End the repression of trade unionists in Fiji

Felix Anthony, national secretary of the FTUC, was arrested, along with 29 members of National Union of Workers (NUW) and a union staff member. Felix is also president of the ITUC Asia Pacific. He was arrested at a tripartite meeting, in front of representatives of government, employers and ILO officials. The arrests came ahead of the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank, which Fiji hosted from 1 to 5 May.

Unions had planned a series of nationwide demonstrations and events to coincide with the summit. There are a number of issues, including the minimum wage, labour law reforms, and the right to strike, as well as a major dispute at the Water Authority of Fiji which has seen hundreds of workers laid off amidst a rise in temporary work. Felix was scheduled to appear at a tribunal appearance hearing on the Water Authority case behalf of the NUW.

The 29 Water Authority workers after their release

Felix was released without charge after 48 hours, but the repression of unions is ongoing. The arrested workers were released on bail after surrendering their passports and being charged with unlawful assembly. The Fijian authorities raided the office of the FTUC, seizing computers and files, and unmarked cars have maintained a presence outside the office in an attempt to intimidate. Executive committee members of other FTUC affiliates have been instructed by the police to attend interviews.

A police car outside the union office

After Felix's arrest, the international trade union movement and the ILO took immediate action demanding the release of all the trade unionists and an end to repression. In a letter to the Prime Minister of Fiji, IndustriALL Global Union general secretary Valter Sanches wrote,

“Freedom of Association is one of the primary safeguards of peace and social justice. Workers have the right to express their views and defend their interest, including through peaceful demonstration, in an atmosphere free of fear, coercion, repression and violence. The arrest and detention, even if only briefly, of trade union leaders or union members for trade union activities is contrary to the principle of freedom of association.”

Law amendment will rid sham cooperatives from South Africa's textile sector

The previous law treated workers in cooperatives as self-employed and exempt from paying minimum wages and conforming to labour standards. However, this will change with the Regulations for the Cooperative Amendment Act (2013) which came into effect on 1 April.

According to the new regulations, cooperatives must comply with labour laws and demonstrate their protection of members’ interests – a requirement that will make it difficult for false coops to exist.

“In the clothing industry alone, an estimated 15,000 workers are abused by such cooperatives that are exploiting workers. They are established through threats by factory owners to retrench workers unless the workers become members of the cooperative, which remains under the control of the factory owner who decides on working hours and conditions of work.

"If workers raise concerns about anything they are disciplined and fired on the spot,” says Andre Kriel, general secretary of IndustriALL affiliate Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU).

Paule-France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa said it is commendable when legal gaps that allow worker exploitation are closed.

“It is important for laws to continue strengthening workers’ rights to living wages and decent working conditions. Allowing environments where workers’ rights are trampled upon with impunity is unacceptable.”

Garment factories in Isithebe, in the KwaZulu-Natal province, are infamous for using bogus cooperatives and paying low wages, and have been accused of human rights abuses including human trafficking. In February, 100 undocumented workers from Lesotho and Eswatini were found living in squalid conditions at textile factories in New Castle during a provincial government exercise to check business compliance with regulations. The workers lived in a small unventilated room at the factories which were built with high walls to conceal the shocking living conditions.

Sri Lankan unions oppose oppressive new laws

The Council, which consists of unions affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, expressed deep concern with the proclamation of emergency rule in Sri Lanka, and the near unanimous political consensus in calling for stringent laws and harsher punishments.

The unions believe the new laws will invariably restrict freedom of expression and freedom of association.  

“While we accept security forces should have powers to arrest suspects, legally detain and interrogate them, we firmly believe the government has a responsibility and a duty to ensure fundamental rights of the people in establishing stability and normalcy in society,” said the statement.

The unions are alarmed by the replacement of the Prevention of Terrorism Act with the more drastic Counter Terrorism Act, which they say will be further used to crackdown on unions, rights activists and opposition politicians.

The unions are also worried about a new all-in-one labour law currently being prepared by the government, which is set to benefit employer investors but which they fear will be used to discipline society under the pretext of national security.   

The Sri Lanka IndustriALL Council expressed its deepest condolences to victims of the Easter Sunday bomb attacks, which include its own members, and called for the immediate distribution of compensation. They said political instability in Sri Lanka negatively affected the functioning of the state and contributed to security lapses.

The Council called on the government to ensure a peaceful and stable society, and to stop the escalation of religious tension, particularly against Muslims.

In a solidarity statement to the Sri Lankan unions, IndustriALL Global Union general secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“We condemn the terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka in the strongest terms.  Our hearts go out to the victims of this terrible tragedy.

“We truly hope that these heinous attacks will not generate more violence, and that instead, the government will respond firmly but strictly within the rule of law and in full respect of fundamental human rights.

UK court rules in favour of hearing case of mine water pollution in Zambia

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Mineworkers Union of Zambia, welcomed the court ruling in which Vedanta Resources will be tried for polluting water and making it toxic for drinking, irrigation, and for livestock thus destroying the livelihoods of local farmers in the villages around the Nchanga Copper Mine owned by the company’s subsidiary Konkola Copper Company.

In 2015, 1,826 villagers from communities living around the mining operations in Chingola District took the case to the UK courts. Although Vedanta wanted the case to be heard in Zambia, the court ruled that the villagers had the right to choose where they wanted the case to be heard.

The villagers probably took this route because of little adherence by mining companies to Zambian laws including the Environmental protection and Pollution Control Act (1990), Mines and Minerals Development Act (2008), and the Environment Management Act (2011). Lackluster enforcement by the policy bodies also diminishes the villagers confidence in ever getting justice.
   
Said Joseph Chewe, the president of the Mineworkers Union of Zambia:
“The union wants to see justice prevail and hopes that the affected villages whose main source of survival is farming get proper compensation from the mining giant. The ruling sends a warning to mining companies that pollute the environment and threaten the lives of communities. The Zambia Environmental Management Authority must strictly supervise the mines to ensure that environmental regulations are adhered to.”
   
Civil society organization under the banner of the recent 2nd Copperbelt Alternative Mining Indaba in Chingola, said companies not only pollute the environment, but also promote precarious working conditions with short contracts and low wages. This has resulted in most workers living in poverty. The indaba also called on mining companies to create decent jobs.
 
Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining, said:

“Mining must be carried out in a sustainable way that considers the livelihoods of affected communities and should benefit communities and not poison their water sources. Further, the communities should also benefit from decent jobs and living wages.”

Los Mineros demand union representation at LafargeHolcim Mexico

A total of 12 workers at LafargeHolcim Apasco cement plant have lost their jobs for executing their right to join a union of their choice, in 2017 and more recently in April 2019.

Los Mineros are appealing to the labour authorities to allow a vote on the basis of a free secret ballot, to allow workers to elect a union of their choice.

For many years, the CTM was the only bargaining agent at the LafargeHolcim Apasco plant through a protection contract signed with the company in absence of a proper consultation with workers. It prevented independent unions such as Los Mineros from organizing workers in the factory and expressing their demands.

Tired of the CTM never defending them and always negotiating behind their backs, workers want Los Mineros to represent them instead, and they are demanding that the company respects the ILO Convention 98 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining, and ILO Convention 87 on the right to Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize.

Los Mineros believe that the recent approval of the labour reform in the Senate will help to finally eliminate the existing protection contract at the Apasco plant. It will also be a test for LafargeHolcim to start respecting workers’ rights:

“The amendment to the Federal Labour Law includes important sections on the right of workers to democratically elect their union leaders. The Government is laying the foundations to guarantee union democracy and the freedom of organizing. We sent our message of support and total solidarity to all the workers of Holcim Apasco,”

said Luis Valdez, Los Mineros spokesman.

IndustriALL general secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“What we demand is respect, and this implies talking to the unions which truly represent the workers and abandoning the protection contract system in order to hold fair and satisfactory labour relations.

“IndustriALL reiterates our support to Los Mineros as a legitimate representative of LafargeHolcim workers in Mexico. We demand that LafargeHolcim’s management respects the ILO fundamental conventions, whether in Switzerland, Mexico, or anywhere else in the world.”

Unions bring progress and stability to Middle East and North Africa

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Tahar Berberi, Hashmeya Alsadawe and Abdelmajid Mataoul

Bringing together 85 union leaders, the statutory regional conference was opened by regional co-chairs Hashmeya Alsadawe of Iraq and Tahar Berberi of Tunisia, and IndustriALL vice president Abdelmajid Matoual of Morocco. They noted that the region is living in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, which is still unfolding in Sudan and Algeria. This great political awakening brought progressive change to some countries, but the backlash fuels conflict and repression.

Despite this, MENA unions have great optimism for the future. The affiliates, united by IndustriALL Global Union, are a major stabilizing force, turning social demands into a struggle for greater rights.

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches stressed the importance of the region to the global economy because of its oil and gas reserves. Workers globally face challenges of conflict, precarity, uberization, and the fourth industrial revolution. Only by standing together can we change things.

"Despite repression and conflict, unions are bringing change to the countries of the region"

Valter Sanches

According to the ITUC Global Rights Index 2018, the MENA region was again the worst in the world for the treatment of workers, and conflict in Libya, Palestine, Syria and Yemen has led to the breakdown of the rule of law and the denial of the workers’ rights. Peaceful protests were violently repressed and attempts to form an independent labour movement were crushed by the authorities in various countries.

One country experiencing severe repression is Algeria, as the old guard struggles to hold onto power. A solidarity message was sent to SNATEG president Raouf Mellal, who was arrested shortly before the conference started.

An unexpected bright spot is Iraq, which until recently was mired in conflict, with many areas occupied by Islamic State. Unions have had a progressive effect on society, campaigning for the ratification of ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association, winning permanent contracts for precarious workers in the public sector, and helping to block the regressive Jaafari law that would have allowed girls as young as eight to marry. Unions fight sectarianism, with the Iraqi oil union network bringing together workers in Sunni, Shia and Kurdish regions to defend public ownership of the country’s energy reserves.

Rihab Bahroom of Palestine was one of many strong women leaders

Another encouraging sign was the level of women’s participation and evidence of powerful women leaders emerging across the region. Reporting from the MENA women’s network meeting that concluded the previous day, women expressed their determination to achieve gender equality and access to decision-making power.

Assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan and Ahmed Kemal reported on progress made in the region, praising the concrete examples of work done as part of the building union power programme to organize and retain members, strengthen networks and use international instruments in national union strategies. The participants agreed that IndustriALL’s work in the region contributes to boosting women and youth, and to society generally.

The conference welcomed union representatives from France, Italy, Spain and Norway to develop solidarity between the two sides of the Mediterranean. Union leaders from MENA and Europe committed to cooperating, particularly in strengthening the coordination of regional company networks with European Works Councils, global framework agreements and other instruments towards establishing genuine social dialogue.

As the meeting closed, delegates sang Lebanese singer Marcel Khalife’s “Walking Tall”:

“I'm walking tall
I'm walking with my head held high!”

Pictures

Mexico's labour reforms set to bring greater union democracy

The House of Deputies passed the reform on 11 April, and the bill was approved by the Senate on 29 April.

The new act represents a complete overhaul of labour relations and will give workers better access to labour justice and greater freedom of association; it will also make it easier for them to form democratic unions.  

Under the reforms, workers will be free to choose which union to join and will be able to elect their union leaders through an individual, free, secret and direct ballot.

For many years, when elections did take place, the vote was by show of hands. This meant that workers were often forced to vote in front of corrupt, pro-employer unions that had their henchmen at the ready. This put a lot of pressure on workers and prevented them from freely electing their leaders.

Workers will have to be consulted both when the collective agreements are drafted and during the re-negotiations that will be take place every two years. This will also involve an individual, free and secret ballot, which will help to eliminate the so-called employer protection contracts.

Furthermore, a federal office for conciliation and union registration will be created. This decentralized public entity will be tasked with keeping a national register of all collective agreements and all trade unions.

For many years, the federal government, employers and corrupt unions used the conciliation and arbitration boards to decide which unions should be included in the register. As a result, political and economic interests took precedence over those of workers. These boards will now be replaced by labour tribunals within the judicial branch, and proceedings should be shorter, more open and more efficient.

Despite this progress, the labour reform has been the subject of much debate within unions, as it does not take into account certain issues that are crucial for Mexico's workers.  In particular, there has been no amendment of the provisions concerning outsourcing, which are especially problematic for workers and their rights.

According to Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, Mexican Senator, leader of IndustriALL affiliate Los Mineros, as well as IndustriALL regional co-chair, the Senate intends to review these outstanding issues in consultation with business and union leaders, lawyers and other experts.

"We would like to stress to our affiliates throughout the world that this is a huge opportunity to bring democracy to the union movement in Mexico. With this reform, it will be practically impossible to set up employer protection agreements, as all collective agreements will have to be voted on by workers,"

said IndustriALL Global Union's general secretary, Valter Sanches.

IndustriALL condemns DowDuPont lockout of USW in Texas

Local 13-1 members of IndustriALL affiliate, United Steelworkers (USW), have been locked out since 22 April after negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement were abruptly ended by the company.

The USW members have twice voted to reject the company’s poor contract offer. The main three problematic areas for Local 13-1 are wages, overtime distribution and arbitration provisions. The company’s proposals were rejected in worker ballots, first by 96 per cent and second by 98 per cent.

However, instead of negotiating in good faith with the union to reach a fair contract agreement, the company ruthlessly locked the workers out. The USW has filed a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board, identifying the dispute as an Unfair Labor Practice. Rohm & Haas Texas Inc is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DowDuPont, the giant market-leading chemicals conglomerate.

“The company’s decision to lock its doors on these hard-working union members is reckless and irresponsible,” said Ruben Garza, Director of USW’s District 13, which includes Texas and three neighbouring states. “These workers have been bargaining with this company in good faith to reach a fair agreement, and now, through no fault of their own, they find themselves on a picket line.”

USW Local 13-1 and leadership from the Deer Park plant met on 30 April in the presence of a federal mediator. However, according to USW, there was no meaningful movement made by the company towards an agreement. Both parties have agreed to meet again next week to continue dialogue. The USW has consistently stated that they are fully committed to bargain in good faith and reach a fair agreement.

The members of USW Local 13-1 object to the company’s wage proposal of a 1.8 per cent wage increase each year for five years, which is not in line with local industry standards and likely won’t keep up with the cost of living.

They have also rejected a new system of overtime, which attempts to deal with concerns about safety and fatigue. The union argues that the company should fix the problem of understaffing rather than replace an overtime system that works.

In addition, the union is opposed to a new arbitration process that would give management the freedom to discipline employees up to the point of termination without any recourse mechanism for workers.

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IndustriALL is a long-standing member of the DowDuPont North American Labor Council, which extends to trade unions around the world

In a letter to Leo Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers, on 29 April 2019, IndustriALL general secretary, Valter Sanches, wrote:

“We call on DowDuPont to bargain in good faith and reach an agreement with Local 13-1 so that work can restart under a fair contract. IndustriALL Global Union sends our warmest solidarity greetings and support to Local 13-1’s picket line and union hall in Pasadena. Stay strong, you are not alone.”

African textile, leather and garment unions meeting strategizes on AGOA

A strategy workshop organized by the Solidarity Centre Kenya in Nairobi 16-17 April, attended by 27 participants that included IndustriALL Global Union affiliates from Ethiopia, Eswatini, Kenya and Lesotho, confederations from the four countries, and regional bodies, EATUC and SATUCC, discussed how workers’ rights can be protected using the US trade law, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

AGOA, from which 40 African countries are beneficiaries, and 26 enjoy duty free garment exports to the US, has provisions to protect workers’ rights including freedom of association and collective bargaining. Eswatini’s removal and restoration of AGOA benefits was discussed as a case study on how the trade law can be used to protect workers’ rights. 

The US law also aims to promote industrialization through economic policies that reduce poverty, develop infrastructure and provide social services as well as support private enterprise. The integration of African economies into global trade through building trade capacity and linking African to US businesses are some of the goals.

However, the law is silent on women workers’ rights, the environment, and Just Transition issues. It doesn’t also adequately cover supply chains and brands that are sourcing from the AGOA benefiting countries. For instance, targeting brands and supply chains is important for the living wage campaign that unions are carrying out. Most AGOA benefitting countries are not paying living wages and regrettably promoting a race to the bottom on wages. For instance, in the garment sector in Ethiopia wages are as low as US$30.

The AGOA Forum, a civil society grouping that includes trade unions, criticizes the trade law for missing an opportunity to stimulate the transformation of African economies and for using a discredited economic model based on oil and mineral extraction with very little value addition. The Forum says AGOA can do better on women and historically marginalized communities instead of becoming yet another elite project.

Speaking at the workshop Jeffrey Vogt, Solidarity Center’s director for the rule of law department said:

“Recognizing that AGOA has failed to promote trade, the US government included a requirement for beneficiary countries to develop a utilization strategy on a biennial basis as to how more effectively and strategically they will utilize benefits available under AGOA.”

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

“International trade laws such as AGOA are important to Africa’s industrialization, which is lagging behind other continents. AGOA’s support for regional integration is in line with the African Union Agenda 2063 and the African Continental Free Trade Area. By boosting exports, through duty-free access to US markets, AGOA has potential to create jobs in Sub Saharan Africa.”

ILO Convention 176 is key for the mining industry

Several geographically dispersed calamitous events around the world in the mining industry have focused the attention of the world on health and safety on the global mining industry. The dramatic rescue of 33 trapped miners from the depths of a mid-sized copper mine in Chile, the gruesome deaths of 29 miners at the Pike River coal mine in New Zealand, the death of 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch mine in the state of West Virginia, Mexico, Turkey, Pakistan, China, Afghanistan etc. come to mind.

Beyond these calamitous events, almost hidden from the world, mineworkers continue to die in the course of their work from a slow painful and imminent death resulting from occupational diseases. The re-emergence of black lung disease recently, a disease proudly proclaimed by the mining industry as a disease of the past – completely eradicated from the face of the earth – is an indictment on the industry, confirming the lack of meaning in their sound bites and press statements.

Though the adoption of The Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No.176) by the International Labour Organization (ILO), was a welcome development, with a concomitant decrease in the rate and frequency of fatalities in the mining industry, a worrying upward trend in fatalities is emerging, with Pakistan and China as the epicenter of this upward trend. South Africa, another important mining country indicator of occupational health and safety performance has seen a downward performance trajectory in mining fatalities in the recent past.

The Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No.176) is central to achieving the ILO’s decent work agenda and a decent future of work, and is the key to resolving the challenge of occupational safety and health in the mining industry. Global Trade Union strategies on Occupational Health and Safety have proven to be effective contributors to the achievement of the decent work agenda of the ILO and they stand ready to contribute to the future of work. Global trade unions have proved that “Trade Unions Save Lives” with their strategic approach to occupational health and safety in the mining industry. These global trade union strategies are best guarantors of the future of work agenda with their insistence on the link between occupational health and safety and sustainability underpinned by the “Just Transition” concept.

The resolution of the inherent tension engendered by the future of work imperatives such as accelerated technological advances, as in industry 4.0 or the Internet of things (IoT) that best describe the future of work must of necessity be resolved by considering the impacts of the future of work on workers, their families, and the communities that depend upon them. A trade union proposal exists to address the implications of new technologies for labour – the Just Transition concept. This must become central when policy options are adopted by governments on the question of the implementation of new technologies and the mitigation of their social impacts, particularly in the mining industry.

Trade unions have an organic relationship with workers, who are mostly alienated from the production process in a globalised work environment – an alienation that is likely to become more acute as Industry 4.0 transformations play out. The intimate relationship that workers have with the trade unions facilitates the critical role played by trade unions in health and safety in the workplace, the decent work agenda and the future of work.

Read the whole article on the ILO website.

28 April – mourn for the dead; fight for the living

28 April of every year has been designated by trade unions worldwide as a day of sadness, anger, and public mourning to commemorate all workers who have died as the result of their work: whether as the result of a sudden violent accident, a slow wasting diseases, or even an act of suicide brought on by workplace stress. In 2018, IndustriALL's Executive Committee reaffirmed its commitment to recognize and renew the spirit of 28 April as a trade union day of mourning worldwide, for workers killed, injured, or made ill as the result of their work.

We will never compromise or cease in our demand for workers’ rights to:
• know fully about workplace hazards
• refuse or shut down unsafe work without fear of reprisals
• participate fully in all health and safety decision-making

All of our sectors, and all of our regions, are called upon to commemorate 28 April. Please let us know about any events you have held!

This article relates to IndustriALL's ongoing campaign for the ratification of ILO Convention 176 on safety and health in mining, is just one example of our activities.