Unions drive due diligence at EU level

European affiliates of IndustriALL Global Union and IndustriAll Europe are campaigning for the EU Commission to adopt due diligence legislation. This legislation would compel companies to act on actual and potential human rights violations and environmental risks in their own operations, supply chains and the services they use.

On 4 and 5 March, 80 participants from over 20 different European trade unions met online to discuss ‘Company Due Diligence and non-financial information: threats or new leverages for workers’ representatives?’. The event was organized in cooperation with the consultancy firm Syndex. It including a full day of training for representatives on understanding and using the proposed legislation.

Ben Richards of the Unite union in the UK stressed that “due diligence must not be a replacement for globally coordination trade union action”, but should be seen as another tool.

Luc Triangle

IndustriAll Europe general secretary, Luc Triangle, said:

“It is not only important to have binding mandatory EU rules on due diligence and sustainable corporate governance, but we must also train our employee representatives to make sure that they can use this important tool in their daily work. Moreover, we need to know what kind of concerns or expectations they have.”

Speaking at the event, Paul Nemitz, the principal adviser on justice policy at the EU Commission, made compelling arguments for due diligence legislation, based on a three-year period of study and consultation. He explained that due diligence serves the political goals favoured by trade unions and their allies, but is also good for business, because due diligence discourages the short-term thinking that makes companies vulnerable to downturns and other crises. The legislation will make EU business more resilient by encouraging long-term planning and business strategy. Legislation would also strengthen social dialogue by redefining the interests of the company to include sustainability, workers, the environment, and the community, as well as shareholders.

Legislation is necessary to create a level playing field. The voluntary approach has not worked: in February 2020, the Commission published a study which found that only one in three companies is currently taking due diligence measures.

This work builds on developments in global jurisprudence: in 2011, the UN Human Rights Council endorsed the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which introduced the first global standard for due diligence. Other international organizations subsequently developed due diligence standards based on the Guiding Principles, such as the 2011 OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the 2017 ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy.

National legislation has followed, most recently with the announcement of a draft law in Germany. Nemitz proposes that EU legislation be broader than the German initiative, by including smaller companies and developing a measured approach to supplier responsibility.

On 10 March, MEPs adopted a report from the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee recommending that the Commission adopt due diligence legislation that meets these guidelines. MEPs argued that all companies that want to access the EU's internal market would have to prove that they comply with due diligence obligations.

Kemal Özkan

Speaking about the growing body of legal instruments, IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“We fight for mandatory due diligence across the supply chain, with sanctions and access to remedy for victims. This will help to rebalance economic power in favour of workers. There are a number of different systems and legal frameworks. We need to fit them together to create an overall coherent picture that improves working conditions.”

Domestic violence and the role of trade unions explained

Understanding domestic violence

PART 1: "Domestic violence and the role of trade unions explained". Gaining a better understanfing of what domestic violence is.

Recognizing domestic violence

PART 2: "Domestic violence and the role of trade unions explained". We cannot fight domestic violence if we are not able to recognize it.

Global unions meet Belarusian opposition leader

The meeting addressed the appalling situation in Belarus after the presidential elections of August 2020 and the consequent repression of peaceful protests against the contested results.

Opening the meeting, IndustriALL Global Union general secretary Valter Sanches spoke of the global labour movement’s commitment to supporting democracy in Belarus. Workers’ fundamental rights are violated. Independent unions and their leaders and activists are subject to repression, in breach of the international labour standards and norms which Belarus has ratified.

He said that global unions had compiled a list of companies doing business in Belarus, and are working with the affiliates who have relationships with these companies to urge them to conduct due diligence regarding their activities in Belarus.

Companies doing business in Belarus must ensure that they:

Ms Tsikhanouskaya thanked the labour movement for its support, and said that the meeting was important to discuss concrete steps for bringing about democracy in Belarus. She said that it is crucial to support strike committees and free and independent unions.

She explained that the humanitarian crisis in Belarus has escalated and reached a formidable scale: since August, at least six people have been killed during protests and over 33,000 have been detained. Many report torture during detention, with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights receiving 4,644 complaints of physical force by security forces, and at least 500 cases of torture.

IndustriALL president Jörg Hofmann said that IndustriALL had followed development is Belarus closely and with great concern. The executive committee passed a solidarity declaration with the independent unions of Belarus at its meeting in November 2020. IndustriALL consulted with its affiliates in Belarus about the possibility of meeting Ms Tsikhanouskaya, and they welcomed the opportunity.

Sue Longley, of the food workers’ international IUF, spoke about courage and resilience amid repression. Three hundred people have been sentenced to more than a year in prison, including three members of affiliate BITU.

Owen Tudor of the ITUC said, “We represent more than 200 million workers around the world, members of free and independent unions, who want to see democracy in Belarus.”

In a statement released to the press, the global labour movement pledged to cooperate with independent representatives of Belarusian society, including the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, to establish trade union rights and freedoms in Belarus. This must include the fundamental right to freedom of association, and the right to organize union activities independently and without interference or pressure from governmental bodies or employers.

Speaking about the role of trade unions, a spokesperson for the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said:

“We had two huge strike waves that were an experiment for us: people hadn’t been on strike in the thirty years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and had to learn how to do it again. The strikes grew massively, until company managers said that it is illegal to strike for political reasons. This took some of the momentum away.

“We need to prepare Belarus for democratic transformation. We need people to know that that striking is a human right, and build the institutions to support it. Workers are the driving force of this revolution. Lukashenko is losing control and will not last long. We need to speed up the process of removing him, before he does more damage and hurts more people.”

Organized labour wins results at ILO technical meeting on the auto sector

The Technical Meeting on the Future of Work in the Automotive Industry was held from 15 to 19 February 2021. As with all ILO meetings, a tripartite committee was tasked with developing a plan for the sector, with representatives of governments, employers and workers coming together, both physically and virtually, for a week of negotiations.

The auto industry is going through a huge transformation, driven by the need to shift to a carbon neutral economy, the development of electrified vehicles, new forms of transportation and a number of other factors. The consequence for workers is that many auto plants are closing, companies are downsizing and there is a shift from blue- to white collar work. Component suppliers are also heavily affected, because electric cars use a fraction of the components of petrol and diesel cars.

The meeting developed a map to guide the industry through this transformation with as little disruption as possible, while retaining complex manufacturing capacity and workers’ skills. The workers’ delegation fought hard to make sure that key concepts such as Just Transition, decent work, gender equality and lifelong learning are reflected in the final document. They also made sure that global supply chains and related due diligence procedures are mentioned in the conclusions. The dedication of the colleagues culminated in the strong focus on the social dimension of the transformation and the related core demand that nobody shall be left behind.

Reflecting the new working practices brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, government and workers’ representatives were physically present at the ILO building in Geneva – but in separate rooms. Workers’ group spokesperson, Ben Norman of Unite, described it as a “surreal experience in an almost abandoned building.”

Other participants joined the meeting virtually. Workers’ representatives included trade union activists from the Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Korea, the Philippines, Spain, Turkey, the UK and the USA. IndustriALL was represented by assistant general secretary Atle Høie, and auto director Georg Leutert.

The workers' group joined the negotiations via Zoom

“The worker’s group came well prepared,” said Norman.

“We managed to convince the employers and governments of the importance of due diligence, the need to counter concerns about working conditions in the supply chains, and the central role of collective bargaining and social dialogue. We agreed all along on the importance of lifelong learning, which is central to the final document.”

 “We were well organized because this is our daily job as trade unionists,” said Angelo DiCaro from Unifor.

Global Labour University alumni Isabelle Gagel recorded a series of videos to help participants prepare: one on the core issues to be discussed, one on the gender dimension of the changing world of work, and one on ILO meeting procedures and technical details.

The meeting was at times confrontational, with one participant describing the employers as “fighting hard to keep reality out of the room,” and “treating workers as disposable tools, and not as human beings.” The fact that there was no opportunity for a quiet word during coffee breaks also contributed to the confrontational atmosphere.

Høie reflected on the balance between the amount of work that went into the meeting, and the final product:

“Weeks of work to achieve a six-page document can seem strange. Often it was a fight to find the right ILO language to express our point of view, but we ended up in a good place. We were well-prepared and managed to negotiate good conclusions.”

The final document gives the ILO a mandate and a budget to carry out activities to promote social dialogue. The document recognizes the value of the auto sector to the global economy and decent work. While creating jobs, the industry needs to address its environmental footprint and working conditions in its supply chains.

Transformation in the auto sector is uneven, and participants felt that the countries in the global south needed to benefit the most from this process. Several of the most important conclusions make special reference to these countries. Affiliates already have plans for a follow up: in Turkey, for instance, auto union Turk Metal will approach the employers’ federation MESS to develop an approach to managing the transition. In Korea, the metalworkers’ union KMWU will demand social dialogue on transformation through collective bargaining, using the framework developed in the meeting. The Philippine Metalworkers’ Alliance will make it a subject of upcoming collective bargaining.

For unions, the meeting had a double outcome: a good working document that will strongly influence policy on transformation in the auto sector, and a team of trade unionists who are informed on the issues and committed to working together.

Leutert summed up the work by saying:

“I admire the passion and spirit of everyone who volunteered to take part in the negotiations in these circumstances, alone at your computer screen early in the morning or late at night. We organized to defend jobs, because every job counts."

Unions at LafargeHolcim pledge to intensify campaign

The demand came out of an online meeting where more than 100 participants from 42 countries discussed union strategies to demand an end to LafargeHolcim’s bad labour practices.

“LafargeHolcim must recognize unions, so we must be more offensive and put pressure on the company,”

said BWI general secretary Ambet Yuson.  

In 2020, five workers at LafargeHolcim's operations lost their lives at work, four of them employed by subcontractors. These work-related accidents could have been prevented, and at the same time, workers are being exposed to dangerous working conditions, excessive working hours and a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE).  

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary said:

“An important role for this union network is to speak up and demand our rights. And we demand respect for fundamental workers’ rights, including health and safety where LafargeHolcim has a bad track record.”

Many of the participants took to the floor to report on the situation for LafargeHolcim workers in their country. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is not only a health crisis but an economic one, hitting workers hard. In Uganda, workers have been forced eat and sleep at work for up to two weeks, and there is a significant lack of PPE.

In the last five years, LafargeHolcim has reduced its number of employees by 33,547, while at the same time increasing subcontracting. At many operations, outsourced labour, represents the vast majority of the company workforce.

Contract workers make up a large proportion of the workforce in Zimbabwe as well. Violations of workers’ rights have increased; 60 per cent of the subcontractors were sent home without pay and the 40 per cent who remained were forced to stay a month on the company premises.  

In Jordan, LafargeHolcim has tampered with local agreements and refuses to pay into pension funds.

The World Union Council of LafargeHolcim expressed solidarity with the Colombian paper workers trade union Sintracarcol and its members who face mass redundancy, union busting and breaching of the collective bargaining agreement at Cartones de Colombia, the company manufacturing cement sacks for LafargeHolcim.

In a statement, unanimously adopted at the end of the meeting, the world union council of LafargeHolcim stand in solidarity with all workers and their unions at LafargeHolcim’s operations worldwide.

 

As LafargeHolcim systematically fails to prevent, mitigate or remediate its human rights issues, especially the labour conditions at its global subsidiaries and subcontractors, the statement demands the bad labour practices must end.

Among other things, LafargeHolcim must:

In order to put pressure on LafargeHolcim to respect workers’ rights, the network decided on an action plan to increase their campaign. This will include pushing for a global framework agreement, mobilizing for a global day of action and to engage with investors ahead of the company’s annual general meeting on 4 May.

No progress made in Indian health and safety crisis

The intensifying safety crisis in India is made apparent by the fact that 14 accidents reported in the press in 2021 have already claimed the lives of 42 workers, with about 100 injured. These accidents happened in chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, steel companies and in mines.

In an accident at SIAL Ghogri coal mines, owned by Reliance cement, in Chindwara district of Madhya Pradesh, on 4 March, a contract worker, Rakesh Nikote, 27, died instantly while another worker was seriously injured. The accident happened when the mine roof collapsed while workers were drilling for the roof support. On the same day at Dipika mines in South Eastern Coalfields Limited, cable man Gajpal Singh was killed when a stone from the shovel machine fell on his head.

Avoidable accidents were also reported in the automotive sector. Umesh Ramesh Dhake, a welder of the Automotive Stampings and Assemblies Ltd at Chakan unit, sustained fatal injuries to his head and neck when a robotic unit fell on him due to a possible sensor glitch on 24 February. 

Three workers were killed, with four missing and 26 injured, when a massive explosion occurred in the early morning on 23 February at the United Phosphorus Ltd plant at the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation’s Jhagadia Industrial estate. Preliminary information suggests that that an electric short circuit may have caused a solvent fire. The accident caused massive pollution and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board ordered the factory to shut down.

In an accident at a fireworks factory on 12 February in the Virudhunagar district in Tamil Nadu, the death toll has now increased to 21 workers.

In an accident at the Gris ceramic tile factory in Rangpar village near Morbi town on 11 February, one of the 12 silos holding 60 to 70 tonnes of clay raw material collapsed. Two of the three workers trapped under the debris were found dead.

From May to December 2020, a compilation of accidents reported in the media in the manufacturing sectors shows that over 118 workers were killed and 682 were injured in about 64 accidents. 55 workers were killed in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry and 43 workers lost their lives in the mining sector – 18 of them coal miners.

According to official statistics, between 2014-2018, 5,800 workers suffered fatal injuries in registered factory accidents. On average at least 1,160 workers were killed in industrial accidents every year. These figures are believed to underestimate the actual death toll. Official numbers for 2019 and 2020 are not yet available, which shows that India needs better reporting and more transparency around accident data.

The states where a large number of fatal injuries occurred during this period are:

SQ Zama, secretary general of Indian National Mine Workers’ Federation, said:

“We are seriously concerned over increasing fatal accidents across the country and in mining sector. Unplanned mining activity, pervasive deployment of contract workers without safety training in mining operations, negligence of safety rules and shortages of safety equipment continue to claim workers’ lives. We need to take conscious efforts to stop accidents and the government need to send a strong message and take immediate measures to improve safety.”

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, said

“In June 2020, IndustriALL Global Union warned the government of India to take swift measures to prevent another Bhopal  tragedy.

“It is appalling to see that no significant efforts have been taken by the government of India to address the safety crisis. We reiterate that the government should immediately call for a review of safety regulations. The principles of process safety management need to be integrated into the legislative and regulative framework. Public consultation, involvement of safety experts and unions and full transparency are required to improve safety and prevent accidents and we need to do this immediately”.

IndustriALL Global Union leadership calls on the military of Myanmar to restore democratic order and stop arresting, injuring and killing protesters

In a country where unions have only been allowed since 2012, IndustriALL supports the statement of Confederation of Trade Unions Myanmar (CTUM) that any action that aims to impede Myanmar's democratic transition must be rejected.

IndustriALL calls on the military leaders to acknowledge that the fruit of economic growth and improvement of living standard is a result of democratization and peaceful co-existence of multiple political parties since 2011.

In addition, we wish to praise and welcome the initiative of the global retail brands sourcing from Myanmar that recognize that democracy and respect for human and labour rights are imperative for business success and continuity. The reestablishment of democratic norms is imperative to keep jobs and new investments to improve the quality of life of Burmese people.

In line with the global union’s vow to confront global forces that work against the interests of working people, we reiterate the demands from leaders of the global union movement:

Furthermore, we call on our affiliated unions worldwide to support the measures outlined above, and:

We also urge the military leaders in Myanmar to withdraw the draft cyber security law that would have devastating consequences for democracy and human rights, and disastrous effects on Myanmar’s society and economy.

Defending gender equality during the pandemic

ILO studies show that during previous crises, when women lose their jobs, their engagement in unpaid care work increases. When jobs are scarce, women are often denied job opportunities available to men. The bigger their losses in employment during the lockdown phase and the greater the scarcity of jobs in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis, the harder it will be for women’s employment to recover.

Globally, women have been harder hit by unemployment than men. In 2020, the loss of employment for women stands at five per cent, versus 3.9 per cent for men. Almost 40 per cent of all employed women, work in hard-hit sectors, including the garment sector.

The unequal distribution of increased care demands during the crisis has disproportionately affected women, who normally provide around three quarters of all unpaid care work. The pandemic has brought closures of childcare and schools, which, coupled with older relatives unable to provide support, has exacerbated care demands.

Governments need to tailor policy responses to the current crisis to ensure that women will not be left behind, as general support will not automatically reach them. Trade unions have an important role to play to ensure that women are supported to get decent work, and do not suffer long-term “scarring effects”.

Gender-responsive responses to the crisis

A gender sensitive monitoring of unemployment, access to social protection, reduction of working time and gender pay gap, is key for the design and implementation of inclusive responses to the crisis. Access to gender disaggregated data on the impact of the Covid outbreak on all these issues is fundamental.

Unions need to ensure that company responses to Covid-19 do not place an unequal burden on women, as well as looking at whether if measures taken to mitigate the economic impact of Covid-19 and protect workers’ health have not instead contributed to increased gender discrimination.  Have women workers been penalized as they have had to deal with an increased unpaid burden at home, or because the employer has adopted less family-friendly working times to avoid rush hours?

UNITE UK have put together a guide on how to the assess the impact on gender equality and a checklist for trade union action.

Maternity protection and Covid-19

Trade unions need to ensure that maternity rights are protected while the women are on leave, that their pay rights are not undermined through the impact of Covid-19, and that their right to return to work remains.

Gender-responsive occupational health and safety measures

In order to make sure that the workplace is safe for all workers, trade unions need to ensure that women are involved in evaluating the risks involved with Covid-19 and in developing health and safety policies.

When executing, updating and implementing risk assessments, employers and health and safety officers should consider the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on specific groups, including employees living with/caring for the vulnerable, pregnant workers, as well as workers suffering from domestic abuse and put measures mitigating the risks in place.

Trade unions should ensure that women workers get suitable PPE, not designed to fit only to tall men.

Domestic violence has increased during the pandemic, exacerbated by lockdowns and economic pressure. Trade unions need to take action to address the impacts of domestic violence, and support worker victims/survivors.

“The unions response must be rooted in the fight against gender discrimination. Unions must continue to challenge gender stereotypes and social norms that limit women’s access to labour markets and quality jobs and contribute to gender segregation.”

This crisis has shown the urgent need to end the gender pay gap, to re-evaluate female-dominated occupations or sectors and establish a gender-responsive social protection for all workers,”

says Jenny Holdcroft, IndustriALL assistant general secretary.

Global unions appeal to stop the breakdown of democracy in Haiti

The dictatorship of the Duvaliers (1957-1986), one of the darkest chapters in the history of the Americas, was marked by thousands of disappearances, torture, summary executions, assassinations and many other crimes against humanity. Most Haitians thought that these days were long gone and that they would never see such atrocities ever again.

Fast forward to the present day and on 7 February 2021, according to the rules set by the Haitian Constitution, the presidential mandate of Jovenel Moïse expired. Contrary to the position held by trade unions, the Haitian Bar Association, senior legal experts, scholars, the churches and many other civil society groups, he decided to remain in power.

By all possible definitions, Moïse is a dictator. He has been ruling by decree for over a year as none of the lower house’s 119 seats is occupied and only a third of its Senators have an elected mandate. Last month, he forced three Supreme Court judges into early retirement, including ordering the arrest of one them who dared to challenge his mandate extension.

Moïse is on course to seize even more power having recently called a referendum to reform the constitution and has announced his plans to call elections later in the year, which, under the current conditions, cannot be done freely or legitimately.

Following the tactics used by the Duvalier dynasty, Moïse set up his own version of the Tonton Macoute death squads to intimidate any dissent against his rule. He has been using criminal gangs and the police forces to carry out executions of political opponents and activists, crack down on protests, murder journalists and raid on the homes of opposition members, especially at night.

Trade unionists are faced with systemic repression, with a wave of dismissals, arbitrary arrests and death threats targeting the few sectors where workers have been able to organise unions such as in education, the public sector and in Export Processing Zones.

The only support for Jovenel Moïse is currently coming from the so-called Core Group composed of the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Ambassadors of Brazil, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States of America, as well as the Special Representative of the Organization of American States (OAS).

The international community has been sitting on their hands while the working people of Haiti endure relentless abuses and hardship. Moïse has benefited from the support of the Core Group and feels empowered to continue ruling by force without fearing any consequences coming from abroad.

Only by breaking the silence at the international level will Haitian civil society be able to gather strength to restore democracy. We call on our affiliated unions worldwide to urge the Core Group and other governments across the world to:

We fully support the Haitian people in their efforts to restore democracy, the rule of law and respect for human and trade union rights, which are currently being put on hold by the self-proclaimed ruler of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse.

Stephen Cotton, Chair, Council of Global Unions, General Secretary, ITF

Sharan Burrow, Secretary, Council of Global Unions, General Secretary, ITUC

Christy Hoffman, Vice Chair, Council of Global Unions, General Secretary, UNI Global Union

Anthony Bellanger, General Secretary, IFJ

David Edwards, General Secretary, EI
 
Valter Sanches, General Secretary, IndustriALL Global Union

Ambet Yuson, General Secretary, BWI

Rosa Pavanelli, General Secretary, PSI

Sue Longley, General Secretary, IUF

Stronger collective agreements to resist Indonesia’s Omnibus law

On 19-20 and 24-25 February, IndustriALL Global Union's Indonesia Council organized two meetings to consolidate affiliates' campaigns against the Omnibus law, where 20 union leaders participated.

More companies are pushing for the implementation of the Omnibus law at workplaces, emboldened by a government announcement on 17 February that 49 regulations relating to Omnibus Law had been enacted.

Union leaders suggested to focus on developing stronger collective agreements in response to the law. They proposed to create a standardized collective agreement as a reference point for local unions and other affiliates in same industry.

In addition, more trainings on collective bargaining skills, communication, advocacy and labour laws will be scheduled to empower local unions to fight back.

Iwan Kusmawan, chairperson of IndustriALL Indonesia Council, says:

"A signed collective agreement is the law between the two parties. Workers' welfare, structural pay scale, occupational safety and health are enforced through the agreement.

“We commit to enhance the capacity of union leaders through educational programmes provided by our labour school every Tuesday night to make sure companies won't violate workers' rights.”

Kemal Ozkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, says:

“IndustriALL stand in solidarity with our Indonesian affiliates in the fight against the regressive labour law. We will use our network to campaign against multinational companies against pushes for an implementation of the law."

The Omnibus law on job creation has been heavily criticized by unions in Indonesia; Indonesian Trade Union Confederation (KSPI), Confederation of All Indonesian Workers' Union (KSPSI AGN) and All Indonesian Trade Union Confederation (KSBSI) have staged numerous huge demonstrations against the bill.

After Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo signed the Omnibus bill into law on 2 November last year, the confederations of trade unions and IndustriALL affiliates have filed judicial challenges at the Constitutional Court.     

Photo 1: Indonesian union leaders and IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Ozkan at the unity meeting on 25 Feb raising three fingers in support of workers involved in anti-coup protests in Myanmar.

Photo 2: Chairperson of IndustriALL Indonesia Council Iwan Kusmawan