African unions meet in Namibia to plan for Industry 4.0 and sustainability

The Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0 is being ushered in by rapid automation caused by smart sensors, machine learning, data management, artificial intelligence and cloud solutions. Initially restricted to a few sectors such as automotive, aerospace, shipping, mechanical engineering and industrial manufacturing, robots will soon be in all sectors, including textile and garments.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliates from 12 countries in Sub Saharan Africa, with support from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, met in Windhoek, Namibia 18 – 19 October to discuss how unions can build strategies to engage on Industry 4.0 including the possibility of setting up a research network. Further, the meeting agreed that unions should be proactive in public policymaking on sustainable industrialization by looking at the economic, environmental and social dimensions.

In a region with high unemployment especially of young people, participants at the meeting agreed that unions must continue to fight for employment creation, job security, life-long learning for workers to get new transportable skills, living wages and better working conditions including for women. The importance of the local and global contexts featured in the discussions, particularly in relation to the Paris Agreement and the United Nations’ Social Development Goals to end poverty, create decent work and green jobs. International solidarity and Global Framework Agreements were cited as important in protecting workers rights.

The meeting discussed the need for Just Transition plans to protect workers’ rights and welfare because Industry 4.0 is linked to climate change. These plans should include creative labour adjustment programmes, social protection, and sustainable industrial policies to deliver job security. Social justice for affected communities should also be included. Further, it was stated that technological advancement, which is uneven on the continent, is hampered by high data costs, limited internet connectivity and expensive electricity.

According to Jens Dyring from the ILO, the Future of Work Initiative recognizes that the world of work is changing and for unions to be ready.

However, despite fears of job losses, there were benefits to workers’ health and safety when robots took over back-breaking work and workers earned more from high skilled jobs.

Brian Kohler, IndustriALL director of health, safety and sustainability, said:

"When technology makes jobs better and takes away the drudgery; workers can benefit. Unions should fight for a Just Transition because it is a bridge to the new, sustainable world of work. Building that bridge means that workers must play a role in making sustainable industrial policies.”

Tenaris TuboCaribe workers protest against rights violations

Trade unions Sintratucar, Sinaltrametal and Sinaltratenaris held a demonstration on 19 October and will take further action every Friday, as TuboCaribe, which is owned by steel multinational Tenaris, has refused to negotiate with them over their list of demands.

Workers are also protesting against the lack of pay rises in 2017 and 2018, the violations of their right to freedom of association, and the threats made against union leaders. In addition, they are calling for dismissed union members to be given their jobs back and for the company to withdraw its demands for union protection to be rescinded.

What’s more, the company’s head of human resources and its industrial relations manager have held meetings with non-union workers on the factory floor in which they gave the workers false information and distorted the truth. They told the workers that the company had not increased their wages because the trade unions didn’t want it to, and union members have received anonymous death threats as a result.

In addition to holding protests, the workers have sought other ways to resolve the conflict. They petitioned the Special Committee for the Handling of Conflicts Referred to the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Colombia’s ministry of labour, and then filed complaints with the ILO and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

It is not only in Colombia that Tenaris takes such an arrogant and negligent attitude towards its workers – unions in other countries have faced similar problems.In Guatemala, for instance, IndustriALL Global Union filed a complaint with the OECD against multinational steel manufacturer Ternium, which, like Tenaris, is part of Techint Group, after it refused to recognize and negotiate with a trade union in the country.

IndustriALL recently informed some of Tenaris' clients of the company's union repression in Colombia. These clients include ENI and Equinor, both of which have entered into Global Framework Agreements with IndustriALL.

IndustriALL is working with the Tenaris Ternium Workers' World Council to set up an ongoing worldwide campaign against the companies' violations of workers' rights in certain countries and to ensure that both firms and their holding company, Techint, recognize the World Council and establish a dialogue with IndustriALL. They will hold an international meeting in Mexico on 26 and 27 November.

"IndustriALL and the World Council will come up with strategies to ensure that the current campaign is a success and to establish a strong and mature dialogue with Tenaris and Ternium, with the aim of preventing and resolving disputes and creating dignified working conditions for Tenaris and Ternium workers around the world," said IndustriALL's general secretary Valter Sanches.

IndustriALL investigation uncovers exploitation of Shell workers in Nigeria

The report documents poverty wages, abuse through contracts, fundamental rights violations, poor healthcare, health and safety hazards and miserable living conditions of Shell’s Nigerian workers.

“We work like an elephant and eat like an ant,” said a worker at the Umuebulu-Etche Flow Station in the outskirts of Port Harcourt. “Our salary at (contractor) Plantgeria is about 95,000 naira (US$257). In Nigeria today, you can’t do anything on that. You can’t pay your children’s school fees. You can’t eat well. You can’t do anything better for yourself.” 

Salaries among the workers ranged from US$137 to US$257 per month, working 12 hours a day, six days a week.  Some workers said that they had not been paid by their contractors for several months. 

Workers said Shell determines what they get paid by contractors, but their appeals to Shell for better wages are ignored:

“If you ask for a pay rise, you will be escorted out by police. And then your job is finished. No more access to the yard until you sign something saying you will not join a union and you will not ask for a pay rise,” said one worker. 

Shell is the biggest foreign multinational oil company in Nigeria, earning an estimated US$4 billion from Africa’s largest oil producing country in 2017. 

At its AGM in May, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said it is not financially viable to give contract workers permanent jobs, as they are not needed all the time. But this belies what workers told IndustriALL:

“They keep on classing us as ad-hoc workers but we have been working continuously for as long as 20 years while being paid less than US$150 a month,” a worker lamented.

Many contract workers complained that their healthcare insurance provider (HMO) was inadequate:

“We are exposed to all the hazards. We work in the field. Even with our HMO we are not doing well. We are just working to die. When we are sick and go to the clinic, they don’t treat you well because the money they (the contractor) give to the HMOs is too meagre.”

Port Harcourt and the Niger Delta have seen increasing levels of violence over the years with kidnapping and armed robbery not unusual. “One of our colleagues, a driver, was recently shot dead in the field. In the end Shell didn’t do anything. The most they will do is one minute’s silence. No one cares about you and your family. If anything was to happen to you today, (Shell) don’t know you, it’s up to the contractor.”

In its code of conduct, Shell states:  “We seek to work with contractors and suppliers who contribute to sustainable development and are economically, environmentally and socially responsible.” 

IndustriALL’s general secretary, Valter Sanches, said: 

“It’s high time that Shell lives up to its own code of conduct and ensures that the thousands of workers toiling at its operations in Nigeria are treated humanely. Shell needs to stop turning a blind eye to the human rights violations of contract workers at its operations in Nigeria. We urge the company to start dialogue with IndustriALL and its trade unions in Nigeria to remedy the situation, which at present is neither responsible nor sustainable.” 

IndustriALL has a global campaign to stop precarious work at Shell, where contract workers outnumber permanent workers by more than 2:1, and do the most dangerous jobs. Unions estimate the ratio is even higher at Shell in Nigeria but the company does not disclose figures for individual countries. 

Last month, Shell announced it had joined forces with other energy companies to create a collaborative approach to human rights supplier assessments in the energy industry. Participating companies say they recognize the importance of working with suppliers that respect human rights including the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization. However, Shell has refused IndustriALL’s offer to work with the company to investigate the same concerns. 

Achieving gender equality in male dominated sectors

These sectors, which often provide skilled, well-paid and prestigious work, are dominated by men. Women working in these sectors tend to do the most menial and precarious work, with the lowest wages and status, and are often not visible in positions of authority in their unions.

Opening the meeting, IndustriALL assistant general secretary Jenny Holdcroft said,

“Gender equality is not a women’s issue, it is a core trade union issue. Just as we all campaign against precarious work and don’t expect precarious workers to organize themselves, we need to involve men in this discussion and stop treating this as an issue for women to resolve.”

The meeting addressed a number of stereotypes that are used by people – including some union leaders – to explain the low participation of women. A common myth is that that women are not interested in or capable of doing physically demanding or technical jobs. Another is that women lack the emotional stability to be effective trade union leaders, or should be at home looking after the children.

There are significant barriers to women entering these sectors. These include sexual harassment and gender-based violence, which is often not taken seriously, and treated as part of workplace culture.

Companies fail to make accommodation, such as secure changing and bathroom facilities, and personal protective equipment does not fit. Women are expected to take care of children and household duties as well as their jobs. Young women see very few positive role models in these sectors, and the education system directs them to caring and service work.

When women do work in these sectors, male colleagues sometimes perceive them as weak and are overly protective, denying them the opportunity to be challenged and develop their skills.

The meetings heard from women who worked as highly skilled mechanics, did maintenance work at height at a cement plant, drove heavy mining trucks and trains, or operated machinery at utilities companies. Many had to prove themselves in ways that were not expected of their male colleagues.

Several male delegates to the meeting made a powerful case for how their women colleagues, at work and in the union, did their jobs as well as or better than the men. Gender equality benefits men as well as women, because it disrupts power structures that only serve a few dominant men.

The delegates came up with a series of recommendations, which will be presented at the IndustriALL Executive Committee meeting in Mexico in November. These focus on moving gender equality out of women’s committees and making it a permanent agenda item in sector and network meetings. Organizational structures should develop and be mandated to report on a plan for increasing women’s participation, and unions should use global framework agreements to influence corporate behaviour.

Unions stand up to BHP at AGM

IndustriALL’s assistant general secretary, Kemal Özkan, questioned the world’s biggest mining company’s over its claims of sustainability, which he argued is not just about economic performance but also the environment, society and labour.

As a multinational company, BHP should adhere to international standards and create safe, decent work, while respecting social dialogue, social protection and workers’ fundamental rights, said Özkan. 

BHP has laid off 20,000 workers in two years, while distributing a record US$6.3billion to shareholders in 2018. BHP now employs around 26,000 permanent staff compared to 34,500 contract workers.

Jeff Drayton, from Australian union, CFMEU, questioned BHP over the correlation between the rise in contract labour at BHP’s Mt Arthur coalmine in New South Wales and an increase in safety incidents. In a few short years, contract labour has grown from around 10 to 50 per cent of a total workforce of 1,600. Contract labour is paid around 40 per cent less at the thermal coal mine. 

Steve Smyth, from CFMEU in Queensland, demanded to know why BHP workers suffering from coal dust diseases are not being reported as 'lost time injuries', despite being months off work. Earlier this year, miner Tyrone Buckton, passed away from coal dust diseases, silicosis and black lung, after decades of working at BHP. 

While BHP owned up to two deaths at its mines over the past year, Aldo Amaya from IndustriALL affiliate, Sintracarbón, asked why the death of Carlos Roberto Urbina at the Cerrejón mine in Colombia was not in the annual report.  BHP has a 30 per cent stake in the mine. He also accused BHP of using technology in cabs to penalize drivers if they are tired. 

Also in Latin America, IndustriALL mining section co-chair Lucineide Varjão from Brazilian union CNQ/CUT, asked BHP what it planned to do about 2,000 workers who lost their jobs following the disastrous collapse of Fundão Dam in 2015, which killed 19 people, among them 14 workers. 

IndustriALL’s mining co-chair Steve Hunt from the United Steelworkers in Canada, called on the company to cooperate with unions and carry out joint audits of their mines. 

Meanwhile, BHP’s chairman Ken MacKenzie refused to discuss legacy issues from mines it spun off in a separate company, South32.  IndustriALL affiliate, the National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa have been severely affected by job cuts at the company.

“BHP says safety is its first priority but from our experience this is just not the case. The responses we got from at the annual general meeting today were wholly inadequate. If BHP wants to be safe and sustainable, it must start by including workers and trade unions at every step,” said Kemal Özkan. 

While in London for the AGM, IndustriALL’s BHP global network meeting met from 16 to 18 October and agreed to focus on issues of contracting, health and safety and organizing women workers at the company. BHP plans to employ 50 per cent women by 2025.

Indonesian pulp and paper union FSP2KI protests against unlawful dismissals

Herli Sanopa, secretary of the Contracting Workers' Union (SPK), organizing outsourced workers at PT. Tanjungenim Lestari Pulp and Paper, and affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union through the Indonesia Federation of Pulp and Paper Workers Union (FSP2KI), said,

“Unions tried to engage in dialogue with the outsourcing companies and PT. Tanjungenim Lestari, but we faced a deadlock. Therefore, demonstrations will continue to take place until all workers are reinstated.”

The union leader also added that actions already took place on 8 and 16 October and are planned for 25 and 29 October. The 16 October demonstration and picket was suspended by workers when the company accepted to negotiate with the union, however no agreement was reached during four hours of talks. Therefore the rallies will continue as scheduled.

All the workers were dismissed by two companies, PT. Mayapada Clinic Pratama and Fajar Muara Indah PT., both service providers to PT. Tanjungenim Lestari Pulp and Paper. The sackings are punishment for their participation in a successful strike in June which was strongly supported by IndustriALL. These 12 reprisal dismissals are a direct violation of strike settlement agreement that included the clause on no reprisals against workers who participated in the strike on 13-14 June earlier this year.

The strike at one of Indonesia’s largest pulp and paper mills saw five hundred outsourced workers go on a two-day strike in two locations in South Sumatera Province and Lampung Province. All the workers were employed by five different outsourcing firms supplying labour to PT. Tanjungenim Lestari Pulp and Paper operations. Tanjungenim Lestari Pulp and Paper employs around 2,500 workers of which more than 1,700 are employed at outsourcing firms. 

Following two days of strike, on 14 June unions on one side and outsourcing companies and Tanjungenim Lestari management on the other, reached an agreement guaranteeing improved working conditions and continuity of permanent work among others. The clause of non-retaliation was also part of it.

Valter Sanches, in his 16 October letter to the President-Director of PT. Tanjungenim Lestari Pulp and Paper said,

“IndustriALL Global Union urges PT.Tanjungenim Lestari Pulp and Paper, as the principal company, to guarantee the full implementation of the agreement from 14 June, and, in consequence, ensure the reinstatement of the 12 workers at PT. Mayapada Clinic Pratama and Fajar Muara Indah.”

Sanches also called on the company “to act promptly to redress these serious violations of fundamental workers’ rights.”

Smurfit Kappa workers protest against union-bashing in Colombia

Sintracarcol set up camp outside the company's facilities in Medellin, Colombia, until 13 October. The union was protesting against the firm's violations of international employment standards at its plants across Colombia, particularly those in Medellin, Barranquilla, Bogotá and Cali.

The union took action after union leader Yair Giraldo and a number of other workers were unfairly dismissed.

“I'm a victim of union-bashing,” said Giraldo. “Smurfit Kappa is playing a brutal game. I was cornered by the head of Human Resources and his supervisors, wanting to discuss union matters.

“I told them that such discussions have to be held according to the collective agreement. After that, they started proceedings to have my union protections rescinded, the court ruled in their favour, and I was fired.”

The company does not comply with or properly implement the provisions of the collective bargaining agreements. Company management has put huge amounts of pressure on workers in an attempt to stop them from joining the union of their choice.

Union members are systematically denied union leave to attend meetings and other union business. And union leaders have been offered money and other benefits to get them to leave the union or in return for information or legal action.

In a letter to Mr Anthony P. J. Smurfit, CEO of Smurfit Kappa Group, Valter Sanches, IndustriALL's general secretary, condemns the company’s violations of fundamental union rights:

“I call on your office to urgently address the misconduct of Smurfit Kappa’s management team in Colombia. Your company’s actions constitute systematic union-bashing against our members. 

“I urge you to work with Sintracarcol to find a fair solution and to build stronger industrial relations with Cartón de Colombia.“

Pakistan: Seven workers injured in a fire at shipbreaking yard

The fire brigade had difficulty in reaching the site and putting off the fire. Edhi Foundation volunteers along with some union workers helped to rescue the victims, who were later shifted to a civil hospital in Karachi.

All the fire victims, including Abdul Qayoom, Khaliq, Muhammad Din, Muhammad Azam, Muhammad Akram, Muhammad Jabbar and Ehsan Ullah, were precariously employed workers.

Ironically, the tragedy happened just one day after Balochistan labour minister visited the yard and surveyed working and living conditions of Gadani shipbreaking workers. Fires at shipbreaking yards are not exceptional, last week there were fire accidents in the shipbreaking yards 6 and 7 , but fortunately no worker was injured. Following the accident Government of Baluchistan banned any kind of shipbreaking activity and assembly of workers in the area.

Atle Høie, Assistant general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union said,

“It is unacceptable that negligence towards safety and subsequent fire disasters continue in Gadani shipbreaking yards. Even after the massive tragedy in November 2016, which killed 26 workers and injured many more, the government and employers seem to have not learnt their lessons. Along with IndustriALL affiliates in Pakistan, we reiterate our demand to the government of Baluchistan to implement the shipbreaking code and to the government of Pakistan to immediately ratify and implement the Hong Kong International Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships.”

Kan Matsuzaki, director, ICT, electrical and electronics, shipbuilding and shipbreaking, said,

“Appropriate medical support and compensation should be provided to all victims of the disaster. We stand in solidarity with the victims and hope for their speedy recovery. In order to improve the safety standards at the yard government and employers must stop precarious work, recognize workers’ right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and implement labour laws and shipbreaking code in line with the Hong Kong Convention.”

Rebuilding union strength in Caspian region

The meeting which gathered union delegates from Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, is an attempt to revitalize the activities and mutual exchange of information between the unions in the network, which last met in Kazakhstan in 2014.

Oil and gas workers in the region are facing numerous challenges in their working and living conditions such as spoiled water, contamination and the fluctuating level of the Caspian Sea. In Azerbaijan alone, some 11 million people live around the sea and directly or indirectly depend on it in their daily life and work.

At the same time, the influence of the companies working in the region stretches far. In Turkey, IndustriALL affiliate Petrol-Is has strong presence in oil companies, including the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR that invests a lot in the country.

One of the issues of union concern is the agreement signed in August between the countries on the Caspian coast, based on proposals for a potential separation of the sea territory. Currently, there are offshore oilfields in the Caspian Sea exploited by the multinational corporations from different countries, both from and outside the region. If they are pushed away, many jobs could disappear.

 During the meeting the network discussed and set the following main objectives to:

The participants shared the main problems their unions are facing, including problems related to privatization, outsourcing in the sector, as well as difficulty in organizing workers at both contractors and multinational companies.

Azerbaijan oilfield operations have been active for more than 70 years and the challenge now is to modernize them. Lack of modernization makes safety at work a key issue. However, heavy investment is needed, as some 95 per cent of the exploration is offshore.

Russian Oil, Gas and Construction Workers Union reported of existing agreements concluded with the main operating in the field companies, Rosneft, Tatneft, Lukoil and Gazprom. The union participates in health and safety commissions; however, the safety situation needs to be improved as so far annually 30 to 50 workers die at work.

Turkish delegates referred to the problem of increasingly precarious working conditions even at the state-run enterprises.

Diana Junquera Curiel, IndustriALL Energy Industry director said,

“This was a fruitful meeting, the participants agreed that unions operating in the region have to come together and share their experiences in order to improve their knowledge and strategies. Almost all the big oil and gas multinational companies are operating in the region so it’s important to involve them in the process to establish a genuine social dialogue.”

Strengthening young workers in Myanmar

The training with youth members of the Mining Workers’ Federation of Myanmar (MWFM) and the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM) was conducted through IndustriALL’s union-building project in Myanmar, in cooperation with FNV Mondiall and SASK-Finland. The project is aimed enhancing the skills of young leaders and organizers in unions.

Twenty-nine participants (25 men and 4 women) from MWFM participated in the training in Sagaing, including six young union leaders from IWFM. 

Mine workers braved flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains in upper Myanmar to attend the meeting. However, many women members of MWFM were not able to attend due to difficulties and possible dangers in traveling.

Lorna Ferrer, South East Asia regional project coordinator facilitated the training and presented the IndustriALL strategic goals and action plan for youth in the region.  

The workshop helped participants sharpen their organizing skills and deepen their knowledge on leadership techniques and styles. Young workers also participated in group structured learning exercises and team building activities. Profiling of young workers through situational analysis of young workers at respective workplaces, trade unions and in society were also undertaken.  The participants drew up an action plan and organizing targets to increase and involve young workers in union organizing and leadership in trade unions.

IWFM conducted a similar training-workshop in Yangon on 12-13 October 2018. Twenty-seven (13 men and 14 women) young leaders and youth committee members from different member-unions participated.  Together with IWFM president Sister Khaing Zar Aung, young workers who participated in the previous training in Sagaing shared the acquired knowledge and explained what they had learnt.

Training sessions include profiling of young workers in mine and industrial sectors, and awareness on employment condition of young workers both at the national and global levels.

The training is expected to boost youth participation in trade unions in Myanmar through organizing, policy development, capacity building and gender equality among young workers.