Union supports deal for small enterprises in South Africa to manufacture 14 million masks

The bargaining council accredited 388 manufacturers with a capacity to make 14 million masks that cover the nose and mouth.

Additionally, 217 were approved to make personal protective equipment and other essential products required to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

SACTWU says the deals will assist thousands of SMMEs to survive and continue production under the harsh conditions of the Covid-19 lockdown.

SMMEs employ from 10 to 250 workers, and the recently registered ones from the townships employ at least six workers on average in their cut-make-trim operations. SMMEs are exempted from the main collective agreements but are considered as compliant companies in strategies to allow their growth. Despite SMMEs operations being highly informal, unions are organizing the workers.

SACTWU, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, and Business for South Africa, have partnered in setting up an online portal where individuals and companies can buy the masks.

The wearing of face masks became a requirement on 1 May as one of the preventive measures to stop the coronavirus pandemic. SACTWU is campaigning for the manufacturing of the masks using local material to save and create jobs.

The union is welcoming the announced Phase 4 of lockdown regulations for clothing manufacturing, which will help the local industry.

Andre Kriel general secretary of SACTWU says:

“It is a great boost for our struggling local manufacturing industry, and will assist tens of thousands of clothing, textile, footwear, and leather workers during this difficult period. 

"We cannot emphasize enough how important it is that we take steps now to ensure that we still have a domestic manufacturing industry after lockdown.”

Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL textile director, says:

“It is important to allow small garment operations to grow and be part of the supply chain, and it is commendable that SACTWU is involved in building the capacity of the SMMEs. It is equally crucial that workers are involved in efforts to fight Covid-19.”

Global Unions Statement: LGBTI rights are a union issue

30 years ago today, the World Health Organization removed homosexuality as a mental disorder from the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. Since that historic day, the LGBTI community has worked to eradicate harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender expression through laws and policies as well as through activities that celebrate diversity. As trade unions and members of the global community, we have played an important role in promoting inclusion and diversity in the workplace and will continue to work to protect our LGBTI members.

However, despite the many achievements, homophobia and transphobia still exist. LGBTI workers still suffer labor disparities and discrimination because of their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. These range from income disparity to workplace harassment, from unfair treatment at work to discrimination when applying for a job.

In times of crisis, such as the one we are currently experiencing, this situation worsens. From barriers to access health services to stigmatization; from the rise of online cyberbullying and hate speech to domestic violence; LGBTI workers are facing an unprecedented situation that places them at a higher risk of poor mental and personal health.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the livelihoods of LGBTI workers as they are disproportionately represented in industries and sectors which are hardest hit by the pandemic such as retail, hospitality and tourism. This will expose them to higher levels of economic hardship and unemployment which will have ramifications for their health and well-being.

Today, we stand up for LGBTI workers and their rights, which are human rights. We will continue to fight for workplaces free of discrimination and harassment, we will mobilize to protect them and to raise their issues and needs.

To achieve this, we have set up a CGU working group on LGBTI rights. We will adopt an LGBTI Solidarity Charter and will continue to work with our affiliated unions to improve LGBTI structures and policies to build a stronger and more inclusive global trade union movement.

Let’s stand up to intolerance and discrimination where we see it. Let’s keep working to ensure our unions are more LGBTI inclusive. Let’s go beyond single days of action and tackle systemic gender, income and racialized inequalities every day.

Global Unions commit to continue fighting for the rights of all workers and call on their affiliates around the world to support the campaign to end violence and discrimination in the workplace.

Finding new ways to fight back

Measures were taken to protect the membership as they performed their strike duty each week; the number of members on the picket line were limited, strike duty shift hours were reduced, social distancing, gloves, hand sanitizer and other measures were implemented to keep everyone safe.

The problem of not being able to hold a ratification meeting and vote, an innovative idea was developed for a three-area drive through process. First the ratification packet handout, then a question area, and finally a drive through voting area.

If there were any questions, members raised their hand outside of their car window and a bargaining committee member went to answer.

In a statement on their website, UAW says:

“With the support they received from Region 8 and the International UAW, this membership was able to stand together and let the company know they would not just lie down and take whatever the company wanted.”

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL secretary general, congratulates UAW Local 1407 and says that during the pandemic, unions are finding innovative ways to fight for their members and safeguard their rights.

Many unions in Brazil have negotiated collective agreements that set out alternative solutions protecting workers' lives and rights. Most of them have been negotiated through virtual assemblies, allowing members to debate and vote on proposals remotely, guaranteeing participation, democracy and social isolation.

At a recent virtual assembly held by Sindicatos dos metalurgicos do ABC (SMABC), part of the national confederation of metal workers (CNM-CUT), members voted in favour of an agreement with Mercedes-Benz in São Bernardo.

The agreement guarantees that workers will be paid between 80-100 per cent over two months and secured the jobs of all 8,400 workers until 31 December.

Sindicato do metalurgicos do Soracaba (also part of CNM/CUT), it has held many virtual assemblies approving collective agreements guaranteeing wages and benefits, in addition to job stability in companies like Bosch, Toyota, Emerson and Schaeffler. For example, workers from Schaeffier agreed on the reduction of working hours and wages for 90 days, and suspension of contracts for 60 days. In both measures, workers have guaranteed job stability until 30 November.

Eyes on pharmaceutical industry in the Covid-19 fight

For IndustriALL Global Union, there is a strong social dimension to the policies that apply to the pharmaceutical industry, with access to medicines as an important part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, especially in relation to the realization of Good Health and Well-Being (Goal 3). Universal Health Coverage, including access to medicines, has a vital importance in this regard. Even before the Covid-19 crisis, 1 billion people around the world were unable to receive basic medical treatment while over 2 billion did not have access to essential medicines.

Universal Health Coverage means that all individuals and communities receive the health services they need without suffering financial hardship, including the full spectrum of essential, quality health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care. Obviously, the pharmaceutical industry has an important role to play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of Good Health and Well Being.

The current global pandemic underlines the social questions that the IndustriALL pharmaceutical sector is persistently asked to address. Access to vital medicine is a universal human right, a right that is constantly under attack by profiteers. 

As COVID-19 is a global crisis, everyone should be able to benefit from the products of the pharmaceutical industry. This is particularly true when large amounts of public money and other resources (e.g. universities, hospitals) are being made available to the industry to hasten research. Global public opinion strongly expects that when a COVID-19 vaccine and/or medicine is produced, it must be available to all. It would certainly be unacceptable if the world’s people suffer while huge profits are distributed to shareholders.

Unlike other manufacturing sectors currently, there is very little, if any, reduction in activity in the sector around the world thus far. However, the industry faces possible medium term changes as momentum will gather in the post-pandemic period around significant questions, such as increasing state influence in the sector, and reducing the outsourcing of production to countries with lower safety and hygiene standards.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“The first priority for our excellent pharmaceutical sector affiliates is to build the knowledge to find treatments, vaccines and a cure for this terrible virus. But then the industry will need to have a serious introspection, about global supply chains, about the role of the state, and about how to ensure stronger health systems. These are big questions, and IndustriALL will continue to facilitate this debate.”

Pharmaceutical sector workers are highly skilled and educated. However, trade union rights in this sector are frequently attacked in a number of countries. IndustriALL responds to this reality with solidarity campaigns and network building.

Overarching trends affecting workers in the sector also include an ageing society, climate change, new technologies, digitalization, the role of generic drugs, patents, and corporate restructuring. The digitalisation of pharmaceutical factories will likely accelerate and will directly affect employment in the sector.

Most of the largest pharmaceutical multinational companies have made multi-million dollar donations in cash, materials, services, antibacterial gel and medication to the health effort against the pandemic.

Strong condemnation from IndustriALL affiliate FCE-CFDT brought a change of policy at Sanofi. The French company, which is a priority pharmaceutical company for IndustriALL, unilaterally decided on an extra payment of 15% of each employee’s salary across the world who were required to continue to go to work during the pandemic. FCE-CFDT’s demand for instead a fixed amount for all employees, was eventually met by management; otherwise higher paid staff would have received more than those paid less.

Sanofi has joined forces with British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline to work on a coronavirus vaccine. This scale of partnership is unprecedented in the sector. The two companies combined have the largest vaccine manufacturing capability in the world and aim to take a high-tech vaccine to human trials within months. The vaccine is based on an existing DNA-based technology that Sanofi uses to make its flu vaccine.

IndustriALL affiliates represent both Sanofi and GSK employees on all continents.

Indian states suspend labour laws and increase working hours

State governments, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, have increased working hours to 12 hours and 72 hours a week. In a cabinet meeting held on 6 May, the Uttar Pradesh government suspended 35 out of 38 labour laws governing trade unions, industrial dispute and contract workers.  All establishments in the state are exempt from all the labour laws in for a period of three years.

The state governments that made sweeping changes are ruled by the rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is also the ruling party in the central government. Aggressive changes to the labour laws were made through executive orders when the legislative assemblies or parliament were not in session. The changes undermine fundamental principles and rights at work, reversing decent work gains made through decades of trade union struggle.

Cement workers in Chattisgarh protest labour law changes. The poster says "Don't make pro-corporate labour law changes".                                     

The Gujarat government exempted new industrial units from labour laws and norms for 1,200 days. Only three laws, the Minimum Wages, Act, Industrial Safety Rules and The Employee Compensation Act will be applied to them.

Madhya Pradesh provides exemptions from legal obligations under various labour laws, including the Factories Act, Industrial Relations Act, Industrial Disputes Act and the Contract Labour Act. It intends to increase the exemptions through amendments by executive order for a period of 1,000 days. 

Eleven categories of industries, textile, leather, cement, iron and steel, electrical goods, electricity, public motor transport, engineering – including the automobile sector – will be exempt from the Madhya Pradesh Industrial Relations Act for an indefinite period. There will be no inspection in the firms employing fewer than 50 workers and no surprise inspection will take place.

"Full payment for the lockdown period must be paid"

Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tripura and Punjab have also increased working hours and exempted establishments from following labour laws.

During a meeting with the labour minister on 1 May, central trade union representatives made a number of demands of government:

No union demands were acted upon by the government.

On 6 May the labour minister met with employers, whose demands  include the  relaxation of the Industrial Disputes Act to treat the lockdown period as a lay-off, to suspend labour laws for the next 2-3 years except for provisions like minimum wages, bonus and statutory dues, and to increase working hours to 12 hours per day.

Valter Sanches, general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union stated that,

“We strongly condemn the Indian state governments’ attempt to increase working hours and suspend labour laws. Let us not forget that workers are in the frontline of the fight against Covid-19.

“The central government should not allow draconian labour law changes that are against internationally established human rights and international labour standards. The state governments should immediately withdraw anti-worker labour law changes. IndustriALL Global Union stands in solidarity with the Indian trade union movement to defend workers’ rights."

The joint platform of Central Trade Unions and Federations/Associations vehemently denounced labour law changes. Unions are planning nationwide action soon.

Protecting workers in Myanmar

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a crisis in Myanmar’s garment industry, with severe economic impacts for workers. In a union-led initiative, as many as 100,000 garment workers in Myanmar are set to benefit from measures agreed with brands and employers.

The parties commit to cooperate in good faith to secure the workplace health and safety of garment and footwear workers in Myanmar and mitigate the impact of the crisis on factories and workers.

This includes engaging with relevant organizations to mobilize resources for covering salary loss of workers in the industry from April to July, in coordination with the global action to support the garment industry, and supporting ILO research to calculate the necessary funding for salary losses.

The parties further agree to support the development of social protection floors, to extend social protection for workers and employers in the garment industry in Myanmar and to promote compliance with health and safety regulations.

An important feature of the agreement is to require compliance with the Myanmar Freedom of Association Guideline in ACT supplier factories and promote compliance in the entire industry.

The agreed statement outlines specific commitments for unions, employers and brands.

Trade unions commit to promote safe and healthy workplaces. This includes raising awareness among workers to follow the infection protection measures.

Employers similarly commit to promote safe and healthy workplaces based on the COVID-19 related regulations and guidance set by the Myanmar government, including actively engaging in dialogue and informing and consulting on the company’s business strategy in response to the pandemic and on possible joint measures to mitigate the crisis.

The global brands that have endorsed the statement (so far H&M, Inditex, Next, Tchibo and Bestseller) commit to paying manufacturers for finished goods and goods in production and maintaining quick and effective open lines of communication with supply chain partners about the status of business operations and future planning.

“The Myanmar FOA Guideline has laid the foundations of cooperation in the country’s garment industry and has enabled the parties to reach agreement on how they will respond collectively to the COVID crisis,”

says IndustriALL assistant general secretary Jenny Holdcroft.

“This agreement is a concrete framework for further joint action to address the impacts of the next phase on factories and workers. We call upon all employers and brands sourcing in Myanmar to endorse it.”

Unions fight to protect Nigeria’s oil and gas workers

IndustriALL Global Union affiliates, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) organize in the sector in Africa’s biggest oil producing country.

NUPENG president, Williams Eniredonana Akporeha, and general secretary, Afolabi Olawale, and PENGASSAN president, Ndukaku Ohaeri, and general secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, recently raised concerns over reports from workers who fear that they may lose their jobs.

A statement from the union leaders says:

“Unions empathize with employers over the negative impact of COVID-19 on the industry, business operations and earnings. Nevertheless, we strongly feel that downsizing, arbitrary dismissals and termination of workers contracts, introducing precarious and indecent working conditions, and reducing salaries and allowances, should be avoided at all costs. This outrageous behaviour will not benefit anyone.”

Appealing to the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure that multinational and national oil companies follow laws and regulations, the unions say they will fight unfair retrenchments.

“We condemn these moves and vow to resist them with all our might. They are unfair to the selfless and patriotic services that the Nigerian oil and gas workers provided to these companies and the nation during the highly productive years. The workers are still rendering essential services and on the frontline of the struggle against the pandemic.”

Diana Junquera Curiel, IndustriALL energy director says:

“Although Covid-19 is having an unprecedented impact on the oil and gas sector, employers should consult with unions, respect workers’ rights and adhere to the labour laws. Employers cannot make decisions that violate national and international labour standards.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has heavily impacted the oil and gas industry globally. With less mobility due to coronavirus induced lockdowns, demand has dropped and oil prices crashed. The impact is worse on Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, because oil revenues do not only fund the budget but also stabilizes the local currency, the Naira.

The country, which is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) gets revenue of around 90 per cent from oil exports and might need to revise its annual budget again because of the low prices.

Oil contributes 9 per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, and the government says the economy will contract by 3.4 per cent because of the lost revenue.

Multinational oil companies with operations in Nigeria include Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Equinor, Shell, Eni and Total. Local companies include the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and others.

Union seeks justice for worker shot dead by police in Nigeria

The use of disproportionate force by security forces during the lockdown has been condemned by the unions, civil society organizations and the country’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The NHRC says the police and other security forces killed 11 people during the enforcement of the Covid-19 lockdown and violated several human rights.

Most of the violations included on freedom of movement, unlawful arrests and detention, confiscation of property, sexual and gender-based violence, torture and inhumane and degrading treatment, and extortion.

Okameme was a petrol attendant employed by Greenmac Energy in Aba City. NUPENG wants the Okameme family to be compensated and for the government to investigate the murder.

The president and general secretary of NUPENG, Williams Eniredonana Akporeha and Afolabi Olawale say in a statement:

“Workers lives are precious, and we shall do all we can to get justice. An investigation must be properly carried out and other appropriate steps taken to serve as a deterrent to other trigger-happy officers. Police officers must be guided to know that minimum force is expected at this time when they are among an unarmed civilian population.

“However, we are seriously disturbed by the unfortunate silence of Abia State government over the gruesome murder of a worker on the frontline of the struggle against Covid-19 and urgently call on the Federal government to step into this matter before it degenerates further.”

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

“The heavy-handedness of the police in Nigeria in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic lockdown regulations is appalling. Public order policing during the pandemic should aim at campaigning for hygiene, social distancing and testing, and not the use of deadly force on unarmed workers and civilians.”

With the pandemic still far from over, the lockdowns have been extended in some states and eased in others depending on various local factors.

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, on 12 May the country had 4,787 confirmed Covid-19 cases while 959 were recovering after being discharged from hospital. So far, 158 deaths have been recorded, with Abia State having two cases.

New cases of Covid-19 in Peru’s mines

In March, Peru declared a public-health emergency until 24 May. Although mining was not initially considered an essential activity, the business sector pressured the government to allow mines to keep running.

The FNTMMSP says that since then, there has been 252 new cases of Covid-19.

The union wrote to the President and the energy and mining minister, calling for stricter workplace safety measures to protect the lives of employees.

FNTMMSP general secretary Jorge Juárez says that companies are failing to put Covid-19 protective measures in place and that there are no controls to ensure implementation.

He calls on the government to test miners, allocate staff to monitor workplace safety conditions, and ensure that workers at each company are included in workplace health and safety committees responsible for recommending, assessing and updating internal directives to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

On 6 May, the government published a Covid-19 health and safety protocol. The union says that the protocol needs to effectively protect employees who continue to work and contract the disease as a result, and that those cases should be considered as occupational accidents or illnesses.

The union is demanding that the money belonging to workers in the FONDOEMPLEO employment fund be used to offset the negative impacts of the crisis on workers and to protect their health.

Mario Vani, IndustriALL Global Union regional secretary, says:

"Once again workers are forced to put their lives and their families at risk. It's mind-blowing that multinationals show such disregard for social dialogue in our region; they are only interested in making profits, even if that means more deaths and increased spread of infection among the population.

“We hope that the government and mining companies will engage in a dialogue with the unions to ensure that measures are put in place to protect workers' lives and dignity."

Women demand more space in Turkish unions

At its last meeting on December 23, 2019 in Istanbul, the IndustriALL Turkey Women’s Network agreed to conduct a study to better understand and articulate women’s representation in union structures to help determine strategies. The mapping study was finalized with the inputs from women representatives from the affiliates. It profiled the conditions of women in the unions and shared success stories and achievements reached within trade unions.

The study examined the situation in terms of women’s representation, women's structures, gender training in the unions and provisions on women and violence and harassment in the world of work in the statutes and collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) of the unions.

The results indicate very critical points.

Women’s membership rate in the unions organized in the male-dominated IndustriALL sectors is reported to be very low. The sad reality is that women are almost never involved in decision-making mechanisms of the unions. It is observed that trade unions prefer women employees to a great extent in their expert staff, rather than at leadership ranks.

The study shows that few women’s structures are formed and defined through internal regulations and organized with a bottom up approach, actively influencing the decision making mechanisms. Some believe gender training should be included in the basic union training topics.

A positive finding is that the majority of unions have regulated provisions related to violence and harassment in the world of work in their CBAs or have started drafting these, benefiting from the rich concept set in ILO Convention 190.

As of 2018-2019, a significant proportion of unions have taken steps to establish women's structures, started gender training and created draft CBA articles on gender issues. Some unions try to make gender policy a part of workplaces and union training.

All the affiliates stated that they aim to act together with IndustriALL and other international organizations in relation to gender work. IndustriALL affiliates intend to campaign for theratification and implementation of the ILO Convention 190 by Turkey.

“Sharing the knowledge and experience revealed by this study is expected to contribute to the understanding of shortcomings of women's work in the trade unions and also to contribute to the collaboration and realization of good practices,”

said women representatives of Turkish affiliates.

“This study demonstrated once again the importance of addressing gender inequality as a major trade union issue. On the other hand, this study is expected to contribute to advocating the ratifying of ILO Convention 190 by Turkey, and creating a common struggle against all kinds of violence and harassment in the world of work.”

The 30 page mapping study is available here in Turkish.