Lesotho: workers celebrate minimum wage victory

When it seemed that the government was not yielding, the unions called for a shutdown at textile factories in Maseru, Maputsoe and Nyenye’s industrial areas. Then the government succumbed when ministers recommended the minimum wage to the Wages Advisory Board, which advises the minister of labour on wages and conditions of employment. According to Lesotho laws, workers cannot be paid below the mandated minimum wages. The unions are also pressing for wages to be increased by 15 per cent across other sectors.

The minimum wage is significant for the poorly paid workers who are struggling to pay for basics like housing and transport. For example, a general worker earning the previous minimum of LSL1,238 (US$85), will get an increase of 62 per cent. Unions have long described the low pay in the garment and textile sector as poverty wages.

Independent Democratic Union of Lesotho (IDUL), an affiliate of IndustriALL, in collaboration with other unions, has been campaigning for the announcement of better minimum wages which, according to the labour laws, should have been done in April. 

“After sustained pressure the government addressed our demands exactly the way we wanted. The increase in minimum wages boosts workers’ confidence in trade unions. We have been fighting for better wages for many years, and now we know that we have been struggling for a worthy cause,”

said Daniel Theko, IDUL general secretary.

“We welcome the minimum wages but will continue to support IDUL in its campaigns for better wages and working conditions in Lesotho,”

said Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa.

Employing over 35,000 workers, over 80 per cent of whom are women, the garment and textile sector in Lesotho is an important player in the economy and the second largest employer after the government.

Pakistan: 19 miners including rescue workers die in coal mine accident

According to the latest report 14 dead bodies have been recovered and bodies of five coal workers are still trapped inside the coalmine debris. The victim coal miners were from Shangla, Swat and Dir areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

At the time of the accident on the night of 12 August, 13 miners were working in at 1,200m deep inside the mine in Sanjidi area. All of them were killed as the mine caved in due to methane gas explosion.

After the explosion volunteers launched rescue operations which were put on halt after about ten rescue workers fainted during the process. In a tragic turn of events, later it was found that some of the rescue workers also got trapped and suffocated to death due the presence of poisonous methane gas inside the mine.

The magnitude of mine safety crisis in Pakistan is more than alarming. According to mere compilation of published news reports since 2010 to August 2018 over 357 workers lost their lives in numerous mine accidents.

Since January 2018 alone, 74 mineworkers died in mine accidents. In January 2018 six miners died in series of accidents. In March two workers died. In April 19 workers died. In May 23 workers died. In June four workers and until today in August, 20 workers died. As these numbers are based on published news reports, the real number of fatalities may be much higher.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary, Kemal Özkan said,

“It is painful to note that mining accidents continue to claim workers’ lives in Pakistan. In March 2018 IndustriALL along with its affiliates launched campaign for health and safety in Pakistan mines urging the government of Pakistan to ratify and implement ILO Convention 176 On Safety and Health in Mines. We cannot accept continuing fatal mine accidents. Further inaction will lead to more deaths.

“Both central and the provincial governments need to wake up and get their act together to stop unsafe and dangerous mining practices. It should immediately begin tripartite initiative involving government authorities, employers and workers’ representatives to improve safety in the mines. In this process immediate ratification ILO C176 will provide much needed technical support to improve safety in mines.”

IndustriALL affiliate, Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation (PCMLF) in a press release stated that,

“Tthe government should ensure appropriate compensation is provided to mine victims. Proper investigation should be conducted to identify those responsible for the accident and they should be punished for negligence. The government should immediately start taking corrective measures to improve safety and ratification of ILO C176 should be the foremost among them.”

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Seven workers injured at GIKIL after explosion

Most of the suffered workers are members of an IndustriALL Global Union’s affiliate Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metals Workers of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Union representatives visited the injured workers and offered support and solidarity.

According to the reports provided by the workers in shock, it was a miracle that they managed to survive the terrible accident as tar from the boiler as well as water poured over them from high above their heads. The reasons are still to be investigated, but very bad health and safety working conditions have definitely caused the accident.

Due to cost reducing measures, the company has recently increased the number of tasks per worker and per shift, even at some instances, two jobs were merged into one. Often, these jobs were very delicate and dangerous, demanding constant control over compressors, where a minor mistake could result in a fatal explosion.

In reply to the imposed changes, the union urged the company raising the issue of deteriorated working conditions and asking to arrange jobs in a better way, however the company failed to reply.

Following its leadership committee meeting, the union announced its demands at a press conference:

The union denounced the Government of Tuzla canton, as one of the company founders, as well as members of the supervisory board and management of the company, who paid no attention to the poor conditions and danger faced by GIKIL workers.

Valter Sanches, General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, addressed the Prime Minister of Tuzla Canton, demanding “to vastly improve health and safety conditions at GIKIL Lukavac.”

Sanches also demanded “a thorough investigation of the accident. The outcome of the investigation must result in immediate corrective measures and overall improvement of health and safety conditions at GIKIL Lukavac, in strict accordance with European standards. In addition, GIKIL Lukavac should reduce the number of tasks per worker.”

Bangladesh: unions demand better wages for garment workers

In January 2018, the government of Bangladesh constituted a minimum wage board consisting of the representatives of employers, national trade union federations and government officials. In July 2018, employers’ representatives proposed to increase the monthly minimum wages to mere 6,360 BDT (US$ 75), while a trade union representative in the minimum wage board proposed an increase up to 12,020 BDT (US$ 142).

In a press conference on 28 July, Salauddin Shapon, Secretary General of IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC) said that, “existing lower minimum wages proposals are not acceptable to garment workers. Before formulating our demand for 16,000 BDT as minimum wage, the IBC conducted a study and carefully considered various aspects including cost of living, inflation trends and minimum wages in major countries that are producing readymade garments. We will continue to organize various actions to convey garment workers’ demands to the government.”

Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL South Asia Regional Secretary said,

“the demand for increasing minimum wage is one of the most crucial issues for Bangladesh readymade garment workers. The government should consider the reality of workers’ lives when debating on the minimum wages to improve the decent work and sustainable development of the readymade garments sector. IndustriALL supports the demands of our affiliates.”

In addition to the minimum wage increase, the IBC also demanded workers categorization, based on the skill level should be reduced from the current seven to only five grades. An employee promotion policy should be adopted to ensure that workers are promoted to higher grades within a reasonable period of two years. Further there should be 10 per cent annual wage increase, which will ensure that workers can appropriately meet ever-growing expenses for food, shelter, children’s education and health care.

The IBC also called for improvement of the piece rate system, which is currently resulting in many disputes as payment is discussed after completion of work. In order to avoid disputes IBC demands that the payment should be decided before beginning of the piecework. Further the training period for apprentices should be restricted to three months instead of the current practice of six months. Apprentices’ wages should raise from 4,180 BDT (US$49) to 10,000 BDT (US$117).

In Bangladesh, minimum wage is revised every five years. In 2013, the minimum wage was fixed at 5,300 BDT (US$62), an increase from 3,000 BDT (US$35) adopted in 2010.

Tunisia: UGTT calls on employers’ organization to take union claims seriously

In a statement issued by the UGTT, members of the private sector grouping stressed the importance of the negotiations, calling for real increases to improve their purchasing power.

They justified their grievances by the economic crisis that is raging in the country and in particular, the surge in prices, with inflation reaching more than 7 per cent.

“Although national indicators confirm the low per capita income of the workers and increasing inflation, the UTICA is still lagging behind on all issues and appears not to be serious in the negotiations. Therefore, we are ready for mobilization and action.  We insist on negotiation in good faith in order to achieve our just demands,”

said Tahar Berberi, general secretary of FGME-UGTT.

In their statement, unions representing the private sector group stressed that they are committed to serious and responsible negotiations, calling for real wage increases to improve their purchasing power.

“UTICA has not seriously addressed the provisions of the agreement reached with the UGTT on 10 March 2018, IndustriALL strongly supports the UGTT’s call on UTICA to come back to the negotiating table and bargain in good faith,”

said Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary.

Strengthening union organizing as Ethiopia industrializes

The latest to be opened is the Chinese-built Adama Industrial Park, about 74km from Addis Ababa, where 25,000 workers will be employed. Hawassa will employ 60,000 while other parks that will cater for tens of thousands of workers include Bole Lemi and Kombolcha.

A workshop on 28 and 29 July 2018 at Adama, organized by IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Industrial Federation of Textile, Leather and Garment Workers Union (IFTLGWU) with support from FNV Mondiaal, discussed how unions could be strengthened to demand their rights to organize as protected in the country’s constitution and the labour laws. According to the IFTLGWU, there are cases in which unions are denied access to some of the industrial parks.

On collective bargaining, the workshop, which had participants from 11 textile and garment factories, discussed minimum labour standards as prescribed in the laws and what should be included in a collective bargaining agreement. Collective bargaining structures should also be set up shortly after the setting up of a base union.

Highlights included avoiding mistakes as the agreement is a legal document that is binding on the union and the employer. This means that if there are errors they must be corrected immediately. Unions also had to ensure that the employer complied with the agreement. When bargaining, workers should do so collectively to avoid being divided by the employer.

Hunde Gudeta, the facilitator of the workshop from the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions, emphasized the importance of addressing, through collective bargaining, issues not directly covered by the laws but key to the agreement.

Other matters raised were on wage discrimination in which foreign workers were paid more than local workers for the same work. Further, workers wanted an improvement in their working conditions including provision of transport by the employer.

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

“Workers’ rights to organize are important to union building in Ethiopia, and the focus on collective bargaining will assist the unions’ demands for better working conditions and living wages.”

Ethiopia’s industrialization strategy is aimed at transforming the country from an agricultural base to an industrial one through the textile and garment sector among other industries.

Turkey: Strike at Mayr-Melnhof continues as management refuses to meet

MM Süperpak Ambalaj is a subsidiary of Austrian-based Mayr-Melnhof, with operations in Izmir, Karaman and Gaziantep. Around 250 workers from IndustriALL affiliate, Selüloz-İş have been on strike since rejecting a pay offer of zero wage rise on 20 June.

Collective bargaining negotiations at the three plants started on January 26 for the 2018-19 period. Of the 74 articles in the CBA, 50 were agreed. However, money remains the main conflict. The union demanded a 475 Turkish Lira wage increase, while previous management offered around TL 300. However new management offered zero increase in the last round. Before striking, the union made a final compromise of TL 350, which management refused.

In a letter to management of Mayr-Melnhof, IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches said:

“The union is committed to finding a solution in bargaining with the employer while the local management constantly refuses to enter into negotiations to solve the conflict.

“IndustriALL Global Union calls on Mayr-Melnhof Packaging International GmbH to intervene at Superpak management to ensure good-faith bargaining with the union of Seluloz-Is.”

The inflation rate is Turkey is currently above 15 per cent, meaning that a zero per cent wage increase amounts to a significant pay cut. The fall in the Lira has also substantially lowered the cost of doing business in the country for companies based abroad. Wage levels are slightly higher than legal minimum wage, at around US $350.

IndustriALL is cooperating with sister international, the IUF to contact Mayr-Melnhof’s primary customers.

Today workers at the factory in Torbalı, outside Izmir, endured 39 degree heat to express their determination. They were joined by representatives from many local unions, including IndustriALL affiliates Deriteks and Teksif. Trucks driving through the industrial zone hooted their support as workers chanted slogans, such as “Long live global solidarity”, and “Resistance brings victory”.

Speaking at the picket line, IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“Your struggle is just, and we support you. We have made the head office in Austria aware of what is happening here. The resolution of this dispute is entirely in their hands.

“Your struggle is not just a struggle for a fair wage increase, but for a respectful collective bargaining process. We are making the company’s customers around the world aware of their destructive practice. We will challenge the company wherever we find them.

“You will win as long as you hold onto your unity. We are strong: our class and our society is behind us because our cause is just.”

Founded over 100 years ago, the Mayr-Melnhof Group is a manufacturer of carton board with 37 production locations in 15 countries  in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Latin America and Asia, and is listed on the Vienna stock exchange. The group employs around 10,000 people.

Mayr-Melnhof is known for anti-labour practices. In 2012, the company announced the closure of a factory in Liverpool, United Kingdom, affecting 109 Unite members, without respecting the legal requirement of a 90-day consultation period. This resulted in the first lock out in the British paper and printing industry for over 50 years. The European works council initiated legal proceedings as the company violated information and consultation rights over a plant closure in Gunskirchen, Austria and the acquisition of seven French sites.

Hundreds of Tenaris workers protest in Romania

The union organized a number of rallies, including the most recent on 5 August, where hundreds of workers and their family members participated. Armed with vuvuzelas, whistles, tricolor flags and banners with messages blaming their employer and governors, protesters complained about low wages.

"The employer proves the same attitude of indifference, so we will continue to go out in the streets,"

says Alexandru Rus, leader of the Zalău metallurgist union, member of IndustriALL affiliate FSS-METAROM.

He also explained that on Thursday, 9 August, he would meet in Bucharest with officials of the Labour Ministry and the National Labor Inspectorate to explain facts about workers’ situation in the pipeline factory.

Alexandru Rus also referred to the problems in the national legislation, he particularly referred to amendments made to the national Social Dialogue Law in 2011, which resulted in a significant increase of Romanian workers paid only the minimum wage. According to his estimation currently there are about 34 per cent of them, compared to 8 per cent before the law was amended. Alexandru Rus explained that “At this moment, 8 out of 10 Romanian employees earn [monthly, editor’s remark] less than RON 2,050 (Euro 440).”

According to his words, so far employer’s offer is to raise salaries between RON 100 (Euro 20) and RON 200 (Euro 40), while the union demands are between RON 250 (Euro 50) and RON 350 (Euro 75) for each worker. In the hope that their voices are heard, TenarisSilcotub workers promised to hold new protests in the coming period.

There are about 1,500 people working in the Zalău factory.

Tenaris’ arrogant and negligent behavior towards workers and failure to bargain in good faith in Romania is not an exception. Unions in other countries are also facing similar troubles with this company. For instance, in Colombia workers claim that Tenaris TuboCaribe has not negotiated in good faith and has not signed a collective agreement. The company suspended seven trade union leaders for 15 days for having distributed flyers in which they explained the company and union position during the negotiations.

In Guatemala, IndustriALL had to lodge an OECD complaint against multinational steel producer Ternium, part of the same Techint Group as Tenaris, for refusing to recognize and negotiate with a trade union at its operations in the country.

Kemal Ozkan, IndustriALL Assistant general secretary says,

“IndustriALL stands in firm solidarity with the rightful struggle of our sisters and brothers at TenarisSilcotub pipe factory in Zalău, Romania same as at Tenaris and Ternium in Colombia and Guatemala. We will continue working alongside the Tenaris Ternium Workers' World Council and will denounce ruthless attitude of the company, until justice prevails for all Tenaris and Ternium workers.”

Mozambique: Union demands better wage deal from Sasol

At a meeting in Temane, a natural gas exploration and production plant with a workforce of 143, workers are demanding above-inflation wage increases and collective agreements extended from the current one year to two years.

Workers also want to be represented by a union official during collective bargaining instead of a shop steward, as it is common in these meetings that management sends human resources experts and lawyers to negotiations. Further, they want the union’s capacity on collective bargaining to be improved.

The workers are organized by IndustriALL affiliate in Mozambique, SINTIQUIAF, say relations between the union and the company are not cordial, and therefore not conducive to fair bargaining.

SINTIQUIAF members at Sasol Temane are also calling for a better deal and feel short-changed after getting only a 13 per cent increase, which is below the current inflation rate of 21 per cent. .

When a rotation allowance, which was part of their salaries, was stopped, workers lost earnings. They hope that in the future, revisions of job categories should lead to promotions. The stand-by watch system also disadvantages them as stand-by watchers earn more than the person performing the job.

Workers are further calling for an improved housing system. Although some workers are accommodated in a suitable housing facility, others live too close to the site which can be a serious health risk due to gas emissions from production activities.

As part of collaboration among IndustriALL affiliates in Sub Saharan Africa, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union, shared experiences on the bargaining structures and formats in the petroleum sector in South Africa from which lessons could be drawn for Mozambique.

Shop stewards were advised to build their negotiations capacity by getting more information from the company, government institutions on other wage offers and ensuring that workers were united and followed the collective bargaining process.

Jessica Gune, general secretary of SINTIQUIAF says:

While we appreciate that Sasol takes care of workers especially on health and safety, we would want the same efforts to be made towards improving collective bargaining and paying better wages. Sasol must also improve its relations with the union.

Mozambique is one of the emerging countries in the oil and gas sector. According to its national development strategy natural resources should be used for economic development and to end poverty.

India: unions to tackle challenges faced by young workers

The meeting of youth trade union activists witnessed enthusiastic participation of young unionists from across India working in various IndustriALL sectors including mining, metal industries, cement, garment and textiles, automobile, electrical and electronics. Participants underlined that young workers face enormous challenges including precarious work, low wages, poor working conditions, work intensification and lack of knowledge and training on health and safety issues.

Violations of young workers’ rights are rampant due to lack unionization and awareness about advantages and benefits of joining unions among young workers. The union movement should develop innovative and youth friendly communication strategies and dedicate adequate resources to address young workers’ issues, providing appropriate space for them in union structures and leadership positions.

Addressing the young workers, S Q Zama, general secretary of IndustriALL affiliate Indian National Mine Workers Federation said:

As we are witnessing the ascent of right wing and divisive forces across the world, young workers need to play a crucial role in building unity among workers within the union, workplaces and society at large. They should work together to remove all forms of discrimination.

Sarah Flores, IndustriALL youth and project officer said:

India has a big youth population, but young workers in India are facing challenges with high unemployment or precarious working conditions. We believe that with an exchange of experiences and solidarity, we can tackle these challenges. Achieving gender equality should be an integral part of young workers’ agenda. Now it is the high time for real action.

Participants at the meeting decided to intensify organizing efforts to attract more youth working in manufacturing sectors and precarious workers. They decided to strengthen internal communication and will also share the story of their struggle and success with IndustriALL periodically. Participants committed to organize more field meetings on union building and organizing sports and cultural events with focus on reaching out more young workers. They also took the pledge that they will never discriminate anyone the basis of their gender, religion, region, caste and ideological believes.