
The hybrid workshop had 20 participants in the conference room whilst others attended online. The participants included officials from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, representatives from the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners and from the trade think tank, Third World Network Africa. Others came from the GMWU and the FES-Ghana and South Africa Offices.
Abdul-Moomin Ggbana, the general secretary for GMWU said:
“Calls to formalize artisanal and small-scale mining fit into the mission of the Ghana mineworkers. We want the miners to be involved in social dialogue, enjoy their rights at work, and to have their operations registered. This will promote decent work which will benefit ASM.”
“Ghana is amongst the important actors that provide us with a model of recognition, formalizing, and organizing ASM that is inclusive of women’s rights. Following our meeting in Johannesburg in 2019, there were recommendations on taking the programme forward through learning and sharing of strategies and tactics. This is one of the purposes of this workshop,”
said Shane Choshane, FES-Trade Union Competence Centre, project manager.
He added that while South Africa is currently considering formalizing ASM, Ghana is a step ahead and already has laws for the registration and licensing of the sector.
Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining said:
“It is important to create a decent working environment and due diligence in ASM. Occupational health and safety are important for the sector. With informality, workers are exposed to dangerous working conditions including landslides and dangerous chemicals such as mercury. Other dangerous work includes manual rock crushing, and this means miners are at risk of injury and death every day when they enter the mining sites with no protection.”
Gender inequality and gender-based violence were other areas of concern that were discussed in the workshop and the situation in Ghana was presented by a labour and gender expert Bashiratu Kamal.
“Like in most mining activities, women in ASM do the least important tasks, earn the lowest money, and face gender-based violence and sexual harassment. This is caused by gender inequality that is common in mining operations which is worsened by informality. This is where stakeholder engagement by trade unions on gender responsive due diligence is essential as an intervention,”
said Armelle Seby, IndustriALL gender coordinator.
According to reports there are about one million artisanal and small-scale miners in gold mining in Ghana who are producing about 35 per cent of the country’s gold. This is about 60 per cent of the country’s labour force. The miners are said to look after households that make up about 4.5 million people.
The Ghana workshop is the first in series of meetings that will take place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia to discuss ways of improving mining and working conditions in the ASM sector.
IndustriALL Congress joins global day of action against military junta in Myanmar
Since the military seized power in Myanmar on 1 February this year, hundreds of thousands of citizens and workers have participated in peaceful demonstrations. Trade unions have been central to the organization of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against the coup and the brutal violation of human rights, extrajudicial killings, arrests, rapes and the destruction and burning of villages, hospitals, churches.
At least 1,088 people have been killed by the military, over 8,100 people have been arrested and over 1,983 arrest warrants have been issued. The UN estimates that 230,000 people have been displaced since 1 February.
Trade unionists and workers taking part in the demonstrations are being hounded by the military. Many trade union leaders have gone into hiding, several have been arrested and many have had their passports declared void.
During its third and wholly virtual Congress, a resolution on Myanmar was adopted, introduced by Khaing Zar, president of Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM).
“My country is run by military thugs, killing and imprisoning working women, men and activists. It is time to intensify the campaign; workers in Myanmar need your help now more than ever. Thank you for your solidarity and support.”
The resolution calls for, among other things:
Support for the campaign for comprehensive economic sanctions against the military junta by calling on governments to put pressure on multinational companies and global brands to cease their operations, divest, stop placing new orders and halt their business relations in Myanmar
Demand the withdrawal of all arrest warrants against trade unionists and labour activists for their solely peaceful activities, and to demand an end to the attacks
Exert pressure on their national governments to demand for NUG credential recognition at the UN General Assembly
IndustriALL president Jörg Hofmann urged the 3,000 unionists who had gathered online to support the campaign on Labour Start, calling on the UN to reject the credentials of the illegitimate military junta of Myanmar.
IndustriALL closely coordinates its activities with the ITUC and other global unions under the the Council of Global Unions (CGU) to effectively end the military junta’ s reign of terror and restore Myanmar on the path to a democracy where working people and their representatives can return to the free exercise of their fundamental rights.
Eleven global unions are calling on their affiliates worldwide to support today’s global day of action on Myanmar, and have published a joint statement:
“A democratic system is fundamental to the exercise of trade union rights and fundamental freedoms. We express our strongest solidarity with the workers of Myanmar in every sector and from every profession who have sacrificed their lives, freedom and jobs to persist in the CDM, paralyse the military’s administration of the country and shut down its major economic activities.”
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