Schneider Electric workers rally for union rights in India

Condemning transfer of union office bearers and demanding the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, Luminous Power Technologies workers held a rally on 9 June 2018 at Gagret Tehsil Amb, District Una Himachal Pradesh.

Workers by their collective decision formed their own organization Luminous Power Technologies Workers Union on 26 March 2018, in response to increasing violations of their rights, poor working conditions and problems with occupational health and safety.

The union has completed all the process required for union registration. However, as soon as the management learnt of the workers’ initiative to form the union, it unleashed various vindictive and union busting activities including threatening union committee members and changing work shift of all union office bearers in order to isolate them and undermine their ability to meet other union members at workplace.

Further, the management has transferred all 12 office bearers to the company Hosur Tamilnadu plant, which is more than 2,800 km away from Himachal Pradesh. The transfer of all office bearers, just before initiation of the trade union verification process by the labour administration, cannot be a coincidence and will inevitably halt union formation efforts.

According to workers, some managers of Luminous Power Technologies used abusive language based on the caste of the union office bearers in order to humiliate them and denigrate the union in front of other workers and restrain them from joining the union. Workers have filed a police complaint against those abusive management officials.

In their letter to Schneider Electric management workers demanded that company:

Global unions unite to support independent trade unions in Algeria

The rally, supported by IndustriALL Global Union, IUF, PSI, ITUC plus trade unionists from many countries, took place during the International Labour Conference being held at the United Nations from 28 May to 8 June. The Algerian government has been under examination by the Committee on the Application of Standards at the ILC for repeated violations of ILO Convention 87 on freedom of association in the country. 

It is the fourth time in the last five years that Algeria has been chosen for special attention by CAS. In February this year, an ILO direct-contact mission, recommended by CAS in June 2017, had to be cancelled after the Algerian government refused to allow access to independent unions.

Speaking at the CAS discussion on Algeria, Raouf Mellal, President of IndustriALL energy affiliate SNATEGS, said: 

“We have been subjected to a terrible campaign of repression, despite Algeria's ratification of most of the international conventions devoted to trade union freedoms.” 

He told the Committee that the Ministry of Labour has twice sought to dissolve his union, in direct contradiction of Algerian law. More than 223 union leaders have been dismissed in 2017 because of their involvement in SNATEGS. Meanwhile, Raouf Mellal and two other SNATEGS leaders, General Secretary, Mr. Abdelkader Kouafi, and Bin Al-Zain Sulaiman, head of the SNATEGS affiliated Security Guards Trade Union, have all been sentenced to prison on various charges related to whistleblowing, defamation and even speaking in defense of a woman who faced sexual harassment at work.

The CAS also heard testimony from the Autonomous General Confederation of Workers in Algeria (CGATA), which has been waiting in vain for formal legal recognition since 2013, a procedure which according to law requires no more than 30 days. 

Public sector union, SNAPAP, told the Committee that the Algerian authorities had set up a state-backed organization with the same name. Every time SNAPAP tries to organize a union branch, the local administration and security forces intimidate workers to join the clone organization instead.

During the CAS discussion on Algeria, Employers’ Group spokesperson, Sonia Regenbogen, expressed disappointment that the ILO mission failed to take place. 

In the conclusions of the CAS discussion on Algeria, the Committee recommended the government now accepts a high-level ILO mission to the country, without restriction, before November 2018. 

Kemal Özkan, assistant general secretary at IndustriALL, said: 

“We urge the Algerian government to accept a high-level mission from the ILO, without conditions, to allow for a proper examination of trade union freedoms. The democratic voice of workers in Algeria will not be silenced and we will continue to give our support to independent unions in the country.” 

Towards a convention on gender based violence in the workplace

IndustriALL spoke to affiliate, Rose Omamo from the Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metalworkers, who is part of the Workers’ group pushing for ILC to adopt standards on violence and harassment in the world of work.

“the negotiations were tough but we really got a lot of support from Governments who really supported the workers to have a convention. We are happy because we have a convention supplemented by a recommendation,”

Governments, workers and employers have agreed that the nature of the future instrument on the issue should be a convention supplemented by recommendation.

The workers have achieved a lot, we have got the words ‘gender based violence’ in the preamble, we also got domestic violence in the preamble and scope. The worker definitions have been broadened to the world of work and not just in the workplace,” said Omamo

This is a significant achievement as it means that the worker is protected not only in the workplace but outside the workplace as well (eg. at the bus stop or at the worker’s home).

“We hope to package what we have not been able to tackle for next year. We are happy about this workers really wanted a standard that would be used globally, so for us we are happy with the achievements and we will continue to work on the challenges in the years to come,” Omamo concluded.

ITUC Global Rights Index 2018: shrinking democratic space and rising corporate greed

The ITUC Global Rights Index 2018 ranks 142 countries against 97 internationally recognised indicators to assess where workers’ rights are best protected in law and in practice.

The three global trends for workers’ rights identified in the 2018 Global Rights Index are  shrinking democratic space, unchecked corporate influence and the importance of legislation.

Democracy is under attack in countries that fail to guarantee people’s right to organize, speak out and take action. Brazil passed laws that denied freedom of association, China restricted free speech and the military was used to suppress labour disputes in Indonesia,

says Sharan Burrow, general secretary, International Trade Union Confederation.

More countries are excluding workers from labour law – from migrant workers, public sector employees to workers in platform businesses, with 65 per cent of countries excluding whole categories of workers from labour law.

Decent work and democratic rights grew weaker in almost all countries, while inequality continued to grow.

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches says:

Unfortunately, violations of workers’ and trade union rights is more a rule than an exception. During this last week we have supported a number of countries’ workers' groups during the International Labour Conference, where only the most serious cases are discussed according to the ILO parties. We’ll keep pushing multilateral organizations to play a role on this and will also keep mobilizing international solidarity when needed.

The report’s key findings include:

African unions condemn global trade in used clothes as it suffocates textile sector

Africa imports 32 per cent of the world’s used clothes valued at US$1 billion and the main customers are poor people who can’t afford new clothes. The global trade rakes in US $3.7 billion.

Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda are amongst some of the big markets for the used clothes. In the same countries, the garment and textile industries have either collapsed or are struggling with thousands of jobs lost.

With little success, governments have tried to ban or impose huge tariffs on the used clothes, but as often clothes are smuggled across borders, like in Zimbabwe.

IndustriALL affiliates in Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe are against importing used clothes as it threatens the growth of the garment and textile sector which suffered huge blows in the 1980s and 1990s with the adoption of the neoliberal International Monetary Fund/World Bank sponsored structural adjustment policies. They argue that the growth of the sector has potential to create jobs for hundreds of thousands of young women and other workers along the value chain. The unions also say cheap imports from China made locally produced clothes more expensive.

The East African Community announced a ban on used clothes, and Rwanda implemented the ban despite threats by the US that it was violating the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), to which it is a signatory with 40 other African countries. After the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textile Association petitioned to the US Trade Representative that the ban by Rwanda would cost 40 000 jobs in the US, the East African country was suspended from AGOA.

However, facing US pressure Rwanda insisted in April that as the ban restores the “dignity” of the country’s citizens and will create over 25,000 domestic jobs, it will not withdraw the ban. On the other hand, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda opted to retain AGOA benefits and did not implement the ban.

Says Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa:

We call upon governments to develop sustainable policies that promote the development of the garment and textile sector and the employment of young workers. International trade agreements should prioritize the interests of developing countries instead of promoting the dumping of used clothes on the continent.

Ericsson unionists strengthen network in South and South East Asia

Aiming to strengthen trade union networks at the telecommunications multinational in South and South East Asia, union representatives from Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and Sweden along with representatives from IndustriALL Global Union and UNI Global Union met in New Delhi.

Karin Aberg, from Swedish affiliate Unionen, provided an overview of how the Ericsson European works council (EWC) works, and said:

Proactive engagement in Ericsson EWC is key to defending workers rights in Europe. We extend solidarity to Ericsson workers around the world in their efforts in defending workers rights

When explaining the network’s strategic plan, Kan Matsuzaki, IndustriALL director for ICT, Electrical and Electronics sector said:

Ericsson trade union network is a key initiative at the global level. While Ericsson is one of the progressive employers, we are still witnessing the cases of union busting, hurdles for freedom of association and rampant precarious work at various levels including at Ericsson’s suppliers.

We are looking to empower unions and ensure common rights and standards globally.

Participants agreed on the cross-border cooperation and solidarity actions to develop organizing strategy in respective countries and decided to explore the possibility for effective use of Global Deal to achieve decent work for Ericsson workers in the region.

The Ericsson trade union network was formed in April 2016, aiming to bring unions together in a network to address global challenges, engage with the company in global dialogue, support union organizing and collective bargaining efforts, and ensure respect for workers’ rights.

Glencore must account for unreported deaths at its Zambia mines

IndustriALL has received reports of three deaths at Glencore’s Zambian operations in 2017. Glencore has reported only one fatality and Glencore’s Zambian subsidiary claims it was fatality-free.

Glencore mines for copper in Zambia through its majority shareholding in Mopani Copper Mines.

Glencore chief executive officer Ivan Glasenberg remarked on Glencore’s 2018 first quarter earnings call about the company’s health and safety performance in 2017, stating “the one area we did have a lot of success is African Copper where we only had one fatality in 2017, which is the lowest in history in one of these asset regions and this is where we have spent a lot of work. It seems that we’re achieving success there…”

At Glencore’s annual general meeting on 2 May, after IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan raised concern about the accuracy of Glencore’s health, safety and environment (HSE) reporting, Glencore chairman Tony Hayward stated “I take complete issue with you on the quality of our HSE reporting…I refute completely your assertion that they are somehow not representative of what’s going on at our operations.”

IndustriALL conducted a mission to Glencore’s Zambia copper mines in March 2018 and interviewed numerous Mopani employees. IndustriALL has received reports from Mopani workers and managers of the three deaths in 2017.

One occupational fatality involved a worker who died from a blood clot after a steel support structure he was erecting fell on and fractured his leg on 14 July 2017. Glencore concluded in its investigation report that causes of the incident included a lack of planning the task, no risk assessment was conducted, no qualified persons were engaged in the task and there was no authorization for the job by a qualified engineer.

A second occupational fatality involved a worker who reportedly previously was employed by Mopani and returned to Glencore as a contractor after his normal retirement age. He collapsed and died underground while at work at Mopani’s Mufulira Mine in 2017. The cause of death was apparently not determined with certainty though workers suspect heat stroke. Mopani denies this although no post mortem was conducted.

Mopani retrenched over four thousand workers in 2015, and some of the remaining miners must frequently work 24 hours straight underground.

A child who was not employed at the site drowned in a Mopani pond near one of the tailings dams on 11 June 2017. Although this was not an occupational fatality, it is a certainly a fatality that should have been mentioned in Glencore’s reporting.

Glencore employees in Zambia report that Mopani has claimed Mopani was fatality-free in 2017. They also report that Glencore threatened to close the mine if there was a fatality in 2017. Glencore reported in February that it had nine fatalities from nine incidents globally in 2017, including one in Zambia.

Stated IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches in a letter to Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg:

“Glencore needs to publicly account for the three deaths at its Zambian mines in 2017 and explain why it only reported one of these while its subsidiary reported none. Glencore also should cease its widespread practice of threatening negative consequences for reporting of health and safety incidents since this promotes underreporting rather than prevents fatalities.”

“Workers at Glencore’s mines in Bolivia, where Glencore reported two fatalities in 2017, also told IndustriALL that Glencore threatened to close the mines if there were further accidents. We encourage Glencore to do a thorough review of its fatality reporting in Zambia, Bolivia and other locations where it has suppressed the reporting of accidents through threatening negative consequences for doing so.”

“The fact that both Glencore workers who died at Mopani in 2017 were contractors raises serious questions about Glencore management of its contractors, especially since one of the workers who died underground was reportedly past his retirement age. Questions about Glencore contractor management are significant given the number of contractors as a percentage of Glencore’s total workforce has increased dramatically in recent years,” added Sanches.

Boeing South Carolina mechanics vote to join Machinists Union

A bargaining unit of flight line mechanics, who ensure that the Dreamliner 787s built at the factory are flight ready, has voted to join the Machinists Union. The 176 workers represent a portion of the 7,000 who work at the South Carolina site, and the victory opens a significant beachhead in a longstanding battle to unionize the site.

National Labor Relations Board rules mean that groups within a workforce – “micro units” – can negotiate union contracts if their working conditions meet certain criteria. The union hopes to set a precedent with the micro unit, encouraging other parts of the workforce to unionize.

The IAM represents 35,000 Boeing workers at 24 locations in the US, but the company had until now successfully fought off unionization efforts in South Carolina. The US South is notoriously anti-union, and South Carolina has the lowest private sector union density in the US. Previous attempts to unionize the factory failed, including an attempt in 2015, when the anti-union campaign was led by state governor Nikki Hailey, currently the US ambassador to the UN.

Boeing fought the current organizing drive as well, hiring union busters and forcing workers to attend anti-union meetings. The company filed last minute legal challenges to the vote and attempted to have the ballot boxes impounded. When the result was announced, the company expressed disappointment and pledged to try to have the vote declared illegal.

The IAM’s Mike Evans, who lead the organizing drive at the site, said:

“This election was never just about wages. The men and women wanted dignity and consistency in the workplace. And this vote put them closer to achieving those goals. We hope Boeing does the right thing by agreeing to sit down and negotiate in good faith with the dedicated Flight Readiness Technicians.” 

IndustriALL aerospace director Georg Leutert said:

“In the South, employers, government and Members of Congress work together to create a very hostile environment for unions. Boeing tried everything to stop these workers from unionizing, and yet they chose to stand up for dignity and respect at work. This is a major achievement, and we hope more will follow. We congratulate the IAM.

“It is time for Boeing to be mature and establish a productive relationship with the union.”

The IAM represents 600,000 members at companies that include Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, General Electric, United Airlines and Harley-Davidson.

Brazilian oil workers temporarily suspend national strike

The Superior Labor Court (TST) declared the strike illegal because of its "abusive" nature and imposed sanctions of two million reais per day (USD$ 540,000) for the unions that backed the strike called by the Federation of Petroleum Workers of Brazil (FUP).

“The decision of the TST seeks to criminalize and marginalize social and trade union movements. The FUP calls on its affiliated unions to suspend the strike, in a momentary and necessary step back for constructing an indefinite strike. This serious violation of trade union rights must be widely denounced,“ says the FUP.

The hike in the price of oil derivatives is directly related to the new policy implemented by the illegitimate government of Michel Temer and the CEO of Petrobras Pedro Parente, following the coup d'état against Dilma Rousseff.

Prices are influenced by fluctuations of the dollar and the value of a barrel of oil on international markets, and increases strengthen the position of private companies and multinationals operating in the sector.

At the same time, these same factors have a negative affect on Brazil's industrial development. It is for this reason that the workers are seeking to prevent the privatisation of the state-owned company in order to safeguard jobs, resume production in the refineries and put and end to imports of oil derivatives.

The strike and demonstrations are taking place in an atmosphere of protest, given that for more than one week independent truckers in Brazil have been striking against rising diesel prices. The Government, for its part, has been speaking of a "lockout" by the transport companies.

All this has led to shortages in fuel and basic products, flights have been cancelled, factory production has been halted due to a lack of supplies, and animals have died as a result of shortages in animal feed. The country is going through an unprecedented crisis. The solution is a return to democracy and the establishment of a legitimate government.

"IndustriALL expresses its solidarity with the Brazilian people and the FUP, supports the demands of the tanker drivers, and demands that Petrobras uses its own refineries and does not sell them off to foreign investors. If the refineries are sold, the Brazilian people will have to pay much more for petrol, diesel and cooking gas. Changes in the policy of fuel prices barely serves the interests of international financial capital, absurdly increases profits and harms the Brazilian people", concludes Valter Sanches, general secretary of IndustriALL.

IndustriALL Global Union’s statement on recent developments on steel and aluminium tariffs

In these circumstances, IndustriALL will increase its efforts to combat the persistent global problem of steel and aluminium overcapacity. Although we strongly support efforts to preserve and create jobs in the steel and aluminium industries, we criticize the implementation of tariffs which, as in this case, are indiscriminate, unilateral, and unfair and can provoke a trade war, which in turn would put at risk thousands of jobs in several countries.

Our governments must coordinate efforts in international forums such as the OECD Steel Committee and the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity to pressure China to reduce its capacity, to end unfair practices that create overcapacity, and to prevent it to happen in other countries. IndustriALL Global Union will continue to support those efforts, continue to participate in the OECD Steel Committee, and will continue to seek to open the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity to trade union participation.

We further commit to increasing collaboration among our unions in combatting the problem of global overcapacity of steel and aluminium. This collaboration will help to ensure that our global union power and solidarity are strengthened.  In this sense, IndustriALL Global Union will participate at the IndustriALL Europe Base Metals meeting in Brussels next week to discuss this issue.

We will keep on working together in solidarity with all our affiliates in the steel and aluminium sectors so that unilateral governmental decisions do not threaten jobs anywhere in the world.