Iranian petrochemical workers take strike action

Because independent unions are not recognized by the government and are systematically restricted, the wildcat strike action is coordinated by workers’ strike committees. The immediate demands of the strike are for better wages, adequate social security and better living conditions. The strike committees have issued a clear set of wage demands for each employment category, and have said that work will resume if employers meet the demands.

The strike mirrors a month-long wave of strike action by more than 10,000 workers that took place in the South Pars oil and gas fields in August last year. The 2020 strike action forced employers to improve wages and living conditions.

IndustriALL Global Union’s affiliate the Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics in Iran (UMMI) reports that the current wave of strike action started when workers downed tools and walked off the job at a number of sites in south Iran on 19 June.

The workers are employed by subcontracting companies who provide labour for development projects in the oil and gas fields. The subcontractors act as a buffer between workers and the oil and gas companies, and try to control workers’ demands by employing them on rolling short term contracts. The shift cycle is 20 days on and 10 days off. During the 20-day working period, workers are housed on site in communal dormitories. Most are technicians and tradesmen such as scaffolders, fitters, welders and electricians.

Conditions in the dormitories are poor and unhygienic, the food in the canteens is sub-standard and wages are low. Because the workers are employed through intermediaries, they cannot negotiate better conditions directly with the oil and gas companies. Pay and conditions are set by the contractors.

Contractors also routinely underpay social security contributions by misclassifying workers, which affects their pensions, unemployment and sickness cover.

The strike has spread across the country. Currently thousands of workers at 22 refineries and projects in the oil and gas centres, including Jahan Pars, Gachsaran Petrochemicals, Tehran Refinery and Abadan Refinery, are on strike, forcing a number of projects to suspend operations.

The strike is expected to grow as more workers are paid off after their 20-day shift cycle. Direct employees of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) will join the strike and hold nationwide protest rallies on 30 June.

In a statement published on its website, UMMI addressed the workers in the sector:

“The screws are tightened by our hands and the pipes welded with our sweat. No project can continue unless we assemble, weld, or scaffold. Believe in your power and stay at home – let’s see if the scaffolding erects itself!”

US sanctions have stopped most of Iran’s oil and gas exports. The national currency has depreciated and food inflation is extremely high. Before starting the strike action, workers protested outside parliament in Tehran as well as in Ahvaz, the capital of the oil-producing province of Khuzestan, to demand that petroleum minister Bijan Zanganeh address their demands.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“Once again, our Iranian brothers have shown tremendous courage and resolve in the face of oppression. They are taking collective action to defend themselves, to improve their conditions, and to demand that their homeland is built to meet the needs of the many. We salute them and stand in solidarity with their struggle and just demands.”

Global unions launch toolkit in campaign to eradicate violence and harassment in the world of work

Affecting millions of workers globally, physical assault, bullying, sexual harassment, online abuse, economic violence and abusive work practices are the most widespread forms of violence in the world of work.

Covid-19 outbreak reports show that all types of violence against women and girls have intensified in the past year, making women workers especially vulnerable. A lack of policies and employers' support to respond to and prevent this violence have led many women to develop anxiety and mental illness or resulted in decreased job
performance and impacted women's revenue.

The toolkit aims to provide unions with tools to develop workplace solutions that tackle violence and harassment, with a special focus on gender-based violence and harassment, and ensure that violence is no longer considered as “part of the job”.

Domestic violence, while taking place outside the workplace, can also have significant physiological and physical implications on abused workers. Moreover, intersecting discrimination creates another layer of inequality that increases the risk of violence and harassment.

The toolkit supports trade union staff and representatives, as well as worker educators and facilitators, to develop training programmes and is a useful tool for trade unions mounting national campaigns for the ratification of C190 in their countries.

Thanks to intensive lobbying by trade unions and women groups across the world, Convention 190 and Recommendation 206, provide a foundation for trade unions and other stakeholders to address violence and harassment in the world of work.

The Convention and the Recommendation extend to all sectors – public and private – as well as the informal economy, and are the first international instruments of this kind. With the adoption of these standards, everyone now has the right to live in a world free from violence and harassment.

"The global unions’ train the trainers toolkit on C190 provides practical and useful tools for preventing violence and harassment, including gender-based violence in the world of work. We want IndustriALL affiliates and other unions to use it in trainings, in raising the awareness, in collective bargaining and in campaigns.

"This toolkit can make a difference for trade unions to be better equipped and to make sure that ILO C190 is transformed into action,"

says Valter Sanches, IndustriALL general secretary.

The toolkit is comprised of a facilitators’ guide and an activities workbook. Its aim is to:

The Toolkit will be officially launched during a webinar on 25 June at 2 pm (CEST).

Please register: HERE

Here is the full train the trainers toolkit:

Facilitator guide
ENGESPFRA
Activity workbook
ENGESPFRA

ILO adopts resolution calling for a return to democracy in Myanmar

The workers' group in the ILO, consisting of more than one hundred confederations of trade unions in the world, submitted a draft resolution on Myanmar as a matter of urgency on 9 June. ILO’s adoption selection committee officially adopted the resolution on 19 June.

The resolution calls upon Myanmar to restore democratic order and civilian rule, cease all attacks or threats against workers, employers, their organizations and citizens involved in peaceful protests of the civil disobedience movement (CDM).

Furthermore, it urges the military regime to end violations of human rights, respect ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association, stop violence and arbitrary arrests and detention. Members states were recommended to support the return to democracy through United Nations, other multilateral and regional bodies.

The military repression against the pro-democracy activists and workers is continuing. Until today, 871 people have been killed, 5,033 have been arrested, charged or sentenced. One of them is Chan Myae Kyaw, a mine worker and member of IndustriALL affiliate MWFM.

The military regime has revoked the passports of the executive committee members of the Confederation of Trade Union in Myanmar (CTUM) and most of them have been forced into hiding. Despite an intensification of repression, the assistant general secretary of CTUM Phyo Sandar was elected as a deputy member of the workers’ group of ILO’s governing body.

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL general secretary, says:

“We strongly condemn the repression of the people in Myanmar who are defending democracy. The military regime must resign, restore the elected government and stop the attacks on people and trade unions. I welcome the adoption of the resolution at the 109th ILC; now it is time for ILO member states to exert pressure on Myanmar and to stop recognizing the illegitimate regime.”

Since the coup d’etat in February, IndustriALL has stood in solidarity with Myanmar unions and workers by putting pressure on multinational companies to cut ties with military-linked businesses and mobilizing affiliates to make donations to Myanmar’s strike fund.

During the plenary address, the chairperson of the Workers' Group, Catelene Passchier, requested the ILO’s governing body to follow up the implementation of the resolution at next year’s ILC.

BASF workers united across regions

 

BASF is the largest chemical company in the world. Headquartered in Germany, its operations in each continent are run by trade union members of IndustriALL affiliates. On 16 June three major international BASF union meetings were conducted, analyzing the current situation of the company, and union relations at global level and in each country of Asia and Latin America.

Conducted within the continuing strategic partnership between IndustriALL and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, the three meetings brought together 70 trade union leaders from 12 countries to meet as the Asia BASF Union Network, the Latin America BASF Union Network, and the Regional Coordinators Meeting. Important to all three meetings was the participation of the IG BCE and the head of the BASF Works Council in Germany.

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary, reported on IndustriALL’s political work inside the ILO demanding that the recovery from the pandemic be based on social protection, social dialogue and rights; on the campaign for Occupational Safety and Health to be recognized as a fundamental worker’s right; and on the campaign for the Future of Work to be built on good jobs.

The importance of dialogue with the employer was underlined in the meeting, as key union concerns raised included: insufficient dialogue with unions during merger and acquisition processes in both regions; unclarity on the company position regarding Covid-19 vaccines and occupational hazard classification for Covid deaths.

Concerns were raised in India where plant management has reacted to the pandemic with increased use of precarious contract workers. This causes safety concerns, as well as union rights concerns.

In both Asia and Latin America, unions are repeatedly told by management that decisions are made in the company’s home country, Germany, and local partners have no access to those processes. A contentious example of this is the profit sharing / annual bonus payments, which is a priority issue for employees in Latin America.

Extensive discussions were held on the issues of new technologies at work, on PPE, wages, telework conditions, Covid-19 measures taken, effects of restructuring in Argentina, Chile, Peru, India, and Indonesia, and elsewhere.

Latin America BASF Union Network Coordinator Fábio Lins said:

“We were unhappy with the BASF restructuring in our region, done without proper worker consultation. We want Argentinian jobs guaranteed for those colleagues who have contributed so much to the company. If redundancies are totally unavoidable then our colleagues must receive proper compensation.”

Asia BASF Union Network Coordinator Raghuram said:

“Our network sends the strong message to Headquarters management that the Asian BASF Union Network must be recognized. Workers in this region have contributed much, including during the pandemic when we have all worked hard. While we are socially distanced, there is no distance between the hearts of all BASF workers.”

Sinischa Horvat, Chairman of the German BASF Works Council, said:

“Our company can have a functioning, recognized global union network, as those that exist in other German multinational companies. Let’s all work towards that goal together.”

Tom Grinter, IndustriALL chemicals director said:

“This group of committed trade unionists are at such a high level in terms of professionalism, action on the key topics, understanding of the mega-trends and international union tools. The company will benefit considerably when the Asian and global BASF Union Networks are recognized as official social partners by management.”

Photo: CC BASF. Tank storage facility at BASF in Ludwigshafen.

Romania must live up to international labour standards

Romania introduced new labour legislation in 2011, with a drastic effect on workers and unions. In 2010, all Romanian workers were covered by a collective agreement; by 2017, this number had decreased to 15 per cent. 92 per cent of the collective agreements are not signed by trade unions, but by a single worker, a so called ‘employee representative’. This is the case where the union organizes less than 50 per cent of the workforce.

“To reach the required threshold in such anti-union environment is a challenge,”

says Georg Leutert, IndustriALL auto director.

“And even when the union manages to organize the majority of a plant, Romanian labour legislation still throws a spanner in the works. IndustriALL Global Union used the CAS session on Romania at the 109th ILC to share a concrete example.”

After the union was registered at the plant, the first hurdle was whether the union represented 50 per cent of the workforce. According to the Act concerning Social Dialogue (SDA), the union has to prove the number of members to the competent labour court and provide a document on the total number of employees, issued by the company. By relating the two figures, the court then determines if the 50+1 threshold is met and if the union qualifies for collective bargaining in accordance with the SDA.

The union is then obliged to submit that declaration from the company, but the SDA does not make it obligatory for the company to provide it. The company can simply refuse without any sanctions and therefore prevent any bargaining before it has even started.

One of many particularities of Romanian labour law that actively prevents collective bargaining is an article of the SDA that says that only one collective agreement can be signed between the social partners in a period of twelve months.

“Raising the violations at CAS at this year’s ILC is important and will hopefully lead to a change. Unions in Romania operate in difficult circumstances, and workers and unions need solidarity and support. This is what IndustriALL Global Union, industriAll European Trade Union and IG Metall actively provide,”

says Georg Leutert.

Unions address accountability as Glencore prepares to reopen Mutanda mine

During the closure, 500 workers from Mutanda were transferred to Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) – a joint venture between Glencore which owns 75 per cent and the state-owned Gecamines which owns 25 per cent. At its peak Mutanda mine employed over 3,000 workers.

Glencore, which owns Mutanda Mine, an open-pit copper and cobalt mine, closed the mine in 2019 citing increasing costs, low cobalt prices and higher taxes. However, since the beginning of 2021 prices of cobalt have increased by more than 40 per cent. Current prices at the London Metal Exchange are US$42500 per tonne for cobalt and US$9508 per tonne for copper.

The news of the opening of Mutanda coincided with the DRC battery supply chain and gender workshop on 10-11 June, which discussed due diligence, health safety and gender equality in the copper and cobalt supply chains. The supply chains include mining, initial processing for export, shipping, processing into powder form, battery manufacturing and other industrial uses, and batteries for electric vehicles and smartphones among other products.
 
The workshop discussed the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines for multinational enterprises as some of the few international instruments that trade unions could use to fight for due diligence and adherence to international labour standards and decent working conditions by multinational corporations.

Further, the guidelines which are signed by governments had important recommendations on employment, industrial relations, human rights, transparency, the environment, and anti-corruption. Due diligence also allows for the end-to-end traceability of cobalt to avoid cobalt mined through child labour and conflict.
 
Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining says:

“Due diligence compels multinationals to respect human and trade union rights. Enterprise and trade union agreements – collective bargaining agreements, global framework agreements, protocols and memorandum of understanding – are a means of due diligence.”
 
The workshop further discussed that unions must hold companies like Glencore to account on the OECD guidelines. As Glencore claims that it implements OECD guidance risks, and is part of the Fair Cobalt Alliance, the unions organizing at Mutanda and KCC want Glencore to exercise due diligence at its operations, and for the company to respect collective agreements that it has signed with unions.
 
The DRC affiliates organizing at the Glencore operations that attended the workshop are Organization des Travailleurs Unis du Congo (OTUC), Secretariat des Syndicats de IndustriALL (CSC), Secretariat des Syndicats de IndustriALL de la CDT (CDT), Secretariat IndustriALL Global (UNTC) and Travailleurs Unis des Mines, Metallurgies, Energie, Chimie et Industries Connexes (TUMEC). Other delegates were from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung DRC office in Kinshasa.

Due diligence in supply chains passes into law in Germany

The law is part of a wave of new due diligence legislation. In Norway, similar legislation – called the Transparency Act – is expected to pass, despite opposition from rightwing populists.

The German law, the Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz, passed on 11 June, requires companies with more than 3,000 employees in Germany (from 2024 with at least 1,000 employees) to meet human and environmental due diligence obligations in their operations, and covers the actions of direct suppliers and, to a limited extent, indirect suppliers.

The second chamber of parliament, the Bundesrat, still has to pass the law on 25 June, but there are unlikely to be further obstacles. The law will apply from 1 January, 2023.

Towards the end of the legislative process, two further positive aspects were included in the law:

Unions feel that even if the law does not meet their requirements on all points, it is an important victory. If a company fails to get its subsidiaries or suppliers to comply, the case may be brought for litigation in a German court.

Wolfgang Lemb, executive committee member of IG Metall, said:

“The law on corporate due diligence in supply chains marks a long overdue paradigm shift: from corporate voluntariness to legally binding regulations. It is a first important step on the way to strengthening the rights of millions of workers who are active in the global supply chains of German companies.”

Michael Vassiliadis, president of IG BCE, said:

“After many years, virtually no voluntarily process has been established by industry to safeguard the rights of the workers in the supply chain. Therefore, I fully support the due diligence law. Now, no multinational company can close its eyes when it comes to breaches of human rights and environmental standards. Furthermore, Works Councils will have the right to address due diligence in the economic committee of the company. This right, together with the possibility that our union can support victims from other countries in German courts, gives us a strong tool to improve human rights on a global level.”

In the manufacturing sector alone, more than 140 companies with over 1.5 million employees in Germany will initially be subject to the law.

In Norway, the Transparency Act aims to promote companies’ respect for basic human rights and decent working conditions along the supply chain in the production of goods and services, and to secure access to information for the general public on how companies deal with the negative consequences of their activities.

Companies have to undertake due diligence along their entire supply chain, publish the results and provide further information as requested by the general public.

8,830 Norwegian companies – those with more than 50 employees and a turnover of more than NOK 70 million (US$ 8.2 million) – will be bound by the new legislation. The legislation is based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD guidelines for multinational companies.

The legislation is supported by most political parties, including the centre right, all major NGOs and the Norwegian labour centre, the LO.

IndustriALL Global Union contributed to the development of the law by appearing before for the panel that drafted the text, with examples from everyday life in manufacturing globally and advice on content.

Images: Initiative Lieferkettengesetz

Concerns over violence in Colombia raised at ILC

At the end of April, a broad alliance of Colombian workers and civil society organizations began demonstrating peacefully against a tax reform bill, regressive labour law and pensions reforms, only to be met by brutal repression.

The ILO supervisory system and Committee of Experts have repeatedly found that unions, “should be able to have recourse to protests, strikes, in particular when aimed at criticizing a government’s economic and social policies”. In Colombia, the State is responding with extraordinary levels of violence and using anti-riot police force against its population, targeting youth in particular.

Recently death threats targeting union leaders have again spread all over social media. These are not isolated incidents, but part of an escalation of violence towards union and social leaders, initiating from the Duque-Uribe administration.

In their 2021 report, the Committee of Experts notes the specific allegations by the CUT and CTC that:

(i) three years after the conclusion of the Peace Agreement, between 2016 and May 2020, there were 998 cases of violations against the life and safety of trade union leaders (including 119 murders)

(ii) between August 2019 and May 2020, there were another 141 documented acts of anti-union violence, including 18 murders and 101 death threats, with a trend for an increase in murders over the past four years

(iii) 44 per cent of the acts of anti-union violence are attributable to paramilitary groups, and 52 per cent are of unknown origin"

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches addressed CAS in the name of International Transport Workers Federation, Education International and Public Services International, expressing grave concern about the extreme violence and the continuing homicide of union leaders and members as well as the lack of adequate protection schemes that the Colombian government is supposed to provide to leaders and members at risk.

In La Guajira, 226 permanent workers were fired by mining company Cerrejon, without any just transition measures. The company argues sustainability measures but the massive sacking comes as brutal retaliation for a successful 90-day strike. Unions are not consulted as social partners, with the consequence of workplaces seeing Covid cases rapidly increasing.

Trade union leaders from Union Sindical Obrera are blocked and refused entry to their workplaces at Ecopetrol, in violation of the current CBA. The company uses the Covid pandemic as an excuse to only allow scheduled workers to enter. Workers report that with no union leaders – who are also workers -in the workspace, their rights are violate.

Valter Sanches declared:

“In the light of the current escalation of state violence and brutal repression of legitimate civil protests against structural reforms, the global union federations align with the Committee of Experts’ recommendations, that the “Government of Colombia must take all necessary measures to ensure that all acts of anti-union violence, including homicides occurring, are investigated and that instigators and perpetrators are convicted.“

Kazakhstan must respect union rights

Responding to past recommendations of the Committee of Experts and bringing legislation in line with ILO Convention 87 on freedom of association, ratified by Kazakhstan in 2000, Kazakhstan adjusted some of its laws in 2020.

A new general agreement for 2021–2023, between the government and national associations of employers and workers, includes a commitment not to interfere in the internal affairs of organizations.

Although the Committee noted this as a first step in a right direction, the full conformity of Kazakh legislation is still a long way off.
Despite amendments, there has been no concrete practical impact. Prosecution of union leaders and prevention of union registration are still a reality in Kazakhstan.

Since the regressive law on trade unions was adopted in 2014, the registration procedures have been used to prevent the creation of free and independent trade unions. At least 600 unions at various levels have lost their legal status, including the Confederation of independent trade unions of Kazakhstan (KNPRK). It was liquidated in March 2017 and has since then made three unsuccessful attempts to re-register. The government has paralyzed the activities of all unions belonging to the independent confederation, leaving many workers unprotected.

In February 2021, the last remaining and functioning union affiliated to KNPRK, the Trade union of fuel and energy industry workers, was suspended for six months.

The recent legislative amendments have not changed the situation for independent union leaders Erlan Baltabay and Larisa Kharkova, who were found guilty of bogus charges, imprisoned and placed in house arrest, respectively. Baltabay was later freed thanks to a massive international solidarity campaign. However, both are still considered criminals and banned from any public activity, including union activities, for a few years.

The Committee demands that Kazakhstan revises the union registration procedure to make it a formality, ensures the registration of the KNPRK or its successor, lifts the restrictions on the Trade union of fuel and energy industry workers, stops prosecuting unionists, and drops all charges against union leaders.

In a joint statement on behalf of global unions IUF, BWI and PSI, IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“Kazakhstan continues to avoid fulfilling its obligations under ILO Conventions 87 and 98. Taking into consideration the total absence of improvement and the further deterioration of the workers’ rights, and refusal to register new unions, we urge the government to take the necessary action to make sure that Kazakhstan respect its international obligations.”

The Committee will decide on further measures on Kazakhstan at the end of the session on 19 June.

Feminist Strike 2021 – Respect! Better pay! Better pensions!

“Men and women have the right to equal pay for work of equal value.” This right has been enshrined in the Swiss Constitution since 1981. And yet:

Feminist strike – Genève le 14 juin 2021

In June 2019, between 500,000 and one million women took to the streets to call for greater equality, echoing the first feminist strike in Switzerland on 14 June 1991.

Women’s voices are still not being heard.

The pandemic has shown that women are on the frontline but are working for wages that are often too low, with insufficient staffing levels and in a context of widespread precariousness.

The wage gap between men and women has increased. Today, women stop being paid at 3.19 pm compared to men. In 2019, it was at 3.24 pm.

On 9 June, the National Council agreed by a large majority to raise the retirement age for women to 65. It is unacceptable to make women pay for the reform of the pension system, when this could be corrected by putting an end to wage inequality.

Added to this is the structural problem of sexist and sexual violence against women.

Switzerland’s trade unions are taking part in the Feminist Strike and are calling for mobilisation on 14 June.

For UNIA, it is more than time to revalue the essential work done by women and to put a stop to the attacks on women’s rights. For the first time in its history, the union has a female majority on its leadership team.

SYNA is calling for a thirteenth month’s pay, guaranteed breaks and a living wage – conditions that are by no means a given for many service sector workers.

“The powerful feminist strike of 2019 was very important. Among its many other accomplishments, it was part of the strong call for the adoption of ILO Convention 190, which took place on 21 June 2019 in Geneva. Despite this strong mobilisation, the situation of women workers in Switzerland is not progressing but regressing. IndustriALL supports its Swiss affiliates in the struggle for equality now, against a capitalist and patriarchal system,”

says Valter Sanches, IndustriALL general secretary.