Calls for safety standards in artisanal mining as Zimbabwe’s flooded gold mines claim 28 lives

Mining companies Zimplats and Rio Zim are assisting in the rescue effort by providing machinery and equipment. Rescuers say they need water pumps with more horsepower to reach the missing miners as the water level keeps rising.

Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL Global Union director for mining, diamonds, gems, ornaments and precious stones says such tragedies are avoidable if key stakeholders prioritize health and safety in artisanal and small-scale miners (ASM) operations. In particular, governments must develop policy to formalize relations with ASM and mining companies with operations in their vicinity.

“Promoting the health and safety of ASM is a social responsibility and stakeholders mustn’t turn a blind eye. Therefore, we support initiatives in which mining companies engage with trade unions and communities on safe and sustainable mining such as the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), which calls for engagement between large scale mining (LSM), ASM and communities in its standard.”

Zed Banda, the general secretary of the National Mineworkers Union of Zimbabwe, an affiliate of IndustriALL, adds:

“Artisanal and small-scale mining is one of the ways in which workers are surviving Zimbabwe’s economic crisis. In a country with limited opportunities, and where unemployment is very high at over 90 per cent, ASM helps the youth put food on the table. We are calling on the government to recognize and support ASM to end the deadly mining conditions under which they toil to eke a living.”

Although ASM use basic tools like picks, shovels, ropes and buckets, they have been producing most of Zimbabwe’s gold. According to Fidelity Printers and Refiners, a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, and sole buyer of the precious metal, gold production increased mainly due to ASM. For instance, in 2018 ASM produced 21.7 tonnes compared to mining companies’ 11. 5 tonnes.

However, despite this high production, the laws are skewed against ASM who mine under appalling and dangerous conditions with weak adherence to health and safety standards expected in mining. To improve conditions ASM are asking for inclusion in current discussions on the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill. They argue that policy regulation can improve health and safety and promote sustainable mining.

The Parliament of Zimbabwe says there are 500,000 ASM in the country who support up to three million dependents but operate with neither policy regulation nor government support.

The Alternative Mining Indaba, held annually parallel to the Mining Indaba, calls upon governments to:

“…decriminalize artisanal mining, so that miners can be trained; safety standards maintained, and communities liberated from the operations of criminal gangs. The African Mining Vision also recognizes artisanal and small-scale mining potential to end poverty and recommends that it be linked to development initiatives."

Ukrainian miners protest underground against non-payment of wages

The mineworkers are demanding payment of three months of wage arrears from the state-owned coal mining company Selydivvugillia. IndustriALL Global Union affiliates the Trade Union of Coal Industry Workers of Ukraine and Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine (NPGU) support the protesters.

On 18 February, 50 workers of the 13 Novogrodivska mine went underground, but refused to start working. Seven of them did not return to the surface after the end of the shift. The next day, another 37 miners joined the underground protest. Trade unions provide them with water and food.

Miners demand the payment of wages for November and December 2018, and for January 2019. The outstanding wage bill is UAH 250 million (US$ 9,2 million).

The coal reserves in the 13 Novogrodivska mine were partially misappropriated by Oleksandr Yanukovych, the son of former a Ukrainian President, and are not currently being exploited. Mineworkers have repeatedly called on the Ukrainian parliament to bring them back into public ownership, but have failed so far.

Viktor Turmanov, president of the Trade Union of Coal Industry Workers of Ukraine, stated:

“It is difficult to say how long the action will last. The situation is very tense. Miners presented an ultimatum that they would not start working until the debt is fully repaid.”

The total amount of wage arrears at the state coal mining enterprises of Ukraine is more than UAH 814 million (US $ 29,9 million).

Mychailo Volynets, president of NPGU, said:

“Unfortunately, the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine and the Government do not take effective measures to address this situation, neither to solve the problems of state mines in general”.

Earlier, on 6 February, 350 miners of the state-owned enterprise Lvivugillia held a demonstration against the non-payment of wages in front of the building of the Lviv regional administration. Among other demands, miners insist on payment of their UAH 210 million (US$ 7.7 million) in outstanding wages, and resolving the problem of coal sales.

The protest resulted in a meeting of representatives of trade unions with the mine management and representatives of the regional administration on problematic issues of the coal industry. Subsequently wage arrears were repaid at 67 per cent for December 2018 and at 68 per cent for January 2019.

Vadim Borisov, regional secretary of IndustriALL, comments:

“We call on the government of Ukraine to move to social dialogue and carefully consider the proposals of our affiliates for the development of the coal industry”.

Russian unions fight to save Ford plant

The works council at Ford Vsevolozhsk, comprised of IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Interregional Trade Union "Workers Association" (ITUWA) and the local Ford trade union organization, issued a joint statement on 15 February.

Although the closure of the Vsevolozhsk plant has not been confirmed, Ford announced in January 2019 that it would review its development strategy in Russia. Depending on the review, the plant in Vsevolozhsk and two plants for the production of cars and engines in the Republic of Tatarstan may be closed. Leningrad region authorities have an agreement with the company's management to continue the plant’s operation in 2019, but this does not secure the future of Ford plants in Russia beyond this date.

The Vsevolozhsk works council appealed for support to IndustriALL and to the Confederation of Labour of Russia (KTR), and intends to forward their proposals to the European management of the Ford company.

The unions have joined forces to urge management to enter into a constructive dialogue. They propose using the expertise of the unions and workers to develop a plan that will help to safeguard jobs, make the plant viable and to help Ford return to the successful times of the past.

Igor Temchenko, chair of ITUWA in the Leningrad region and Saint-Petersburg, says,

“In our opinion, local management does not assess all the risks associated with the liquidation of the enterprise and the mass dismissal of employees. The trade unions have proposals for reducing production costs, as well as for the development of the company. As a result, these measures will save the plant in Vsevolozhsk.”

The Ford-Sollers joint venture in Vsevolozhsk has operated since 2001, and produces Focus and Mondeo models. Presently, the plant employs 1,020 people on a one shift regime. Approximately 600 are production staff and 400 are office and management staff. Over the past four years, the plant has operated part time.

Vadim Borisov, regional secretary of IndustriALL, comments:

“The example of the Ford company once again emphasizes the importance of a social dialogue with trade unions from the moment the company enters the Russian market. At this first stage, the company’s agreement with the government to commence proceedings should include employee guarantees and a formula to calculate severance payments in case of massive dismissals or closure of the business. We support the demands of trade unions in Vsevolozhsk and urge Ford plant management to engage in a constructive social dialogue.”

Trade unions in Brazil campaign against pension reforms

They will spend the day campaigning against right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro's proposed pension reform, which seeks to bring an end to pensions.

The proposal, which will be submitted to Congress on 20 February, aims to replace the social security system – in which the State manages the contributions of workers through a single fund that is financed through payroll taxes – with a private pension system.

There would be a gradual transition towards an individual contribution model, in which the amount of each worker's retirement benefits would depend on how much they were able to save during their working life. The proposal is designed to save close to 3 trillion reais (US $830 billion) in public spending over ten years.

According to union leaders, President Bolsonaro signed Provisional Measure 871/2019 on 18 January without first holding consultations with workers, in total disregard of the principles of democracy and the role of the National Social Security Committee.

Few details about the reform have been made public, but union leaders have confirmed that the proposal includes a raft of measures to overhaul the benefits system and entitlement rules, stripping thousands of workers of their right to social security.

The new rules and requirements aim to restrict access to the country’s surviving spouse’s pension, benefits for prisoners’ dependents, maternity leave, continuous disability benefits and pensions for rural workers.

In the 1980s, dictator Augusto Pinochet brought in similar reforms to privatize social security in Chile, where pensions are now managed by six private funds. These funds pay retirees less than four per cent of what their contributions were, which has sparked numerous protests against the system.

IndustriALL Global Union regional secretary, Marino Vani, says:

"We stand by the unions and workers in Brazil. The Government's talk of 'reform' is a lie. What they really want to do is get rid of universal, public pensions that are funded by both employers and employees and bring in a system that is funded exclusively by workers, with companies not required to contribute anything at all. That way, banks will continue making profits, while workers will left with no pensions as their retirement savings are lost to the vagaries of the market."

Workers protest as Royal Enfield transfers union members across India

The transfers are the continuation of a tactic by Royal Enfield management to undermine union demands, including the equal treatment and regularization of precarious workers, in the ongoing collective bargaining negotiation.

The transferred workers include the general secretary of the union, active union members and women workers of the Royal Enfield Employees Union, affiliated to Working People Trade Union Congress (WPTUC), an affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union.

The Royal Enfield Oragadam plant employs 5,559 workers, including 1,059 permanent workers, 2,000 contract workers, 1,000 trainees and 1,500 trainees employed through National Employability Enhancement Mission (NEEM). Most of the NEEM workers, who are paid only an apprentice rate, are also involved in production.

In the period from September to November 2018, Royal Enfield witnessed 50 days of determined workers’ protests, which concluded with an agreement to continue the discussion towards a collective bargaining agreement.

Subsequently, in January 2019, in violation of the spirit of the agreement, management transferred union office bearers to different locations within the Chennai region. Negotiations resulted in withdrawal of these transfers.

However, due to non-responsiveness and intransigence by management, negotiations did not progress, and the union issued a strike notice on 11 February 2019, calling for meaningful engagement.

In response, the next day Royal Enfield management once again transferred union office bearers and workers, this time to far off locations in the states of West Bengal, Rajasthan and Karnataka.

Demanding the withdrawal of transfers, workers started to protest immediately from 13 February. On returning to work, management insisted they sign an undertaking that they will not take strike action in future.

R. Sampath of WPTUC said,

“Management should stop unfair labour practices and victimizing workers for involving in trade union activities. It should abide by the law and respect workers’ right to join union of their choice and equal rights to contract workers and resolve the dispute through meaningful negotiations.”

Georg Leutert, IndustriALL director for automotive and aerospace industries, said,

“The lack of decent work at Royal Enfield must be addressed immediately and vindictive actions must be withdrawn. Management should engage in collective bargaining negotiations in good faith to pave the way for industrial peace”.

Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL South Asia regional secretary said,

“It is unacceptable that management is using arm-twisting and anti-union tactics to intimidate young workers. We will continue to support our affiliate WPTUC in this struggle to win decent work at the Royal Enfield Oragadam plant.”

Workers’ demands include:

Employment of all workers who complete 480 days of work to be regularized
Employees working more than a month must be provided with a bonus
All transfer orders and vindictive actions should be revoked
Meaningfully engage with collective bargaining agreement
NEEM workers engaged in permanent work must be stopped.

Supporting Serbian workers to win a living wage

The seminar in Belgrade on 13-14 February was part of an EU-funded project, “Strengthening the capacity of trade unions in South-East Europe to improve wages and working conditions in the garment and footwear sectors”, carried out in cooperation between industriAll Europe and IndustriALL Global Union. The project targets seven countries; Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia.

Serbian textile, clothing, leather and shoe industries officially employ more than 64,000 workers. In fact, employment has increased in the past two years. But there are probably tens of thousands of workers in the informal economy.

Three affiliated textile unions organize a total of 10,000 workers in the textile sector. Now there is a new focus on increasing union density and building bargaining power.

“We are growing membership in factories where we are already present, and we have recently organized nine new plants thanks to active field work”, reported Radojko Jovanovic, president of the Autonomous textile workers’ union Sindtkos-CATUS.

Following training on organizing methodology and techniques at the seminar, the unions will now work on organizing plans with the help of a detailed mapping of potential target factories. The principles of cooperation and non-competition were emphasized. With 50,000 unorganized workers in the sector, there will be enough work for everyone.

Another goal is to increase collective bargaining. The unions have only four company level collective agreements. There is no branch agreement in the textile industries, but reaching one is something the unions definitively want.

“For industry level bargaining, we need both stronger unions and a more representative employer counterpart”, said Dragan Vesic from the industrial union IER Nezavisnost.

For representativity, unions must reach 10 per cent membership in the textile industry cluster. An employer association needs to represent 10 per cent of the companies employing at least 15 per cent of the workforce.

Despite increasing employment, the textile sector suffers from a lack of workforce. Young people are not interested in working in an industry where conditions are so poor. Professor Goran Savanovic from the Textile College explained that this was very much due to low wages. Average gross wages range from 319 euros per month in clothing industries to 438 euros in textile, well below the industry average of 498 euros.

Bojana Tamindzija from the Clean Clothes Campaign network said that the net minimum wage was raised to 230 euros per month, but according to studies, as many as 50 per cent of workers receive less. There is also a lot of unpaid overtime.

Slavko Ignjatovic from the Association of Employers, also the owner of a small company, asked for support in convincing foreign garment brands to raise the prices they pay to their suppliers, which operate with small margins under constant cost pressure. That would create space for wage increases.

Professor Petar Djukic from the Faculty of Technology lamented the absence of government representatives who were invited but did not show up. He suggested that the unions together contact the ministries of labour and economy and convince them of the need to cooperate to boost collective bargaining and improve pay to reach living wages.

Luc Triangle, IndustriAll Europe’s general secretary said:

“Serbian textile and garment workers cannot be treated as cheap labour. These sectors are traditional sectors with good skilled workers and skills that went from generation on generation in Serbia. It is unacceptable that wages are paid under the level of a living wage. Our trade unions will increase their efforts to organise workers and to go with employers into meaningful collective bargaining."

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL Global Union’s assistant general secretary stated:

“The Serbian government is attracting foreign investors with huge subsidies and other financial incentives. At the same time textile workers are paid poverty wages to sew clothes for big brands. Keeping wages low is not the way to a sustainable textile industry in Serbia. We will continue to support our Serbian affiliates in their efforts to build bargaining power and negotiate decent wages for workers in this industry”.

IndustriALL and Rio Tinto set QIT Madagascar Minerals on the path to constructive social dialogue

The mission was part of an IndustriALL union building activity in Antananarivo, Madagascar on 11 and 12 February 2019. IndustriALL and Rio Tinto are making a joint effort to set Rio Tinto’s QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM) operation on the right path to sustainable constructive dialogue, consistent with Rio Tinto’s global industrial relations principles. QMM is 80 per cent owned by Rio Tinto and 20 per cent owned by the government of Madagascar.

The mining operation, situated near Fort Dauphin on the south-eastern tip of Madagascar, has been the scene of hostile and acrimonious industrial relations between local management and IndustriALL affiliates. A labour dispute over the implementation of provisions of a collective bargaining agreement erupted following IndustriALL’s high-level joint mission to the QMM operations in February 2018.

The labour dispute followed a long history of industrial strife at the operation, where contractors constitute the majority of the workforce. Since then, IndustriALL and Rio Tinto have undertaken several interventions, individual and jointly, to facilitate constructive industrial relations at QMM built on dialogue.

A two-day evaluation and planning union building workshop took place on 11 and 12 February, facilitated by IndustriALL’s union building team, comprising Sub-Saharan Africa regional secretary, Paule Ndessomin, the region’s programme officer, Tendai Makanza and the programme officer responsible for the region from IndustriALL’s central office in Geneva, Switzerland, Fanja Rasolomanana.

It was followed by a two-day joint intervention facilitated by Rio Tinto’s employee relations manager for the region, Philippe Ferrie, the employee relations manager for the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, Munkh-Orgil Lkhaasuren, and Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining, diamonds, gems and ornaments.

Late last year, IndustriALL conducted a successful joint mission to the Oyu Tolgoi mine, as part of a delegation including Union to Union and Swedish affiliate IF Metall. A comprehensive report is available here. The operation’s employee relations manager came to Madagascar to share his experiences.

The joint intervention workshop was part of ongoing efforts to build constructive industrial relations at QMM between IndustriALL’s affiliates, Sendika Kristanina Malagasy (Sekrima) and Syndicalisme et Vie des Sociétés (SVS), and QMM management.

Glen Mpufane, commenting on the importance of the joint intervention workshop, said:

“The success or failure of the joint efforts to put QMM on the right pathway towards constructive industrial relations dialogue depends on the commitment to and implementation of the outcomes of the workshop by both QMM management and the trade unions”.

The outcomes also include a commitment by Rio Tinto to its contractors’ supplier code of conduct, and to sustainable communities.

Commenting on Rio Tinto’s commitment to a constructive dialogue roadmap for QMM Philippe Ferrie said,

“The workshop will help to improve QMM processes, to learn from what went well and where there is room for improvement in terms of process and relationship, and put all of this on a roadmap (within the overall Rio Tinto roadmap) that also keeps in mind the overall business framework of QMM.”

Australian union resists Kimberly-Clark attempts to weaken conditions

Kimberly-Clark had attempted to drastically weaken terms and conditions, under the threat of closing the Millicent Tissue Mill, in South Australia. The plant employs 400 people, and produces Kleenex and other well-known brands. The Millicent Mill is the major employer in the town, with as many as 3,000 jobs depending on the plant.

In June last year, members of IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) started indefinite rolling industrial action after failing to reach an agreement with the company. The stalled negotiations have meant that wages have stagnated since 2014, and workers have had no assurances that the plant would remain open.

The company announced in January 2018 that it intended to shed about 5,000 jobs globally, and close up to ten plants. IndustriALL and its sister global union UNI publicly condemned this anti-worker behaviour by Kimberly-Clark, and unions around the world sent solidarity messages.

Late last week CFMEU members voted to accept a new offer from the company that includes a wage increase of 4.5 per cent, plus a AU$1,000 cash payment.

The company also committed to maintain staff on some equipment lines until 2021, and to agree training priorities for new career paths jointly with the union. However, the threat of plant closure remains.

Alex Millar, CFMEU pulp and paper workers district secretary, and chair of the IndustriALL pulp and paper sector in Asia-Pacific, said:

“Our members at Millicent have shown that by standing united, workers can win out against these attacks and threats by corporations. By their attempts to remove workers’ conditions, Kimberly-Clark has lost much more than they could ever have won, destroying 30 years of industrial harmony at the mill. Because of their actions it will take a very long time if ever for this company to win back the trust of the workers.”

IndustriALL director for the paper sector, Tom Grinter, said:

“Once again the CFMEU shows how to stand strong for members and refuse a major cut in terms and conditions. Kimberly-Clark has seriously damaged its self-branding as a family friendly company. This is especially true in the US, Australia, and Europe. The horrible threat of mass plant closures without providing details, or committing to genuine union dialogue, is unforgivable.”

Italian unions stage massive protest against government policy

Rome’s San Giovanni square was full of workers, pensioners and families from all over Italy, many held union flags and banners. Many came to Rome in 12 trains, approximately 1,300 buses and two ships. They joined together to demonstrate their unity and reiterate the values expressed in a united platform called Piattaforma.

That platform is a set of joint union proposals demanding that the government makes changes to current policies and starts a serious and respectful discussion about the future of the country.

“CGIL, CISL and UIL continue to strongly affirm the necessity for development of the country to be reinforced by expansive policies, and agree that it is necessary to overcome the austerity policies which, in both Italy and in Europe, have led to deep inequality, increased poverty, and growth of unemployment, in particular among youth and women,” reads the document.

IndustriALL Global Union’s Italian affiliates are paying the price for the lack of political will of the government to adopt economic and political measures aimed to boost the economy.

So far, the government is planning no measures to increase public and private investment in industry in Italy, which will certainly not encourage employment growth. On the contrary, some of the laws adopted by the government would have an opposite effect. For instance, in the energy sector, unions are currently fighting against a recent law which prevent companies from searching for and exploiting new oil and gas fields. The legislation may lead to the loss of more than 15,000 jobs and make Italy energetically dependent on other countries.

Unions’ demands focus on development, growth and employment through public investment, which in turn attracts private investment and would promote a new structure of production. The state must initiate fiscal reform, removing excessive charges from salaries and pensions, and fight tax evasion, in order to create a fairer system, say unions.

Other demands include development of a social safety net, considering the needs of enterprises completing their restructuring or finding their way out of market crises; modification of the system of social security and welfare through reinforcement of pensions, social politics, fight against poverty, and improved healthcare.

Improvement and reforming of the system of professional education and workers retraining programs need to be in place. Finally, the unions called on the government to invest in public administration, which as a linkage between citizens, enterprises and services is a fundamental tool to accompany politics of growth and development of the country.

According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics Istat, the unemployment rate in Italy reached a record high of 10.6 per cent in 2018, this is third highest in Europe after Greece and Spain. Although there was a decrease from 2017 by 0.7 per cent, it is still far from 6.1 per cent unemployment in 2007. The young generation workers suffer the most with youth unemployment reaching 32.1 percent average in 2018.

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Bangladesh Government set to throw away Accord achievements

Joint statement IndustriALL Global Union and UNI Global Union

Following the Accord appeal against a court order to leave Bangladesh on November 30 2018, the Bangladesh Appellate Court has granted a number of extensions of time for the Accord, the Government of Bangladesh and employer’s association BGMEA to reach agreement with on how the Accord’s functions should be handed over. The Accord developed a detailed and responsible plan which was submitted to both parties in September 2018. The plan is based on transferring responsibility for inspection and remediation of Accord factories in stages, based on demonstrated capacity of the responsible government body, RCC, to take over these functions.

The Government has consistently refused to accept any conditions for the handover of factories, claiming (without presenting any evidence) that the RCC has already met all readiness indicators which were developed by the ILO and agreed by the Government. Both the ILO and the European Commission have repeatedly stated that the RCC is far from being ready to take over the Accord functions. Nearly 200 international brands and retailers signed the 2018 Accord because there was still no adequate government regulation five years after Rana Plaza. Little has changed since then. The government’s claim to readiness is further undermined by its refusal to include any criteria in an agreed transition plan.

With no transparency and no verifiable assurance that the unprecedented level factory safety achieved by the Accord will be maintained, global brands sourcing from Bangladesh cannot take the risk of a return to conditions that led to the collapse of Rana Plaza in 2013.

The parties are due to appear again before the Appellate Court on February 18 to report the results of their negotiations. The union and brand representatives negotiating on behalf of the Accord have written to the Government and the BGMEA in a last ditch effort to reach agreement on a responsible transition plan. If the Government remains unwilling to provide credible assurances, the parties will need to report to the Court that no agreement was reached. It is unclear how the Court will react, but an abrupt decision that the Accord must immediately depart Bangladesh is a likely outcome.

After more than 5 years of intensive work and investment through the Accord, which has resulted in an unprecedented level of safety in Bangladesh garment factories, it is extraordinary that the Government is prepared to throw this away, to once again put the lives of its millions of garment workers in danger and to risk the reputation of the Bangladesh garment industry.