Indian unions unite against government's anti-labour policies

In August, the government of India announced a policy called National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), listing many important government's infrastructure assets and sectors, including mining, aviation, ports, natural gas and petroleum product pipelines, railways and power sector, to be sold over the next four years. This is not merely a funding mechanism for the government, but marks an overall shift to privatization of core sectors.

In an additional move, which will lead to precarious employment and unsafe working conditions, the Indian government is pushing for labour law amendments, which would exclude and deprive workers from legal protection and lead to violations of human rights and the elimination of core labour rights.

Dr. G. Sanjeeva Reddy, president of Indian National Metalworkers' Federation and IndustriALL executive committee member, says:

"India is facing a social and economic policy paralysis as the government is moving to lease or sell all infrastructure services and core industries to private companies. We, the trade unions in India, will together organize, campaign and hold a country-wide protest on 7 October under the name of Mission India.
“We call all working people to come forward and participate in this joint demonstration and struggle so that our legitimate rights and jobs will be protected."

Despite many difficulties and restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Indian unions and sectoral federations have a tradition of joint protests and opposition. However, the government a has not heeded the workers' voice and is continuing to push for changes the economic and social system of the country.

India’s government is promoting the privatization of profit-making companies, including Vishakhapatnam Steel Plant, while undermining the democratic rights of working people without consulting stake-holders, like workers and trade unions.

Sanjay Vadhavkar, general secretary of Steel, Metal & Engineering Workers’ Federation of India and IndustriALL executive committee member, says:

“The government shows its complete disconnect with the vital demands of the working people and how they are deliberately using the pandemic to hand over the people’s wealth to its corporate cronies.
The united struggle will continue until the four labour codes are scrapped and the government’s attempts to privatize core businesses are stopped.”

Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary, supports the joint protest of the Indian unions and says:

"We are in solidarity with the workers and people of India and urge the government to recognise the genuine concerns of working people. The government should immediately withdraw its policy proposals and establish an inclusive social and political consultation with all stakeholders, including workers and trade unions."

Save workers’ lives and make occupational health and safety fundamental right

Since the adoption of the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work in 2019 with a clear statement on safe and healthy working conditions are fundamental to decent work, IndustriALL Global Union, together with ITUC and other global unions has been campaigning to get occupational health and safety recognised by the ILO as a fundamental principle and right at work. The current Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the necessity of urgent and long overdue steps by the ILO.

In November this year, the ILO Governing Body will decide on whether to include the matter in the agenda of the 2022 International Labour Conference. IndustriALL and other global unions are insisting that this needs to be done by amending the 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, as this would be the easiest and fastest way to include occupational health and safety in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work.

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary, says:

"The joint global WHO/ILO report discloses a reality we already know too well. All the killings of workers are preventable – enough is enough. This carnage must come to an end. We reiterate our strong demand to the ILO to make occupational health and safety a fundamental right, along with freedom of association, collective bargaining and others.”

According to the WHO/ILO monitoring report, diseases account for more than 80 per cent of the deaths, while 19.3 per cent are attributable to injuries. A disproportionately large work-related burden of disease is observed in Africa, South-East Asia and the Western Pacific, among males and older age groups.

The occupational risk factor with the largest number of attributable deaths was the exposure to long working hours (≥ 55 hours per week), followed by occupational exposure to particulate matter, gases and fumes and occupational injuries. The health outcome with the largest work-related burden of deaths was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, followed by stroke and ischemic heart disease.

Unions in Asia Pacific call for Just Transition

Approximately 40 trade unionists from Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam attended the Asia Pacific regional base metals and mechanical engineering meetings respectively.

According to the World Economic Forum, the Covid-19 pandemic will accelerate remote work and digitalization, the rate of automation will also increase rapidly in the next five years.

In response to the threat to workers’ job security, Matthew Murphy, national industrial coordinator of Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing & Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU/ETU), says:

“We need a skill management system to upskill existing workers and advocate for entry level industrial training aligning with vocational schools. Employers are not committed to upskilling; unions must engage in skill training to secure employment and ensure a Just Transition.”

Equally concerned with the trend of digitalization, the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) inked an industrial transformation agreement with the Korean Metal Industry Employers’ Association in August, covering training for new technology, climate change and employment security.

Many affiliates share the issue of precarious work. Korean workers at Hyundai Steel were on strike for one month after being coerced into a subcontractor company.

Members of the Confederation of Thai Electrical Appliances, Electronic, Automobile and Metal Workers (TEAM-CILT) have been laid off and replaced by contract workers.

In Indonesia, after the implementation of the Omnibus Law, the duration of fixed term contracts has been extended from three to five years.

Japan, the third largest steel producing country, is gearing up to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. Japanese unions are committed to produce cleaner and greener steel in the years to come.
Shinobu Satou, executive committee member of Japan Federation of Basic Industry Workers' Union (JBU), says:

“Japanese steel companies are investing in research and development in new technology in order to produce greener steel. The Japanese government has promised to provide a subsidy for the research. However, the issue of oversupply has cut companies’ profit and affected its ability to conduct research.”

Matthias Hartwich, IndustriALL director for mechanical engineering and base metals, says:

“According to the latest research, many are convinced that the climate crisis is as severe as the Covid-19 pandemic. We have to use this momentum to take steps in the right direction and unions must pave the way.
"A shift towards renewable energy means great opportunities for mechanical engineering towards producing machineries for wind generators, water turbines, recycling equipment and others. Another positive aspect of digitalization is that the reduction of physical strain can mean new job opportunities for women workers in mechanical engineering.”

Bangladesh’s dangerous shipbreaking yards claim two more lives

The safety crisis at Bangladesh’s shipbreaking yards continue. The fatal accidents that have taken place during a week in September shows the terrifying results of not addressing dangerous working conditions.

35-year old Md. Ali Najim was killed on 14 September when oxygen cylinders fell off a badly loaded truck at a shipbreaking yard in Kumira.

On 18 September, Liton Paul, 30, was cutting the upper portion of a ship at J L Shipbreaking in the Tentultal area, when he slipped. Without a safety belt he fell from a great height and was seriously injured. Liton Paul was taken to hospital, but declared dead on arrival.

And on 20 September, Babul, 22, Pias, 26 and Russel, 25, received severe burns when cutting a fuel tank at Marine/Mars Shipbreaking Yard in the Joramtal area. The tank had not been inspected by the relevant safety authorities to ensure that there were no chemical substances left and caught fire, injuring the three workers.

According to IndustriALL’s accident survey, at least ten shipbreaking workers have been killed and 23 have been injured in Bangladesh’s shipbreaking yards since January 2021. Most of the victims have been young, precarious workers without proper safety equipment.

Kan Matsuzaki, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, says:

“That many accidents in merely a week is shocking. The employers’ negligence continues. This is completely unacceptable and makes it all the more urgent that the government of Bangladesh take immediate steps to address the issue, including ratification of the Hong Kong Convention.”

Zimbabwean union confronts Afrochine Smelting over workers’ rights violations

According to a shop steward who works at Afrochine, over 1,500 workers are employed at the ferro chrome plant which is about 75 km from Harare.

“We are working in fear with no job security and being humiliated every day. You are beaten up by supervisors who are Chinese nationals, and if you report to the police, you will be unfairly dismissed before the conclusion of the case. With fewer jobs available in Zimbabwe, workers are suffering in silence. We are supporting the call for strike action against Afrochine to stop the workers’ rights violations,”

says the shop steward who witnessed some of the beatings.

Conciliation efforts at the National Employment Council of the ferro alloy industry – a social dialogue platform – failed as the ferro chrome smelting company did not show up at a meeting on 22 September. In the absence of dialogue, the union says it will take the grievances to the courts.

Henry Tarumbira general secretary of NUMAIZ says:

“The union will not stand by and watch while its members are abused. We are fighting to stop the unfair retrenchments and harassment and will take necessary action as provided by the labour laws to demonstrate against the violations as well as go to the courts to stop the abuses. Workers are continuously exposed to poor working conditions while health and safety standards are ignored. There is also wage theft and under payment of wages. IndustriALL affiliates in the country will be mobilized and are expected to join the strike and other actions in solidarity with the workers at Afrochine.”

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

“The management at Afrochine must respect workers dignity, national labour laws and international labour standards. We commend NUMAIZ for standing up for workers’ rights and decent working conditions.”

Afrochine is a subsidiary of the world’s biggest stainless steel product manufacturers Tsingshan Holding Group which trades on the London Metals Exchange. China is the largest importer of chromium and other metals which are key raw materials for its steel industries, and some of the chrome is mined in Zimbabwe which produced over 300,000 tonnes in the first quarter of this year.

OECD Steel Committee should ensure global minimum standards for steelworkers

Trade unions reminded the Committee that the Covid-19 pandemic is ongoing and that all workers, including in the global South, must have access to Covid-19 vaccines and that workers and their union representatives must play a key role in shaping the steel sector after the pandemic.

Although many sectors using steel have recovered faster than initially expected as global demand has increased, the global tendency to increase steelmaking capacity above actual steel demand puts the global recovery for the entire steel industry at risk.

Increasing global overcapacity could exasperate pre-existing pressures on the steel market: price-dumping leading to lower ecological standards and to decreased wages and social conditions.

Matthias Hartwich, IndustriALL Global Union director for mechanical engineering and base metals, declared:

“It is imperative that steelworkers can go to work knowing they will return home at the end of their shift. The recent increase in fatal accidents is wholly unacceptable and we call for urgent action. Quality steel making depends on high social, labour, environmental and decarbonisation standards and we call on OECD member countries to ensure adequate global minimum standards for steelworkers.
"Every government, every steel producer and every organisation who is willing to work in this direction, can count on the support of the unionized workforce.”

Trade unions called on OECD member countries to embrace a strategy that will ensure the enforcement of global minimum standards for steelworkers, including ILO core conventions and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. This includes freedom of association and health and safety for all workers amid a steady increase of fatal accidents at steel sites over the past year, which is completely unacceptable.

Judith Kirton‒Darling, deputy general secretary of industriAll European Trade Union, said:

‘’Trade unions stand united in calling for an end to global overcapacity and for a global level playing field which is fair for all workers. We must stop this aggressive race to the bottom for the lowest cost that negatively impacts workers and slows down the much needed work towards the decarbonisation of the sector.’’

TUAC, IndustriALL Global Union and industriAll European Trade Union recognised the vital role that the steel industry plays in limiting global warming and insisted that investments in clean technology must be accompanied by upskilling plans and Just Transition schemes for steelworkers.

They noted that this can only be achieved via fair and open negotiations between governments, steel companies, the workforce, and their unions.

Given the complexity and broadness of the challenges the steel sector is facing, TUAC encourages the Steel Committee to work closely with other OECD bodies (including the Economic Committee, the Environment Policy Committee, the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee, the Investment Committee and its Working Group on Responsible Business Conduct) to advance dialogue and offer viable solutions.

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.