Shell’s abuse of workers exposed at London green-washing festival

Shell’s Make The Future Live runs from 5 to 8 July at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and and is expected to attract up to 40,000 people. It aims to convince millennial audiences that Shell cares about their future. 

And yet, thanks to Shell’s unfair employment policies, near 200,000 contract workers at Shell have got no future –  working in temporary, insecure jobs. 

Contract workers outnumber permanent workers more than two to one at Shell, and as the company freely admits, do the most dangerous jobs. In Nigeria, unions say subcontractors working for Shell “pay whatever they like and sack at will.”

Shell outsourcing is putting workers and the public at risk. Last year, Shell was held responsible after 217 people died when a contracted tanker carrying fuel for Shell in Pakistan crashed and then exploded. 

Shell has poured millions into its #makethefuture campaign, recruiting popstars such as Pixie Lott and Jennifer Hudson to promote its token green energy policies. However, contract workers at Shell struggle on lower wages and face an uncertain future.

IndustriALL has launched an online petition on LabourStart demanding that Shell: 

Shell is refusing to negotiate with IndustriALL as a representative of workers at Shell worldwide, to ensure better rights for contract workers at its operations across the globe. 

IndustriALL’s assistant general secretary, Kemal Özkan, said:

“Shell is a global company, with global operations and a global human resources department, and yet it refuses to deal with IndustriALL on a global level. This is a concerted attempt to reduce workers’ power and prevent the majority of its workforce having an influence over their own working terms and conditions. As Shell holds its Make The Future festival, we urge the company to make a secure future for hundreds of thousands of workers it depends on.”  

Union organizing still a priority in Georgia

TUMMCIWG's actions have been supported through a four-year project by IndustriALL and its Norwegian affiliate IndustriEnergi. Thanks to promising results, the project will be extended.

During an evaluation seminar in Tbilisi on 25-26 June, TUMMCIWG’s national and local leaders shared the results achieved. The union was the first in the CIS sub-region to actively use the Institute of mediators and to seek the assistance of the government in labour disputes with employer.
 
Despite a constant pressure from employers at many enterprises, and a declining number of members, the union has managed to strengthen its influence. After more than a year of negotiations, a collective agreement for the Ksani glass container factory in Georgia was signed.

The union repeatedly tried to increase the number of members at the Zestafoni Ferroalloy Plant to 450, but faced waves of attacks at every attempt. Instead, the TUMMCIWG decided to keep the existing 350 members and to direct efforts where progress can be made. Having overcome serious disagreements, the union signed a collective agreement with a comprehensive benefits package. Union representatives were included in all commissions, including the Commission on bonus distribution.
 
Tamaz Dolaberidze, TUMMCIWG president, states:

Since 2016 we have signed three collective agreements, and we will be very happy if our partnership continues. I would like to thank IndustriEnergi and IndustriALL Global Union. We are not alone but part of a global movement, it gives us a great impetus to move forward.

Frode Alfheim, president of IndustriEnergi and co-chair of IndustriALL’s energy section, announced the continuation of their support for the organizing project.
 
In the new phase of the project, not only members of the TUMMCIWG, but also potential members, activists and leaders of from other unions will be invited to discuss possible cooperation and joint actions.
 
Participants discussed the possibility of joint workshops with trade union activists and employer representatives on the development of social dialogue, with the aim of removing tension and to build constructive relations. This could also change the image of the union, showing that unions are responsible social partners and demanding the same from the employer.

TUMMCIWG will focus on more effective representation of workers at the workplace in order to motivate them to join the union.
 
Kemal Ozkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, says:

Our Georgian sisters and brothers have a progressive union agenda by putting membership growth as their number one priority. IndustriALL shares that priority and we will continue to provide support.

We also thank IndustriEnergi for their support. We hope that the new strategy will bring new victories.

Union tells Glencore to stop stooping low on the right to strike in South Africa

This is what Glencore tried to do to break a month-long strike at its Tweefontein and Goedgevonden coal operations in Mpumalanga, South Africa, when it went to the Labour Court for an interdict to stop the collective job action. However, on 29 June the court dismissed Glencore’s application to stop the strike, saying it is not urgent.

Workers belonging to IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), have been on strike since 4 June demanding the right to paid leave during the Christmas break in December. The union argues that as December is a normal working month, workers should be entitled to paid leave.

Says NUMSA general secretary Irvin Jim:

Glencore is a brutal employer with a laundry list of infringements against workers. Every worker has the right to protest and to withdraw their labour to secure better wages and improved working conditions. We reject Glencore’s attempts to undermine the right to strike and will continue to put pressure on them to stop denying workers the right to go home during the Christmas holidays.

Further, Jim also condemns Glencore’s “notorious” violation of workers’ rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and globally.

In April, NUMSA marched to the head office of Glencore in Johannesburg where it submitted a petition to the company to respect workers’ rights and to stop union bashing. The union is also demanding that Glencore adopts centralized bargaining. The company continues to reject centralized bargaining, which benefits workers in that it standardizes wages across a company’s operations and allows for collective bargaining agreements to be signed that cover all workers.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Ozkan states:

We condemn the use of legal action as an instrument to intimidate workers. Glencore must respect workers’ right to strike and must engage in good-faith dialogue with the workers over their reasonable demands for paid leave in December and for centralized bargaining. Any attempts by Glencore to undermine workers’ rights and conditions of service will be resisted.

EDF

The responsibilities include:

More generally, this agreement promotes human rights, diversity, health and safety, skills development and social protection for the company’s employees and subcontractors wherever the Group is based as well as the principle of a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies for all.

This new Group agreement replaces a previous agreement on social and environmental responsibility signed by EDF in 2005 and renewed in 2009. The purpose of this new text is to incorporate new social requirements for employees and support EDF’s international development in keeping with the company’s public service values. It complements the 6 corporate responsibility targets set by EDF in favour of the energy transition and the Group’s Cap 2030 strategy. Implementation of the agreement will be overseen by an international supervisory committee.

Lesotho unions demand new minimum wages now

Although negotiations are taking place within the Wages Advisory Board where unions, government and employers are represented, an agreement has not yet been found.

Workers are demanding a 15 per cent increase while employers are offering only seven per cent.

For example, the minimum wages for the garment and textile sector are currently set at Lesotho Loti 1238 per month (US$89) which is not enough for workers to look after their families and pay for basics like rent, food and transport.

Unions want the minimum wage in this sector to be US$144 and are also demanding that the minimums in all sectors be revised upwards towards a living wage of over US$200.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, Independent Democratic Union of Lesotho (IDUL), and seven other unions organizing in sectors including the garment and textile, manufacturing and mining took to the streets in Maseru and Maputsoe to protest the delays and the low wages.

Petitions were delivered to the prime minister, the ministry of labour and employment, and to parliament. Unions are also demanding that the minister of labour and employment, Keketso Rantso, be removed from her position for not announcing the minimum wages on time. They say because of the delay, the minister has neglected the welfare of workers and their families.
 
Through the union building project, IDUL is also campaigning for full pay while on maternity leave for women workers from the garment and textile sector. The union also wants better health and safety at workplaces, improved job security and respect for workers’ rights.
 
With over 56 per cent of the population living in poverty, and youth unemployment at 47 per cent, better wages can improve workers lives. The opening of new factories can also create jobs and improve living conditions in the country.
 
Says Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa:

Workers end up living in poverty because of low subsistence wages. It is therefore important for minimum wages to be increased. Therefore, we are urging the government of Lesotho to urgently announce minimum living wages.

IndustriALL raises Glencore human rights violations with UN Human Rights Council

The UN HRC is currently meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. The statement, titled “Workers’ Human Rights Violations by Glencore around the World”, highlights Glencore’s violations of workers’ human rights in numerous countries, and points to Glencore as an example of why a binding UN treaty on multinationals and human rights is needed.

IndustriALL attended the UN HRC meeting on 27 June and delivered an oral statement. On 21 June, IndustriALL spoke at a UN HRC side event on the need for a binding treaty.

Speaking at the UN HRC meeting, IndustriALL campaigns director Adam Lee said:

“Glencore’s systematic practice of violating workers’ human rights around the world with almost total impunity highlights the urgent need for an international legally binding instrument allowing the regulation of transnational corporations′ activities and their impacts on human rights.

“This instrument would also be an essential tool to guarantee access to justice for the victims and the affected communities.”

The statement highlights instances of rights violations by the company. These include health and safety concerns in Bolivia, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia, where Glencore has displayed a pattern of behaviour that shifts the blame for safety violations onto the workforce.

Despite intensifying work pressure and failing to provide adequate training or equipment, Glencore has threatened to close operations if there are accidents.

Glencore’s workforce is increasingly precarious, as the percentage of contractors used by the company grew to 43 per cent last year. In some cases, the company contracts out workers in violation of local laws. Casualized workers have no security, lower pay and worse conditions. They are deterred from joining unions because they risk being replaced if they do.

Glencore actively undermines its workers’ rights to freedom of association by attempting to break unions. In Australia, workers were locked out of the Oaky North mine and placed under surveillance for resisting plans to replace them with contractors.

In Canada, Glencore hired strike breakers during a recent nine-month dispute at the CEZinc refinery, while in Peru, the company fired union members, offering to reinstate them if they left the union.

Because Glencore is Swiss based, the statement also urges the Swiss government to intervene and ensure that the company does not violate human rights in other countries.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“Our affiliates have consistently raised Glencore’s violations of workers’ human rights over the years. However, Glencore has refused meaningful dialogue, forcing us to appeal to the UN HRC.

“We will continue to raise these issues in every forum available to us until Glencore commits to respecting the rights of its workers and working with us resolve the situation.”

Yves Rocher needs to reinstate sacked workers

Pressure is high on Yves Rocher to intervene and order its subsidiary, Kosan Kozmetik, to reinstate the sacked workers in Gebze. However, the only public reaction from the company has been an amateurish tweet regularly sent out by the company’s communication department. The dismissive tweet tries to claim that as the Yves Rocher subsidiary in question is producing under the Turkish brand logo Flormar there is no connection with Yves Rocher.

IndustriALL repeatedly responds calling for more mature dialogue with the company than a basic tweet.

Instead of talking with the union, the factory management has installed barbed wire around the surrounding walls to keep the dismissed workers away.

One of the dismissed workers, Barış Tekin, lies seriously ill with kidney failure, but that did not stop the Yves Rocher subsidiary sacking him. Barış started working in the plant in 2006 and was a dedicated employee, despite being diagnosed with cancer in 2010. He joined Petrol-Is with the majority of the Yves Rocher workers because he was sick of stagnating low wages. And the employer sacked him for it.

Now actions are growing in support of the sacked workers. IndustriALL affiliates have been sending solidarity messages from around the world, especially in France. The general secretary of France’s largest trade union confederation, Laurent Berger of CFDT, used his Congress speech in June to highlight the union busting of Yves Rocher. The Congress was held in Rennes, just a few miles away from the Yves Rocher headquarters.

There is huge community and union support for the sacked Yves Rocher workers. Every day there are numerous actions and manifestations in front of the factory and Flormar stores, calling for the sacked workers to get their jobs back. The workers’ slogan is

No Flormar, resistance makes you beautiful!

All of the workers still in their job who have shown support for the dismissed colleagues are now being sent on compulsory leave.

French media has covered the campaign for a return to work for the sacked union members. IndustriALL has officially asked the French Ministry of Labour to intervene with Yves Rocher in the spirit of the French Bill on the Duty of Care of Parent and Subcontracting Companies (LOI n° 2017-399 du 27 mars 2017).

Now SumOfUs, the large international campaigning group, has taken up the Yves Rocher case as a priority campaign. Thousands of supporters daily are signing the online SumOfUs petition called for Yves Rocher to stop the union busting in Turkey.

Support the workers and join the campaign! 

IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan said:

We will expand this campaign until Yves Rocher does what is right and gets our sacked sisters and brothers back in their jobs. Our next escalation will be actions at the Yves Rocher buildings in Paris. Yves Rocher must behave in line with its own ethical commitments in this case. Simply reinstate the 124 dismissed people, recognize their right to join Petrol-Is, and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement.

Australia: CFMMEU tells Kimberly Clark to stop holding workers to ransom

The rolling industrial action is indefinite and challenges the constant threat of mill closure and job losses. Kimberly Clark’s Millicent mill is the largest employer in the South Australia South East region, with over 400 workers.

The Construction Forestry Maritime Mining Energy Union (CFMMEU) has been attempting to bargain a new collective agreement with Kimberly Clark management at the Millicent mill since 2014. This has meant a four-year stagnation of wages, which is a pay cut in real terms as cost of living increases.

Denise Campbell-Burns, President of the CFMMEU Manufacturing Division’s Pulp & Paper District said:

“Negotiations have dragged on since 2014, with wages frozen the whole time, but it is the growing uncertainty about the future of the mill and whether people will even have a job next year that is most difficult for workers to deal with.”

The company is best known for its Huggies and Kleenex brands. Despite consistently branding itself as a family company, Kimberly Clark is developing more of a reputation as an anti-union, anti-worker company. The irresponsible announcement from the company in January that over 5,000 jobs would be cut now seems to have been a move to increase the share value of the company.

But as the threat still looms that 10 plants will be closed somewhere in Kimberly Clark’s global operations; all employees face uncertainty. The Australian strikes are pushing for a modest wage increase and improved redundancy provisions in case the mill is shut.

CFMMEU members remain committed to working with Kimberly Clark to reduce costs that will ensure the ongoing viability of the mill. The union has already proposed significant long term saving measures.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“We stand alongside our CFMMEU sisters and brothers at the Millicent mill, as they fight back and refuse to be held to ransom by this never-ending threat of closure. Kimberly Clark is turning its back on dedicated employees in North America, Europe, and Asia, as well as Australia. This is not a sustainable business model, and certainly damages the high-quality family brand that has been build up over the years.”

Successful national strike in Argentina

For 24 hours on 25 June, all services were paralyzed in Argentina. There were no planes, trains, subways, buses, banks or shops open. The empty streets were a testimony of the successful general strike called by the trade union centre CGT, supported by both CTA union centres.

According to an official statement, CGT decided on the strike measure

after a thorough debate, impressing on the authorities the need for changes in the direction of economic policy, to warn about the effects of the brutal economic adjustment on the population, and not receiving responses to the complaints

Workers have rejected the agreement between the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a US$50,000 million loan, arguing that it will have dire consequences on employment, public works, social security systems, regional economies and public services.

Unions have condemned the veto imposed by Macri on a draft law limiting the increase in tariffs for public services. Instead, unions are demanding that the government review the planned cuts in public administration and limit the layoffs in the private sector.

Unions are also asking the government to reopen the tripartite wage adjustment negotiations for 2018, to take full account of the inflation forecast, which already exceeds the percentage calculated at the beginning of the year.

The clear message from the national trade union centres is that Argentina’s government must listen and respond to the demands and engage in social dialogue to help overcome the crisis and prevent new conflicts.

Marino Vani, IndustriALL Global Union regional secretary, says:

We stand in solidarity with workers in Argentina and congratulate them on the general strike against the economic policies of Macri’s government. Only unity, social dialogue and fighting back can bring an end to it.

South Africa: Union demands justice for woman worker murdered at electricity sub-station

There are fears that the case might be dismissed for lack of evidence as critical information from surveillance cameras has disappeared. The court heard last year that before the murder, Yende wanted to expose a criminal gang involved in stealing copper cables from power lines for sale to scrap metal dealers.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA), where she was a member, demands justice and says Eskom is complicit by not assisting in making the evidence available to law enforcement agencies. Says NUMSA in a statement:

“Her body was found in the workplace. It is virtually impossible for outsiders to access the sub-station on their own. She did not kill and lock herself in the office. Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that her killers are either employees or were assisted by employees of Eskom.”

The union wants the case to be treated just like other high-profile cases, and for the South African Police Services and the National Prosecuting Authority “to take gender-based violence seriously by prioritizing investigations into the case.”

In a tribute to Yende, NUMSA says it will not rest until the truth is known.

“She was a hard-working ambitious young woman whose life was senselessly cut down in her prime. Her young son will have to live the rest of his life without the love and care of his mother.”

NUMSA has signed the IndustriALL Pledge in which unions make a commitment to fight all forms of violence against women at the workplace and in the unions.

South African workplaces continue to be unsafe as women face sexual harassment, rape and murder. According to the Statistics South Africa report Crime Against Women in South Africa 2018, the murder rate for women in the country increased by 117 per cent between 2015 and 2016/17 while rape was more than five times the global average.