Unions discuss Industry 4.0 and future social dialogue in Saint-Gobain

25 delegates and observers from 10 countries gathered in Paris, where they debated on the future of their company and their jobs. In the nearest future Saint-Gobain is planning to change its structure, adapting it more to a digitised future in materials’ industries. The changes will imminently affect working conditions and working relations. The delegates exchanged over the different experiences on the process of digitisation already taking place within Saint-Gobain, a highly innovative player in the sector. Workers’ experience varies from country to country, but some things are clear already today: the company will change drastically, and some of the new structural changes will come very soon.

On the second day, the delegates had an open exchange with Mr Régis Blugeon, Social affairs director at Saint-Gobain group. Mr Blugeon pointed out that the group had to adapt its structure to the new market situation and must become lighter, more flexible and speedier.

Mr Blugeon also made a presentation about the values and core strategies of the group. The different trade union delegates used the opportunity to demand that the employees and their trade unions need to be part of the change process. They explicitly asked for information and consultation during the process and beyond. They also raised several open issues and addressed social dialogue matters. Mr Blugeon promised to look into the open cases and come back with answers, proposals and solutions. At the same time, he granted that the social dialogue would be taken serious on every level of the group, and that some matters required social dialogue also on global level.

Matthias Hartwich, IndustriALL’s director for materials industries and mechanical engineering, stated:

“IndustriALL believes in social dialogue. And we know from experience that some issues cannot be solved on local or country level alone; at some point, solutions can only be found on global level. We are willing to work together with management to find ways and means for this kind of problem solutions.”

In light of the discussion about social dialogue, the participants requested Saint-Gobain management to stick to its responsibility and keep the social dialogue with Brazilian trade unions. At the end of the meeting, the participants also decided to adopt a special statement in solidarity with Brazilian workers and their trade unions.

Saint-Gobain, a French multinational corporation, employs approximately 180,000 people in 67 countries of the world. In 2017, the Group generated 41 bn. euro in sales. The Group provides solutions for construction sector and also supplies materials to industrial and consumer markets, including automotive, aeronautical, and health and energy sector.

Unions demand global labour relations with HeidelbergCement

Thirty delegates from 15 different countries representing HeidelbergCement workers across the world, met at the headquarters of the German construction union, IG BAU, upon invitation of IndustriALL Global Union and Building and Wood Workers’ International with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

Although invited, the company’s management did not attend the meeting, and the trade unions reiterated their invitation for next year.

Delegates raised a number of issues workers face in the company, including worker rights’ violations, lack of communication with country or local company management, extensive use of outsourcing, and other types of precarious work. Health and safety is also an issue that needs to become part of a proper and systematic approach from the company in which workers’ representatives must have their word. A functioning social dialogue on the global level is in the interest of the workers and the company, besides, some issues can simply not be solved on local level.

At the meeting, the trade union network considered HeidelbergCement’s efforts to improve the group’s social, ethical and environmental profile through their statement “Human Rights Position of the HeidelbergCement Group”, released on 07 December 2017 as a positive step.

However, the delegates unanimously agreed that the document fails to address a number of shortcomings. In this regard the participants adopted a special declaration stipulating the following:

  1. There is no genuine, meaningful trade union involvement in this position paper
  2. Workforce representatives must participate in joint monitoring of compliance with human rights, this cannot be outsourced to third parties but must be a joint effort of management and global unions
  3. There must be meaningful involvement of workers and their representatives in health and safety committees, policies, management systems, workplace inspections, training, and all matters concerning workers’ health, safety and welfare within all HeidelbergCement plants

Finally, the union network urged HeidelbergCement corporate management to enter into a dialogue with the European Works Council and the global unions in order to work on the points raised in the spirit of good practice and fruitful social dialogue.

Matthias Hartwich, IndustriALL’s director for construction materials said, “This second meeting of our union network was a great success. We deepened contacts between ourselves and will use them in future to inform each other about ongoing fights and struggles that our brothers and sisters are facing everywhere in the world. It is indeed a pity that management did not to talk to us. We expect more from HeidelbergCement in the future, especially in the light of their ‘Human Rights Position’ paper”.

HeidelbergCement is one of the world’s leading cement and construction materials companies. It employs close to 60,000 people in around 60 countries.

Photos from the meeting are available on Flickr.

Safety remains elusive on second anniversary of Gadani shipbreaking accident

On 1 November 2016, a massive explosion in an oil tanker at the Gadani shipbreaking yard left 29 workers dead and more than 40 suffering burn injuries. Four workers were reported missing, and no one knows for sure how many workers were at work at the time of the accident.

Speaking at a rally on the second anniversary of the accident, union leaders said that a series of accidents since November 2016 show that no lessons have been learnt. Government and employers continue to ignore health and safety at the cost of workers’ lives. The accidents are an unambiguous reminder that shipbreaking workers in Pakistan risk death to earn a living.

On 8 January 2017, a worker fell from a ship and died.  On 9 January 2017, at least five workers died in a fire aboard a liquified petroleum gas container ship. Seven workers were injured in a fire accident on 14 October 2018.

On 2 November 2018, just a day after workers marked the second anniversary of the accident and paid homage to the victims, five more workers were injured in an accident while breaking the ship Mistral in yard 66. 

Gadani shipbreaking workers face dangerous working conditions, precarious work, poor wages, non-implementation of labour law, hurdles in exercising the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, lack of health facilities and lack of access to clean drinking water.

Trade unions have long demanded that the government of Baluchistan adopt new regulations to improve health and safety in Pakistan’s shipbreaking industry. After the November 2016 tragedy, the shipbreaking workers’ union submitted a draft law to improve safety in shipbreaking yards, but the government is yet to act on it. The government appointed committees to investigate the November 2016 accident and propose new safety regulations, but no significant progress has been made to improve the situation.

Apoorva Kaiwar, South Asia regional secretary of IndustriALL Global Union said:

“It is horrific that management and shipyard owners neglect workers’ safety to the extent that workers’ lives are routinely endangered. Both government and employers should learn lessons from the past accidents and take immediate proactive measures to stop loss of workers’ lives and ensure safe shipbreaking in Pakistan’s shipbreaking industry.”

Kan Matsuzaki, IndustriALL director for the shipbuilding and shipbreaking sector, said:

“We reiterate our demand that the government immediately ratify the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships and adopt national and federal regulations to implement the provisions of the convention.

“The government should set up tripartite health and safety committee with the shipbreaking workers’ union and employers for its implementation without delay.

Irresponsible aluminium: Alcoa escalates global attack on workers

The US-based Alcoa announced on 17 October that it would close two of its three Spanish aluminium smelters, Aviles and La Coruna, resulting in the layoff of 700 workers. The Alcoa European Works Council (EWC) criticized Alcoa for failing to comply with European information and consultation regulations by not consulting with the EWC in advance and not providing the EWC adequate information. The Netherlands-based EWC has filed a court claim in the Netherlands in order to block the closure and layoff.

Alcoa claims the two Spanish plants are inefficient and that nobody wants to operate them. The company has ignored attempts by the Spanish government and unions to slow the collective dismissal process, which could provide time to identify a company to buy the plants and preserve jobs.

1,600 members of the Australian Workers Union (AWU) working at three Alcoa alumina refineries and two bauxite mines recently conducted a 52-day strike after 20 months of negotiations with Alcoa failed to provide a guarantee of no forced redundancies. The company had used threats of termination in an attempt to intimidate the workforce into accepting new working conditions with less secure work.

The strike ended when Alcoa made a new offer that the union submitted for a membership vote. A majority of the workers voted to reject this offer, with an AWU official citing poor treatment of union members on their recent return to work as a reason. Alcoa has applied to an Australian government agency to terminate the existing Enterprise Bargaining Agreement it has with AWU.

Alcoa shutting down a worksite is no guarantee that the company will end its attack on workers, their communities and the environment. Alcoa shut its alumina refinery in Suriname in 2015, dealing a heavy blow to the nation’s economy and putting hundreds of people out of work. This contradicted an agreement Alcoa had entered into with Suriname to continue its aluminium operations there until 2033.

Since 2015 Alcoa has negotiated behind closed doors a replacement agreement governing its exit from Suriname, including to deal with the company’s legacy of environmental contamination. A draft exit agreement has recently been released and strongly rejected as being unfair to Suriname by technical experts and by a coalition of civil society organizations that includes IndustriALL affiliate C-47, which represented Alcoa employees.

C-47 calls for the agreement to be re-negotiated and for Alcoa to adjust pension payments to former employees to compensate for the dramatic decline in the value of the Surinamese currency, resulting in the former workers living in poverty.

Alcoa has locked out for nearly ten months 1,030 members of the United Steelworkers from their jobs at the Bécancour smelter in Quebec, Canada. Nine months into the lockout, Alcoa again demanded more concessions from the locked-out workers, even though the smelter has the lowest labour costs per unit production among all of Alcoa’s facilities in North America.

“If you want to reach an agreement, you need to listen to the other party, capitalize on openings and be open to compromise when the other party is willing to change its position. Alcoa hasn’t done any of that,”

said USW Quebec Director Alain Croteau.

“IndustriALL affiliates have represented Alcoa workers around the world for decades, and negotiations with the company have frequently been challenging. However, Alcoa has never attacked workers and their communities in so many different countries at the same time as they’re doing now,”

said IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan.

“Alcoa is trying to position itself as a responsible provider of aluminium to auto manufacturers and other consumer-facing brands, however its actual practices show otherwise. IndustriALL calls on Alcoa to live up to its sustainability claims and end its attack on workers.”

Kenyan union takes Hela Intimates to court over workers’ rights violations

Hela Intimates, which makes undergarments, sleep and casual wear, has factories in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mexico, and Sri Lanka, supplies global brands in Europe and the US including Victoria Secrets and PVH, which owns Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and a number of other brands. In Kenya it employs over 2,500 workers at its factory in the Athi River Export Processing Zone in Nairobi.

Rather than assuming responsibility for the collective bargaining agreements signed by Alltex EPZ, the company it acquired, Hela is insisting on signing a new agreement. The company is pays a minimum wage of 12,000 Kenya Shillings (US$116) per month instead of 14,000 (US$136) for machine operators, as per government gazette.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Tailors and Textile Workers Union (TTWU), has taken the legal route to deal with the employer’s unlawful and unfair labour practices. These practices intimidate workers and make it difficult for unions to recruit members. Further, union organizers find it hard to access the factories because of the hostility from the employer. Hela Intimates’ behaviour is in violation of Kenyan workers’ rights and freedom of association as protected by the Labour Relations Act.

Says Joel Chebii, general secretary of the TTWU:

“We have gone to the police station on countless occasions to have our members released from custody. Their crime is that they joined a trade union. This is an injustice that we will continue to fight. The employer is doing this to silence demands for better wages.”

Says Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL director for the textile and garment industry:

“Global garment manufacturers should lead by example and not trample on workers’ rights. We call upon Hela Intimates to respect trade union organizational rights, freedom of association, and to pay living wages.”

Kenya’s industrialization policies identify the labour-intensive textile and garment sector as an important driver of economic development and job creation. According to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, the sector creates more jobs for the youth. For instance, 17 garment manufacturers in the export processing zones employ 52,000 workers while over 40,000 small-scale farmers grow cotton, with thousands other jobs found along the value chain.

Kenyan cabinet secretary Adan Mohamed visited the factory in March

Spanish coal unions win landmark Just Transition deal

The €250 million Plan del Carbón deal will see the closure of all Spanish coal mines which are no longer economically viable. The agreement was reached between the new Socialist government and the unions Federación de Industria de Comisiones Obreras (FI-CCOO), Federacíon de Industria, Construcción y Agro de la Unión General de Trabajadores (FICA-UGT) and Federación de Industria de la Unión Sindical Obrera (FI-USO), all IndustriALL Global Union affiliates. The government will fund a transition that is expected to take place between 2019 and 2023.

This follows years of union struggle as successive Spanish governments have tried to end subsidies to the mining industry and close mines, without reaching an agreement that met workers’ needs. In 2012, miners embarked on a 457 kilometre Marcha Negra – Black March – to Madrid to protest the loss of jobs that would result from the end of subsidies.

The Just Transition deal replaces subsidies to the coal industry with a sustainable development plan. Financially viable mines can remain open, but ten pits and open cast mines are expected to close by the end of the year, with the loss of 1,677 jobs. The deal covers eight companies with 12 production units in four regions of Spain. The biggest employer is state owned mining company HUNOSA, with 1,056 employees.

The highly detailed agreement has been praised by unions as a model, and provides a package of benefits to miners and their communities.

About 60 per cent of miners – those age 48 and older, or with 25 years’ service – will be able to take early retirement. Younger miners will receive a redundancy payment of €10,000, as well as 35 days’ pay for every year of service. Miners with asbestosis will receive an additional payment of €26,000.

In addition, money has been set aside to restore and environmentally regenerate former mining sites. Priority for employment in these jobs will go to former miners.

Money will be set upside to upgrade facilities in the mining communities, including waste management, recycling facilities and water treatment plants, utilities infrastructure and distribution for gas and lighting, forest recovery, atmospheric cleansing and reducing noise pollution.

An action plan will be created for each mining community, including plans for developing renewable energy and improving energy efficiency, and investing in and developing new industries.

IndustriALL sustainability director Brian Kohler said:

“This landmark Just Transition deal was won through years of hard struggle. It acknowledges the need to move from fossil fuels while protecting workers and their communities. The deal sets a precedent for responsible transition through social dialogue.”

Just Transition is a core union demand. Strong social protection programmes and sustainable industrial policies are needed to protect jobs while meeting carbon emissions targets. In Australia, IndustriALL mining affiliate the CFMEU Mining and Energy Division has released a report that forecasts a bleak future for the country’s coal miners unless an independent authority is established to manage transition.

Unilever signs Memorandum of Understanding with IndustriALL and IUF

The Memorandum was signed by Unilever’s chief executive officer Paul Polman, IndustriALL Global Union general secretary Valter Sanches and IUF general secretary Sue Longley in London on 31 October 2018.

IndustriALL and  IUF, together with their affiliates, have held bi-annual meetings with Unilever management since 2010 as part of their dialogue with the company. During this process, two working groups were created on Sustainable Employment and Gender Equality. The signing of the Memorandum highlights the importance of the ongoing work achieved through these work groups.

The Memorandum formalizes the engagement process and establishes a permanent platform for “ensuring that throughout Unilever’s worldwide operations workers can freely exercise their internationally recognized rights and in particular their rights to union membership and collective bargaining without fear of retaliation, repression or any other form of discrimination.” In the Memorandum, “Unilever recognizes its obligation to act to ensure that these rights are similarly respected by enterprises and their subcontractors providing products, operations and/or services to Unilever.”

“After years of trust building and constructive engagement, institutionalizing this global dialogue is an important achievement”, said Valter Sanches.

“Together with our sister organization IUF and our affiliates with membership at Unilever’s chemical operations, we will continue with our best effort to ensure that fundamental rights are respected and working conditions improve.”

“We have been working successfully on these issues with Unilever for a number of years”, said Sue Longley,

“and we look forward to deepening our engagement. Now that the process has been formalized we need to continue working together to ensure that the principles set out in the Memorandum are firmly anchored regionally, nationally and locally throughout Unilever’s global operations.”

IndustriALL and IUF signed a joint commitment with Unilever in 2016 to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace after it was identified a universal problem, both at the workplace and in wider society.

Generating €53.7 billion in turnovers in 2017, Unilever directly employs 161,000 people. The company owns around 400 brands, 12 of which have sales of more than €1 billion a year.

Four workers killed at Neharia underground mine in India

A day before the accident a Load, Haul, Dump (LHD) machine got stuck in the underground mine due to blasts carried out without following safety regulations. The next day, on 25 October at around 10.15 am, an advance preparatory team entered the underground premises to recover the LHD machine. While recovering the machine, the mine roof collapsed. Four workers were killed in the accident while one LHD operator was seriously injured.

The deceased have been identified as Ravi Shankar (excavator carrier operator), Ramprakash (LHD operator), Rajesh (maintenance worker) and Rafique (side discharge loader operator).

S Q Zama, secretary general of IndustriALL affiliate the Indian National Mine Workers Federation (INMF) said:

The method of mining was not in conformity with the statutory safety regulations. Deployment of personnel for supervision was also inadequate. Violations of various safety regulations are severe in this accident. We demand immediate enquiry of WCL’s internal safety organization and investigation by the Directorate General of Mine Safety. Authorities must ensure that such accident should not happen in future.”

The union has also asked for the report of the magisterial enquiry ordered by the Chhindwara district collector. Statutory compensation has been provided to the victims’ family.

Ukraine: angry unpaid miners take action underground

On 19 October, 33 miners of the mine started their protest over unpaid wages underground at the depth of 600 meters. Leaders and activists of the NPGU locals gave their support to the protesters and supplied water, food, and medicines. Due to unhealthy and dangerous conditions, miners’ health deteriorated.

In particular, 31-year-old miner Oleksandr Cherkasov fainted several times and another miner had a nervous breakdown. They were transported to the hospital. Some other miners had to stop their protest for family reasons.

On 27 October, a rockslide happened near the area where miners of the mine named after G. Kapustin and a sympathizing member of parliament of Ukraine were holding their protest. Despite this incident and health problems 15 miners continued their protest and refused to go up to the surface until all the wages are paid out.

The coal miners are concerned with the approach of the country’s authorities. For instance, Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine in the middle of the protest approved a two-week leave of director general of the PJSC "Lysychanskvugillia". In reply miners demanded resignation of the director for failing to take any constructive steps and solve the problems with wage arrears.

Chairman of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (KVPU) and the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine (NPGU), an affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union, Mykhailo Volynets went down into the mine G. Kapustin PJSC "Lysychanskvugillia" and met protesters. Representative of the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine and company management also visited the miners.

Volynets said, “These miners show genuine courage and integrity during their struggle for justice and fair payment. But I am deeply concerned about their health and lives. During my stay underground in the mine, I talked to them and I couldn't help noticing how exhausted and tired they were. Some miners seemed to have health problems. The air and humidity in the mine are also a point of concern.”

The problem of wage arrears at the state-owned coal mines still remains and causes social tensions. In Ukraine, miners work in extremely difficult and dangerous conditions. However, their wages are not high. A skilled miner receives 8,000-9,000 UAH (US$280-320), but even these meagre wages are not paid in time.

Last week protest actions over unpaid wages took place at the mines of the SOE “Selydivvugillia” and SOE “Myrnohradvugillia”.

According to the received information, as of 29 October, wage arrears at state coal-mining enterprises amounted up to 685 million UAH (US$21.5 million). By 1 November the arrears can reach up to 1,2 billion UAH (US$42.6 million) as this is the time for payment of October wages.

The NPGU has reported the problem with wage arrears to some members of the Ukrainian Parliament and launched solidarity actions.

In his message of solidarity to NPGU, Valter Sanches, general secretary of IndustriALL said,

“We reiterate our full support and solidarity with the miners at the state-owned coal mining enterprises, and we join you in calling on the Government of Ukraine to pay in full wages in arrears without further delay.”

IndustriALL Global Union has also urged its Coal mining unions’ network to stand in solidarity with the resisting Ukrainian miners.

Strengthening youth participation in South East Asia

Participants from Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia learned about IndustriALL’s youth empowerment action plan, its commitment and strategic goals, campaigns and young workers’ participation in unions, on a regional as well as on a global scale.

Discussions during the two days included women and youth structures in their unions, working conditions, health and safety, maternity leave in the region, all relevant for building youth action plans.

Annie Adviento, IndustriALL South East Asia regional secretary, said:

Increasing youth participation, ensuring their concerns, issues and working conditions are addressed by the unions, is one of IndustriALL’s priorities. We want to make sure that our young unionists have a voice at Congress in 2020.

Together, participants identified responses against challenges like threats by employers, lack of knowledge unions’ roles, precarious work and gender imbalance.

Organizing in the era of digitalization provides challenges, but also opportunities. Examples were shared on internet-based trainings, creating education modules and making them more useful for youth, and using social media to stay in touch. A Facebook page was created, to be used as a platform for awareness raising, information sharing on youth policies and activities, and to connect with other youth in IndustriALL.

Sarah Flores, IndustriALL project and youth officer said:

Young workers face huge challenges with the increase of non-standard forms of employment and transformation of jobs. Unions and young workers are under attack, but we can fight this if we organize together.

Youth is the actor of change. It is time they are given the space, and also occupy the space. We have a strong mandate to support, promote and empower young workers.

In their action plan towards Congress in 2020, youth in South East Asia committed to: