The global aerospace industry – close to a crash landing?

REPORT

National lockdowns and travel bans have had a tremendous effect on aviation. Over the last eight weeks, around 80 per cent of all commercial airplanes have been grounded with enormous negative effects on the financial situation of most airlines. 

Unless governments intervene, there will be insolvencies. Even if the worst can be avoided, there will be job losses at airlines, maintenance and airports but also in the aerospace manufacturing sector, as orders for new aircrafts are delayed or cancelled.

News of severe job cuts are almost daily; the most prominent so far are 9,000 jobs at Rolls Royce; around 10,000, or 25 per cent of the entire workforce, at GE aviation; 16,000, or 10 per cent of the workforce in the commercial aircraft sector at Boeing; and some 5,000 jobs at Safran. 

The massive reaction by the companies indicate that the market will not make a quick recovery. Initial forecasts speak about five years as a minimum for the sector to recover to pre-Covid numbers. Why will it take so long? Shouldn’t the sector get back on its feet once the restrictions related to Covid-19 are fully removed?

What else is behind the turmoil? The current crisis reveals a number of issues that existed before and have now turned into real problems. 

Unions need to be actively involved in resolving the current crisis, and as the sector has become more global in the past ten years, global union cooperation and social dialogue are of key importance for sustainable and just future strategies.

 

What are the key issues?

Highly capital-intensive

Commercial aerospace is a capital intensive industry with a limited number of big actors. While the development of a new aircraft is a two-digit multi-billion-dollar business, profit margins remain low, at around 2-4 per cent. 

For major suppliers, particularly at propulsion manufacturers, profit margins are far higher. The reason for this is less in engine production, but in the highly profitable maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations on the aftermarket.

The huge financial dimensions are reflected on the balance sheets of the airlines. Not long ago some airlines spent billions of dollars every year to renew and/or grow their fleet as they were sitting on considerable profits. Today, after an eight weeks’ Covid-19 stress test, many of the same airlines are close to insolvency.

Never-ending duel between Boeing and Airbus

The commercial aircraft industry is dominated by the two archrivals Boeing and Airbus. When Airbus took over large parts of Bombardier and Boeing was close to doing a similar deal with Embraer this duopoly seemed even further consolidated. 

Another important chapter of the duel is the ongoing allegations regarding unfair business practices and illegal state aid/subsidies related to large civil aircrafts. Since 2005, the US and the EU/the four countries with major Airbus operations, France, Germany, Spain and the UK, have invested considerable resources in a related dispute at the World Trade Organization.

Today, after the Covid-19 shock, both companies are confronted with a new situation. Instead of adding new contracts to their full order books they find themselves having to make concessions to sell aircrafts. Both operators are forced to accept deferrals and cancellations, as it could otherwise provoke bankruptcy of their main customers. 

When two quarrel, a third rejoices

In the shadow of the duel, and partly with their indirect support, a third competitor has emerged, Chinese state-owned COMAC. Although experts say that the new manufacturer will still need some time to be fully competitive at an international level, there is a good chance for COMAC to win future business in China and Asia, which is forecasted to be the strongest future growth region.

Moreover, we shouldn’t forget that the Brazilian Embraer is now an independent manufacturer again with an important presence on the market. The Russian aerospace industry has the potential to play a more important role in the future, partly in cooperation with COMAC on the joint CR929 project (twin-aisles long distance jet). And Mitsubishi also has strong ambitions to become an important player in the regional jet market.

An unrealistic growth scenario? Certainly unsustainable!

The pre-Covid growth scenarios of the aerospace industry were based on five assumptions:

  • The global middle class will grow, particularly in Asia, and create an additional high demand for air travel
  • The economy will continue to be highly globalized and a long-term high demand for business travel is a given
  • The number of regional airports will continue to grow and will increase air traffic
  • Based on customer preferences, air travel via hubs will be more and more complemented, and partly replaced, by more direct connections
  • The co-existence of network airlines and low-cost carriers is economically viable and will guarantee continued growth

Today, a number of these assumptions are less realistic. 

Video conferences and teleworking will partly replace (business) travel

Forced to work from home, many business travelers have discovered the advantages of video conferencing: nearly no technical issues, far more time flexibility, cost savings etc. 

Unsustainable business models

  • Now, network airlines admit that many of their national flights are not profitable and that they would be happy to replace them by fast train connections
  • The low-cost flight market is barely profitable
  • The competition between network and low-cost airlines is partly destructive

Going green – aerospace is far behind

Industries without a viable strategy to significantly reduce their carbon footprint are not sustainable and will go out of the market. Industries who are not serious about their strategies and fool customers and governments lose credibility and will come under increasing pressure to reform. 

Learning from the car industry, the aerospace industry should intensify efforts to make air travel cleaner and greener. That the carbon emissions of modern commercial aircrafts are 40 per cent lower compared to the former generation is hopefully a figure based on facts and not wishful thinking. So far, there has been no break-through technical solution to power an aircraft without kerosene. Electric motors could be applied to reduce emissions e.g. during taxiing on the ground, but the improvement will be rather marginal.

Aviation has to be fully integrated into future multi-modal transport concepts. The promotion of more direct flight connections combined with a lower utilization of the hub concept is not a green solution. The same is true for a policy aiming at growing the number of regional airports even more.

 

 

When will Covid-19 restrictions end? 

The coronavirus is a severe threat to the future of commercial aviation. Apart from the uncertainty of when confinement measures will be fully lifted and of if there will be further waves of Covid-19, the most important question is if and when passengers will accept to sit closely together again. 

A global industry that is only starting to develop global structures

Although sales, operations, maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircrafts are fully global businesses, the manufacturing networks and supply chains are less globalized. Outsourcing production to low-cost countries, mainly Mexico and the MENA region, begun at a low scale about 20 years ago. Global supply networks have grown considerably since then, including huge research and developments operations in India, but there is a lot more to come.

ACTION PLAN

Improve global trade union cooperation and dialogue with the companies

From a trade union perspective, the sector still lacks a genuine global approach. There are no real global trade union networks (TUN) at company level and it would be advantageous with more global framework agreements, in addition to the existing three with Airbus, Saab and Safran. 

The fast exchange of information and even some coordinated joint action that are key features in many auto TUNs for example, would be beneficial for the aerospace sector and would have helped during the current crisis.

Lobby governments and join forces with the International Transport Federation

Unions must work with governments to create a scenario that helps to stabilize the current situation and to work jointly on a sustainable industrial strategy for the sector. IndustriALL Global Union and the International Transport Workers’ Federation intend to join forces and work more closely together. Both federations will establish a joint working group and will work together on an important research project.

Focus more on emerging economies

As many aerospace companies are still in the process of growing its global presence and as supply chains become more global, IndustriALL Global Union will increase its efforts to build and support trade unions in emerging economies, in particular in the MENA region, India and Mexico. Subject to Covid-19, the sector steering committee intends to hold an important conference in the MENA region by the end of 2020.

Call for Expression of Interest – Research on new investments in the automotive sector in Sub-Saharan Africa

Country studies for Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Republic of South Africa and Rwanda (one researcher per country study)

One leading / coordinating researcher, based in South Africa

Background

A number of multinational vehicle manufacturers (BMW, BYD, Ford, Geely, Honda, Hyundai/Kia, Nissan, PSA, Renault, Tata, Toyota, VW and others) have announced major investments into automotive manufacturing in Sub-Saharan Africa. The countries targeted for these investments are in particular Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Republic of South Africa and Rwanda.

These investments are mainly based on the assumption that there is and will be a significant and sustainable growth of income and therefore of the middle class, hence, an ever-increasing market opportunity. The investments have the potential to significantly increase industrial manufacturing in the region and to create urgently required new jobs. Since jobs are urgently required almost everywhere in Sub-Saharan Africa most if not all governments will engage themselves in fierce competition around FDI and therefore, a race-to-the-bottom with regards to working conditions and tax incentives is very likely.

As there is not yet a stable and sufficient number of customers, the companies will implement their projects at the lowest economic risk possible. In most of the cases, this means to avoid the construction of proper full-scale production facilities and to focus on the assembly of SKD and CKD kits by African contract manufacturers first. Such production patterns also help the companies to circumvent high import duties for finished vehicles. The required skills of the workers to assemble the kits are rather low. There are numerous examples for larger scale automotive investments that have failed to bring about sustainable industrial structures and decent jobs (e.g. India, Malaysia, some countries in Latin America and in the Middle East).

In SSA one notable past attempts to resuscitate the auto industry has been in Nigeria. The depreciation of the Naira, poor performing economy and cheap vehicles entering the Nigerian economy stifled these attempts. The recent attempt was through the Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plan which aimed at providing incentives including fiscal incentives to grow assembly plants and attract new investments of other OEMs (original equipment manufacturer).

The Republic of South Africa (RSA) is today the only country in Sub-Saharan Africa with a significant automotive industry, decent jobs and sustainable industrial relations. The successful development of such structures in the past two decades can be partly used as blue print for the other African countries. The new investments in other countries of Sub-Saharan Africa can easily put competitive pressure on the well-established sector in the RSA.

Some OEMs are making progress in growing their business in SSA. VW recently signed memorandums of understanding (MOU) in Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Ghana and Nigeria to establish vehicle assembly facilities, assess the mobility concepts and establish training academies for production and after sales. Toyota has operations in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya and in various other parts of SSA. Companies such as Uber and taxify use Toyota vehicles to ferry customers and this increases the market for the OEM. The VW business in Rwanda is structured around tapping from the Uber and taxify and government business too and build the mobility industry from these platforms (VW Mobility solutions).

In a nutshell: How can trade unions trigger/initiate and support the creation of decent jobs based on sustainable industrial structures in the automotive sector in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Application procedure

Step 1

Review the attached document “Background information and Terms of Reference” and select the country research (Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia or Rwanda) you would like to undertake / select the position of lead researcher (must be based in South Africa).

Step 2

Write a cover letter that provides a brief outline of your competencies and experiences in doing similar work / provide your CV.

Step 3

Provide a proposed work plan and an indicative budget for doing the research – including the research methodology (please stick to the timeline outlined in the TORs).

Step 4

Email the Cover letter, CV, proposed work plan budget to undertake the research and submit to:

IndustriALL Global Union, Geneva/Johannesburg
Mr. Kenneth Mogane, Regional Officer, Sub-Saharan Africa Office,

Copied to:
FES TUCC, Johannesburg
Dr. Iris Nothofer, Junior Expert, FES TUCC

Deadline

The deadline for submitting the expression of interest is Friday, 3 July 2020. Applications must be received by IndustriAll not later than 5pm Pretoria time. Any application after this deadline will not be considered.

Language

The expression of interest, including related documents, shall be prepared in English. Applications in other languages will not be accepted.

For further information, please contact Kenneth Mogane or Iris Nothofer

Selection criteria

All applications that have submitted all required documentation will be reviewed by a joint committee of IndustriAll and FES-TUCC. Both organisations, IndustriAll Global Union as well as FES TUCC are striven to increase the number of female researchers/activist in academia, science, trade union education and activism. Applications from female researchers are therefore explicitly welcome. Applicants will be notified accordingly.

Thousands of garment workers in the Philippines fear job losses

On 10 June, the clothing and textile industry tripartite council met to assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the textile and garment sector in the Philippines. The massive job displacement, loss of income and reduction of working hours due to lack and cancellation of orders are pressing issues.

According to employers’ organization Confederation of Wearable Exporters of the Philippines, more than 30 percent of employees at their member companies have been retrenched due to factory closures as many contracts and orders have been canceled and financial liquidity is running low.

Unions are demanding that the government and employers come up with immediate and appropriate measures to prevent more job losses and preserve workers’ income. Income support and assistance to the affected workers needs to be extended by the government, especially for those who remain temporary unemployed.

The unions also stress that safety and health protocols need to observed to ensure a safe workplace.

Eva Arcos of Associated Labor Unions says:

“The tripartite social partners need to come up with a coherent and realistic recovery plan for the textile and garment sector. It is a very challenging task ahead of us amid the Covid-19 pandemic, but we cannot afford to keep our workers out of job and the income they need to support their families.

“We need a roadmap for the textile and garment industry, taking into account the impact of Covid-19 on in the sector and with the participation of different the stakeholders. It is important to engage with unions in this process to be able to integrate labor and social rights.”

Ethiopian unions campaign for Covid-19 awareness

To get the message across to as many workers as possible, the union is publicizing the campaign through mainstream media, including television stations run by the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation and Walta Broadcasting. Radio stations that include Awash FM, and the Fortune Weekly newspaper are also publicizing the campaign.

Angesome Yohannes, IFTLGWTU president says:

“Covid-19 is a global pandemic that is spreading at an alarming rate causing huge social and economic disruptions.  As a union, this is the time for joint efforts to minimize the impact. When workers get sick, the consequences for them and their families are dire as the pandemic increases job insecurity and slows down economies.”

The Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions, to which IFTLGWTU is a member, signed a Covid-19 workplace response protocol with the government and employers in March. The protocol outlines how factories should respond to the pandemic. IFTLGWU has set up health and safety committees at factories. However, the union is concerned by the slow pace at which some factories are adhering to health and safety standards to stop Covid-19.

Like most garment producing countries, Ethiopia has been affected by low demand due to lockdowns in most European countries and the USA where the garments are exported.

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

“We applaud the efforts by unions in Ethiopia to curb the spread of COVID-19. The pandemic will only be overcome through collective efforts. For this to happen, unions, employers and government must work together.”

Ethiopia introduced the World Health Organization recommended Covid-19 protocols but did not lockdown the country. The government says its approach is based on the country’s context. Over 2,500 cases of Covid-19 have been reported with 35 deaths.

Goodyear sacks 44 union members in Indonesia without cause

The latest violation is 44 trade union members sacked in Indonesia, with no reason given, and no legal process followed.

The 44 workers are members of the IndustriALL affiliated Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mining, Oil and Gas Workers’ Union, FSP KEP. The Goodyear factory in Bogor employs around 1,000 people, including 300 contract workers. The 44 union members are permanent employees.

FSP KEP General Secretary Bambang Surjono says:

“We need International solidarity to support our effort against Goodyear Management in Indonesia to lay off union members without correct procedure.”

The FSP KEP committee at the Bogor Goodyear factory interprets the mass dismissal as union busting, and demands that as a multinational company, Goodyear should follow the national law, and international labour standards.

 

The relevant act of the Indonesian labour law, called Manpower law No. 13, 2013, article 151 states that for a union member to be laid off, there must be consultation with the union representative. If there is no agreement in this consultation, the company can only terminate the work contract after a confirmatory decision from the Industrial Relations Labour Court.

In this case in Bogor, there is no agreement between the union and management and no decision from the Labour Court.

Management has announced its intention to meet personally with each of the dismissed 52 workers. This is another violation of the law, this time the relevant part of Indonesian labour law is called the Worker Union Law no. 21, 2000 article 28.

FSP KEP is calling on Goodyear to urgently review its layoff practice, act within the law, and the international mechanisms such as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and reverse this mass dismissal immediately.

IndustriALL affiliates representing Goodyear workers are facing increased hostility from management currently in Indonesia, Turkey, Mexico and elsewhere. The company was already facing tough financial difficulties before the current pandemic forced a massive slowdown to the global tire industry.

IndustriALL rubber sector director Tom Grinter says:

“We will never accept that workers are made to pay for Goodyear’s current problems. Industrial peace and respectful relations with worker representatives are what management needs to confront the challenge.”

UPDATE: This article was updated on 29 September 2020 to correct the number of workers who were fired. The original article said 52. The correct number is 44.

Alcoa threatens to close US plant

IndustriALL US affiliate, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), is fighting for its 600 members at the aluminium plant in Ferndale, owned by Alcoa, as closing the plant will heavily impact the workers’ livelihoods.

The plant produces aluminium used in the manufacturing, aerospace and automotive industries, as well as for ventilators, hospital beds and other vital medical equipment, made more important during the current Covid-19 crisis than ever before.

The IAM has raised the issue with President Trump, demanding that the White House use all means necessary to save the strategically important plant.

“In addition to making sure our members receive all assistance possible during this closure, we have not given up on saving these jobs and this critically important industry,”

said IAM international president Robert Martinez Jr.

“Our union has long held that as a nation we must do everything possible to support domestic manufacturing. We cannot rely on importing critical supplies like aluminium, especially during times of conflict or national emergencies."

In a letter of solidarity to the IAM, IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches also urges Alcoa to reconsider its misguided decision to close the US plant.

“We fully support and praise IAM’s initiatives, along with different partners, in seeking the cooperation of local, state and federal authorities, and calling on them to adopt the necessary policy changes to find a new buyer for the Alcoa Intalco facility.

“We stand shoulder to shoulder with the sisters and brothers of IAM at the Alcoa Intalco aluminium smelter in Ferndale in their struggle to find a solution to save this strategically important plant, and keep the jobs.”

Alcoa, one of the world’s largest producers of aluminium, recently announced closure of a site in Spain. The company is citing falling aluminium prices because of Chinese overproduction of aluminium and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Indonesian paper workers fighting for their jobs

The workers at PT Tanjungenim Lestari’s site in Tarahan Bandar Lampung, Indonesia are members of the Tarahan Tuks Telecommunications Union, a member union of the Indonesian Federation of Pulp and Paper Trade Unions (FSP2KI). Despite being in their jobs at the same site for up to 20 years, the workers’ direct employer has been an outsourced company.
 
The service was first outsourced in 2000 to PT Dwi Daya Sentra Prakasa (PT DDSP), then since 2010 to another company, PT Kaliguma Transindo. The outsourced contractor changed, but the workers remained doing their work, as well as their union activities.
 
Earlier this month, the contract for this activity was taken over by a third company called PT Kamigumi. The union demand, supported by IndustriALL Global Union, is that the full team remains employed, with their contract transferred to the new service provider.

 

If this does not happen, it will clearly be a case of union busting, with the employer using the opportunity to make new hires without union representation. The workers are picketing the site, demanding their jobs back. The demand is even more urgent in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Writing to PT Tanjungenim Lestari, IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches says:

“Regardless of which outsourcing company pays their wages, after twenty years of service at your site, this group of people deserve respect and employment stability to be assured by your management. This is an international standard and understanding.”

Writing to PT Kamigumi Indonesia, general secretary Sanches says:

“We expect your management to respect these workers’ right to continue in their employment.”

And general secretary Sanches’ message to the FSP2KI is:

“Stay strong, stay united, and know that your union sisters and brothers in many countries are cheering for you until you win the job security that your members deserve.”

The FSP2KI has 15,000 members in pulp and paper industry trade unions in the Provinces of Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, Bandar Lampung, West Java and Kalimantan. FSP2KI is a member of IndustriALL’s Pulp and Paper Sector Work Group.

Polish wage strike at International Paper

The site’s workers are organized in three unions, with the largest being IndustriALL Global Union’s affiliate NSZZ Solidarność. Management had been put on notice for several weeks that the strike was coming.
Workers at the Kwidzyn site have been negotiating for a needed pay rise since October 2019. With management refusing to make a fair proposal, the IP employees entered into a collective dispute with them in January 2020.

The concrete demand is to increase the monthly basic wage at the worksite by 380 Polish Zloty (85 euros).

The collective decision of the IP Kwidzyn workers to take industrial action if necessary was adopted by worker ballot on 20 March, with 85 per cent backing the strike.

Despite management being given the legal advanced notification of the strike, they did not take necessary measures to maintain safe production during the industrial action. Therefore, strikers have limited their plan to completely walk off the job, and are working enough to keep the site’s main operations running.

This lack of preparation for the strike by management is interpreted by the workers’ strike committee to be a conscious effort to enable punishment for strikers.

IndustriALL pulp and paper sector director Tom Grinter says:

“We stand by the members of our affiliated union NSZZ Solidarność in their demand for an 85 euros monthly pay increase. They have already accepted to drop their demand from 415 to 380 Polish Zloty. Now we expect IP management to accept the fair demand so that the site can return to full production.”

The three unions at the site are the Inter-Enterprise Trade Union of NSZZ Solidarność, the Inter-Enterprise Trade Union of Employees of IP Kwidzyn, and the Union of Engineers and Technicians of IP Kwidzyn.
International Paper is a US-based multinational that is organized by IndustriALL affiliates in several countries.

An IndustriALL union network is established at the company, chaired by the United Steelworkers. IndustriALL affiliates represent IP workers in Brazil, Chile, France, India, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, other European countries, and the USA.

BHP incumple un convenio colectivo para modificar el sistema de turnos

Según el sindicato CFMMEU Mining and Energy, afiliado IndustriALL Global Union, los cambios son parte de una guerra de desgaste progresiva y continua que la empresa está librando contra el sindicato. En todo el mundo, los sindicatos que organizan a los trabajadores de BHP afirman que la empresa está socavando los convenios colectivos en un esfuerzo por informalizar aún más la mano de obra.

En mayo, el CFMMEU ganó una apelación ante el tribunal de empleo contra la política de tercerización de BHP.

El CFMMEU se vio obligado a iniciar una nueva demanda judicial contra los cambios unilaterales en el ciclo de listas de turnos introducido por BHP Coal en la mina Saraji, ubicada en los yacimientos de carbón Bowen Basin en el estado de Queensland. El sindicato argumenta que, al reemplazar el sistema de listas de turnos existente sin consultar, la empresa infringió el convenio colectivo de 2018.

La empresa afirma que el nuevo sistema de listas de turnos es necesario para el manejo de los riesgos relacionados con la COVID-19. A nivel mundial, BHP tiene un historial deficiente con respecto a su respuesta a la crisis sanitaria: 216 trabajadores dieron positivo en una mina en Perú y en Chile los sindicatos tuvieron que dejar de trabajar para obligar a la empresa a tomarse en serio la seguridad.

 

“Mensaje importante con respecto a la COVID-19:

No acepte

sin hablar primero con su sindicato.

Para obtener el mejor apoyo laboral frente al coronavirus, únase a su sindicato hoy”.

La mayoría de los 400 trabajadores en la mina Saraji trabajaban bajo un sistema de turnos que consistía en tres turnos diurnos, un día libre, tres turnos nocturnos y luego seis días libres. La empresa trasladó a toda la mano de obra a un sistema de siete turnos diurnos, siete días libres y luego siete turnos nocturnos. BHP impuso el nuevo sistema para los próximos seis meses.

El convenio colectivo acepta modificaciones en los turnos, pero las limita a un período máximo de cuatro semanas. La empresa tampoco buscó un acuerdo ni intentó averiguar si los empleados apoyaban el cambio.

Al final del ciclo de cuatro semanas permitido por el acuerdo, el sindicato solicitó que se terminara el cambio de turno. La empresa se negó. Debido a que el tribunal de relaciones laborales de la Comisión de Trabajo Justo se había pronunciado previamente sobre este tema, el sindicato inició acciones legales.

Glen Mpufane, el director de minería de IndustriALL, declaró:

“Usar la COVID-19 para impulsar cambios impopulares es una táctica sucia a la que están recurriendo algunos empleadores en todo el mundo. BHP también intentó esto en Perú y Chile. Necesitamos ser firmes para detenerlo”.

“Un cambio de turno puede parecer un problema menor, pero existe un convenio colectivo por una razón y debe respetarse. Modificar los turnos unilateralmente es parte de un intento de BHP a nivel mundial de socavar a los sindicatos e informalizar a la fuerza laboral”.

“No lo toleraremos”.

Workers paid allowance after strike at DRC mine

The strike led to negotiations with the mine management that then led to the payment of a special allowance of US$600 to the 6,000 mineworkers confined to the mine site during the quarantine. The company has so far paid US$500 to each of the workers. The allowance workers also want to be paid for the overtime that they worked during this period.

Work continued at the mine during the quarantine because mining is defined as an essential service under Congolese law.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliates Secrétariat des Syndicats de IndustriALL (CSC) and Travailleurs Unis des Mines, Métallurgies, Energie, Chimie et Industries Connexes (TUMEC) are some of the unions that organize the over 15,000 workers employed at the mine.
 
Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining says:

“We support unions for continuing to fight for better working conditions and benefits at TFM. Even in the midst of Covid-19 mineworkers are pushing back and fighting mine bosses’ attempts to undermine their rights and benefits.

"Essential service status is not a code for exploitation under the guise of Covid-19. Mining companies should make efforts to cushion mineworkers’ benefits.”

China Molybdenum, is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, owns 80 per cent of the Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) shares, with state-owned Gecamines having the remainder. The TFM site holds one the largest cobalt reserves in the world.
 

IndustriALL affiliates are working with other unions to organize more workers at the mine. One of the organizing strategies that the unions are using is to campaign for job security, and better working conditions. About 12,000 workers at the mine are precarious workers with short contracts and the unions want them to be given permanent employment.
 
The unions are demanding transport allowances to enable the mineworkers to regularly visit their families who live far away from the mine. The unions also want the company to pay medical benefits to workers and their families.

 
With the first Covid-19 cases reported in March, the DRC has over 4,000 reported cases, with 96 deaths.