Stop union busting at world’s biggest hanger company

Management at Mainetti’s subsidiary, Mainettech Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, is refusing to recognize IndustriALL’s affiliate, the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union (FTZ & GSEU), as a collective bargaining party and has sacked the branch union organizer.

The union also reports that some members were pressured into renouncing their membership and workers were in such fear of losing their jobs that they disbanded the union at the factory.

The dispute, which has dragged on for several months, began after FTZ & GSEU succeeded in organizing 88 workers at Mainetti’s Sri Lankan subsidiary Mainettech Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, exceeding the mandatory 40 per cent of workers necessary to be recognized as a collective bargaining agent.

The company argued the union did not have enough members to exceed 40 per cent representation. However, FTZ & GSEU upholds that its members account for 60 per cent of manual workers on permanent contracts at Mainettech Lanka, which excludes workers employed through agencies or those working less than 90 days.

In February 2018, Mainettech suspended the union’s branch organizer, vice-president and branch secretary, alleging they had organized union meetings during working hours and disrupted production. However, the union says no such meetings took place. After an internal inquiry the branch organizer, Mr G.G. Mahinda, was sacked in May 2018.

Parent company, Mainetti, employs over 5,000 people in 49 countries supplying some of the world’s biggest brands including Abercrombie and Fitch, Nike, Hugo Boss, Walmart and so on.

After IndustriALL reached out to customers in April 2018 to inform them of the dispute in their supply chain, management at the Sri Lankan subsidiary said it was no longer able to discuss the union’s demands.

According to FTZ & GSEU, management continued its intimidation of workers, threatening to close down the factory if the union continued. Consequently, some union members signed letters to renounce their union membership.

In June 2018, Mainettech threatened the union president with disciplinary action on spurious charges that he strongly contested. Under mounting pressure, he disbanded the union, and the charges were dropped.

Mainettech has also set up an employees’ council without allowing workers to vote or following prescribed protocol.

“Mainettech management should stop union busting, reinstate the branch union organizer and stop using the employees’ council to undermine the union. Workers should be free to exercise their right to join a union as enshrined in our country constitution,” said Anton Marcus, Joint Secretary of FTZ & GSEU.

IndustriALL’s general secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“Workers at Mainetti’s subsidiary in Sri Lanka have truly been hung out to dry and left without a union despite their legitimate desire for representation by our affiliate. We urge Mainetti to step in to resolve the dispute at Mainettech Lanka so that FTZ & GSEU is rightly recognized as the lawful collective bargaining agent. We also want the former branch organizer is reinstated with immediate effect. We’ll continue to engage with brands that source from Mainettech so they fulfill their global agreements on respecting workers’ rights along their supply chain.”

Brands that have not signed the 2018 Accord

Australia

Noni B

Pacific Brands

Austria

Fashion Team Handels

Belgium

Malu N.V.

France

CMT Windfield

EMC Distribution

Germany

Colombus Textilvertrieb GmbH

Comazo GmbH & Co Kg

Crown Textil GmbH

Full Service Handels GmbH

Hess Natur-Textilien GmbH

Horst Krüger GmbH

Jolo Fashion

Face to Face GmbH & Co.KG

Multiline Group *

OSPIG Textil Logistik GmbH

Rheinwalt Trade & more GmbH i.Gr.

United Labels AG

Viania

Worldtex GmbH

Yanis Textil Trade GmbH

Hong Kong

Entrade Manufacturing Co. Limited *

Heli Far East Ltd *

Mosgen Limited *

Techno Design GmbH

Italy

Teddy S.p.A.

Netherlands

De Bijenkorf

Bovi Verdi BV

Veldhoven Group

Vingino

Sweden

Ted Bernhardtz at Work

Unibrands AB

Switzerland

Charles Vogele

Vistaprint

United Kingdom

Aristocrate Distributor Ltd

Bebe Clothing (UK) LTD

Character World

Danielle Group plc

Hawkesbay Sportswear Limited UK

Milords

Nu Sourcing Ltd

Wilson Design Source Supply

USA

Abercrombie & Fitch

Accolade Group (Accolade USA Inc, Levelwear)

Antigua Group Inc

E5 USA, Inc.

J2 Licensing, Inc

L.A. T Sportswear, Inc

Lakeshirts, Inc.

MV Sport, Inc.

Sean John Apparel

T Shirt International, Inc.

Topline, Inc.

“Back to the plantation!” Union fights refinery closure in Trinidad and Tobago

On the eve of the 56th anniversary of independence from Britain, the government of Trinidad and Tobago yesterday announced the closure of the country’s only refinery, with the loss of 2,500 permanent jobs at state-owned oil company Petrotrin. The announcement is part of a restructuring plan for the debt-burdened company. All 3,500 workers will be sent home, but approximately 1,000 will be able to reapply for their jobs.

The board of the company met with IndustriALL Global Union affiliate OWTU yesterday. Although the government and company deny privatization plans, union president general Ancel Roget said:

“So you are going to close down the refinery. What do you do with the refinery after? Our suspicion is that after you send the workers home, make a terminalling operation, import fuel at high cost, use foreign exchange to import that fuel, you will then sell in a fire sale. The real owners will emerge….
“This means back to the plantation! Back to being producers of raw materials. We will produce crude, but instead of refining it ourselves, we will sell it. Others will add the value and sell it back to us.”

OWTU has expressed longstanding concerns about the management of the troubled company, and since 2008 has called for the company to be restructured so that the people of the country benefit. Petrotrin is the largest state-owned company in Trinidad and Tobago, and is a mainstay of the economy. However, years of mismanagement has led to a dramatic fall in production and the loss of billions of dollars in value.

Concerns raised by the union include a disturbing number of fatalities and other safety issues, which were not resolved, a lack of investment in aging infrastructure, the corrupt awarding of contracts and political patronage. Megaprojects have run into significant cost overruns, have not been completed in time, and resulted in no perceived benefit.

The union was angered by a statement made by the energy minister, who claimed that the wage bill accounts for 50 per cent of the cost of the highly indebted company. The union has shown that wages cost just 11 per cent, and that the reason for the indebtedness is a legacy of gross mismanagement.

“Trinidad and Tobago with celebrate 56 years of independence from Britain on 31 August”, said union spokesperson Ozzie Warwick.

“But how do you have economic independence if we, the people, do not own the commanding heights of the economy?”

Industrial general secretary Valter Sanches called on the government of Trinidad and Tobago to include OWTU in negotiations about restructuring the company, saying:

This decision would not only destroy the livelihood and welfare of the workers and their communities, but would also take the country back to colonial times.
Ceding of sovereignty—over the exploitation of key natural resources, and the generation of added-value products—to private interest, would run counter to the aspirations of the people and workers of Trinidad and Tobago to consolidate its democracy and achieve sustainable development on its own terms.

IndustriALL calls on its affiliates to show solidarity with OWTU as it struggles the save the jobs of its members, and the assets of the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

Union leaders in Colombia face threats and violence

19 trade union members have been murdered in Colombia so far in 2018, according to the ITUC Global Rights Index, which ranks Colombia among the ten worst countries for workers.

Another report, "Anti-union violence, impunity and protection of trade unionists in Colombia", published by NGO Escuela Nacional Sindical, states that there were 2,220 violations against the life, freedom and integrity of Colombian trade unionists, including 143 murders, between 2012 and 2017.

Social leaders are also targets of violence. The Ombudsman's Office of Colombia has reported that 343 social leaders and human rights activists were murdered across the country between 1 January 2016 and 22 August 2018.

The increase in threats and violence against both social and trade union leaders has prompted representatives of the international trade union federations in Latin America to write to President Duque to express their concern.

They denounce the fact that, although the peace process began two years ago, it has not led to greater stability at a national level, in economic terms or with regard to human rights and social justice.

The letter says:

It goes without saying that a country that cannot safeguard the lives of its citizens when they themselves are fighting for their human rights cannot possibly achieve social justice.

Calling for measures to improve security and thus better protection of Colombia's citizens, they also said that judicial procedures need to be reviewed in order to end impunity for these crimes.

The federations joined the recent statement made by the United Nations Organization in Colombia condemning the killings of human rights activists and social leaders, and urging the Colombian government to strengthen prevention, protection and investigation measures to guarantee the right to life and integrity of all Colombians.

The unions reaffirmed their commitment to fostering an honest, ongoing and constructive dialogue with the government. Their aim is to create a programme that will promote decent working conditions, establish inspection mechanisms to bring an end to informal working arrangements and lay the groundwork for collective bargaining by sector.

Garment unions in Cambodia and Myanmar step closer to a living wage

Garment unions also discussed and debated brand purchasing practices and their impact on wages and working conditions. The workshops are part of a global programme between IndustriALL Global Union and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), which focuses on technical assistance for IndustriALL’s garment affiliates in strengthening their living wage campaigns.

Cambodian textile and garment unions agreed on strategies for both the minimum wage and industry bargaining processes. Wage discussions in Cambodia are at a critical stage. The annual minimum wage adjustment process is about to start while negotiations between unions and employers for an industry agreement linked to the ACT process on living wages are well underway.

ACT process is based on a unique agreement between global brands and retailers and trade unions aimed at transforming garment and textile industry and achieve living wages for workers through industry-wide collective bargaining linked to purchasing practices.

In Cambodia, one of the key issues will be how the industry-wide collective agreement deals with wages, building on the minimum wage. Unions discussed how to ensure that the eventual agreement raises wages to a level that will trigger the commitments made by brands under the ACT process.

As part of the annual minimum wage bargaining, Cambodian unions agreed to meet again to agree a common figure for their wage demand. This will be based on an update to the several criteria established by the unions to assess the amounts workers need to pay for housing, food, health etc.

As consultations with the government and employers continues under the ACT process, IndustriALL Myanmar affiliate, the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar and its members from different regions of the country also held a living wage workshop with the focus to better understand sectoral bargaining. Trade unions became legal in Myanmar in 2012. Myanmar’s first minimum wage came into force in 2015 and the minimum wage has reached 4,800 kyats per day (3,25 USD) after a minimum wage campaign was launched. Like in Cambodia, the minimum wage is insufficient to meet workers’ basic needs.

The unions also discussed advantages of a sectoral bargaining versus enterprise bargaining and concluded that increase in productivity should result in better wages and working conditions and better industrial relations in the entire industry through more motivation, more work-life balance, skill training, less turnover, and stronger social peace.

Jenny Holdcroft, IndustriALL assistant general secretary,

“Understanding how brand purchasing practices impact on wages and working conditions in factories is crucial. Through the ACT process, brands have committed to changing how they do business with their suppliers so that wages and conditions are not undermined.”

During the workshops the unions identified brand practices that have the greatest negative impact and must be reformed. Apart from pricing, which must be enough to cover all the costs of employing workers, unions agreed that late orders cause major problems in factories. These include increasing working hours, undermining wages and working conditions and causing high levels of job insecurity through temporary contracts, job losses and even factory closures. The participants called on brands to address these negative impacts through sustainable orders, better planning, setting appropriate prices and working in closer cooperation with factories to ensure that worker rights are respected.

Beyond Bangladesh, OECD countries must act to save lives in the garment industry

A bloody line had been crossed. People in countries around the world began caring who made their clothes, and how. Having dismissed warning after warning, global apparel brands could no longer ignore the dangerous working conditions at their supplier factories. Self-regulated safety audits were exposed as shams.

Global unions, IndustriALL and UNI, seized the moment and produced the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building, an unprecedented, independent, legally binding agreement between trade unions and brands. The goal: that no worker need fear fires, building collapses, or other accidents that could be prevented with reasonable health and safety measures. It meant that brands had to take responsibility for making their supplier factories safe, and pay towards it too.

Expert fire and building safety engineers working for the Bangladesh Accord have since inspected more than 1,600 factories making garments for over 200 brands and retailers. Initial inspections identified 118,500 fire, electrical and structural hazards of which 84% have been corrected. The Accord training team has conducted 2,838 safety committee training sessions with workers at over 1,000 factories.

The Bangladesh Accord works because it has teeth. Two international brands that failed to meet their legal commitments have been successfully taken to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. This has led to millions of dollars in reparations being used to remedy life-threatening hazards at the brands’ supplier factories. A further US$300,000 has been paid into a fund to support IndustriALL and UNI’s work to improve pay and conditions for workers in global supply chains.

Five years on, the Bangladesh Accord stands as a model for industrial relations, and shows that brands and unions can work together to solve systemic problems. The Bangladeshi ready-made garment industry is undoubtedly safer, and lives have been saved.

However, the work of the accord, which expired at the end of May 2018, is not complete. Too many life-threatening hazards at supplier factories remain, which is why more than 180 brands (and counting) have signed the new 2018 Transition Accord, which already covers approximately 2 million garment workers in Bangladesh, most of whom are women.

The 2018 accord has greater scope to cover home textiles and footwear and, crucially, gives more power to workers. The new agreement meets OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector, recognising that workers are not peripheral to the due diligence process, but core to it. It upholds the importance of freedom of association in ensuring workers have a genuine say in protecting their own safety. It will also establish a training and complaints protocol to ensure that this right is respected.

Without labour rights, the gains made in health and safety will not be maintained. Severe anti-union violence and discrimination continues in Bangladesh making it very often impossible for workers to organise and bargain collectively.

OECD countries must use their voice to condemn the attacks on workers and trade unions in Bangladesh. OECD member countries promise to uphold fundamental labour rights and sign up to guidelines to commit multinational enterprises to take responsibility for workers in their global supply chains. This must also include working with trade unions on a national or sector-wide level to achieve wages that, at the very least, meet the basic needs of workers and their families.

The EU, as Bangladesh’s biggest trading partner, also has a major role to play. Bangladesh benefits from preferential trade tariffs under the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences. In turn, Bangladesh is expected to put into practice key UN human rights and International Labour Organization conventions. This is clearly not happening and yet Bangladesh is given chance after chance to put matters right. OECD countries, many of which are also members of the EU, cannot turn a blind eye to these violations. They must speak up.

The Bangladesh Accord will continue its work until 2021, or until the Bangladesh government is ready to take over its functions.

We have the tools to make a better garment industry. We must use them. Public pressure to improve the working conditions of garment workers has never been greater, and now is the time to push for change. The lives of garment workers in Bangladesh and in many places beyond depend on it.

This article was written by IndustriALL Global Union and UNI Global Union and was originally published in the OECD Observer

Belarus: Two independent union leaders convicted despite absence of proof

During the court trial of the case dubbed as “trade union case” no convincing evidence was presented. Most of the evidence presented in court looked either rigged or collected in violation of legal norms of Belarus or were not relevant to the trialled period of 2011-2012. In their final defense opinion both lawyers demanded full acquittal for both union leaders.

Natalia Matskevich, Gennady Fedynich’s lawyer, stated, (statement in full)

“Whichever of the proofs presented by the state prosecution you take, upon a closer examination, it crumbles like sand. They were either obtained through an obvious violation of the law (that is, they are unacceptable), or cause justified doubts about their reliability, or have nothing to do with the presented charge.”

The judge found Gennady Fedynich and Ihar Komlik guilty of tax evasion and sentenced them to a fine of BYN 47,560 (over US$23,000), a four-year suspended imprisonment and a ban on holding senior positions for 5 years. Both leaders will have to pay also all the court expenses along with administrative fines. The judge did not follow the prosecutor's request for confiscation of union leaders’ property, and also canceled the arrest issued on their private apartments, lands and cars.

If the sentence is sustained despite appeals prepared by the union lawyers, Gennady Fedynich will not be able to continue as president of the union, similar situation regards also Ihar Komlik. The announced suspended imprisonment is not much better than imprisonment, since private freedom of move for both leaders will be restricted by numerous regulations.

The announcement of the verdict was met with shouts "Shame!".

In the morning of the day of announcement of the verdict, tens of union members and civil society representatives submitted an appeal to the head of the state in Administration of President demanding to stop the case against union leaders.

During the verdict announcement a picket line was organized near the House of Justice. Riot policemen detained the most active picketers, including activists of the REP union Pavel Mrochko from Brest and Alexander Chmyhov from Bobruisk.

IndustriALL covered the court hearings in a special blog. In addition, at most hearings there were observers from national affiliates of IndustriALL, all of them agreed that the case was politically motivated and no trustful evidence was presented by prosecutors.

Kemal Ozkan, IndustriALL assistant secretary general and Vadim Borisov IndustriALL regional secretary attended the verdict announcement.

Kemal Ozkan called both leaders “political prisoners” and said:

"IndustriALL Global Union believes that even though the trade union case was against two individuals, for us it is something against trade union itself and in a broader sense against the rights of independent trade unions. IndustriALL and our affiliates will continue to support REP, Gennady Fedynich and Ihar Komlik in their struggle for defending and advancing workers’ rights in this country.”

Gennady Fedynich, chairman of trade union REP and member of IndustriALL Executive Committee , comments on the verdict,

”By todays verdict the Belarusian authorities showed that they do not bother to fulfill the international norms which they signed earlier. We expect now that Europe will react to this, because this nonchalance to the norms according to which the entire Europe lives is inacceptable.”

Ihar Komlik, chair of Minsk city organization of REP, and chief accountant of REP union, says the verdict is a “reward” to the trade union REP, and its leadership for the work done by the union,

“The verdict confirms one more time that Belarus cares the least about international and national legislation. The pronounced verdict is not based on proofs, its only reason was the political motivation that the trade union REP represents a threat to lawlessness including in labour relations taking place in Belarus.”

IndustriALL will continue monitoring situation in Belarus and escalate the campaign in support of Belarusian independent trade unions through various actions including approaching intergovernmental agencies.

Croatian shipbuilders strike over non-payment of wages

Workers are striking at the Uljanik yard in Pula and the Third of May (3. Maj) yard in Rijeka on Croatia’s Adriatic coast. The strike committee, made up of the three unions at the yards, issued a statement calling for the payment of their salaries, and for the resignation of the management of the company.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Croatian metalworkers’ union SMH-IS which represents workers at the yards, has called on the government of Croatia to intervene and cover salary costs in the short term until a restructuring plan is finalized.

SMH-IS supported an application by the Croatian government to the European Commission for approval to underwrite loans to the company to help it meet existing orders. IndustriAll Europe worked with the Croatian Permanent Representation to the EU and the Commission to highlight the importance of the loan so that workers would be paid. In January, the Commission approved a 96 million euros loan guarantee, saving thousands of jobs.

A restructuring plan developed by Uljanik management entails the investment of 24 million euros in Uljanik by Kermas Energija, owned by shipping magnate Danko Končar. This would make Kermas Energija the majority owner. Kermas Energija has paid half this amount, enabling the company to settle some debt and maintain production, but not enough to pay salaries.

An expected loan from the government-owned Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) has not yet materialized. The restructuring plan is subject to approval from the European Commission. Workers at the yards are calling for the deal to be finalized and the remaining money to be paid so that their jobs can be saved.

In an interview on Croatian TV news, SMH-IS president Siniša Kosić stressed that a funding gap need to be bridged so that production could be maintained and jobs saved:

“We need capital to resume production. 3. Maj and Uljanik have orders that need to be fulfilled, and if they are fulfilled that will bring fresh capital….
“There should be a way to overcome these two critical months.”

In a solidarity letter to SMH-IS, IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches wrote:

“It is vitally important that the workers at Uljanik receive their salaries and that their jobs are saved. Shipbuilding is a cornerstone of Croatian industry. These are skilled jobs within a complex supply chain which is critical to the local economy.
“It is also vital that a long term strategy to ensure the sustainability of these yards is found. Workers suffer as the company lurches from crisis to crisis, and the government cannot keep lending public money to privatized industries.”

One of the world’s oldest shipyards, Uljanik was founded in 1856 for the Austro-Hungarian navy. In 2013, ahead of Croatia’s accession to the European Union, Uljanik was privatized, and the newly formed company also acquired the 3. Maj yard. The company is responsible for 6,500 jobs in the Rijeka and Pula regions. Union members hold just under 50 per cent of the shares in Uljanik.

Liberian unions demand better working conditions at Firestone rubber plantations

Led by IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Agriculture Agro-Processing and Industrial Workers Union of Liberia (AAIWUL), in collaboration with the Golden Veroleum Oil Plantation workers and the Sigma group of companies, the unions want Firestone-Liberia to fulfil its promises on improving the wages and the living and working conditions of workers. According to the unions, this failure to act undermined the government’s pro-poor agenda.

When the president and managing director of Firestone-Liberia, Edmundo Garcia, recently told the House of Representatives that the least paid worker earned US$8.36 per day, the workers immediately demanded that they be paid that amount and went on strike to push for the promised earnings.

The announcement was contrary to the minimum of $5.60 per day that Firestone pays which is low for the hard work that workers were doing. In some instances, this back-breaking work includes tapping at least 500 trees per worker before mid-morning, and collecting the latex in the afternoon.

Medical staff at the plantations also worked under precarious conditions. For example, medical doctors and nurses were not paid overtime in violation of the Decent Work Act

Unions are also demanding that the 2008 agreement to employ 50 per cent Liberians should be implemented. Firestone should also provide technical assistance to small holder farmers to enable them to enter the rubber industry.

Firestone, which has a monopoly on rubber production in the country, often with government support, has produced rubber from Liberia for over 90 years. The company has also been condemned for dumping toxic waste into rivers where local communities got drinking water.

Edwin Cisco, AAIWUL general secretary, wants the government “to stand firm and demand that Firestone-Liberia meets its obligations as required by the law.” He says the company must stop “providing inaccurate and misleading information that makes a complete mockery of the valuable service provided by the workers.”

Said Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa: “It is incumbent upon multinational companies like Firestone to pay living wages and improve working and living conditions of workers. Companies cannot continue to declare profits at the expense of suffering workers.”

Australia: 1,600 Alcoa workers strike over job security

Members of IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) from the Kwinana, Pinjarra and Wagerup aluminium refineries, the Huntley and Willowdale bauxite mines, and Bunbury Port started industrial action on August 8, after Alcoa applied to Australia’s workplace regulator to terminate the collective agreement. About 1,200 people gathered at the Pinjarra sports grounds to show their support.

The workers are striking to defend the current agreement. Negotiations broke down because the company wants to end minimum staffing levels but failed to provide assurances about job security. Workers want a guarantee of no forced redundancies. The company used threats of termination in an attempt to intimidate the workforce into accepting new working conditions. AWU Western Australia branch president Andy Hacking, who works at the Kwinana refinery, was quoted in local media, saying:

“This is all about Alcoa being prepared to talk. Many of us are long-term employees who have never caused them any grief but they won’t provide assurances about not casualising employment, outsourcing contractors or agreements on manning hours.”

IndustriALL convenes a global network of unions in Alcoa. Unions in the network, including FICA-UGT in Spain, Industri Energi in Norway and the Machinists' Union (IAMAW) and United Steelworkers (USW) in the US and Canada have written to the AWU to pledge their support.

In a solidarity letter to the AWU, IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches wrote:

“IndustriALL Global Union condemns in the strongest terms Alcoa of Australia’ intransigent stance, which would deny workers any job security. Furthermore, we find it unacceptable that the company is threatening workers with termination, as a way of pressuring them into accepting substandard working conditions.
“We stand strong in solidarity with our sisters and brothers at Alcoa's Pinjarra, Wagerup, and Kwinana refineries, and the Huntley and Willowdale bauxite mines, and you can count on our full support, which will include coordinating international solidarity from unions with membership at Alcoa’s sites worldwide.”

Alcoa is a US-based multinational aluminium producer. More than a thousand members of the USW have been locked out of the Bécancour refinery in Quebec, Canada, since January this year. The refinery is 75 per cent owned by Alcoa.

The Australian refineries account for around 8 percent of the world’s alumina supply. On 22 August, workers demonstrated in Solidarity Park outside the provincial parliament in Perth.