West Virginia Machinists strike for fair contract

Members of Machinists Union Local 598 (District 54) began their strike at midnight on Friday, 1 October. Members are now on the picket line outside the facility at 1305 Main Street.

“Sometimes you have to take to Main Street to get Wall Street to listen”, commented a union spokesperson.

Machining and foundry workers voted overwhelmingly to reject what the company called “final offer” and to go on strike after company management refused to respect rights accrued through long years of service at the company. The company is seeking to hamper seniority rights at the facility that protect good jobs in the Barboursville community. 

Machinists’ District 54 president T. Dean Wright, Jr, said:

“Machinists Union members at Sulzer Pumps are simply asking for the company to negotiate a fair contract.  Our members are taking a stand for their families and their community by demanding this company treat its employees with respect regarding their seniority with their employer. It is our sincere hope that Sulzer management realizes the importance of its dedicated workers.”

IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie sent a message of solidarity to the union, saying:

“It is imperative that Sulzer Pumps desist from seeking to seriously undermine seniority rights, and return to the negotiating table with IAM members at Local 598.

“IndustriALL Global Union is fully committed to supporting your struggle to protect the fundamental labour rights of the IAM members of Local 598 at Sulzer Pumps in Barboursville.

“Stay strong; you are not alone!”

IndustriALL Global Union informed other unions around the world with members in Sulzer, including Swiss trade union Unia, who mentioned the dispute in their newsletter.

Sulzer Pumps is a Swiss-headquartered, publicly-traded multinational industrial engineering company that designs and manufactures pumps, compressors and related equipment. The Barboursville site is a manufacturing centre with a foundry that produces replacement parts for pumps.

Repression of independent trade unions continues in Algeria

In Algeria, a campaign for democracy and fundamental human rights called the Hirak – the word means “movement” in Arabic – has peacefully protested since February 2019. Free and democratic unions, including IndustriALL Global Union affiliates SNATEG and UAI, have been at the forefront of this movement.

The Algerian government has responded with harsh attacks on Hirak activists, and particularly trade union leaders. Algeria’s independent, democratic trade union movement bears the brunt of ongoing state, political, police, administrative and judicial repression, ignoring observations from the ILO Committee of Experts in February 2020, with increasing numbers of trade unionists harassed or imprisoned.

Most recently, trade union leader Ramzi Dardar from IndustriALL affiliate Union Algérienne des Industries (UAI) was arrested on 30 June 2021. He is accused of terrorism, undermining the morale of the army and undermining national unity through his publications on social networks. On 18 July 2021, the court confirmed the judge’s order and Ramzi was sent to Batna prison.

Ramzi Dardar

IndustriALL, together with other global unions, appealed to the ILO to urgently intervene with the Algerian government to demand his immediate release and for all charges to be dropped. The Algerian government responded by transferring Dardar to a prison block for death row inmates and terrorism defendants on 2 August. A trial date has still not been set. His physical and mental health are deteriorating.

The resolution was introduced at IndustriALL’s third Congress on 15 September by exiled SNATEG activist Raouf Mellal, who spoke of his experience of violent arrest and repression that led to him seeking asylum in Switzerland.

Raouf Mellal addresses Congress

He said:

"The outcome of judicial, police, and administrative repression over the past two years is staggering, represented by the thousands sacked and arrested, and hundreds imprisoned because of posts on social media…

The military regime in Algeria has is accusing  democratic unionists of terrorism. This is a dangerous escalation after it  previously accused us of slandering institutions or inciting gatherings and strikes. Perhaps the best example of what is happening to dozens of trade unionists in Algeria is what is happening to our colleague Ramzi Dardar, who was imprisoned in August on charges of joining a terrorist organization.

"So, dear comrades, I appeal to you to support the urgent draft resolution condemning what the military rule is doing in Algeria and to support us in consecrating trade union rights, resinstating all those who wee sacked, and releasing all prisoners."

The resolution, which was passed, says:

IndustriALL 3rd Congress calls for an end to violence in Eswatini

There have been national pro-democracy demonstrations in the country and a Global Day of Action organized by global unions in support of the trade unions of Eswatini took place on 6 August.

During the demonstrations, over 72 people were killed through excessive use of force by the police and the army against pro-democracy protesters and hundreds were injured while some are still missing. Some activists have gone into hiding and others fled into exile.

It is against this background that the IndustriALL 3rd Congress, 14-15 September, adopted a resolution for the democratization of Eswatini that includes the respect for the right to life, freedoms of association, assembly, and expression.

Irvin Jim of South African union Numsa introduces the resolution on eSwatini

Irvin Jim of South African union Numsa introduces the resolution on eSwatini

“We call for national dialogue for reforms that will allow for the democratic election of the Prime Minister and to review the country’s constitution to allow for the transfer of executive powers from the king to a democratically elected leadership”

reads one of the demands the resolutions.

Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary, has written a letter to the Eswatini Prime Minister, Cleopas Dlamini, urging him to act on ending

“gross human rights violations and the use of excessive and lethal force against protesters.” Another letter to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) requests for “a thorough investigation into the death of civilians and the fate of the missing and recommend that the Human Rights Council consider this matter urgently.”

According to a petition to the United Nations office in Mbabane delivered by unions and civil society organizations, the UN must intervene for “an all-inclusive dialogue, unbanning of political parties, transitional council, democratic constitution, and multiparty democracy.” The UN must also “force the king to dialogue with the people rather than killing them.” Further, petitioners want King Mswati III to be tried at the International Criminal Court for “the ruthless killing of unarmed civilians.”

IndustriALL affiliates in Eswatini, the Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland (ATUSWA) and Swaziland Electricity Supply, Maintenance and Allied Workers Union (SESMAWU) took part in the march to present the petition.

“As Eswatini workers we appreciate the support that we are receiving globally for our demands for democratic reforms. International workers solidarity in the fight to remove the undemocratic regime that is causing abject poverty in our country is important to the struggle. We appreciate the support from our sister affiliates in IndustriALL. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,”

says Wander Mkhonza, general secretary of ATUSWA.

The petitioners say over 65 per cent of the country’s population is living in poverty on less than US$1.25 per day. “Poverty has been worsened by the dispossession of the people’s livelihoods by the king who evicts people from their lands, properties and businesses. The country is experiencing untold poverty because of the misappropriation of national resources to finance the lavish lifestyles of the royalty.”

Eswatini is Africa’s last absolute monarchy and King Mswati lives an extravagant lifestyle of expensive cars and private jets for his family of 15 wives. He banned the photographing of his cars after a public outcry. The king’s net worth is over $200 million, and he controls Tibiyo Taka Ngwane an investment company worth over $140 million supposedly in trust for the people of Eswatini.

Iranian oil workers improve conditions through struggle

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Iranian contract oil workers started a wave of wildcat strike action across the sector on 19 June this year. The tactic emerged after workers took action in the city of Assaluyeh in 2018, and has continued to grow. In late 2020, successful strike action led to many employers doubling pay and settling wages arears.

Iranian oil workers demonstrate in Assaluyeh in 2018

The demands for this year’s strike are for a shift cycle of 20 days on, 10 days off, with a 40 per cent pay increase. 100,000 workers downed tools on 19 June to support this demand. So far, 17 companies have met the workers’ demands, including the Falat Ghaareh (Continental Shelf) Company, which is operated by the Revolutionary Guards, a branch of the Iranian military that upholds the political system by suppressing internal revolt.

Maziyar Gilani-Nejad, an activist for the Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics in Iran (UMMI), an affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union, was formally mandated by 2,000 workers to represent them in negotiations with the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Oil and oil companies, including NIOC. Project workers in the city of Ramhormoz also named him as their representative in negotiations with the city’s member of parliament.

Gilani-Nejad is in regular contact with the oil ministry and reports back regularly to the workers through the union website and Telegram channel.

In a recent meeting with the labour ministry in Tehran, Gilani-Nejad described the conditions of workers, who currently work a 24-day shift cycle in heat that reaches 55 degrees celsius.

“These are our demands”, he said:

“The first demand of the workers is 20 working days followed by 10 days of leave, to bring working hours into accordance with labour law, which limits work to 176 hours per month.

“Contractors force workers to work at a temperature of 55 degrees with 75 per cent humidity for 10 to 12 hours a day, with only six days off after working 24. Two days are lost travelling between the oil fields and their home towns.

“Our second demand is to address violations of labour and social security law by labour brokers, who classify technical and specialized workers as labourers, and underpay their social security contributions. Ministry inspectors have failed to address this.”

The demands also addressed the regular payment of wages, health and safety, living conditions in dormitories and food.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“Our demand has always been for the government of Iran to recognize independent trade unions. The fact that the labour and oil ministries are now negotiating with a workers’ representative from our affiliate is a step in the right direction. The recognition must be formalized and workers must be allowed to organize freely.”

UMMI operates under complex and dangerous authoritarian conditions and focuses on wages and conditions, avoiding political issues. The union sees its mandate as defending the interests of the workers it represents, and ensuring they are not sacked or arrested and persecuted as political activists.

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Police in Bangladesh obstruct union activities

The IBC is the coordinating body of IndustriALL affiliates in Bangladesh. On 24 September, a meeting was planned to take place in the office of IndustriALL affiliate BIGUF in Chittagong to form a regional committee, but a phone call from the police to IBC’s senior vice president Salauddin Shapon put a stop to that.

Another meeting was planned to be held in a different area the following day. But again, the police contacted the vice president to say the meeting could not take place there either.

In a third attempt, the IBC decided to hold the meeting at another affiliate’s office, the BTGWL. But in a serious violation of union rights and ILO conventions guaranteeing freedom of association, when IBC leaders arrived, police officers, including some in plainclothes, blocked the gate and did not allow anyone to enter.

In a letter to Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheik Hasina, IndustriALL strongly condemns the police interference.

“What happened in Chittagong violates the most basic of workers’ rights. Police forces intervening and obstructing the activities of independent unions is unacceptable,”

says IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie.

“We call on the government of Bangladesh to conduct an immediate enquiry into the matter and ensure that the police, including the industrial police, will not interfere in the legitimate activities of trade unions across Bangladesh.”

The IBC had decided to form a regional committee in Chittagong as the area has many ready-made-garment factories and the workers working in some of these factories are members of unions affiliated to federations, which make up the IBC. Accordingly, several leaders had travelled to Chittagong to form the regional committee with representatives of the federations in Chittagong.

Photo: garment workers leaving factory at the end of the shift (ILO)

35-day strike ends in agreement at Albemarle, Chile

On 11 August, 135 members of CONSTRAMET went on strike to oppose a labour contract that discriminated against the plant’s most vulnerable workers and restricted union freedom. The workers protested and stood their ground, and it paid off.

An agreement was reached on 15 September. It contains a 11.5 per cent pay increase from 2018 levels, full pay for the month of September and an end-of-conflict bonus. It all includes all other aspects of the pre-strike agreement.

IndustriALL actively supported the strike and fostered a dialogue with Albemarle in order to break the deadlock and start fresh talks to come up with solutions to end the dispute.

Miguel Soto, regional secretary at CONSTRAMET and union advisor for the collective bargaining process, says:

"We are grateful that the workers, the Albemarle Salar union and our international network have taken such a firm stance. It has been a difficult, and at times tense, dispute. Albemarle has made several attempts to overrule the workers in the courts but each time has failed. Once the company understood that we would stand united and had international support, we were able to start a dialogue and move forwards.  
"We thank the indigenous communities, and especially the Peine community, for taking part in the struggle, providing support and standing with us. Our unity and solidarity are our strength – they have helped us to achieve victory and overcome our collective challenges."

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However, just when the workers thought that the dispute was over and that the company was ready "to heal the wounds and look to the future", as it had said, the workers found out that Albemarle is now taking the case to the employment courts, putting forward the same arguments that it had used before the Court of Appeals and that were rejected by the Supreme Court.

Faced with this abuse of power, the union will continue to fight for its rights in the courts. It would appear that the company is not that committed to the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance agreement, which it has promoted so much in talks with the international network.

IndustriALL's regional secretary, Marino Vani, says:

"Once again, our workers have stood together and shown that the struggle is worth it – we can earn respect and dignity by taking action. We congratulate CONSTRAMET for running and leading the campaign, for what the strike has achieved and for bringing workers and the local community together. We will continue to support this fight to bring justice to the workers. La lucha continua!"

Cambodian unions say minimum wage increase is not enough

Cambodia’s National Minimum Wage Council (NMWC) have been negotiating over the last two weeks to determine the new minimum wage rate for 2022. Negotiations were intense as employers demanded to reduce the minimum wage from US$192 to US$188 owing to the economic downturn.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliates and their confederation leaders argued for an increase to US$204, based on a study on the seven criteria of determining minimum wage with the support of IndustriALL. Many workers are struggling to cope with higher food prices and housing loans in industrial zones.

When most of the NMWC members voted for US$192, Prime Minister Hun Sen intervened and adjusted the minimum wage to US$194.

Athit Kong, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU) says:

"The majority of Cambodian garment workers are not happy with the US$2 increase to the minimum wage in 2022. In order to strengthen our negotiation power, all garment workers must take ownership of this struggle with international solidarity."

Despite dissatisfaction, trade unions have to accept the decision as Covid-19 has severely impacted the labour market and foreign investment in Cambodia. A World Bank survey shows that the Cambodian employment rate has declined and 45 percent of households suffered income losses.

Kim Chan Samnang, president of Trade Union Workers' Federation of Progress Democracy (TUWFPD), and vice-president of the National Minimum Wage Council, says:

“We fought for US$204, but taking the impact of Covid-19 into consideration, we are pleased to follow the majority decision. We hope the minimum wage can be increased next year, when the pandemic is over.”

Seven years ago, global unions staged an international day of action to call on the Cambodian government to significantly increase the poverty wage of US$100 to US$177. Since then, the Cambodian government has steadily increased the minimum wage.

Photos from the campaign in 2014

Photos from the campaign in 2014

Annie Adviento, IndustriALL South East Asia regional secretary, says:

“We will continue to support our affiliates in their fight for a living wage. International solidarity has worked in the past, it will also work in the future.”

Cover photo: Garment factory in Cambodia, Decent Work Country Programme, ILO

Workers create union network in Latin America’s glass sector

According to the International Labour Organization, the pandemic has led to the loss of 255 million jobs, as well as a significant deterioration of workers’ rights. The International Trade Union Confederation points out that many countries violated the right to strike and excluded workers from the right to crate and join trade unions. 

Covid has also brought increased digitalisation and automation in the glass industry, and even though the process directly affects workers, their opinion is often ignored.

Alexander Ivanou, IndustriALL materials industries officer, said:

"In the light of the current transformation processes in the glass industry and the need to reduce carbon emissions, there is a risk, as Covid has demonstrated, that workers' rights will be side-lined. This is unacceptable; workers' rights and interests cannot be put aside."

Participants exchanged experiences from their respective countries. Just as on the global level, South American countries have witnessed a favourable growth in the glass sector, especially in the glass packaging industry. Yet at the same time many report problems with health and safety, like exposure to heat and glass dust, but also denial of the recognition of occupational diseases due to loopholes in the legislation in Brazil and Colombia.

The delegates from Peru reported the problem of precarious employment at O-I Peru, where after five years temporary workers can become permanent, but the company dismisses and reemploys them after a break not to fulfil their obligation.

Delegates from Brazil, Peru and Colombia reported of constant anti-union attitudes, hindrances to collective bargaining and unfair practices from multinationals that operate in the region.

Even though the sector has been hit by the pandemic, in Argentina workers reported about their efforts to maintain jobs and safety conditions through the joint work in tripartite committees of employers, workers and the government.

Alejandro Valerio, deputy regional secretary, said:

"This was a good meeting. With important changes are coming in the industry at a global level and incessant attacks on labour rights, it is important to strengthen ties, exchange information and form networks between unions in the region representing glass workers."

Farmindustria-Abbott workers in Peru continue their fight

The union called the strike to get the company to meet its collective bargaining demands for the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 periods.

However, Farmindustria, a subsidiary of US pharmaceutical company Abbott, kept to its global policy of not engaging with unions on wage increases. And while it did raise some wages during the 2020–2021 period, it marginalized and discriminated against unionized workers, who did not receive any pay rises.

Even though Abbott, which has an international monopoly on the production of some of the medicines used to treat Covid-19, has benefited financially from the pandemic, it has no intention of coming to any kind of agreement with its workers and has adopted an anti-union policy.

Gilmer Ibañez Meléndrez, FETRIMAP-CGT secretary general, says:

"Abbott is a market leader in Peru but is still lags way behind when it comes to pay. Most workers are on the government's minimum wage. After the union was formed in early 2020, the company immediately brought in a new wage policy that included some minimum pay increases so that they could keep pay rises out of the collective bargaining process."

Peru's general confederation of workers (CGTP) stands in solidarity with the union members and is supporting their struggle. It has called on workers across Peru to join forces to protect  employment rights. It has also demanded that Farmindustria-Abbott come up with solutions to the union's list of demands and called on the Employment Authority to ensure compliance with the law, which safeguards the right to collective bargaining.

As the company refuses to cooperate, the workers will continue their fight, backed by CGTP and FETRIMAP affiliates. They remain committed to obtaining pay rises and better working conditions and will keep campaigning until their demands are met.

Cristian Alejandro Valerio, IndustriALL deputy regional secretary, says:

"We call on Farmindustria to stop its anti-union behaviour and respect the workers' right to strike. We urge the company to forge a dialogue with workers to assess and resolve their list of demands. We congratulate the union and FETRIMAP for continuing to fight for workers' rights and for standing firm despite the company's attempt to undermine them.”

In a letter to the company, IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie urges Abbott Laboratories to reach a settlement with the union and end the ongoing strike. 

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