Two workers killed in one week at Holcim plants in India

 

A 49-year old loader, Mr Subhash, was found dead at a wagon loading machine platform at ACC Wadi Cement in Karnataka on 8 October. Mr Subhash was a member of the plant-level union of IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Indian National Cement Workers’ Federation (INCWF-INTUC).

On 13 October, 39-year old cement truck driver Chandra Mani Pradhan was found dead alongside his truck at ACC Bargarh Cement in Orissa after he came to load cement at the plant.

In both cases, the sequence of events leading to the fatal accidents has not been made clear, and the accidents have not been transparently investigated.

Both of the workers were third party contractors who are not employed directly by ACC. Because Mr Subhash had a permanent contract, his family will receive compensation. The family of Mr Pradhan is unlikely to receive any compensation.

Fatal accidents at ACC plants are not uncommon, and there have been numerous incidents in recent years. A major explosion at an ACC plant in Himachal Pradesh in 2020 led to the hospitalization of six workers. In 2019, three workers were killed at an ACC cement plant in Sindra.

Unions claim that this pattern of fatalities shows that Holcim is paying lip service to safety. The growing use of contract workers also undermines safety – in India, there are typically nine contractors for every permanent employee.

Holcim reported good financial results in 2020, and made large payouts to shareholders. But over the past six years, the company has reduced its permanent workforce from 140,000 to just 67,000 globally.

Holcim announced an ambition of zero harm, but the growing use of contractors undermines this ambition. Workers are still unsafe and die at work –  and the vast majority of the victims are subcontractors or third-party workers.

Materials industry director Alexander Ivanou said:

“We are deeply saddened to hear of these tragic, preventable accidents, and angered by Holcim’s continued disregard for the safety of its workforce. We are also disturbed by the fact that the details of these accidents remain murky.

“It is time for the company to recognize global unions as partners, and to start a dialogue on workers’ rights and the safety crisis in its plants. The company must comply with internationally recognized ILO health and safety standards, and allow union safety reps to inspect workplaces.

“The root of this problem is Holcim’s growing use of third-party contractors. This outsourcing undermines safety culture at the workplace, and is a major contributor to the growing list of fatal accidents.”

Deoraj Singh, general secretary of the INCWF-INTUC, said:

“ACC and Ambuja should strengthen the inspection system in all their cement plants and engage with the unions to participate and disclose all meaningful information on safety and health.

“They also should immediately stop engaging unskilled precarious workers and create a system of safety prevention, with no opportunity for shortfall. INCWF and its constituents are ready to work with Holcim management to safeguard the working conditions of cement workers.”

The general secretaries of IndustriALL and the Building and Wood Workers’ International sent a joint letter to Holcim, calling on the company to take immediate action to address the safety crisis.

Korean unions use Squid Game to mobilize for general strike

“You are all on the brink of life. A new game begins to overturn the rules of inequality! The general strike game begins on October 20th.”

In the video, a games master addresses a group of contestants, challenging them on their individual failures to stand up for themselves at work. They will need to play a game to proceed. The game solution is found in a union song, which says:

“If we are fragmented we die, but if we are one, we stand a chance to resist."

The contestants sing the song together, cast off their tracksuits and don union struggle vests. The games master congratulates them for winning the game, and the screen fills with the strike demands.

“Workers of the world, cast off your tracksuits and join the general strike today!

At the end, the games master asks one last question:

“Where did contestant number one go?”

The camera shows the empty office of KCTU president Yang Kyeung-soo, who was arrested on 2 September.

Squid Game is a survival drama that features a contest in which a group of deeply indebted players compete in a series of children's games for the chance to win a large cash prize, with a deadly penalty if they lose. It became the most watched programme on Netflix in 90 countries, reaching 142 million viewers in 28 days.

The series has captured the public imagination, with many saying it dramatizes aspects of life under capitalism and the illusion of choice faced by workers and consumers. It also highlights the devasting levels of personal debt and inequality in Korean society.

The lead character, Seong Gi-hun, is a former auto worker who lost his job after a strike. His story is based on the brutal 2009 SsangYong strike, which culminated in the suicides of thirteen SsangYong workers and family members.

Union win as DOW backtracks on decision to close plant in Argentina

In August, the petrochemicals company announced its intention to shut down the plant in Puerto General San Martín within a year, affecting 4,000 workers. The SOEPU union of petrochemicals workers at DOW launched a campaign to safeguard Argentina's industry and its petrochemicals workers, receiving support from almost all unions in Argentina, international federations and the global network of DOW workers.

As a closure would affect hundreds of companies across the country that would have to import polyurethane higher prices, the Argentinian government also got involved.

On 7 October, Cesira Arcando, a member of the Santa Fe parliament, met with workers to explain the work being done with SOEPU at the provincial and national levels to protect the jobs at risk.

On 13 October, Argentina's minister of productive development, Matías Kulfas, and the governor of Santa Fe, Omar Perotti, met with DOW's CEO for Latin America, Javier Constante, to discuss the competitive conditions needed for DOW to keep running the San Lorenzo plant.

After talks with  national and provincial authorities, DOW announced that the plant would remain open, safeguarding the jobs.

Mauricio Brizuela, SOEPU general secretary, thanked Santa Fe senators for supporting their cause, for treating industry as a tool for national growth and development and for provisionally approving a law declaring the plant a "public utility subject to expropriation".

Polyurethane is a key compound for the automotive industry and the production of white goods and mattresses.

General strike in Korea for workers’ rights and Just Transition

The strike follows the arrest of KCTU president Yang Kyeung-soo after a police raid on union headquarters on 2 September. Yang is the 13th KTCU president in a row to be jailed since the federation was unbanned in 1997. The release of president Yang, who is still in detention, was one of the demands of the striking workers.

Police block striking workers

Despite severe restrictions on the right to assembly, rallies were held in 14 regions across Korea. In Seoul, police blocked off large areas of the city to prevent assembly. Eventually 24,000 striking workers were able to gather at Seodaemun intersection, demanding:

“Tear down inequality!  A great transition to an equitable society!”

KMWU president Kim Ho Gyu addressed the striking workers at the Seoul rally, saying:

“Inequality is a disaster. An industrial transition dominated by the Chaebol conglomerates would spawn deeper inequality, just like the Covid-19 phenomenon.The Korean Metal Workers' Union will treat this plague of inequality by promoting an industrial transition led by the participation of labour.” 

President Kim also shared the solidarity statement from IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie:

“In line with the resolution unanimously approved at our third congress on 15 September, IndustriALL reiterates its demand for the release of KCTU President Yang and for the Korean government to stop immediately the crackdown on freedom of association and assembly.

“We express our support to the October 20 general strike and fight for labour law reform for fundamental trade union rights and the abolition of precarious work, for a Just Transition and for stronger public services and social protection.”

Other IndustriALL affiliates also sent solidarity messages, and the UAW and USW joined a delegation to the Korean Embassy in Washington, DC, in solidarity with the strike.

The unions are demanding labour law reform to give fundamental trade union rights to all workers, the abolition of precarious work, a Just Transition based on social dialogue that includes workers’ voices, with guaranteed employment during times of crisis and transition, stronger public services and for the state to take more responsibility for jobs and care.

The Prime Minister responded by saying the government would take strict legal action against unlawful assembly, and punish the organizers and participants at the rallies. Seoul police announced a special investigation unit to a thoroughly investigate the strike.

Unions are concerned about repression after the strike and expect the police to summon trade unionists for legal harassment. In Korea, the right to take collective action is severely restricted and striking is only legal during certain stages of an open collective bargaining negotiation.

Given the repression of union activists, the KCTU has condemned the nomination by the Korean government of a former foreign minister for the post of ILO director general.

Demonstrators in uniforms from the TV series Squid Game

The hit Netflix series Squid Game has recently highlighted the effect of inequality and personal debt on Korean society. The lead character of the series is a former unionized metalworker who lost his job after a strike.

UPDATE: This article was slightly updated on 22 October to improve the translation of president Kim's statement.

French electricity and gas workers mobilize for their rights

The largest company France’s electricity and gas sectors, the EDF, has continuously highlighted employees’ “remarkable engagement” in the service to clients and in the fight against climate change. In a joint message, the unions demanded that EDF put their words into action and recognize the employees’ commitment to the company by recognizing “employees with hard cash.”

In the action on 19 October, unions called on employers to recognize human capital as the main capital, and demanded:

Also, on the day of the strike FO Energie appealed to the employers representatives in the Permanent Joint Negotiation and Interpretation Committee (CPPNI) of the IEG branch at federal level in a statement to reaffirm their opposition to the draft agreement on the classification and remuneration system offered by employers.

According to the unions, the strike action was a success and employers have agreed to meet the trade unions on 15 November for further discussions.

The electricity and gas industries (IEG) in France includes all companies that produce, transport, distribute, market and supply electricity and natural gas. About 150 companies are part of the sector, characterised by presence of large companies like EDF and Engie that were previously publicly owned.

Employees in the IEG sector do not benefit from a collective agreement but from the Statut national du personnel des industries électriques et gazières, National conditions of employment for workers in the electricity and gas industries.

Negotiations take place in the Commission Supérieure Nationale du Personnel (CSNP), a joint body composed of trade union federation and employer federations appointed by the Minister for Industry.

Unions have criticized the CSNP for allowing employers to undermine workers’ rights. During negotiations in 2021 on national conditions, employers effectively blocked all the workers’ arguments on salaries and avoided debating the matter.

“Energy workers deserve a fair treatment not less than the shareholders of the companies in the branch, we strongly support your demand for higher wages and your fight against social regressions and attacks on pension and unemployment insurance schemes. We wish you all success in your struggle for dignity!”

says IndustriALL Global Union general secretary, Atle Høie.

Unions call for social dialogue in HeidelbergCement

IndustriALL Global Union, the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) and European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW), all of which are organizing workers employed by the German-based cement giant, took the opportunity to strategize for the future on 13 and 14 of October.

The network adopted a joint statement demanding genuine progress in improving the quality of social dialogue. Among other things, the statement calls for HeidelbergCement to:

A solidarity statement was passed in support of more than 150 Teamsters Ready Mix workers in the United States who are demanding to address health and safety issues and stop violating federal labour laws.

Michael Walker, member of Teamsters Local 174 in Seattle explained that despite its record profits, the company did not offer decent increases and even denied full medical coverage to a group of 300 workers after the expiration of their CBA. “This is my fifth time I was in a bargaining table, I’ve never seen anything like this, they want us to strike now,” said Walker.

In HeidelbergCement's operations this year, fifteen people have lost their lives due to COVID-19 despite the company’s introduction of a “zero harm” programme. This year three subcontracted workers have been killed at work in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Bangladesh.

In addition, the deterioration of social dialogue made negotiations more difficult and unions mobilised in various countries.

The challenge for the industry to reduce carbon emissions was also widely deliberated in the meeting. HeidelbergCement needs a roadmap to move from fossil fuel to renewable energy and the implementation of new industrial technologies, and participants stressed that workers’ involvement is crucial to secure a Just Transition.

Tom Deleu, EFBWW General secretary

Tom Deleu, EFBWW General secretary said,

"Climate change is an existential threat to human kind. EFBWW supports green transitionand HeidelbergCement commitment to decrease their carbon emissions because there is no jobs on a dead planet, but just transition and worker engagement at all levels of this process is essential.”

Colleagues from Africa and Asia reported that the company is excessively resorting to non-standard employment schemes, which  undermined  work and pay conditions. They said that workers affected by these schemes, are the same workers whose jobs and incomes were ravaged by the pandemic.

Gavor Kodjo general secretary of the Federation of Wood and Construction Workers (FTBC) thanked BWI and union representatives in Germany for helping his union raise their issues at the CIMTOGO (HeidelbergCement) to the company’s top management in Germany. The Union stressed that CIMTOGO's contractors have repeatedly violated workers' rights and failed to secure healthy and safe working environments. He also mentioned issues like the non-declaration of work-related accidents, non-issue of pay slips to workers and poor hygiene standards.

BWI general secretary Ambet Yuson

For BWI general secretary Ambet Yuson:

"Amidst the pandemic, HeidelbergCement continued to reap profits and paid huge dividends and bonuses, while their workers live in constant fear of losing their jobs. Today, it missed an opportunity to meet with union leaders urging for social dialogue."

Kemal Ozkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary

Kemal Ozkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, commented,

“HeidelbergCement must become a socially responsible company and engage in genuine dialogue with our three organisations. We see a series problems related to health and safety, workers’ rights violations, reluctance of bargaining in good faith and other.”

 

Unions fear job losses if AGOA eligibility is withdrawn from Ethiopia

AGOA, which gives special access to US markets for 6,500 products from Sub-Saharan African countries is set to expire in 2025. These products include textiles and garments, motor vehicles and parts, leather products, chemicals, machinery and equipment, agricultural products, and other goods.

Under AGOA, Ethiopian exports to the US increased from US$29 million in 2000 to US$525 million in 2020. However, the balance of trade still favours the US whose exports to Ethiopia increased from US$165 million to US$868 million in the same period.

Garment manufacturing is the largest beneficiary under AGOA and over 80 per cent of workers in the sector are young women.

In an online meeting with Ethiopia’s trade negotiator, Mamo Mihretu, the United States trade representative ambassador Katherine Tai, “raised the ongoing violations of internationally recognised human rights amid the ongoing conflict in Northern Ethiopia, which could affect Ethiopia’s future AGOA eligibility if unaddressed”.
 
Angesom Gebre Yohannes, president of IndustriALL affilaite, the Industrial Federation of Textile Leather and Garment Workers Trade Union (IFTLGWTU) says:

“If AGOA benefits stop, workers will be badly affected. Factories, which includes the PVH factory in Hawassa Industrial Park that exports primarily to the US, will be forced to close and workers will lose their jobs. This is not in the interests of the union. Workers at PVH are anxious about their future and expressed worry when they got the news on AGOA.”

The PVH factory is the largest in the industrial park and recently the IFTLGWTU has been on a recruitment and organizing drive after a breakthrough following years in which unions were not allowed to recruit in the park. Other factory owners are from Europe and Asia and brands that include Children’s Place and Levi Strauss & Co. source from the park.
 
In a letter to the ambassador, Kassahun Follo, president of the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU) to which IFTLGWTU is also affiliated, wrote:

“As a progressive trade union organization committed to human rights, peaceful resolution of differences and respect for universal democratic values, our confederation condemns in no uncertain terms human rights violations all over Ethiopia, and the perpetrators of the violations. We also recognize the importance of AGOA eligibility requirements on the protection of internationally recognised workers’ rights. Our confederation, however, firmly believes that removing Ethiopia from the AGOA eligibility list at this time will make things worse for Ethiopian workers and their families.”

Follo states in the letter that the textile, garment, shoe, and leather sector, has created over 200,000 direct jobs and over a million indirect jobs which are now at risk. Ethiopia’s industrial policies have prioritised export-based manufacturing which is seen as having potential to create jobs for hundreds of thousands of young workers.

Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary says:

“Trade union rights violations have to end. Withdrawing AGOA now will put in jeopardy the work we have done with our Ethiopian affiliates over the last years, but the threat is also a very clear warning to Ethiopian authorities that they have little time to secure fundamental trade union rights.”

Historic John Deere strike enters second week

The strike started at midnight on Wednesday 13 October, after workers rejected a proposed six-year contract on 10 October. John Deere offered a below inflation pay deal that amounted to a $1-per-hour wage increase for most workers, and eliminated pensions for new hires, at a time when the world’s largest farm equipment company is making record profits. Top management has profited from this development: John Deere's CEO John C. May made $15.6 million in 2020.

Union members say that John Deere's offer was an insult after they made billions for the company in a pandemic. As a popular T-shirt worn by striking workers said,

“Deemed essential in 2020, prove it in 2021. Can’t build it from home.”

UAW president and IndustriALL executive committee member Ray Curry, said:

“UAW John Deere members have worked through the pandemic after the company deemed them essential, to produce the equipment that feeds America, builds America and powers the American economy. These essential UAW workers are showing us all that through the power of a strong united union voice on the picket line they can make a difference for working families here and throughout the country.”

The company is attempting to maintain production by using white-collar workers as scabs, with sometimes disastrous results.

IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie wrote to Curry, saying:

“IndustriALL Global Union rallies behind more than 10,000 UAW John Deere members at 14 facilities in Illinois, Iowa and Kansas. We support your demands for workers at John Deere “to earn a decent living, retire with dignity and establish fair work rules.”

“We call on John Deere to fully consider the legitimate demands of UAW members, as well as recognise the vital contribution and commitment of workers throughout the pandemic to produce essential farming, construction and energy equipment, and agree on negotiating a fair collective agreement concerning, among others, wage gains and enhanced retirement benefits.

“Furthermore, IndustriALL severely condemns any attempt by the company to use scabs in order to undermine social dialogue and negotiations between the company’s management and our affiliate UAW.”

Analysts see the strike as part of a revolt by frontline, essential and production workers who made major sacrifices during the pandemic. The John Deere strike is part of an unprecedented wave of industrial action that is sweeping across many different sectors in the US, that the media has dubbed “Striketober”.

Union activists hope that this strike will be a turning point for the US labour movement, which has been in decline since Ronald Reagan defeated a strike by air traffic controllers in 1981. The 1980s saw the introduction of two-tier contracts that provide worse conditions for new hires. Labour militancy sank to an all-time low after the 2008 financial crisis, when many feared for their jobs.

However, there are increasing signs of workers wanting a new deal after making sacrifices during the pandemic.

Images: Jonah Furman

Unions campaign for recognition at Chinese-owned textile and garment factories in Uganda

The factory owners refuse to sign recognition agreements for purposes of collective bargaining as required by the law when a union organizes more than 50 per cent of workers in a factory. According to the IndustriALL Global Union National Coordinating Council of Uganda (INCCU), made up of IndustriALL affiliates in the country, the factories, which include Bode, Euro Vision, Fine Spinners, Jinguo, Sunbelt Textile Company, Tonyong, Unistar, and Wilima are ignoring letters from the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development instructing them to recognize UTGLAWU.

To push for recognition, the unions are conducting joint campaigns under the East Africa Union Building Project which is supported by the Danish Trade Union Development Agency (DTDA) and the Norwegian Society of Graduate Technical and Scientific Professionals (TEKNA). The unions met with the labour ministry on 30 September to demand that the government enforces the labour regulations and for the Industrial Court to speed up the cases. Further, they are planning to meet with the Minister of State for Labour, Charles Okello Engola.

“We appreciate government efforts in coming out boldly to order the employers to recognize the union. Despite the challenges of Covid-19, the number of employers retrenching workers without informing the Ministry of Labour is increasing, yet they are getting stimulus packages from the government. Other employers are frustrating union efforts to collect dues from its members.

“However, we are calling upon the government to organize a meeting with non-complying Chinese employers – some of whom claim not to understand English – to give them a chance to respond to our demands before we take court action. The employers must respect the union, and the fundamental and constitutional rights of the workers,” wrote the unions in a statement.

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

“Textile and garment factory owners in Uganda must recognize national and international labour standards by recognizing the union, and we support the campaign by Ugandan unions for the respect of trade union and workers’ rights.”

Unions that are participating in the campaign in support of UTGLAWU are the Uganda Printers, Paper, Polyfibre, and Allied Workers Union (UPPAWU), Uganda Chemical, Petroleum, and Allied Workers Union (UCPAWU), National Union of Clerical Commercial Professional and Technical Employees (NUCCPTE), and Uganda Hotel, Tourism, Supermarket and Allied Workers Union (HTS-U).

Currently the garment industry is dominated by small to medium scale enterprises. According to the country’s National Development Plan III, Uganda aims to increase cotton production, domestic value addition, and to create over 50,000 new jobs along the cotton to clothes value chain.

Thai lingerie workers call on government to take action against Victoria’s Secret supplier

Since the immediate closure of the business and illegal termination of 1,388 employees on 10 March, the lingerie factory, which supplied lingerie giant Victoria’s Secret, has failed to fulfil its legal obligation to pay wages, overtime, holiday and severance pay to the workers.

CILT president Prasit Prasopsuk says:

“We urge Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha to use the employee welfare fund to advance the amount THB242,689,862.71 (US$7.61 million) to the workers. The government can get the reimbursement from BAT later. The workers have waited for seven months; they cannot wait any longer.”

In conjunction with World Day for Decent Work on 7 October, 100 former workers of BAT held a demonstration in front of the government house in Bangkok.

 

In addition to the demand for the unpaid wages and severance pay, the workers are urging the government to prosecute the company owner under the criminal law.

The workers argue that it is the government’s duty to prevent foreign investors from running away from workers and responsibilities and that the government must take steps to remedy the problem.

In a letter addressed to the Thai Prime Minister IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie says:

“It is high time for the Thai government to strictly enforce the labour law and protect the workers’ rights. We support the call of CILT that the government should advance the payment to the workers.

“Most of them are women workers, unfairly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. They are forced to live on meagre savings because they cannot secure jobs during the pandemic.”