South African plastics strike enters sixth week

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) called for the indefinite strike on 15 October with support from another affiliate, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union, and other unions.

The unions are demanding that the employer organizations, the National Employers Association of South Africa and the Plastics Converters Association of South Africa (PCASA), improve wages and benefits instead of removing them. For example, the unions are condemning the reduction of wages, in some grades, by 50 per cent and are calling upon employers to restore bonuses and leave benefits.

NUMSA is demanding that workers in the plastics sector be paid same wages as other workers in the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC), which the plastics sector falls under. The MEIBC has a 2017 to 2020 agreement, which gives workers a better deal, and was signed by NUMSA and other unions. But the employers are refusing.

The strike is affecting over 450 companies along the plastics value chain and NUMSA has been picketing at plastics factories in Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal.

However, management response has been to intimidate workers to sign “inferior individual agreements”, lockouts and violence including hiring private security companies to shoot at workers as what happened at Mpact in Pinetown.

NUMSA has rejected accusations of strike violence by plastics companies and blames infiltration by “criminal elements and agent provocateurs.” NUMSA says the companies are using the courts to break the strike. For instance, the recent temporary order, if finalized, will fine NUMSA R1 million (US$73,000), general secretary Irvin Jim and sector coordinator Vusi Mabho R100,000 (US$7,300) each for strike violence. The union is challenging the court order.

Says Andrew Chirwa, NUMSA president:

“Instead of engaging us, employers keep rushing to court to make frivolous court applications to undermine the strike. It is in everyone’s interest to resolve the strike. We repeat the call for employers to come to the table and negotiate meaningfully and in good faith!”

Jim explains why the strike is on:

“We are fighting for workers in the plastics sector to retain wages and benefits which they fought so hard for. It is unfair and immoral that they should unilaterally be denied these benefits. They are the creators of wealth and deserve a living wage and better life.”

Unions worldwide express support for Goodyear workers in Mexico

Two of the 58 workers that were dismissed by Goodyear Mexico held a meeting with an international delegation of union workers in Mexico City on 28 November. 

They explained that Goodyear had violated an agreement not to take retaliatory measures after it fired workers who went on strike in April. The workers had taken industrial action to demand better health and safety conditions, and protest against the employer protection contract imposed by Goodyear through the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), headed by Tereso Medina. 

"Goodyear violated their commitment when they fired us on 9 July,” said Pablo, one of the dismissed workers. “We want them to explain their decision. Many people were told that they lost their jobs because of a reorganization, but they told me and other union leaders that it was because they wanted to get rid of the democratic and independent union movement that was forming at Goodyear."

The political advisor to the dismissed workers, Francisco Retama, said that the workers still want to form a democratic and independent union at Goodyear Mexico. For this, they are looking to get exclusive rights to negotiate a union contract at the company.

"It’s not easy to bring in a genuine collective agreement in Mexico. We're hoping that the workers will be able to file their request to get exclusive rights to negotiate a collective agreement with Goodyear in the first half of next year. The new government will take up office on 1 December, so the conditions are ripe for this legal process to be a success. Millions of workers across the country have their hopes pinned on the soon-to-be president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and his government. Goodyear could be a landmark case for Mexico, and that's why this campaign is so important."

IndustriALL's industry director, Tom Grinter, added:

"At IndustriALL, we have followed the union campaign and the events at the Potosi plant closely. Goodyear violated its commitment not to dismiss workers when it fired the employees who went on strike. We sent them a letter but they ignored us. All of us here need to show our support for and solidarity with the Goodyear Mexico workers, as their labour rights are clearly under attack."

Leo Gerard, president USW, summed up the discussions:

"It's not just an attack against the Goodyear workers in Mexico but against Goodyear workers worldwide. They have to work in dire conditions, and what Goodyear pays them is disgraceful. We stand ready to support these workers by bringing in experts who can provide training and by campaigning for better health and safety conditions and for fair wages. We call on IndustriALL to help us take this campaign worldwide."

Finally, the workers reiterated their commitment to help the Goodyear workers and signed a banner as a symbol of their solidarity.

Yves Rocher workers stand strong after 200 days of resistance

Earlier this year, 132 workers were fired for joining the Petrol-İş union. The fired workers come to work every morning, and stay on the picket line until the end of the second shift.

Politicians, journalists, trade unionists, community members and artists have been visiting them on the picket line, and their determination to resist is strong. The workers have collected book donations for a resistance library, and they are passing the time reading.

There has been a global campaign, including a visit to company headquarters in Paris.

The struggle has had prominent coverage on television and radio, and in October a delegation of workers made a statement in the Turkish parliament at the invitation of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

On 23 October a large solidarity event was held, with hundreds of people coming to show their support.

Winter is coming. It is cold on the picket line, and the workers need heat and shelter. They made a fire in a brazier and erected a tent to provide shelter from the rain, cold and snow, which is expected in the near future. But on 19 November, the district governor banned the fire, tent and use of megaphones. The picket area has been controlled by riot police for the past few months.

IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“The spirit and resistance of these workers is an inspiration to all of us. They will not give up, and we will continue to stand with them.

“Yves Rocher, you have seen their strength and determination. They will not be defeated. It is time for you to give them their jobs back, and recognize the union.”

A series of actions in support of the Turkish workers is being organized by IndustriALL’s French affiliate the FCE-CFDT.

Flormar is a Turkish cosmetics brand, majority owned by Yves Rocher, that has its primary market in the Middle East and Asia.

Inclusion of women the priority for IndustriALL women’s committee

The committee emphasized the importance of making more progress towards achieving the 40 per cent target for women’s participation included in IndustriALL’s statutes. Speakers stressed that participation is not just about being present in meetings, it means that women have a genuine voice and take part in decision-making.

Women’s participation in IndustriALL’s sectoral work is still too low and not improving significantly. The women’s committee discussed and endorsed a set of recommendations for new strategies to address the gender imbalance in industries with the lowest representation of women.

The recommendations came from a meeting held in Cape Town, South Africa in October that brought together men and women who play leading roles in IndustriALL’s sectors.

The recommendations include:

“Each sector and network must set their own strategies for how to increase active participation of women,” said Monica Veloso, co-chair of the women’s committee.

2018 has seen remarkable progress of women participating in IndustriALL projects, with many projects reaching IndustriALL’s goal of 40 per cent representation of women. The union building project in Sub Saharan Africa has reached a rate of 49.3 per cent women participation and in South East Asian project work it is at nearly 44 per cent. In youth activities globally, women’s participation is 40 -50 per cent.

The Latin American region reported to the committee on a meeting in August this year that brought together 25 delegates from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, México, Peru, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay to build a network of women trade union leaders.

Unions in the Mena region face challenges to increase women participation as there is not enough space within existing structures. Women’s committee members heard that there is a continued need to organize more and to fight for the right to organize.

The IndustriALL Philippines women committee has been at the forefront of a successful campaign on increased maternity leave in the country, winning women 105 days of paid leave.

IndustriALL’s campaign calling on affiliated unions to take the Pledge to end violence against women at work was launched one year ago, and to date around 100 unions have adopted the Pledge. Promotion of the pledge continues with plans to develop training modules for unions.

The women’s committee decided to:

“We will continue the work on increasing women’s participation and representation in IndustriALL and our affiliates,” said Jenny Holdcroft, assistant general secretary. “But we must all recognize that this is not an issue for women alone: it is a core trade union issue.”

Women in the textile and garment sector in Ethiopia trained in labour law

A five-day workshop in Addis Ababa, 26-30 November, which drew 19 participants from women's committees in the textile, garment and shoe factories, recognized the pivotal role of the law in employment contracts and discussed that it is always better for the contracts to be in writing. Collective bargaining agreements also protect the rights of workers and improve working conditions as well as wage determinations.

The topics discussed in detail included what the law says on basic rights and the obligations of the workers and employers, freedom of association, labour proclamation provisions, grievance handling, and resolving conflict at the workplaces. It was also highlighted that Ethiopia had ratified ILO Conventions on the freedom of association, protection of the right to organize, and collective bargaining.

Examples given were drawn from Ethiopian case law, and dealt with dismissals, sick and maternity leave, and occupational health and safety. On health and safety, the law says the employer must give clear instructions to workers, appoint a health and safety officer, provide protective equipment and report accidents among other provisions.

Organized by the Industrial Federation of Textile, Leather, and Garment Workers Union (IFTLGWU) with support from the IndustriALL Global Union regional office for Sub Saharan Africa and FNV Mondiaal, the workshop highlighted some sections of the law especially on unfair dismissals that the unions would like to be changed. Further, the unions wanted minimum wages to be included in the amended labour laws, and for rights of workers to be recognised in the industrial parks.

Unions said they will continue fighting outsourcing which in most instances replaces permanent jobs with precarious ones.

The workshop was facilitated by Alem Abraha, a legal expert from Mekelle University.

Says Sisay Tulu, IndustriALL coordinator for Ethiopia:

“Understanding the labour laws is important to counter situations where employers take advantage of the workers not having a full understanding of the law, and this often leads to their exploitation in the factories. This often changes when workers understand the laws better and are able to stand up for their rights.”

Tenaris/Ternium: Unions escalate struggle as chairman indicted in bribery case

Unions from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Romania and USA participating in the Tenaris-Ternium Workers’ World Council met outside of Mexico City on 26-27 November. It was the tenth anniversary of the council.

SINTRATUCAR President Walberto Marrugo updated the council on Tenaris attacks on workers in Colombia. Tenaris has terrorized leaders of SINTRATUCAR and illegally filmed union activities, potentially putting union members’ lives at risk in the world’s most dangerous country for trade unionists.

Sitraternium described the slow progress being made in discussions with Ternium in Guatemala. Ternium sacked dozens of Sitraternium leaders and refused to negotiate after the union was registered in 2012. IndustriALL together with USW and Sitraternium filed an OECD complaint against Ternium in September 2017. The company began talks with Sitraternium in March 2018.

METAROM reported that Tenaris recently increased pressure on the union in Romania. METAROM organized a series of protests that received national media attention after Tenaris refused to make a fair wage offer. The union achieved a wage agreement but many disputes remain.

Tenaris and Ternium, which are both held by Techint, are violating workers’ rights, provoking wage disputes and threatening to relocate plants to lower wage countries despite earning over US$1.5 billion in profits in 2017.

On the second day of the meeting, Tenaris and Ternium chairman and majority shareholder Paolo Rocca was indicted as part of a bribery case in Argentina. The judge in the case charged Rocca after Rocca testified that one of his company’s executives paid cash to government officials from 2009 to 2012 in order to speed up compensation for a unit nationalized by Venezuela. Rocca claimed he was not involved in the payments.

Techint has also been implicated in the massive Lava Jato corruption scandal in Brazil and has a history of avoiding taxes by moving its headquarters and establishing offshore companies.

“Companies that abuse workers are often irresponsible across the board, and Tenaris and Ternium are no exception,” said IndustriALL's base metals director Adam Lee. “The Tenaris-Ternium Workers’ World Council demands that the companies change course and enter into social dialog with unions globally.”

The unions committed to raise concern about Tenaris and Ternium anti-union practices with shareholders and customers to pressure the companies to live up to their claims to being socially responsible.

The Council demanded that Tenaris and Ternium not take advantage of the current authoritarian political environment in Brazil to harm workers.

The Council dedicated the meeting, which was hosted by IndustriALL affiliate Los Mineros, to UOM member Gabriel Palermo, who was fatally injured at Ternium’s plant in Rosario, Argentina the previous week. The unions discussed ongoing health and safety problems at the companies’ operations and resolved to make improving health and safety a key priority of the world council.

We are just working to die, say Shell workers in Nigeria

IndustriALL’s mission to Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in September this year saw Shell workers living in shocking conditions and found that Shell workers were falling ill and dying as a result of inadequate healthcare insurance.

“Our health insurance as it is, we are not doing well. If you are sick and go to the clinic, they don’t treat you well because the money that they pay to the HMOs is a meagre amount of money, so based on that, we don’t get it right at all. We are just working to die,” said one worker.

Workers also said that if they asked for better wages or wanted to join a union, they would be threatened with dismissal. 

IndustriALL is campaigning to make Shell engage with unions on a global level. Unions want Shell to limit precarious work at the company and ensure that the same high-level standards are applied at Shell operations, everywhere, including its suppliers.

Contract workers outnumber permanent workers 2:1 at Shell and do the most dangerous jobs.

While Shell says it wants to #makethefuture, it’s clear Shell contract workers in Nigeria have #gotnofuture, with no job security, poverty wages and zero prospects.

Watch the video. 

Fighting forward for a sustainable future in the shipbuilding and shipbreaking industry

The IndustriALL global conference on sustainable shipbuilding and shipbreaking took place in Singapore on 1-2 November 2018.  Hosted by Singaporean affiliates the Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Employees' Union (SMEEU), the Keppel FELS Employees Union (KFEU) and the Keppel Employees Union (KEU), 103 participants from 27 unions in 21 countries took part. The union delegates actively discussed the following:

The conference was opened by sector co-chairs Brother Kenichi Kanda and Sister Eileen Chor Gek Yeo, vice chair Brother Vidyadhar Rane, and IndustriALL assistant general secretary Atle Høie.

Kenichi Kanda stated in his opening speech:

“Disparity, discrimination, poverty. We, the international trade union movement, should make effort to eliminate those conditions from our society. We must promote our industrial policy which puts workers and people first to secure our lives and to make this industry sustainable.”

In opening the conference, participants observed a minute of silence in memory of the 28 workers who died in an accident on 1 November, 2016 at the Gadani shipbreaking yard in Pakistan. 

A guest speech was made by Patrick Tay, a member of parliament and trade union leader from Singapore who addressed the challenges of new technology.

The world shipbuilding industry has been in gradual recovering since the economic crisis in 2008. However, the industry still faces excess supply and capacity. Kan Matsuzaki, IndustriALL sector director, showed key trends on the world order book, new build ship types, and selected large shipbuilding companies who are key players to the market and trade union networks. 

Elspeth Hathaway from industriAll European Trade Union said that the major challenges which the EU faces are decline in employment and an increase in outsourcing. The EU needs to develop social dialogue and skills training for future shipbuilding.

The shipbreaking industry is expected to grow over the next 25 years, and the implementation of international rules and standards (such as the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships) is a pressing need in the South Asian countries of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan where more 70 per cent of world shipbreaking is located.

Fahimuddin Pasha from IndustriALL South Asia office explained the issues, challenges, union activities and achievements of the organizing project. Unions in South Asia have doubled their membership in the shipbreaking industry over the last four years, and now have more than 30,000 members.

The number of precarious workers in the shipbuilding industry has been rising rapidly over the last decade. Abdelkrim Ahil (FTM-CGT, France), Jaewon An (KMWU, Korea), Edson Carlos Rocha Da Silva (CNM-CUT, Brazil) and Julian Wang (KFEU, Singapore) shared unions’ challenges and activities on how to reach precarious workers, especially to sub-contracting workers and women, foreign and migrant workers, to protect their basic rights within the same collective bargaining agreements as the organized regular workers.

Highlighting the situation of shipbreaking workers in South Asia, representatives from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh asserted that they will continue their efforts towards the ratification the Hong Kong Convention in their respective countries. Representing the Ministry of Industries and the International Maritime Organization in Bangladesh, Mizanur Rahman said that implementation of the Convention is a legal mandate for the government.

The SENSREC project (Safe and Environmentally Sound Ship Recycling in Bangladesh) is creating a fertile ground for ratification. The participating unions committed to continue supporting the shipbreaking workers’ unions, as well as to reach unorganized workers and promote OHS. Marry van der Stel of FNV Metaal shared OHS training good practice of with shipbreaking workers in India.

Promoting sustainable industry policy in shipbuilding is key to maintaining employment. Brian Kohler, IndustriALL director for health, safety and sustainability, said that Industry 4.0 will have a major impact on the shipbuilding industry for which the workers and unions must prepare, working towards Just Transition. 

Since shipbuilding requires the integration of a wide range of manufacturing techniques and skills, international safety and health standards in this industry need to cover many activities and occupations. A presentation on the ILO’s revised code of practice on safety and health in shipbuilding and ship repair was given by Yasuhiko Kamakura, International Labour Office Geneva.  

Setsuki Nakata (JBU, Japan), Mohammad Afzal (FF, Norway), and Thomas Søby (Co-industri, Denmark) shared their respective unions’ views and practices on shifting to high value-added shipbuilding by demanding sustainable industrial policies to the governments and employers as well as OHS activities.

During the conference, the Australian Shipbuilding Federation of Unions (ASFU) signed important cooperation agreements with both the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions in the UK, and CGT NAVAL unions in France.

The conference also focused on trade union networks to increase the negotiating power of unions at multinational corporations at global level. Moderated by Matt Murphy (CEPU, Australia), Glenn Thompson (ASFU, Australia), Ian Waddel (Workers Uniting Europe, UK), Manuel Velado Cambero (FICA-UGT, Spain) and Warren Fairley (IBB, USA) actively discussed developing effective and constructive trade union networks in multinationals such as BAE, NAVAL group, Fincantieri and Navantia.

Before the conference, two trade unions network meetings for BAE Systems and NAVAL-Fincantieri took place on 31 October, and new action plans were set up. NAVAL and Fincantieri trade union networks launched for the first time.

The co-chairs and a vice chair of the sector were unanimously re-elected at the conference. Kenichi Kanda from JBU/JCM, Japan and Eileen Yeo Chor Gek from SMEEU, Singapore as co-chairs, and V.V. Rane from SMEFI, India as vice chair of the sector, representing the shipbreaking unions, will continue to lead. The conference also adopted the sector action plan for 2019-2022.

Kan Matsuzaki said,

“Our priority is to protect workers’ lives and to promote sustainable employment in the sector.  The new sector action plan is comprehensive and a lots of commitments and efforts from our affiliates will be required. Let us move forward to achieve our goals by strengthening solidarity actions.”

Atle Høie said,

“The conference showed great determination to improve the situation for shipbreaking and shipbuilding workers in the world. Trade union networks are being established in multinational companies and there is full commitment to working for the ratification of the Hong Kong Convention. We must once and for all remove the circumstances that allow rich ship owners to strand their ships on beaches of Bangladesh, Pakistan and India to avoid responsibility for the lives lost and the injuries incurred by their inhumane practices. ”

In the afternoon of 2 November, warmly hosted by KFEU, the delegates visited the Keppel FELS shipyard. The company mainly works for the offshore and marine industry and also operates outside of Singapore. The delegates learned of activities and industrial relations in the yards.

Samsung must engage with unions to improve safety

After an 11-year struggle by SHARPS, a South Korean advocacy group which represents affected workers, Samsung Electronics has made a formal apology and finally offered compensation to former and current workers who have suffered serious occupational diseases, including lung cancer and leukemia, as a result of being exposed to chemicals at its semiconductor and LCD plants since 1984.

“It has taken far too long for the company to apologize – eleven years too long. Samsung should apologize for denying its employees trade union freedoms. The right to know about dangers in the workplace and the right to have an independent trade union are crucial preconditions for any long-term meaningful system of prevention,” said a spokesperson for IndustriALL affiliate, the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU).

In 2007 Yumi Hwang died from leukemia after working at a Samsung Electronics chip factory, triggering alarm at the hazards workers were being exposed to in the company’s factories. 

SHARPS has since documented hundreds of Samsung workers with serious work-related illnesses – including cancer, blood disorders, pulmonary conditions, and miscarriage. Samsung ignored these workers, many of whom have died, and refused accept responsibility or pay compensation. However, on 23 November 2018, Samsung president, Kinam Kim, offered an apology to “workers who have suffered with illnesses and their families” also mentioning that the company failed to “sufficiently manage health threats”.

Speaking after the compensation announcement on 1 November, Yumi’s father, Sang-gi Hwang, said:

“Workers' compensation is important but more important is prevention. The right to know and participate for all workers and members of the community – so workers can know what chemical substances they are using – must be guaranteed by strengthening the Industrial Safety and Health Act.”

Instead of making improvements, KMWU says Samsung has been shifting hazardous work down the supply chain and to factories abroad. KMWU is calling for stronger laws to hold multinational corporations accountable for abuses throughout their supply chains. 

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL’s General Secretary says:

“Samsung should respect fundamental trade union rights and engage with union representatives to ensure health and safety and guarantee workers’ rights at all Samsung Electronics’ facilities. The management should know that the union will make the workplace safer.” 

Belarusian union REP forced to replace leader Gennady Fedynich

REP’s Board unanimously decided to name Zinaida Mikhnyuk as acting chair till the next Congress of the union in 2020. A close friend and colleague of Gennady, Zinaida was the deputy chair of REP.

However, Gennady Fedynich does not leave the union movement since the REP board unanimously appointed him as advisor, a specially created position. In this capacity, Gennady will consult for the union by taking the floor in court on behalf of the union, representing the union in different state agencies and other organizations, analyzing the work of the union and its structures as well as participating in negotiations and collective bargaining.

After her elections as acting chair of REP, Zinaida Mikhnyuk comments:

“We are a team that worked this entire year in a special mode because of the criminal case. I, as the first deputy chair, signed complaints to the Prosecutor General’s Office, to the Presidential Administration, signed characteristics of the leaders of our union, financial documents.” 

“For me, there is nothing new. I hoped till the very last moment that the decision of the court would be canceled, that the international organizations which attended each court hearing would influence the adoption of a fairer decision. As our leader, Gennady Fedynich, said: “it was not Komlik and myself who were tried, it was our organization, the independent trade union movement that was tried, that is, all of us. But we are a team, and we will work until the next congress: we have a programme, and we have a plan.”

Gennady Fedynich does not believe everything is over and is going to appeal the court decision further:

“There is a possibility to appeal through the chairman of the city court, or the Supreme Court … We also prepare documents to the UN Human Rights Committee … If the government hoped to hobble our union in this way, then I will now have even more opportunities to visit people.”

Kemal Özkan, assistant general secretary comments on the verdict regarding the “trade union case” and further developments in Belarus:

“In the clear absence of rule of law and a fair trial, we fully support our affiliate, the trade union REP and its leadership in their legitimate actions to protect their union from interference by the authorities.

“As for us, we will inform European and international institutions of these recent developments and will build further pressure on the Belarusian government. In particular we will address the governments of the countries which are the main trading partners of Belarus and demand they reconsider their relations with Belarus. We are also going to address the organizing committee of the European Games which are planned in Minsk in summer 2019 and demand that they reconsider the location of the games in light of these constant violations and injustice towards trade unions in Belarus.”