Changing behaviours – organizing in Myanmar

There is still resistance to joining a union among workers in Myanmar, as they fear for reprisals, and unions are often met with skepticism from employers.

We have a good relationship with the management, and we meet once a month,

says Win Thegyi Soe, who used to work as a machine operator but is now a full-time union president paid by the employer. Her union is affiliated to Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar, which in its turn is affiliated to IndustriALL.

Well-functioning industrial relations were not the case with the factory’s previous management. In 2016, after several attempts to engage management in fruitful discussions on working conditions with the union, workers went on strike for two weeks.

After a change in management, the union negotiated a collective agreement, covering the 1,200 workers. In addition to regulated working hours, minimum wage and bonuses, and social security, workers also have access to transport to and from work, as well as a clinic with a nurse.

The working week for garment workers in Myanmar is 44 hours, often with additional 19 hours overtime.

Myanmar’s new minimum wage as of 1 April is 4,800 kyats.

It is not enough; the new minimum wage is far from a living wage for a single individual, let alone if the worker has dependents,

says Khaing Zar, IWFM general secretary.

Trade unions became legal in Myanmar in 2012. In December 2014 the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM) and the Mining Workers Federation of Myanmar (MWFM) joined IndustriALL Global Union. Both trade unions are affiliated to the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM), one of three central confederations in the country.

Together with external donors SASK and Mondiaal FNV, IndustriALL runs a project in Myanmar aiming to build stronger unions in the country through identifying and overcoming obstacles to organizing.

Sanches urges rethink on African development strategies

Sanches spoke at a Sub Saharan Africa regional executive meeting, in Dakar, Senegal on April 12, to affiliates from Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

He emphasized that trade unions have to prepare as the global economy moves to newer technologies that need different raw materials from Africa. Decreased demand for some minerals and for oil and gas means that jobs will be lost in those sectors, resulting in governments getting less revenue. Investing more in manufacturing is an essential strategy for the future.

Sanches said: “Opportunities still exist as the continent has rare earth minerals including cobalt, lithium, zinc and nickel that are in high demand. However, these have to be mined responsibly, and this is part of our campaign against Glencore’s behaviour at cobalt mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia”.

Sanches also met with the Senegalese Minister of Labour and Social Dialogue Samba Sy to deliver the same message. He was accompanied by the regional secretary for Sub Sahara Africa, Paule France Ndessomin and general secretaries from local affiliates, Seyne Ndiaye (SUTIDS), Ousmane Diop (SYNTICS) and Doudou Cisse (SNTIC).

Recent developments show that in a few years – as the world moves towards electric cars – the demand for petrol and diesel cars will slump. Some European cities have even already announced moves to ban combustion engine cars.

Africa’s post-colonial development strategy has been centred on the extraction of raw materials for sale to Europe, America and recently China. This strategy has been dominated by multinational corporations with little role for governments, resulting in huge profits at the expense of communities and workers exploited through poverty wages. It has been easy to violate trade union rights and disrupt the livelihoods of millions of people.

In March, 44 African heads of states and governments met in Kigali, Rwanda and signed an African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Speaking on the initiative, Sanches said:

“The announcement of AfCFTA is welcome, but IndustriALL believes in multilateralism which involves trade unions and social movements. This means governments should have included unions and social movements as key stakeholders in the free trade agreement consultations. Otherwise, we will end up with a free trade agreement that will not promote decent work but precarious conditions of employment and poor wages”.

Energy transition is another key area for Africa, with calls for the development of sustainable industrial policies that are not dependent on fossil fuels and oil and gas. Just transition plans should be put in place to protect workers’ rights and welfare, as well as redeploy workers who lose jobs due to the closure of coal mines.

Meeting recommends policies to end women workers’ rights violations in Sub Saharan Africa

Maternity protection is amongst the issues raised at the Sub Saharan Africa women’s executive meeting in Dakar, Senegal April 10 -11 that was attended by delegates from Burkina Faso, Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The meeting urged unions to adopt policies that ended gender discrimination and sexual harassment at workplaces.

Campaigns on women’s rights at the workplace carried by the IndustriALL affiliates at the meeting focused on physical, emotional and psychological abuses as well as gender discrimination and sexual harassment. The campaigns also took place in communities where the workers lived. For example, in Senegal, gender-based violence included rape, forced marriages, and female genital mutilation.

Says Beauty Zibula, regional chairperson of the IndustriALL women executive committee:

Women are dying from injuries sustained in gender-based violence. To stop this, we must use domestic laws and international conventions to protect women workers and union members.

The meeting encouraged unions to develop gender policies that guided on how to stop sexual harassment and gender-based violence. For instance, affiliates in Ghana and Zimbabwe have already developed gender policies.

Further, the meeting recommended that IndustriALL should support and develop a gender policy which affiliates could use and adapt according to their country contexts. An anti-harassment policy is also needed.

The meeting also agreed on the need to train and include more women in collective bargaining.

Adds Zibula:

Unions should stop excluding trained women negotiators from collective bargaining. This often resulted in the signing of collective bargaining agreements that omitted the specific needs of women workers.

Says Paule-France Ndessomin regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa:

Our affiliates in Sub Saharan Africa have a key responsibility to work towards the elimination of violence against women not only institutionally, but also through educating their members and the wider community, advocacy and collective bargaining. Women should be commended for breaking the silence and being more vocal on how they are being forced into having sex with their superiors.

Government officials including the ministries of trade and mines, and the ministry of labour, and union leaders, signed the IndustriALL pledge on violence and harassment against women.

100 jobs lost as Nigeria’s textile sector continues to decline

The National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), an IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, is worried by the job losses and factory closures which, it argues, can be reversed if the government of Nigeria takes measures to protect the textile sector. For example, buying bulk goods from the factories as well as promoting the buying of Nigerian made textile products over the imported ones can help in the recovery of the sector.

NUTGTWN also welcomes on-going government plans to revive the garment and textile sector in the country. Government policies including the Nigeria Cotton Textile Development Scheme should be given more support. Among other things, the scheme aims to promote the growing of more cotton by giving seedlings to farmers.

Union president John Adaji says:

“We have to see the immediate and effective enforcement of the presidential order on procurement of made in Nigeria goods and put an end to the reckless smuggling and counterfeiting of textiles. There must be effective implementation of the cotton, textile and garment policy. Nigeria must also launch a campaign like the Wear South African campaign which saved jobs and rescued some factories from closing.” The campaign was started by another IndustriALL affiliate, the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union.

Cheaper garment imports and smuggling of clothing have badly affected the sector and Adaji says better infrastructure and reliable and affordable electricity were key to turning things around.

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

“Reviving declining industries in the garment and textile sector is important for industrial development in Nigeria. This can only happen if factories remain open and continue to manufacture.”

Since the 1980s the sector, which used to be a major contributor to the country’s economy, has declined with over 500 000 jobs lost. Over $278 million was invested in the garment and textile sector in 2010.

Yemen: DNO fails to respect Supreme Court ruling

In April 2015, after civil war broke out, DNO fired its Yemeni workforce by text message and left the country. In doing so it violated its production contract with the Yemeni government, as well as labour law. DNO paid neither wages nor severance packages workers.

The DNO Yemen Union has fought for justice for the workers, primarily through the legal system. The union approached the Ministry of Oil after the illegal terminations, who found that the employment contracts were still valid and the workers were entitled to full pay. The company ignored a summons from the ministry, and was taken to court.

DNO has subsequently lost a series of court cases, and in each case has appealed the verdict. In August 2016, the labour court found in favour of the workers. DNO appealed, and in February 2017, the appeal court ruled that DNO should pay 75 per cent of outstanding salaries and bonuses. Instead of complying, DNO appealed to the Supreme Court.

On 18 February 2018, the Supreme Court in Sana'a rejected the appeal and upheld the verdict of the appeal court. DNO has failed to comply with the ruling.

In the meantime, the 175 workers are waiting for justice, and face many problems, including:

DNO Yemen Union has been assisted by IndustriALL Global Union and Norwegian affiliate Industri Energi. At a recent meeting in Beirut, Espen Løken of Industri Energi explained the steps his union had taken to support the DNO Yemen union. In December 2016, Industri Energi filed a complaint with the Norwegian contact point for responsible business, which ensures that Norwegian companies abide by OECD guidelines for responsible business.

The OECD contact point released its final report on 9 April 2018, and found that DNO had failed to abide by OECD guidelines on notification and consultation.

“It is clear that DNO did not notify or consult with the workers or their representatives before the dismissals were made and production suspended in Yemen.”

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“DNO is dragging out the process because it wants to wear down its opponents through attrition. It may take time, but we will win justice for the workers in Yemen. We will also strengthen our organizing at DNO sites across the region, so workers can better defend themselves against this shameful company.”

Workers come out worst in Responsible Mining Index

The Responsible Mining Index 2018, launched in Geneva, Switzerland, on 11 April, assesses 30 global mining companies on several economic, environmental, social and governance issues, including working conditions.

“While there is no winner in this ranking, the loser is clear – workers,” said IndustriALL Global Union Assistant General Secretary, Kemal Özkan, speaking at the launch. “The Index shows what we have known all along – that while there is often the commitment from mining companies to do better, this does not turn into action.”

The Index, which is independent of the industry, ranks the mining companies on six thematic areas: working conditions; economic development; business conduct; lifecycle management; community wellbeing; and environmental responsibility.

IndustriALL, working with its affiliates in the mining sector, provided the lead on the working conditions issue and contributed to some overlapping issue areas of concern such as community well-being and the environmental responsibility. Peter Colley, National Director of Research at IndustriALL’s Australian affiliate CFMEU, who participated in the development of the index, said:

“Rather than simply looking for company statements of principle and intent on an issue, the Index seeks to drill down looking for documentary evidence on what practices have been adopted, and then what performance and monitoring is occurring.”

The study shows that while the majority of the assessed mining companies show responsible policies or practices on the six factors, very few companies show systematic action across a range of key issues.

Little or no action is found even on issues such as monitoring the impacts of mining on children, tracking whether community grievances are being dealt with appropriately, or checking that workers’ wages meet or exceed living wage standards.

Too often, companies have not put into practice some of their own policy commitments on responsible mining, such as on the management of human rights issues.

“It is no surprise to us that mining companies have performed so badly on the key theme related to working conditions. To us, this result is a confirmation of our long-held view that the mining industry, despite their protestations to the contrary, continue to disregard the aspirations of their workers, even though they want us to believe that workers are their most important asset,” said Glen Mpufane, Director for mining at IndustriALL.

The 30 mining companies on the Index operate over 700 mines in more than 40 countries, representing a quarter of the global production of mined commodities.  

In conclusion, Kemal Özkan said:

“We welcome the Responsible Mining Index as an additional instrument in our toolbox to improve the working conditions of mineworkers around the world and we regard it as an important initiative to promote much-needed dialogue in the industry.

Bulgaria: GFAs in garment sector promoting rights

Co-sponsored by Spanish-based global retailer, Inditex, the meeting on 30 March 2018 was also attended by other GFA partners Swedish H&M and British ASOS, together with their main suppliers in Bulgaria. IndustriALL Global Union and its Bulgarian affiliates, FOSIL/CITUB and the Federation of Light Industry/Podkrepa, brought a labour view to discussions. 

The objective of the meeting was to underline the importance of freedom of association and workplace cooperation in global supply chains, as well as raise awareness of the benefits of genuine social dialogue and GFA implementation in the garment sector in Bulgaria. The three GFA-partner global brands have sizable sourcing from Bulgaria.

The ILO explained how international legal frameworks regulate rights and responsibilities at the workplace and their application in global supply chains. Freedom of association, collective bargaining and the benefits of sectoral level bargaining were highlighted. The Better Work program of the ILO was presented as a way to promote responsible workplace practices for both workers and companies. 

The three brands, having GFAs with IndustriALL Global Union and being part of the ACT initiative, emphasized that GFAs are an essential part of their core business model.  The brands reiterated their pledge to respect ILO core labour standards and expressed their determination to work with suppliers and unions’ representatives to ensure effective GFA implementation and achieve decent work in the Bulgarian textile and garment sector.    

IndustriALL’s Bulgarian affiliates expressed their desire that their Government develop an effective strategy for the garment sector, promoting investment and employing more workers. According to the Bulgarian unions, in the absence of an employers’ association, collective bargaining, if any takes place at the plant level.

The Bulgarian garment industry is characterized by poor working conditions, very low wages (the legal minimum wage is currently at US$322 a month) and lack of prospects, making the industry unattractive to young people.

At the end of the meeting, IndustriALL Global Union’s two Bulgarian affiliates said:

“The GFAs give us value and leverage with a clear perspective on how to conduct successful dialogue between social partners and how to solve problems together. The only way forward for us here in Bulgaria is effective and meaningful industrial relations with a mechanism where decisions are taken jointly for the benefit of workers and enterprises the textile and garment sector.”

Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL Global Union’s Director for Textile, Garment, Leather and Shoe Industries said:

“The GFAs are important tools that IndustriALL Global Union has been developing for quite a long time. GFAs are playing a key role in different parts of the world, and now in Bulgaria. Our objective is to give our utmost support to our Bulgarian affiliates as part of the strategic goals of our global union.”

Turkey: unions unite to demand living wage in textile and garment sector

This commitment was announced in a meeting in Istanbul where corporate signatories of ACT met with IndustriALL and its Turkish affiliates – Teksif, Öz İplik İş, Disk/Tekstil and Deriteks – to discuss the implementation of ACT in the Turkish garment industry. 

The ACT initiative is conducting similar drives in the main textile and garment producing countries to transform the industry with living wages for workers through industry-wide collective bargaining linked to purchasing practices.

In most garment and textile producing countries, including Turkey, workers’ wages are currently set well below a living wage. There is increasing awareness that raising wages of workers in the textile and garment supply chain to a living wage cannot be achieved by retailers and brands acting alone. ACT aims at bringing together global brands and retailers, trade unions, manufacturers and governments to work together to achieve living wages.

Textile, garment and leathers sectors are among the main drivers of the economy in Turkey as one of the three largest export industries. Turkey is among the top textile and garment producing countries. Although official figures show around a million workers employed in the sector, various studies report at least double that, due to the unregistered economy.

The legal minimum wage is determined on annual basis through the Minimum Wage Fixing Board composed of representatives of Government, employers and trade unions. The Board takes its decisions by majority vote. In general, minimum wage is set by the agreement of Government and employers with the opposition of trade unions.

The legal minimum wage for 2018 is gross 2.029,50 TRY (around US$ 500) and net 1.603,12 TRY (around US$ 400). Most textile and garment workers earn around this minimum wage, which is far from a living wage.

At the meeting, participants debated how minimum wage mechanisms have proven to be insufficient in raising wages to a living wage and how ACT will work to establish industry-wide collective bargaining agreements that build upon the minimum wage mechanism, enabling living wages to be achieved, negotiated by national trade unions and manufacturers together.

The participants recognized that the role of purchasing practices is essential to achieving living wages. ACT members continue to work towards ensuring that their respective purchasing practices facilitate the payment of a living wage.

IndustriALL’s Turkish affiliates proposed several suggestions on where the brands’ purchasing practices have the greatest negative impact on wages and working conditions, including price negotiations, proper labour pricing, predictability, planning, and forecasting.

Before the meeting with ACT signatories, IndustriALL’s Turkish affiliates agreed to develop their dialogue and collaboration in producing joint positions and taking joint action when possible. This also covers co-existence in processes, projects and structures relevant to the global framework agreements signed by IndustriALL and collaboration and working together in the ACT process.

“We express our heartfelt congratulations to our Turkish textile, garment and leather sector affiliates over their genuine and sincere work towards cooperation among themselves,” said IndustriALL assistant general secretary Jenny Holdcroft.

“We have already made exemplary successful work in Turkey in using global framework agreements in union organizing and developing social dialogue at a number of suppliers. Now it is time to introduce the ACT initiative for better wages in the sector. I am certain that we will manage it”.

From cardboard to plastics – threat of job losses looms over workers in Saint Lucia

The threat to jobs comes after banana exporter Winfresh announced it was switching from the carboard cartons produced by Winera in St Lucia to plastic crates imported from the US as a result of an industry-wide trend among UK supermarkets to move from cardboard to recyclable plastic IFCO crates.

The move will destroy 150 jobs, which will have a considerable impact on workers, their families and the economy in the small Caribbean country.

“Companies are often quick to throw their hands in the air”, says the NUW. “But when jobs are on the line, employers and the government need to do more to protect workers and the local economy.”

The union is lobbying the company to invest to meet the demands of its customers and is asking the government to play a supporting role in helping the company to diversify.

“Participation in global value chains must be about employment and quality of employment”, says IndustriALL regional secretary Marino Vani. “We therefore call on Winera and the government of St Lucia to engage with NUW in strengthening local industry and saving jobs.”

Iraqi electricity workers fight precarious work

Over the past years, the Iraqi government has increased its use of temporary and wage workers, and there are now more than 30,000 in the electricity sector. They do the same jobs as permanent workers but in some cases earn half what permanent workers earn, and payment is sometimes delayed. They are also excluded from social security and the pension scheme.

In 2009 temporary workers in the ministry of electricity started their struggle to demand permanent employment and inclusion in social security and the pension scheme. Over several years, the state made promises, but these never materialized.

Unions in Iraq fought against a 2010 ban on unions in the electricity sector, and in 2017 succeeded in their campaign to get Iraq to ratify ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association.

In April 2017, the temporary workers organized themselves into a union with a membership of 3,000. The union joined the General Federation of Iraqi Trade Unions, and in December 2017 merged with the General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians to create the GTUESE.

Many of the temporary workers have not been paid for five months. On 24 February 2018, GTUESE met with the officials of the ministry of electricity and presented workers’ demands. On 15 March, workers led by GTUESE organized demonstrations in 10 different governorates, including Baghdad. On 28 March, GTUESE organized more demonstrations.

In retaliation, the ministry terminated 100 temporary workers the next day, saying they had been absent from work during the demonstration. Many had more than ten years’ service. This is a violation of Iraqi labour law, their employment contract, the Iraqi Constitution and ILO Convention 87.

On 2 April workers began open-ended sit-ins at power stations across the country.

Negotiations with the government are ongoing, led by Hashmeya Alsaadawe, president of Basra Trade Union Federation and IndustriALL executive committee member, and GTUESE president Tahseen Elsaadie. The union demands:

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches wrote to the Iraqi Prime Minister and Minister of Electricity, calling for the dismissed workers to be reinstated, and temporary workers to be given permanent contracts. He said:

“IndustriALL Global Union is deeply concerned about serious violations of trade union rights at the Ministry of Electricity. Many of the temporary and wageworkers have not received their salaries in more than five months. Their demands to be given fixed contracts — some employees have been working in the Ministry of Electricity for more than ten years — and be included in the social security and pension scheme have not yet been met.”