Garment unions in the Philippines to promote rights in the supply chain

Twenty-eight participants from IndustriALL Global Union affiliate unions in the textile, garment, sportswear and leather sector, shared common experiences at a sectoral organizing workshop on 6-7 December 2018. The workshop aimed to strengthening cooperation among IndustriALL Philippine affiliates as part of an organizing drive in the sector.

With the positive economic environment driven by global trade, the country is poised to benefit from trade preferences, which will in turn provide employment opportunities particularly for the workers in the textile and garment sector. The government is also using policies to encourage investors to set up business in the Philippines such as tax holidays and relaxed labour regulation. The incentives are posing a challenge to workers in the sector, who are also demanding that government policies also promote decent and secure jobs. 

Laudicia Casana, chair of IndustriALL affiliate, Trade Federation 2 – Kilos Damit, stressed that “multinational clothing brands and retailers who source their products in the country must conduct due diligence to make sure that their suppliers conform to labour and social standards”. 

“What is happening now is the opposite as it seems that factories are downgrading on the terms and conditions of work including outright violation of workers’ rights. Factory closures and illegal termination are rampant whenever workers exercise their right to organize unions,” Casana added.

The unions resolved that in order to address these pressing issues a coordinated campaign needs to be carried out at different levels of engagement. Utmost priority will be on organizing and increasing membership base in the textile and garment sector. Second is testing to see whether contractors and subcontractors benefitting from trade preferences on condition that workers’ rights are being respected are actually doing so. Thirdly, the unions will launch education and awareness campaigns for workers.

Young trade union leaders in MENA region complete training

Twelve participants from Tunisian affiliated unions and 20 participants from Moroccan affiliates were awarded diplomas at the third MENA youth regional network meeting in Tunis on 12 December.

As part of the course, run by IndustriALL with support from Swedish unions, participants from each union designed their own project to empower young trade unionists and help organize more young workers.

The course is designed to increase young trade unionists’ skills the area of trade union rights, precarious work and organizing, and raise awareness of the structural and systemic barriers in order to promote the inclusion and full participation of young workers.

Khalil Kaanane, from Moroccan union, Syndicat National des Travailleurs de Phosphates, who took the course, said: 

“It is an ambitious programme and a great opportunity for young trade union leaders in the region to enrich their knowledge, broaden their contacts and develop their work, thanks to the various projects proposed. Ambition, commitment and creativity are the passwords to succeed in this programme and reach out to the ranks of young workers.”

Course participants completed four seminars in 2018, each lasting three or four days, covering trade union structures and labour basics; organizing, collective bargaining and gender; campaigning and multinational tools; and the future of work, youth and unions. 

The course is part of a project that came about as the result of an analysis made by the young representatives that met at the first MENA youth regional meeting in Morocco in 2016.  

Young trade union leaders from Iraq and Morocco will take part in the course in 2019.

Some twenty participants (who were ten men and ten women) from Tunisia and other MENA countries took part in the regional youth network meeting from 11 to 13 December. It included participation by Carin Hallerström (International Secretary) and Axcel Lindersson Democracy Secretary) from Swedish union, UNIONEN.

The participants resolved to take action now to make sure there is more effective youth participation and representation during IndustriALL’s next Congress period that will start from October 2020.

Each country and affiliate also made a list of priorities to focus on during the next year, which include raising awareness of unions among young people, increasing participation of youth in meetings and trainings, more youth training on organizing, and improving knowledge of union work and legislation (both national and international).

The youth network also chose a date to have a regional day of action.  

Two former Ford executives sentenced for crimes against humanity in Argentina

Pedro Müller was sentenced to ten years of house arrest and Héctor Sibilla to 12 years for participating in the kidnapping and torture of 24 workers at Ford's General Pacheco plant during the country's most recent dictatorship in 1976. The judges qualified the acts as crimes against humanity.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court describes a crime against humanity as any act that violates the fundamental norms and standards of international law, that intentionally causes great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health, and that is committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.

The crimes are said to have been committed in the weeks following the coup d'état on 24 March 1976 that marked the start of the country's most recent civilian-military dictatorship, which lasted until 1983. During this time, thousands of people went missing, were tortured or were killed.

IndustriALL's vice-president for Latin America and the Caribbean, Raúl Enrique Mathiu, said that:

"Many people in Argentina have been convicted of crimes against humanity, but this is the first time that two former executives of a foreign company have been sentenced. Forty years on and this unanimous verdict represents a major stand for human rights. As an Argentinian, I am proud that this type of sentence has been handed down, although it won't take away the suffering that our colleagues at Ford have been through as a result of the persecution and torture they experienced. The workers are represented by IndustriALL Global Union's affiliate, SMATA (Sindicato de Mecánicos y fines del transporte automotor de la República Argentina)."

Müller was the plant's manager and Sibilla was security manager at the time the crimes were committed. According to Spain’s El País newspaper, the judges ruled that Müller and Sibilla were actively involved in the dictatorship’s plan to repress union leaders at large companies.

Both were accused of providing military agents with the workers’ photos, addresses and other personal data so that they could be kidnapped. Argentine newspaper Página 12reported that some of the workers were just 19 years old at the time, while many others were union leaders.

The investigation focused on determining the criminal responsibility of the executives and did not involve the company itself. The workers and their lawyers now want to attempt to sue Ford for its role in the crimes.

Finally, IndustriALL's deputy regional secretary, Alejandro Valerio, said that:

"It's very important that the perpetrators of one of the most atrocious events in Latin America's history – one in which some 30,000 people were kidnapped, tortured, killed or went missing – continue to be tried and convicted. 

It is also important that there are cases like these that bring the civilian and corporate accomplices of the dictatorship before the courts. They, too, played their part in the persecution and assassination of workers and their representatives."

Mexican activists plan an exchange platform for energy transition

Participants at the "Forum on the right to energy, energy reform and its impact on workers and communities", agreed to create an exchange energy platform, not just for the sake of defending their interests but also to move forward with the new Mexican government on trade union and social issues.

As a first step, they agreed to create a space for information exchange on such issues as energy transition and climate change. In addition, they will use the exchange to organize solidarity acts to demand the release of political prisoners and investigations into missing people.

The activists also demanded justice for those who were killed with impunity in the conflict around Parota Dam Hydroelectric Project. The project was launched in 2003 by the government of Vicente Fox in the state of Guerrero and was rejected because it would have affected the most vulnerable population (peasants and indigenous people), caused displacements and negatively impacted traditional lands and natural resources. The project generated a climate of violence and has resulted in murders on both sides of the conflict.

The meeting participants considered a need for a mechanism of preliminary, free and informative consultations to be put in place in Mexico, in order to achieve the consent of communities on these issues. They also noted that energy reform was made for the benefit of companies and not the rest of the country, and left a fragmented sector with prevailing protection contracts that benefit the employer.

"Talking about energy transition is to talk about many things. It is to talk about energy poverty, false processes of consultation and communities dispossessed of their lands. It is to talk about rights of workers in the sector and affected communities, as well as Just Transition,"

said assistant regional secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, Laura Carter, adding:

"It's also to talk about a fundamental right and a common good. It is to talk about natural resources, environment, climate change, sovereignty and geopolitics. It is to talk about the impact of the digital revolution, industrial policy and the demand of a growing world population. Progressive thinking requires energy policies to be clear on what should be changed and how."

Moreover, participants demanded respect for the right of freedom of association. They noted that of the 104 operators in the oil sector, less than 33 per cent have a collective agreement, and none have an independent union. 

The event was organized by the regional office IndustriALL for Latin America and the Caribbean with the support of UNIFOR Canada.

Unjust sentencing of Cambodian union leaders must be quashed

The charges stem from garment and footwear worker protests that began in late 2013 in the capital Phnom Penh, demanding a US$160 monthly minimum wage. Four people were killed and 27 more injured after military police began firing at workers at protests on 3 January 2014. 

The six trade unionists, of whom five are leaders of IndustriALL affiliates in Cambodia, were found guilty of instigating violent protests against the government in 2013 and 2014. Each were given a two-and-a-half years suspended sentence. 

Under Cambodian law, the guilty verdict effectively means the six can no longer lead their unions as they now have a criminal conviction.

IndustriALL’s general secretary, Valter Sanches, says: 

“We call on the government to intervene and see that the convictions against the six trade union leaders are overturned, and that all outstanding cases against union leaders and activists are dropped. The courts are being used to crush independent unions in direct violation of fundamental international labour conventions that Cambodia has ratified.”

The six include trade union leaders from five IndustriALL affiliates: Chea Mony (FTUWKC), Mom Nhim (NIFTUC), Pav Sina (CUMW), Yang Sophorn (CATU)  and Ath Thorn (CCAWDU), as well as Rong Chhun from the independent Cambodian teachers’ union.

They were ordered to pay a collective 35,000,000 riel (US$8,600) in compensation to civil parties, even though one of the complainants withdrew his claim during the trial. 

The union leaders plan to appeal their convictions. Ath Thorn, President of CCAWDU, said: 

“This court decision is unacceptable, and prevents us from exercising our right to represent our unions and our workers. We urge the authorities to drop all cases against trade union leaders.”

The six trade unionists have been on bail since the charges were made until Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the Ministry of Labour to end outstanding cases against union leaders by the end of the year. Although, the union leaders will not go to jail, they face imprisonment if they commit any other felony or misdemeanour within the next five years. It is feared that this threat will be used to stop the union leaders taking part in any peaceful protests and carrying out their trade union duties. 

The trial against the six union leaders was held on charges of directly causing violence and damage to property, however, when the judgement was handed down, the charges were changed to instigating those acts. The altered charges were only revealed when the court passed judgment on 11 December, with no notice being given to either the accused or their lawyers during the trial.

Furthermore, no evidence was submitted to prove the six union leaders had instigated any of the acts for which they were sentenced. None of the actual perpetrators of violence or damage were brought to the hearing, nor were they named. 

IndustriALL has also joined in a statement condemning the sentencing with global unions BWI, IDWF, PSI and IUF. 

Chemical and pharmaceutical unions push for worker protections at ILO global forum

IndustriALL affiliates met with representatives of employers and governments at the meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, which resulted in Points of Consensus that underline the importance of social dialogue in managing the changes of digitalization and Industry 4.0.

Tony Devlin, from UK and Ireland affiliate union, Unite, and spokesperson for the Workers’ Group at the meeting, said: 

“Our members throughout this sector are already experiencing significant changes to their jobs and working conditions from the digitalization process. Workers must have a seat at the decision-making table in order to ensure that none are left behind during these technological advancements.”

The Workers’ Group consisted of representatives from IndustriALL affiliates in 12 countries – Belgium, Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States – as well as representatives from the International Trade Union Confederation and ACTRAV, the ILO workers’ bureau. 

“As the driving force for these technological transformations of the industry is presently to reduce costs, there is a clear danger that rather than benefiting society, advanced digitalization and related technologies will only re-enforce a race-to-the-bottom mentality in the industry,” said the Workers’ Group in a statement to the plenary. 

“However, there is an opportunity for these technologies to be introduced in a mutually beneficial manner, with better working conditions, increased leisure time, life-long learning, social protection, and a cleaner environment, while protecting workers' rights.”

The Workers’ Group called for extensive analysis of the knowledge and skills possessed by today’s workers in the industries, and research into how best to bridge any skills gap with education and training opportunities.

Social dialogue is key to developing sound policies in the public interest, argued the Workers’ Group, as well as strong social protection programmes necessary to underpin a Just Transition to the new world of work. 

The Workers’ Group called for defined levels of privacy at home and at work to be included in collective bargaining agreements, as new technologies enable companies to harvest huge amounts of personal data. 

“Work life balance is becoming increasingly blurred by these technologies, with workers expected to be online and responsive 24 hours a day. This undermines the Working Time Directive in the European Union,” added the Workers’ Group.

The 17 Consensus Points include points on: 

“IndustriALL Global Union wants a future of work that embraces the positive impacts that Industry 4.0 may bring for all of society while making sure that workers aren’t left to pay the social debts of companies, with governments unwilling to make this transition socially responsible. We cannot allow the benefits to be privatized and the costs to be socialized,” said IndustriALL’s assistant general secretary, Kemal Ôzkan. 

The full Points of Consensus can be found here. 

German union IG BCE secures guarantees as Bayer set to slash jobs

Bayer will also sell off its Scholl foot-care business and Coppertone skin care range, alongside its animal healthcare division. 

"We have ensured that employees are protected against redundancies until the end of 2025. In addition, there are guarantees for the workforce in the subsidiaries for sale, while firm commitments for investments in the German locations provides a viable foundation for averting undue hardship for Bayer employees during this time of uncertainty,” said IG BCE President Michael Vassiliadis to German media. 

The job losses will impact around 10 per cent of the company’s workforce, affecting a "significant number" in Germany where it has around 31,000 employees. 

The announcement comes after a fall in Bayer’s share price by more than a third this year after a take-over of Monsanto. A historic US court decision in August 2018, ruled that Monsanto’s weedkiller ‘Roundup’ had caused a man’s cancer, leading to thousands more lawsuits against the company.

More than a thousand Bayer workers staged a demonstration against the job losses on 30 November at the company’s biotechnology plant in Wuppertal, West Germany, where at least 350 of the 12,000 jobs are set to go. 

“This is a very radical decision by Bayer to cut one in ten jobs throughout its operations. It is not fair that workers are asked to pay the price for changes that they have no control over,” said Kemal Özkan, Assistant General Secretary of IndustriALL. “IG BCE has importantly secured a guarantee for its members through a joint declaration to protect the rights and living standards of the affected workers and their families.”

German-based Bayer acquired Monsanto in June 2018 for US$63 billion creating the world's biggest seeds and pesticides company. Bayer plans to focus on pharmaceuticals, consumer health and crop science.

“We want an industrialized Africa” say IndustriALL affiliates

“Africa should boost its manufacturing, which is low according to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization,” said Issa Aremu, Vice-President of IndustriALL representing Sub-Saharan Africa. “The focus should be on manufacturing and value addition that creates decent jobs.”

“We cannot talk of industrialization and Industry 4.0 without infrastructural development. Energy policies are important and access to electricity critical,” Arremu added.

Even though there has been economic growth over the last two decades, the African continent has not seen a rise industrialization. Growth has been the result of expansion of domestic markets and some macroeconomic developments, favorable commodity prices, urbanization and increasing public and private investment.

The conference stressed that the development model of low-tech extraction and export of raw materials including minerals, oil and gas, and agricultural products isn’t working. African industry generates merely US$700 of GDP per capita, compared to US$2,500 in Latin America and US$3,400 in East Asia.

The conference recommended an alternative development model will be one anchored-on manufacturing, responsible mining, sustainable industrial policies, fair trade, Just Transition and living wages, and should be in sync with the UN Sustainable Development Goals especially on green and decent jobs. 

However, the success of an alternative model is hinged on the political will of governments and strong national institutions, reforming international finance institutions approaches to development, responsive multinational companies, sustainable environmental policies, and the essential involvement of civil society organizations and communities. 

“Africans live in poorness surrounded by richness,” said IndustriALL’s Assistant General Secretary, Kemal Özkan. “This cannot be the destiny of our African sisters and brothers. Industrialization is the best route for change and a means to promote economic and social policies that benefit African people.” 

Participants agreed that unions must have a say in shaping economic and social policies as important actors representing workers. Fair representation of young workers, education and lifelong learning, and innovation in collective bargaining are needed for changing workplaces. 

The conference recommended that unions adopt some of the recommendations of The Africa Mining Visionwhich articulates what should be done for mineral resources to support sustainable industrialization. 

The participants decided to take action vis-à-vis African Union as part of the ongoing campaign for sustainable industrial development, and design and develop national plans and actions through IndustriALL’s national affiliates’ councils.

“Our campaign of Africa Industrialization is critically important for our affiliates in Sub-Saharan African countries. IndustriALL Global Union will continue to support its affiliates” said Kemal Özkan, Assistant General Secretary.

The conference, hosted by IndustriALL Global Union and its affiliates in Sub Saharan Africa, was supported by the International Labor Organization (ILO), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), national trade union centers and civil society organizations.

Strong union presence in renewables is key to future

Participants from Austria, Belgium, Germany, India, Japan, Poland, Spain, Sri Lanka and Sweden shared their experiences. Development of the renewables industry is uneven across the world, but there is a clear direction of travel, and a lot to learn from countries where development is advanced.

Opening the meeting, Rainer Wimmer, president of Austrian affiliate Pro-Ge and sector co-chair said:

“As mechanical engineers and trade unionists, technology is the most important contribution we can make to mitigating climate change. We need wind, we need solar, we need biomass. And we need strong unions to ensure that energy transition is just.”

Angelika Thomas of German affiliate IG Metall said:

“I was a delegate at COP24. We are very happy with the Silesia Declaration, which is a commitment to address the social dimensions of climate change through a Just Transition.”

Equipment manufacturing is an essential part of the renewable energy supply chain, which is why IndustriALL affiliates in mechanical engineering are keen to organize employees in this growing sector. The meeting discussed opportunities to use global framework agreements and trade union networks with energy and equipment manufacturing companies.

Matthias Hartwich, IndustriALL director for mechanical engineering, said:

“This is new work. We’re bringing together experts from the mechanical engineering sector who work in renewables to discuss the jobs of the future. This meeting is a laboratory, where we organize learning experiences from each and discover which direction our unions need to move in.”

The renewable sector in Sweden is comparatively mature, especially when it comes to hydro-power. IF Metall president Marie Nilsson explained the growth potential, saying:

“We’re not afraid of new technology – we’re afraid of old technology. Gothenburg is the industrial backbone of Sweden, and we are seeing big investment in the region. The population is growing, and Industry 4.0 is changing jobs. Unemployment is at a record low. Our problem is a skills shortage.”

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, addressed the meeting by video conference, and said:

“We need a network for the renewable sector that works in close cooperation with the energy and electronics sectors.

“The network must have a strong focus on organizing, and be able to respond with solidarity support where there is conflict.”

The meeting included a visit to the SKF bearing factory, established in the city in 1907. SKF bearings are used in wind and tidal turbines, as well as in transport, robotics, processing and every industrial field that contains moving parts. Slight efficiency improvements in rotation result in cumulatively tremendous energy savings.

The SKF factory is highly automated, with the workforce shifting from blue to white collar. But the blue collar union on site, IF Metall, believes that work will change rather than disappear.

“To paraphrase an old saying from the workers’ movement”, said local IF Metall president, Zarko Djurovic, “the worker of the future will program a machine in the morning, talk to customers in the afternoon, and develop a new production process in the evening. This is an evolution of work.”

2017 was another record-breaking year for renewable energy, characterized by the largest ever increase in renewable power capacity, falling costs, increases in investment and advances in enabling technologies. According to reports, 10.3 million people were working in renewable energy in 2017, with 60 per cent of the jobs in Asia. Of renewable energy jobs, solar power was the largest employer with nearly 3.4 million jobs.

All participants at the meeting agreed to continue with the work and cooperate closely with neighbouring sectors like energy and ICT, Electrics and Electronics to organize and ensure union power in future-oriented workplaces.

Austrian, Croatian and Slovenian textile unions cooperate on organizing

On the second day, national and local union representatives were joined by the Croatian government, employers and institutes on technology and vocational training to discuss how to work together on developing a thriving textile-leather industry with a qualified workforce, industry-level collective agreement and living wages.

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 Europe and IndustriALL Global Union. The project targets seven countries in the region: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia.

Austrian investment in Croatia is considerable. Therefore, on the first day of the seminar, a session was dedicated to concrete cooperation on organizing workers and reaching collective agreements at major factories of Austrian leather processing companies Boxmark and Wollsdorf, which together employ more than 3,500 workers in Croatia and almost 2,000 in Slovenia.

Austrian and Slovenian national and local level representatives of Boxmark and Wollsdorf attended the seminar and agreed on the follow-up.

“We took important steps today on concrete cross-border cooperation to increase union density and reach collective agreements," said Gerald Kreuzer of Austrian industrial and commercial union Pro-Ge, who together with his colleagues presented a case study on organizing in Austria. This was followed by training on organizing techniques and the use of global framework agreements (GFA). Both Austrian companies are suppliers to GFA partner companies Daimler, BMW, PSA, Renault and VW. 

Croatia´s textile, garment and leathers industries employ 24,000 workers, which is considerably less than in some other South-East European countries such as Romania or Bulgaria. 

The minimum wage in Croatia is 462 euros per month, increasing again by 9 per cent in 2019. Average monthly net wages in the textile and leader sectors are around 530 euros. This is a clearly higher level than in the neighbouring countries, prompting Croatia to try to compete with other means such as a highly skilled workforce, innovation, new technologies, and high value-added products. 

A Croatian speciality is the Faculty of Textile Technology which focuses on education and research on innovative technologies, automation and Industry 4.0. Every year 200 students graduate and everybody will get a job. However, many of the recent top students have left Croatia for careers with better pay in Sweden, Germany, France and even China.

“We have to find ways to keep people in Croatia,” said professor Dubravko Rogale. “Minimum wage hikes and general salary increases may encourage employers to take an interest in their workers.”

Danijela Pustahija Musulin from the Agency on Vocational Education and Training (ASOO) was on the same line: “Employers have to see their workers as an investment and not cost factors. There are growth opportunities in the sector, but we need to attract young people and offer them skills and new competencies.”

Nenad Leček, President of the textile workers´ union TOKG, confirmed that his union was a partner for cooperation to make the sector thrive, but there was a need to do more to get rid of the bad image of the textile and leather sector.

“We have to focus on wages which today are below a decent level, while foreign companies are making huge profits. We need a sectoral collective agreement to offer protection for workers and a more level playing field for companies,” insisted Leček.

Ana Falak, Director of the Textile and Leather Association of the HUP employer organisation, was open for continued dialogue with TOKG: “We have discussed a branch collective agreement and have not found major obstacles, as many companies already have local CBAs. There are good experiences from the construction sector, but we also need some support from the government.”

Ivana Tabak from the Ministry of Labour said the government supported social dialogue. Ante Rezo from the Ministry of Economy acknowledged the importance of the textile-leather industry which needs support, contributing also through indirect employment to keeping communities alive in many parts of the country.

IndustriALL Global Union’s Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan stated:

“The Croatian textile industry has important development potential.  But unless workers are treated with respect and properly paid for their work, they will continue to go away and deprive the country of much needed skills.  Decent wages and working conditions are key to ensuring a sustainable textile industry in Croatia.”  

Luc Triangle, General Secretary of industriAll European trade union, underlined the conditions for the Textile, Clothing, Leather and Footwear industry to have a future in Croatia: 

“In an intermediate country like Croatia, we need to invent a new development model for the textile, clothing, leather and footwear sectors, based on higher wages and better working conditions, obtained through sector collective agreements. This is the only way for the industry to attract and retain its workforce, and to maintain its long tradition of excellence. For this to happen, we need international solidarity among workers, the cooperation of big brands, and the continued pressure of NGOs on them. I call for win-win-win progress for brands, for Croatian employers and for Croatian workers.”