South Africa: Union condemns retrenchment of 1,722 mineworkers at Evander gold mine

The company, which went through the retrenchment processes according to the Labour Relations Act, says the Evander 8 mine shaft will be closed to reduce further losses caused by weak gold prices and a strong currency – after the South African Rand’s recent gains in value.

The company mentions that it will prioritize low-cost operations including the Elikhulu Tailings Retreatment Plant in which it is investing 1.74 billion rand (US$139 million) and where 250 jobs will be created. In contrast, Pan African Resources will only pay 160 million rand (US$12.8 million) towards the retrenchments and says some of the retrenched workers will be reskilled for the new operations.

The NUM disputes that the company is making losses, and says that it is instead sacrificing workers for profits as seen in its tailings investments. This money could have been invested in the underground mine facing closure and thus saving jobs. The union points out that the mine is prioritizing surface mining where it employs cheap contract labour rather than underground operations.

Says the NUM:

There is plenty of ore body which can allow the operation to run for the next 40 years. It is therefore irrational for Pan African Resources to close down such an operation where there is an opportunity to create employment.

Workers were given short notice to vacate the houses they are living in, which the company intends to sell. According to the NUM, 80 per cent of the workers are from other parts of South Africa and neighbouring countries, and some have lived in the houses for years and their children go to local schools.

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

Instead of retrenching thousands of workers, jobs should be protected. Retrenchments should be used as a last resort to protect the interests of workers and their families.

According to Statistics South Africa, mining is the largest employer in Mpumalanga. Although gold mining is declining, the precious metal’s sales are third in value after coal and platinum group metals.

Unions to take joint action against General Electric

General Electric (GE) is one of the world’s largest multinational companies operating in 170 countries with more than 310,000 direct employees. The company proudly promotes its social responsibility credentials having been awarded various global ethical accolades, such as Best Place to work, Most Ethical Company, and 100 Best Companies for working mothers.

However, unions at the network meeting revealed that GE has walked away from the workers and communities that built the corporation, destroying jobs and the opportunity of secure work for coming generations, and leaving illness clusters, environmental damage and devastating local economies, especially in North America and Europe.

In Europe for example, unions reported that GE seems ready to scrap everything they and their workers have achieved for the sole purpose of generating short-term cash and shareholder value. In North America, Unifor and UE have united to launch the ‘General Electric Commit to our Communities’ campaign to transform the labour movement based on democratic, social unionism and international cooperation between American and Canadian workers. (See “Workers unite to take action against General Electric”)

The meeting also focused on the consequence of GE operations on occupational health and safety and the environment. The Unifor delegates presented a report that showed workers at the GE plant in Peterborough, Ontario, have been exposed to more than 3,000 toxic chemicals, including at least 40 known or suspected human carcinogens. The delegates agreed to investigate the possibility of joint activities and campaigns around certain issues including occupational health and safety (OHS), and sustainable industrial policy.

Unions attending the meeting re-confirmed that GE management must work together with trade unions representing GE workers with the view to achieve a fair and just social business model. The delegates unanimously adopted a meeting statement to take joint action against General Electric to develop a clear strategy to support collective activity across the network to secure our objectives, including taking concrete steps to implement GE Trade Union Network Strategic Plan 2018-2020.

The GE trade union network will focus on the following activities:

A tale of two factories: union representation in Mexico’s tyre industry

Currently, workers at Goodyear are ‘represented’ by infamous Senator Tereso Medina, a CTM union leader known for signing ‘protection contracts’ with employers behind workers’ backs.

Says a young operator at the plant, Francisco Javier Cuestas:

We’ve never seen these so-called representatives. They don’t know the first thing about us. Because we have nobody to speak for us, the company gets away with paying very low wages – less than a dollar and a half per hour – for what is very dangerous and difficult work

Conditions are so bad that the entrance has become a revolving door. Says Pablo Reyes Medina Hernández, who also works at the plant:

It just doesn’t make any sense. The company invests heavily in training, but within weeks new recruits have already quit because the job is so bad. It’s not like Goodyear can’t afford to provide decent wages and conditions. It does elsewhere, so why not here?

After reading a newsapaper article about how independent unions at Audi, Bombardier, Bridgestone, General Tire, Nissan, Volkswagen have come together as part of an IndustriALL-driven initiative to protect workers' rights in the auto sector, the young workers decided it was time for change. When the company refused to listen, they stopped work to demand the right to genuine union representation.

A short distance away, at the Continental Tire plant, things are very different. Says Federico González, general secretary of the independent union at the plant, SNTGTM, an IndustriALL affiliate:

We do the same job, using the same technology. We have a democratic union that engages in negotiation, and as a result, we have much better wages and working conditions, as well as a stable and committed workforce. We all work for world class companies, and there is no reason they should earn so much less than we do. That’s why we’re supporting them in their struggle.

IndustriALL and some of its affiliates with members in Goodyear or its supply chain, including USW in the US and Canada and CNM-CUT in Brazil, as well as other independent unions in Mexico, have written to the company demanding that it respect the fundamental right of its workers to form the union of their own choosing and that it honour its pledge of non retaliation against the striking workers. 

Bangladesh Accord will continue until government is ready to take over its functions

At the press conference, the BGMEA expressed its gratitude for the work the Accord has done to make Bangladeshi garment factories safer and gave full support for the Accord to continue until it can be replaced by a competent government authority.

BGMEA president Siddiqur Rahman said:

Though our entrepreneurs have undergone a lot of pain in the remediation process, we appreciate the efforts of ACCORD in helping to raise the compliance level of our industry to international standards. Without their support it would have been difficult for us to achieve the progress we have made so far.

Extraordinary progress has been made in the five years since the 2013 Accord was signed in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza collapse, and millions of workers now work in safer factories:

Bangladesh’s garment factories also benefit materially, as buyers recognize that a factory that has completed its safety work presents far fewer risks for them.

Crucial to the success of the Accord has been its unique features: the labour-corporate partnership that is at the heart of the agreement, the Accord’s recognition of the need to ensure that factory owners are able to afford the cost of safety improvements, and the binding nature of the agreement.

Speaking at the joint press conference alongside representatives of IndustriALL’s Bangladesh affiliates, IndustriALL assistant general secretary Jenny Holdcroft, underlined the positive change that has taken place in building and fire safety through the work of the national actors – the factory owners, trade unions, workers, and brands.

The Accord is a unique opportunity for factory management, workers and their trade unions, global brands and global unions to combine their forces and thus remedy the systemic problem of building and fire safety deficits that has plagued the Bangladeshi garment and textile industry.

While many lives have undoubtedly been saved, there is still more work to be done. Life-threatening safety hazards such as inadequate fire exits, fire alarms and fire protection systems are still present in hundreds of factories, and the remediation rate remains at 85 per cent.

Also speaking on behalf of the Accord Steering Committee, brand representative Ted Southall said:

Fire and building safety involves not just the renovations to make factories safe, but also rigorous and on-going factory inspections. As of today, there is not yet a fully resourced national regulatory body in place to take over this work. Therefore, the Accord signatories took the decision to sign the 2018 Transition Accord to ensure this vital safety work continues.

This week, the Government of Bangladesh confirmed it would extend the permission of the Accord to work beyond May 2018. A joint Transition Monitoring Committee (TMC) has been established by the Government for the purpose of determining when the agreed conditions for a handover of the Accord work to a fully functional and competent national regulatory body have been met.

The TMC, which is comprised of Accord brands, global trade unions, Bangladeshi Garment Manufacturers’ Association (BGMEA), ILO and the Bangladesh government, met on May 6 and determined that the criteria agreed by the Accord and the BGMEA and recognized by the Government of Bangladesh have not yet been met.

These criteria include: demonstrated proficiency in inspection capacity, remediation of hazards, enforcement of the law against non-compliant factories, full transparency of governance and remediation progress, and investigation and fair resolution of workers’ safety complaints.

We are pleased that the BGMEA supports the start of the 2018 Transition Accord on 1 June and for the work to continue until these criteria are met,

concludes Jenny Holdcroft.

Ethiopian textile unions campaign to end poverty wages

To end poverty wages, IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Industrial Federation of Textile, Leather and Garment Workers Trade Unions (IFTLGWU) is amongst the unions leading the campaign for better wages, workers’ rights to organize, and collective bargaining.

The campaign targets the industrial parks set up by the government including Bole Lemi in Addis Ababa where South Korean garment manufacturer, Shints, employs 4,300 workers, of whom 3,800 are union members. Other parks targeted by the campaign are Hawassa and Mekele.

Unions see minimum wages as a starting point in reversing the low wages and are demanding that they be included in the new labour laws under consideration. Eventually the unions want to shift the campaign to living wages.

Unions are campaigning for minimum wages above 3,373 Birr (US$121). These wages can be pegged using the official minimum wage, 1,800 Birr (US$64), or the consumer price index, 2,400 Birr (US$86). Current wages average below US$50.

Meetings have taken place between the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU) and various stakeholders including the ILO. There were also meetings with the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to discuss minimum wages.

IndustriALL director for the textile and garment sector, Christina Hajagos-Clausen, who will speak at a workshop on organizing in the supply chain in Addis Ababa later this month says:

We support Ethiopian unions on the introduction of minimum wages to set at a level of a living wage. We demand further that workers be paid what other garment workers earn globally.

Therefore, we are promoting global framework agreements in the sector to stop global brands from exploiting cheap labour in developing countries. Living wages can lift workers out of poverty.

Machinists strike continues in West Virginia, USA

Thirty skilled trade members of IAM Local 818 embarked on the strike on 9 April at the global metal lid and cap company, after Tecnocap made unilateral changes to the terms and conditions of employment. By law, the company should have negotiated with IAM as the collective bargaining representative.

“Tecnocap, which is based in Italy, recently locked out the other union (GMP) at the plant and now unlawfully negotiated in a manner with the IAM that left its members with no other recourse but to unanimously vote to strike and file unfair labor practices against this employer,” says T. Dean Wright Jr from IAM.

Tecnocap’s illegal proposal would subject the loss of one third of IAM’s bargaining unit members, and healthcare premiums would increase to fifty per cent of the total cost of an employee’s plan option.

The company has begun using replacement workers from their other locations in Italy and Spain, who are now working in the West Virginia location on work visas.

“IAM Negotiators remain ready and willing to meet with Tecnocap officials at any time they are ready to enter into lawful bargaining,” adds an IAM spokesperson.

In a letter to IAM president, Robert Martinez, IndustriALL general secretary, Valter Sanches, expressed solidarity for the striking workers at Tecnocap:

“IndustriALL Global Union demands that Tecnocap sit down at the table and bargain with the IAM in good faith to reach a fair and equitable agreement.

We stand shoulder to shoulder with the sisters and brothers of Machinists Local 818 at Tecnocap in Glen Dale in their struggle to negotiate a fair contract.”

Trade union network opens doors at Deere

The global union network was founded in 2012 in Switzerland, and for the first time the network succeeded  have an exchange with top management. It took the affiliates of IndustriALL Global Union, namely the United Auto Workers (UAW), a lot of efforts and discussion to win management’s trust for such a step, showing the company's strong commitment to a further dialogue with its employees and their unions around the world.

The meeting at the headquarter of Deere & Company in Moline, Illinois, USA, started with a farm visit, where the Deere workers were able to see their products in use, and how their work facilitates the work of the final customer, the farmer.

The company provided a guided tour of its facility in Davenport, Iowa, where mostly construction and forestry machinery is assembled. Following the tour, a joint session with senior management and trade unions took place. During this session, Max A. Guinn, John Deere president of worldwide construction and forestry, gave a presentation and answered questions from the unions.

At a joint dinner with management, Samuel R. Allen, company chairman and CEO, joined delegates and spoke about the long lasting process of creating mutual respect and trust between company management and union leadership. He mentioned the long lasting good working relations with soon retiring UAW president Dennis Williams, who also attended the event.

Dennis Williams, said:

“For me to see the success of this network today, in how much it has grown, gives me happiness. Everybody is here, my Brazilian colleagues and other colleagues from around the globe. John Deere is hosting this meeting and I think it will be very successful.”

Matthias Hartwich, IndustriALL director for mechanical engineering said:

“For some companies, squeezing labour is the easiest way to generate profits. These companies think that workers‘ income is always too high and must be lowered, hence they try to keep trade unions out. This is not the case at Deere.

I do hope that we can continue with the process that was initiated this year. Building trust between unions and management is always a long journey, but I think this year we made a huge step forward.”

Participants unanimously demanded that the network should continue its regular annual meetings and expressed their unions' commitment.

Deere and Company is one of the leading multinational companies, producing agricultural, building and forestry machines, with the main brand name of John Deere

Kazakhstan: independent leader expected to be freed soon

The chairman of the OCC workers’ trade union, Amin Yeleusinov, and labour inspector Nurbek Kushakbayev were arrested and tried in early 2017 following a peaceful mass protest and hunger strike of workers, demanding the restoration of their independent trade union centre Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (KNPRK) which had been dissolved by the authorities on 4 January 2017.

In May 2017, Yeleusinov was sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted for alleged embezzlement of union funds, as well as public insult, assault, and refusal to follow police orders.

In July the same year, Larisa Kharkova, FNPRK former chair, was also sentenced, on false charges, to four years of restriction of her freedom of movement, 100 hours of forced labour, and a five-year ban on holding any position in a public or non-governmental organization. Kharkova’s appeal to justice was rejected by the authorities.

Sentenced to two and a half year of jail for instigation to the illegal workers’ strike, the other independent leader Nurbek Kushakbayev so far remains imprisoned. Reportedly a court hearing regarding his potential release would take place on 10 May 2018.

The court order on release of Yeleusinov took place right before the annual International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO) which is taking place in June 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland. Kazakhstan was subject to strong criticism at the last ILC for forced dissolution of unions, arbitrary arrests and criminalization of protests in Kazakhstan.

In April, the independent trade unions of Kazakhstan, represented by Larisa Kharkova, Nurbek Kushakbaev and Amin Yeleusinov, were awarded the Arthur Svensson International Prize for Trade Union Rights. The prestigious award, known as a trade union Nobel prize, was established by IndustriALL Norwegian affiliate Industri Energi, and includes both a cash prize and support for union projects. The motivation says: “The three union leaders have shown great courage in continuing their involvement. The precarious situation of the laureates is only an example of the fierce reality faced, by not only workers in Kazakhstan, but also many the working people all over the world.”           

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary says:

“The news about the release of brother Amin Yeleusinov is encouraging, and we hope that authorities will take further steps to remove all false accusations against independent trade union leaders and activists and also release Nurbek Kushakbaev.”

“However, we are still concerned about the further attacks on independent unions, in particular the attempt to dissolve the OCC workers’ trade union. We are following this and other labour related developments in Kazakhstan closely, and will make sure the international community stays informed.”

Indian auto unions resolve to fight precarious work

Union representatives of automotive and tyre companies from Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, NCR Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand came together in a workshop in Pune on 3-4 May to discuss the challenges.

Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL South Asia Regional Secretary said that the enormous amount of precarious work in India’s automotive industry has deep implications for sustainable development.

There is a profound wage gap and difference in working conditions between permanent and precarious workers in Indian automotive industry.

Representatives from IndustriALL German affiliate IG Metall, participated and explained the extent of precarious work in the German auto industry, and the strategies adopted to reduce the use of precarious workers to acceptable levels.

Georg Leutert, IndustriALL automotive director said on the global perspective on precarious work in the industry:

Automotive companies use precarious workers to gain flexibility, cost reduction and to bypass employment protection laws.  Precarious workers mostly perform similar tasks as that of permanent workers, but are denied equal wages, working conditions and union rights.

Unions must fight precarious work and organize all workers to achieve sustainable development, strengthen union bargaining power and build unity among workers. All attempts to fight precarious work in the automotive sector in India sends a powerful message that cannot be ignored.

Participants decided to build solidarity to defend the rights of precarious workers. They agreed to discuss precarious work in union committee meetings and document good practices of tackling it to increase awareness and find ways to fight back.

It was agreed to take steps to bridge the gap between permanent and precarious workers through social, cultural and sports activities. Possibilities of forming branch union for contract workers in respective companies will be explored.

Union representatives agreed to intensify solidarity efforts to defend precarious workers’ rights and take steps to convert agency/contract workers into company employees, with the long-term objective of making them permanent employees.

Further, it was also agreed to enhance active participation of women and youth in union all activities.

Ukraine: ArcelorMittal workers fight for their rights

After 26 hours of negotiations, the union and the company management signed an agreement to create a conciliation commission on 4 May. The stumbling block was the issue of public reporting. Management wanted the discussions to be held behind closed doors, which the union refused. When the union instead demanded a meeting with the CEO of ArcelorMittal-Kryvyi Rih, they were stopped by security and police.

Around 400 workers gathered in front of the plant management building to support the union. Both parties agreed to include a pledge to make a joint statement at the end of each meeting in the agreement. Otherwise, the media is to publish the two statements side by side so that employees can see the differences.

The conciliation commission will hold its first substantive meeting in six days.

Natalia Marinyuk, chair of the PMGU trade union committee at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, says:

“We are not asking for illegal action to fulfil our demands. Therefore, I urge the employer to stop evading conciliation procedures and to start negotiations with the union to develop and to make a joint decision on the labour collective demands”.

According to the current collective agreement, negotiations on salary increase were to begin in the fourth quarter of 2017. However, the management has so far evaded them.

Moreover, on 27 March, management tried to disrupt a union general assembly by announcing another venue. However, the conference managed to approve the employees’ demands, as well as the structure of the body authorized to represent their interests in dispute.

Workers are demanding wage increases from 400 to 1,000 euros per month. Currently, an appeal to the CEO has been signed by almost 12,000 people; more than half of the employees.  

The workers also insist on carrying out a detailed inspection of all buildings and constructions because of the tragic incident on 3 March when a roof collapsed, killing a 25-year-old contractor employee.

In addition, they demand an end the to anti-social and anti-union policy implemented by the management, especially by the HR-director. 

IndustriALL Global Union and affiliated unions representing tens of thousands of ArcelorMittal workers around the world sent a solidarity letter to PMGU in support of their struggle.

Valter Sanches, general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, and leaders of these unions stated:

“We fully support PMGU’s demands that ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih management end its union-busting, replace Olena Pylypenko as head of human resources, end its bad faith negotiations over wages and other issues, improve safety and enter into genuine social dialogue.”