Sanofi global union network calls to reignite genuine dialogue

The meeting of the Sanofi global union network was held at company headquarters in Paris, the day after the meeting of the European Works Council (EWC). In addition to EWC members, it was attended by union representatives from a number of countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Japan, Indonesia, Turkey and Vietnam. 

The meeting noted that the pharmaceutical industry is experiencing consistent growth, and company sales and profits are soaring, including at Sanofi. However, changes in production processes and labour relations pose huge challenges for employees.

In September, Sanofi unveiled a major reorganization of global business units to provide greater focus on its operations in mature markets and emerging markets, particularly in China, which has become Sanofi’s second market after the US.

Deep concerns were expressed about the plan, which will be in place from the beginning of 2019, and is expected to have a serious impact on employment. The restructuring process has been ongoing for some years at company locations in different countries.

Delegates reported on the development of subcontracting to reduce costs across all operations, not only in production but also in research and development. In Brazil, the new labour law now allows for unrestricted outsourcing, worsening workers’ rights and conditions.

Implementation of the French law on duty of vigilance was the subject of a specific agenda item. Strong emphasis was put on the role of stakeholders and, in particular, trade unions to help ensure that the law is abided by in all countries where Sanofi operates and along its supply chain. A consultation process has been established and a risk mapping is to be presented in February 2019.

Globally, however, the participants lamented the weakening of social dialogue and poor consideration of employee representatives by management. Changes in the company business structure will be presented to workers’ representatives at the beginning of next year, after they are already in place. Unions are increasingly side-lined and social dialogue is becoming ineffective, while Sanofi claims to be a socially responsible company. 

The participants concurred that these developments require a strong response from labour. They agreed to deepen cooperation and strengthen the network, formed a year ago, through better exchange of information and regular communication between regional representatives.

They adopted a statement calling on the company “to establish a mechanism to facilitate regular genuine social dialogue at global level. Constructive social dialogue is critical for quality of life at work and company performance. We again demand Sanofi management to enter into dialogue with the network”.

IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan stated:

“All reports point to serious shortcomings in terms of workers’ rights. There is a clear deterioration of social dialogue that is in no one’s interest. Having an open channel of communication with management is for us the best way to address these problems together and move forward constructively”.

Sanofi is present in over 100 countries and has production facilities in 36 of them. It employs some 100,000 workers, of whom over half are outside Europe. 

Union activists face new repression and attacks in Kazakhstan

Please join the LabourStart campaign and call upon the Kazakh authorities to put an end to persecution and violence against independent trade union leaders, and ensure freedom and safety for trade union activities in the country.

The Fuel and Energy Workers' Union is a former member of the independent trade union centre, Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (KNPRK), now banned by the authorities.

Seniyavskiy was alone in his garage repairing his car when a group of people entered and attacked him in the evening on 10 November 2018. The union leader was hospitalized in the city of Shakhtinsk with a head injury, arm fractures and numerous bruises on his face and body. Earlier, he received threats by phone and someone broke windows in his house.

Independent trade unions believe this attack is related to Senyavskiy’s union work, since the threats against him started after he attended a conference organized by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). The case was reported to the police.

Earlier, on 25 September 2018, the authorities put forward a trumped-up criminal case against Erlan Baltabai, leader of the Fuel and Energy Workers' Union. Other independent union leaders before Baltabai, including KNPRK chair Larisa Kharkova, remain subject to criminal charges, based on interference by the state in internal trade union affairs, in violation of ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association.

In 2017 Erlan Baltabai visited the ILO International Labour Conference and spoke about anti-union repression in Kazakhstan.

The attacks happened just before an international union mission represented by ITUC, International Union of Food Workers (IUF), the Confederation of Labour of Russia (KTR) and Norwegian union Industri Energi, an affiliate of IndustriALL, visited the country on 13 to 15 November.

The mission visited Kazakhstan in light of numerous violations of union rights for freedom of association, particularly due to closure of independent trade union center KNPRK at the beginning of 2017, and followed reprisals against its affiliates and trade union leaders.

In April 2018, Industri Energi awarded the Arthur Svensson International Prize for Trade Union Rights, to the independent trade unions of Kazakhstan.

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary, said,

“IndustriALL Global Union condemns these recent brutal and heinous attacks against trade union leaders in Kazakhstan. Earlier we supported the nomination of Kazakh independent unions for the Arthur Svensson Prize, and we will further extend our solidarity support to the entire independent trade union movement in Kazakhstan."

We expect from the authorities a quick and thorough investigation and punishment of those implicated in the crime against brother Senyavskiy. We also demand an immediate end to repression against Erlan Baltabai and other leaders of independent trade unions, including Larisa Kharkova.”

General strike in Tunisia against government cuts

An estimated 6 per cent of the population of Tunisia took part in the strike action, the biggest since 2013. The public sector in Tunisia includes workers organized by UGTT unions affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union.

International lenders, including the International Monetary Fund, have put pressure on the Tunisian government to reduce its budget deficit by reforming the public sector. Reforms include a wage freeze and the proposed privatization of publicly owned resources.

The UGTT has resisted the government’s plans, saying that they risk eroding the quality of public services. Due to rising inflation and a fall in the value of the currency, workers have lost purchasing power and deserve a pay rise.

The UGTT originally called for a strike on 24 October as well as 22 November. The October strike was called off after months of negotiation, when the government agreed to raise salaries for 150,000 workers. However, the government reneged on its commitment.

Yesterday’s strike is a reaction to the government’s failure to respect three previous agreements.

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches sent a solidarity letter to the UGTT, saying:

“The strike shows the UGTT's commitment to defending the rights of public sector employees, who deserve a wage increase, given rising inflation, the fall in the value of the Tunisian dinar and an increase in taxes.
“We are aware that this strike comes after all possibilities for dialogue have been exhausted and negotiations have failed to reach agreement on the need to raise wages in the public sector.”

Cement factory death mobilizes Albanian trade unions on safety

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Albania (SPMSH), in collaboration with the Centre for Labour Rights (CLR), organized the national seminar for 55 trade union representatives and others responsible for occupational health and safety in the cement, mining and heavy industry sectors.

There have been 531 mining deaths in Albania as a result of poor working conditions over the past 50 years.

SPMSH President, Mr Gëzim Kalaja, said the aim of the seminar was to raise awareness of health and safety and to prevent accidents at the workplace. The law on occupational health and safety is vitally important to trade unions and it must be implemented and enforced correctly and seriously by the responsible institutions.

The seminar was attended by various safety experts including the Regional Chief Inspector Mr Ardit Shabanaj, Ms Frosina Gjino and Mr Edison Hoxha from CLR, who spoke about health and safety in the mines, such as the rules on technical safety, handling of maintenance and repair work, the role of the rescuers, and specific aspects of the mining industry, as well as occupational health and safety in the cement industry.

Participants also discussed the role of the occupational health and safety council, and the overall situation of occupational health and safety in Albania.

IndudstriALL’s director of health, safety and sustainability, Brian Kohler emphasized the importance of viewing occupational health and safety as a system underpinned by workers’ rights: to know about the hazards of their work; to refuse or shut down unsafe work; and to participate fully in health and safety decision-making. Understanding an accident at the workplace should not be seen as an opportunity to blame the worker, even when an employee’s actions might seem negligent, because the investigator must understand that those actions made sense to that worker at that time. The question that must be asked is, WHY did it make sense to act in that way at that time? He also drew the attention of trade unions to their confrontation with new developments and labour market dynamics, digitalization and robotics at work, and so on.

The seminar was also attended by representatives from the Trade Union of Food, Agriculture, Commerce and Tourism and the Trade Union of Oil Workers of Albania. Fushë-Krujë, from the cement factory in Elbasan where the worker died on 19 October 2018, spoke about occupational health and safety from his union’s point of view providing an insight into the reality of industry safety in Albania.

At the end participants concurred that seminars on occupational health and safety related topics should be organized as frequently as possible and should be extended to all levels in all mining and heavy industries in order to prevent accidents at the workplace and occupational diseases.

Not in our workplace, not in our union!

“Join the USW in saying no to violence, harassment against women!” Once US affiliate United Steelworkers’ executive board adopted the pledge, the union created a digital petition and sent e-mail blasts encouraging signatures to support pledge. The union makes sure that the act of signing is well understood and publicized by and within the union. USW is regularly promoting the pledge on social media, as well as presenting it at Women of Steel, local union meetings, and gender discrimination and anti-harassment trainings. The Pledge has been shared with all civil and human rights coordinators, all local union civil and human rights chairs. Many of USW leadership include the Pledge in remarks at various union functions.

In South East Asia, trade unions are developing ways to sensitise members to violence against women. In the Philippines, the issue is integrated into all affiliates’ education programmes, directed at both men and women. During the trainings, the Pledge in presented together with the existing law on violence and harassment.

After adopting IndustriALL’s pledge, the Nicaraguan textile and garment federation FESITEX, launched a campaign called Trade unions and companies, say no to violence and harassment in the world of work. Through the campaign, unions want to encourage employers to work with trade unions to eradicate violence in the workplace. The campaign also wants to raise awareness among women workers in the garment factories in the export processing zones, as well organize workers who are not yet union members.

More affiliates are taking the Pledge. South Korean metalworkers union, KMWU, recently adopted it to mark 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. KMWU reiterates their "commitment to building a culture that respects women and condemns all attitudes and actions that perpetuate sexism and violence".

IndustriALL is calling on affiliates to take action on 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Adopt and share the Pledge!

South African mineworkers’ union launches campaign against gender-based violence

According to police investigations, the two women were shot seven times each. The accused is in police custody pending a bail application. This and several other cases of the brutal murder of women are the focus of the campaign launched by 50 women from the national NUM women’s structure in Johannesburg on 19 November. 

Participants at the meeting, which was attended by other unions and a representative from the Commission for Gender Equality, lit candles and observed moments of silence for women who had been murdered. They want effective law enforcement that brings justice.

With over 12 women in every 100,000 killed, South Africa is one of the most dangerous countries for women in the world. As an affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union, the NUM is taking part in the campaign to end violence and harassment against women at the workplace and in the union.

The NUM pledge signed at the meeting condemns harassment of and discrimination against women at the workplace, sexual violence against women and children, rape, abuse and murder, domestic violence, and discrimination against people affected and living with HIV and AIDS. The NUM will work with communities and civil society organizations to achieve the campaign aims.

The union aims to campaign for change in social attitudes towards violence, and to act against the perpetrators. The  mineworkers’ union will also provide support to the affected women and children. As violence is often linked to substance abuse, the campaign is calling for healthier and safer communities and workplaces.

Says Lydia Nkopane, the NUM national women structure chairperson:

“What is happening in our workplaces, communities and homes is painful. Women sometimes disguise bruises with make-up to conceal beatings when they report for work. They also face sexual harassment and precarious working conditions at the workplaces. Further, young women and children are being abused and murdered daily.”

Further, she said social labour plans, in which mining rights applicants are required to carry out programmes that benefit mineworkers and communities, must help women living in mining communities as poverty makes them vulnerable to abuse.

Lives at risk in ExxonMobil dispute in Australia

Troy and his co-workers have been holding a picket at Exxon/Mobil’s Longford gas plant in south-eastern Victoria, Australia, seven days a week, for over 500 days.

In June 2017, ExxonMobil contractor UGL sacked its entire maintenance workforce of 230 people and offered them their jobs back the very next day but with up to a 30 to 50 per cent drop in wages.

The new contract would also cut annual leave entitlements and allowances, while implementing harsh anti-family shift rosters. It also proposed implementation of stand down clauses which could see employees at work, but unpaid.

The contractor UGL used underhand tactics and loopholes in Australian law to try to force workers into an agreement approved by just a handful of unrelated workers in Western Australia, thousands of miles away from their workplace.

These conditions were then presented to the workforce in a "take it or leave it" approach.

The Longford maintenance workers, who maintain onshore and offshore rigs operated by ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso, are members of IndustriALL Australian affiliates AMWU, AWU and ETU.

Watch the full interview with Troy Carter here explaining how safety is being compromised and communities are suffering…

Using global framework agreements in the Myanmar garment industry

Participants, which included local union presidents and organizers, came from IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM). More than 60 per cent of participants were young trade unionists.

The workshop included a presentation on GFA brands in the textile and garment sector and the importance of signing an agreement with multinational companies as a means to build better industrial relations. There was also a deep analysis of the GFA with global fashion brand H&M.

Participants discussed how they could use global framework agreements for organizing and how to apply brands’ leverage for workers’ rights under any union rights violations. The participants continued with mapping of multinational companies in the textileand garment sectors, and looked at ways of overcoming the difficulties of organizing a new workplace. 

Annie Adviento, South East AsiaRegional Secretary IndustriALL Global Union:

Our work is to ensure that under GFAS workers’ rights are respected in the supply chain at all global operations of multinational companies. We should raise our consciousness on GFA brands to build better working conditions at our factories.”  

H&M brand representatives Hlwan Moe Kyaw, Sustainability Developer, and Felix Ockborn, Sustainability Manager, attended the workshop to give a presentation on GFA implementation and brands’ commitments and responsibilities under a GFA. They were met with huge attention and many questions from participants. 

Trade unionists raised questions on gender discrimination, outsourcing of some jobs, the differences on rights in an agreement and in reality, violations against unionization, fair wages and fair treatment under a GFA. 

Andrea Schill from the GermanDevelopment Cooperation Agency (GIZ) gave a presentation on their programme in the region with fashion brand, Tchibo. While, Daw Eaindara Kyi Tin, an attorneyfrom Myanmar, gave a talk on workers’ rights violations in Myanmar, legal rights and implementation. 

Participants closed the workshop with new organizing plans under GFAs and future mapping ideas.

Towards sectoral bargaining in the Bulgarian textile industries

The national seminar was part of an EU-funded project under the title “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 Global Union and industriAll Europe. The project targets seven countries in the region: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia.

In Bulgaria, there are around 100,000 workers in the textile, garment, leather and footwear industries. The sector is characterised by low wages and poor image, which has led to a shortage of workforce. Hundreds of thousands of young people have rather moved abroad in search for a better life. Bulgaria has the lowest minimum wage in the European Union, 260 euros (US$297) per month. 

Union density is under 5 per cent and there are few company-level collective agreements. Ten years ago, the employers announced that they no longer wanted to have a branch agreement. Today things sound different.

“Collective bargaining has to be done at sectoral level. We also need higher qualifications, productivity, living wages and getting rid of the grey economy”, said Bertram Rollmann, General Manager of Pirin-Tex, one of the biggest textile companies in Bulgaria.

Deputy Minister of Economy, Alexander Manolev, promised the support of the government for developing social dialogue with the employers and unions. 

“We want this industry to have a future with decent wages,” assured Manolev.

The textile union leaders agreed. FOSIL-CITUB President Tsvetelina Milchalieva reminded that the unions needed a counterpart for sectoral collective bargaining. Two industry associations BAATPE and BIA attended the seminar, but their representativity had to be improved. Rositsa Marinova, President of Podkrepa´s light industry federation, added that the unions wanted to part of the solution and a common strategy.

Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL Global Union´s Textile and Garment Director, introduced the ground-breaking cooperation between brands and unions which started with the Bangladesh Accord, and continued with global framework agreements (GFAs) and the ACT initiative to achieve living wages for workers through industry-wide collective bargaining linked to the brands’ purchasing practices and freedom of association. A day earlier she carried out a training for national, regional and local level union representatives on how to use GFAs for organizing workers into unions.

Representatives from GFA partner brands H&M, Inditex and ASOS, also members of ACT, explained how they in cooperation with unions solve problems when they occur and promote social dialogue and collective bargaining. GFA coordinators from Swedish IF Metall and Spanish Industria CCOO and FICA-UGT were present at the seminar. 

IndustriALL Global Union Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“Government and employers’ representatives are committed to engaging with unions to discuss the future of the garment and footwear industries, and improving wages and working conditions.  We welcome this important step forward. But there can’t be genuine social dialogue without strong and representative trade unions. Workers should be able to freely join or set up a union without fear of reprisals. We will continue to assist our Bulgarian textile affiliates in their efforts to develop strength and build bargaining power for the benefit of all in those industries.”

IndustriAll Europe´s General Secretary, Luc Triangle, in his concluding remarks, thanked everybody for a spirit of cooperation and reminded that everybody needed to do their share.

“Government should facilitate rebuilding industry-level collective bargaining in cooperation with the industry associations, companies and unions. The brands need to enable living wages with their purchasing practices. IndustriAll Europe and IndustriALL Global Union will continue to support the unions in their action to organise workers and reach more collective agreements,” concluded Triangle. 

The project will continue with national seminars in other South-East European countries, with a focus on capacity building, putting together organising plans, and interaction with the brands, employer associations and governments.

Korean workers down tools in national strike for Chaebol reform

Today, 21 November 2018, some 128,277 workers at 109 KMWU workplaces joined a strike against government failure to challenge the dominance of industrial conglomerates know as chaebols, and for labour law reform to guarantee fundamental trade union rights. 

The striking workers call for the chaebol-controlled economic system to be dismantled and replaced with economic democracy, and for a reform to labour law that guarantees all workers internationally-recognized, fundamental trade union rights: to join a union; to bargain collectively; and to take collective action.

Auto workers at Hyundai Motors, Kia Motor, General Motors (GM), shipyard workers at Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine, and auto parts workers at Hyundai Mobis and other major components workers went on strike for four hours or more. 

At workplaces where it was difficult to strike, shopstewards went on a union officers’ strike or locals called a general assembly of rank-and-file members in support of the struggle. After downing tools, the workers gathered at regional rallies throughout the country.

Although President Moon promised to create 500,000 new jobs by reducing working hours, the government instead plans to introduce a flexible working time system that would allow companies to make their employees work 80-hour weeks without overtime rates.

The KMWU reports that strike participation exceeded that at earlier actions this year, saying that workers were forced to strike due to the continued dominance of chaebols. For example, GM took government subsidies and then failed to meet its commitments, instead spinning off part of the company into a separate corporate entity. In the shipbuilding industry, restructuring shifted the responsibility for botched management onto workers.

The government not only failed to resolve the problem of precarious jobs in the industrial sector, but also put existing jobs at risk. Outrage spread like wildfire through workplaces at the government and opposition party joining up to make working time flexible.

“This national strike is the result of workers’ disappointment in, and plummeting confidence in the government”, said the statement.

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches said:

“President Moon has failed to challenge the dominance of chaebols like Samsung and Hyundai. These conglomerates dominate the economy through deals that lack transparency.

“We are also very disappointed in the changes to working time, and the governments’ failure to ensure fundamental union rights in law. We stand in full solidarity with the workers of South Korea.”