Taking action on 8 March!

In Spain, 8 March saw a two-hour work stoppage, called by IndustriALL affiliated UGT and CCOO to underline the fact that as women’s salaries are lower than men’s, women effectively work for free two hours per day.

There were also demonstrations in the country’s main cities.

IG Metall in Germany organized a round of activities, including a women’s breakfast and round table discussions, to highlight what has been achieved so far and what the union is doing in the future.

The German union also adopted IndustriALL’s pledge, committing the union to fight violence against women.

The Philippine women committee of IndustriALL has been campaigning for more than three years to increase the maternity leave benefit from 60 to 120 days. Thanks to these efforts the Senate counterpart bill was passed in 2017, but has since been pending at the House of Representatives.

Unions in the Philippines called on the legislators for the immediate passage of the bill on expanded maternity leave that will benefit all working women in the country.

“We call on the leadership of the House of Representatives to give us this important piece of legislation as a gift today, as we celebrate International Women’s Day," said Shirley Yorong, IndustriALL Women- Philippines.

Unions in Guatemala and Zambia came out in force to call for an end to violence against women in the workplace.

United Auto Workers from USA, said in a statement as they adopted the pledge:

“The need to address gender violence and harassment is urgent and the pledge is clear. To move one step forward toward our goal of violence- and harassment-free workplaces and spaces, we join IndustriALL affiliates around the world”.

In a rally in Japan, IndustriALL affiliates committed to work with the ITUC for the adoption of a convention on violence and harassment against women and men in the world of work at the ILO Conference.

In Nigeria, IndustriALL affiliated unions rallied in Lagos, under the theme “Press for Progress”.

NUMSA, the metalworkers’ union in South Africa, adopted IndustriALL’s pledge on 8 March.

Petrol-Is, organizing oil workers in Turkey took IndustriALL’s pledge on 8 March, reinforcing its commitment to fight violence against women in the workplace.

Miguel Torres, president of CNTM (National Confederation of Metalworkers) and vice-president of Força Sindical in Brazil, adopted IndustriALL’s pledge, committed to put into effective actions to combat violence and harassment against women workers.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Jenny Holdcroft says:

It is great to see the action taken by our unions around the world, and it is especially encouraging to see affiliates take the IndustriALL pledge to end violence against women in the workplace.
Violence against women is a core trade union issue, and we need to take action and advocate for a binding international law on gender-based violence.

Pakistan: Sacked GSK workers fight for justice

IndustriALL Global Union is supporting its Pakistani affiliate, the PCEM, as its members at GSK conduct a demonstration outside the gates of the company’s West Wharf Plant in Karachi.

GSK has used a sham outsourcing contract system at the West Wharf Plant for many years. While there are 110 permanent employees, over 400 have been employed on a contractual basis via third party employers. Many of those contract workers have worked at the plant for 20 years and under all legal and ethical standards deserve to be employed directly by GSK on a permanent basis.

In the year 2015, 200 of these workers took legal action and received a court order confirming their employment right. Pursuant to this legal foundation, the workers, through their union, pushed to be covered by a collective bargaining agreement. However management blocked this group of employees from obtaining collective bargaining coverage.

In December 2017, the West Wharf Plant management cancelled the contract with the third-party employer “Excellent Services” and shifted the contract to another company HRSG, expecting all the workers to continue their job, but lose their rights and cancel their pending disputes.

Refusing to sign this sham deal, the workers continued to carry out their work duties as usual. Then management stopped paying the workers’ salaries and benefits. From 1 March 2018 the management has conducted an illegal lockout of the workers, deploying security forces at the plant gates.

Despite the company deploying a sizeable security force, around 150 workers have been protesting outside the factory gates since the lockout began. They demand their jobs back.

In his letter to the GSK Pakistan Chief Executive, Azizul Huq, IndustriALL Global Union general secretary Valter Sanches writes:

“This stand off and denigrating disrespect of your workforce are very damaging to the international reputation of GlaxoSmithKline. The PCEM is a mature and responsible trade union that is a well-connected part of the global trade union movement.

"The PCEM will be fully supported throughout this conflict with you in Pakistan. I expect your swift and serious response so that we can work towards a solution that repairs the reputational damage that your management has already caused.”

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“I will be in Pakistan this week and will stand with our members on their picket outside the GSK factory. What shameful treatment by this world-famous medicine maker of the people who make their product.”

International women's day – unions must act to end violence against women at work

Trade unions need to take action on violence against women and advocate for a binding international law on gender-based violence.

Violence against women is a core trade union issue. IndustriALL’s affiliates around the globe are taking action to prevent this violation of human rights, through measures including education campaigns with their membership, including provisions to protect women from violence in collective bargaining agreements, and providing paid leave for women who have suffered from violence and harassment.

By taking the IndustriALL’s pledge, affiliates commit to continue and reinforce their actions to stop violence against women in the workplace and in unions.

IndustriALL urges all its affiliates to take the pledge and promote it through their union structures so it leads to real action.

Concerted union action to highlight the continuing and pervasive violence against women in our sectors will send a strong message to the perpetrators and their employers that all forms of violence against women are unacceptable.

Tariffs and overcapacity focus of OECD steel meeting

Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on U.S. imports of steel and 10 per cent tariff on U.S. imports of aluminum just days prior to the Committee meeting, although details are still being finalized.

Union participants at the meeting included IndustriALL Global Union, industriAll Europe, Community and Unite of the UK, and CFE-CGC Siderurgie of France.

IndustriALL has repeatedly raised concern at meetings of this Committee about steel workers being displaced due to overcapacity. IndustriALL is consulting with affiliates in the base metals sector to find common ground on the newly announced tariffs.

While criticism at the OECD Steel Committee in 2017 focused on China’s role in global steel overcapacity, criticism at this meeting focused on Trump’s plan to address the problem with unilateral measures.

Representatives from the governments of Brazil, Canada, China, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK as well as the European Commission spoke against Trump’s planned tariffs during a session on steel trade. European and Latin American industry associations also voiced opposition.

A U.S. government representative said Trump hasn’t yet issued final plans so they wouldn’t respond, however they agreed with other participants that excess capacity is the root problem, and added that measures used to date have not been able to address it adequately.

The OECD Steel Committee Secretariat reported that it will take another 30 years of demand growth to absorb the current level of excess capacity. The Chinese government asked the Committee Chairman to formally acknowledge that Asia was primarily responsible for recent modest reductions in global steel capacity, including a 1 percent decline in 2017. The Chairman’s Statement said the reduction has “mainly happened in absolute figures in Asia” but has been “proportionally significant” in other locations.

The Committee discussed the role of State Owned Enterprises in global overcapacity and expressed concerns about these enterprises receiving unfair advantages from governments in comparison to private enterprises.

The Global Forum on Excess Steel Capacity met immediately after the Committee. Global Forum was formed by the G20 in 2016 to work with OECD Steel Committee in confronting the excess capacity crisis. Both Committee and the Global Forum are encouraging countries to work together to develop a common understanding of state subsidies for the steel sector and to share information on them.

IndustriALL warned that the rapid increase in steel production in the Middle East combined with the lack of respect for core labour rights in the region is deeply concerning, citing the recent arrest of ten Iranian steel workers for protesting against unpaid wages.

“We urge the OECD Steel Committee to raise concern with Middle Eastern governments about both overcapacity and violation of workers’ fundamental rights,” said IndustriALL’s Director for Base Metals, Adam Lee at the meeting.

Why unions must act on violence and harassment against women

Violence and harassment against women is widespread

According to the World Health Organization 35 per cent of women globally – 818 million women – over the age of 15 have experienced sexual or physical violence at home, in their communities, or in the workplace. Unions need to keep raising awareness that violence against women is real, and it is happening everywhere.

Violence against women is a violation of human rights

According to the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, “Violence against women” is “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.” This Declaration recognizes that violence against women violates women's rights and fundamental freedoms, while the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action recognizes that the elimination of violence against women in public and private life is a human rights obligation.

Violence against women is an obstacle to gender equality at work

Women are less likely to enter the labour market then men. Sexual violence and harassment remains a barrier for women to enter and evolve in the labour market, or to perform certain jobs. At the same time, the continued segregation of women in precarious, low paid and low status jobs and positions, contributes to increase the risks for these women workers.

Trade unions have a fundamental role in preventing and eliminating violence against women in the workplace

The ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activities’ report on violence against men and women in the world of work shows that there is a strong connection between access to decent work, non-discrimination and being protected by a trade union in preventing violence against women and men at work. Unions play a key role in raising awareness about sexual harassment among their members, negotiating policies and agreements that establish procedures for making and processing complaints, as well as preventing sexual harassment.

We need an ILO convention on Gender Based Violence

There is still no law at the international level that sets a baseline for taking action to eradicate violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment, in the world of work. There is a need for a comprehensive ILO Convention, supplemented by a Recommendation, with a strong focus on preventing, addressing and remedying gender-based violence at work.

IndustriALL is calling on all affiliates to mobilize on 8 March and show unions’ determination to achieve gender equality, and say no to violence against women.

Union in Ghana calls for strike against retrenchment of 2,150 mineworkers

GMWU, affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, is disputing the reasons put forward for the retrenchments arguing that Gold Fields simply wants to replace permanent workers with contract ones. Despite the Labour Division of the High Court in Accra not ruling in its favour to stop the retrenchments, GMWU has appealed.

Gold Fields is ignoring the country’s labour laws and two collective bargaining agreement that it signed with GMWU which are clear on fair retrenchments.

Prince William Ankrah, GMWU general secretary, says:

Typical of their ruthless character as multinationals and their penchant for disregarding host country legal framework and sanctity of contracts, the company has unilaterally set aside the Labour Act 2003 and the collective agreements and has gone ahead to force redundancy terminations on the workers.” The company is also refusing to negotiate salary adjustments for 2018.

The union is concerned by the military presence at the mine which put so much pressure on workers to an extent that some signed the redundancy letters.

Ankrah says:

Following the huge armed and military presence, an atmosphere of insecurity, fear and panic has since engulfed the workers with most of them not too sure of what to expect next.

Workers who signed the letters were only given a month’s contract afterwards under terms and conditions not disclosed to the union. Those who refused to sign were locked out of the mine while union officials who tried to visit were arrested or refused entry.

IndustriALL Global Union general secretary, Valter Sanches, says:

Gold Fields Limited must instruct the management at Gold Fields Ghana Limited at the Tarkwa mine to revert immediately the decision to terminate the permanent contracts of over 2,150 workers, engage in good-faith negotiations with the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union – thus heeding the repeated calls from the union to sit down to negotiate, inter alia, the 2018 salary adjustment and the collective agreement review – and refrain from violating the fundamental rights of workers and union officials.

The union has also announced that it is planning an international campaign to expose Gold Fields’s bullying and disregard of workers’ rights at international stock exchanges where the company is listed in Johannesburg, New York and the Swiss Exchange. A petition will be sent to the ILO, and South African trade unions and global trade unions will be approached for solidarity.

"100 days of snubbing Zimbabwean workers," says union federation

As no attempts were made to meet workers or trade unions – whether in the formal or informal sectors – the federation says this clearly shows that there is no commitment to improve conditions for Zimbabwean workers. The ZCTU says the government is bent on pursuing neo-liberal austerity and free market policies ignoring workers’ rights.

Retrenchments and precarious working conditions are common in Zimbabwe. Benefits including pensions were wiped out during the hyperinflation period which peaked in 2008, and unemployment is estimated at over 90 per cent. With youth unemployment high, chances of those under the age of 35 getting jobs are slim.

The few workers with jobs are either partly paid or not paid on time. The picket by 300 women demanding the payment of their spouses’ wages at the majority state-owned Hwange Colliery Company, which began on 27 January, illustrates the gravity of the situation. The workers’ wages back date to five years. Intent on evicting the women who had camped at the company premises for a month, but not addressing their grievances, Hwange Colliery even took the matter to the High Court which dismissed the case. The labour minister, Petronella Kagonye, is currently visiting the company to resolve the dispute.

Furthermore, it is difficult for the employed workers to withdraw their meagre earnings because of cash shortages. So, the workers spend long hours in queues only to be given small amounts that are not even enough for their needs.

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

Whilst we welcome statements on economic recovery plans involving businesses and investors, this cannot be done at the exclusion of workers and trade unions who are key stakeholders. The role that workers play in economic development is critical and should not be undermined by the Government of Zimbabwe.

The IndustriALL affiliates in Zimbabwe who belong to the ZCTU are the National Engineering Workers Union, National Mine workers Union of Zimbabwe, National Union of Clothing Industries, the National Union of Metal and Allied Industries in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Chemicals and Plastics and Allied Workers Union, and the Zimbabwe Textile Workers Union.

Mnangagwa took over government in November 2017, following a military intervention that triggered events that ousted former president Robert Mugabe in power for 37 years since independence from British colonial rule in 1980.

IndustriALL urges Shell to intervene over fired trade union leaders in Brazil

Rivael Marcos Batista, president; Denilson Ramalho da Silva, treasurer; and Orlando Monegato, substitute director of the Union of Rural Employees of Boa Esperança do Sul, (affiliated to IndustriALL through FERAESP), were dismissed at Raízen’s Araraquara and Bocaina production units in the state of São Paolo.

The three recently elected trade unionists say they suffered discrimination on account of their union membership from the management of Raízen. They were subsequently dismissed in December 2017 and January 2018, even though they have job security under Brazilian labour legislation as union leaders.

In a letter to the Jorrit Van der Togt, Executive Vice President HR Strategy, IndustriALL’s General Secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“It is imperative that Raízen Energia reinstate the unfairly dismissed trade union leaders, stop the persecution of workers on account of their union membership, and establish a genuine dialogue with the union to ensure the full respect of the rights of workers at Raízen Energia.”

Raízen is a 50:50 joint-venture founded in 2010 between Shell and bioethanol, sugar and energy producer, Cosan. It is now one of the largest companies in terms of revenue in Brazil today and has around 30,000 employees at 26 plants. Raízen is the country's leading producer of sugarcane ethanol and the largest individual exporter of cane sugar in the international market, as well as being one of the main players in the distribution and sale of fuels in Brazil.

In reply to the letter, Mr Van der Togt wrote on 1 March:

“You may be aware that Raizen is an independent company not controlled by the Royal Dutch Shell Group. Raizen has however, social ethics and compliance standards which are equivalent to those of Royal Dutch Shell.”

Van der Togt said IndustriALL’s letter would be passed on to Human Resources at Raízen to clarify the matter.

However, according to Shell’s website: “Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to ‘joint ventures’ and ‘joint operations’ respectively”, concluding that Shell does indeed have control over Raízen.

FERAESP maintains that Raízen has serious problems with the working conditions of rural employees, including non-compliance with international standards, especially those relating to trade unions. The union has also raised serious concerns health and safety standards at Raízen after three workers were killed at work at the Barra Bonita, Dois Córregos and Tarumã units.

"The working conditions at these mills, under Raízen's control, have deteriorated," said the president of FERAESP, Jotalune Dias dos Santos, observing that "the pace dictated by the industry is leading to accidents, some of which are fatal to workers. "

IndustriALL has launched a global campaign against Shell demanding the company applies the same values and worker rights at all its operations, wherever they are in the world.

Iran: 10 detained after protests over unpaid wages of 4,000 steel workers

The ten workers were reportedly seized by police at their homes on the night of 1 and 2 March on arrest warrants issued by Ahvaz prosecutor’s office. The reason for their arrest has not been given.

Workers at the steel plant have been staging a series of strikes and protests since the end of January and have not been paid for three months.

Following the arrests, hundreds of workers marched through streets of Ahvaz on 3 March, calling for the release of the imprisoned workers and payment of wages. “We need bread, medical treatment and medicine,” they demanded.

In a letter to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, IndustriALL General Secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“We call on you to intervene immediately to guarantee the payment of unpaid wages of 4,000 workers at the National Iranian Steel Company in Ahvaz, ensure the release of the workers, and protect fundamental labour rights, including the rights of workers to join a union of their choice, and engage in collective bargaining.”

In October 2017, the Iranian National Bank sold the steel complex to Iranian tycoon, Abdolreza Mousavi, in a bid to recover its debts. The company has been mismanaged and is now functioning at 10 per cent of its real capacity. It cannot even buy raw material as it is considered bankrupt.

Iran is the world’s 14^th largest steel producer and its steelmaking capacity has more than tripled since 2007 to 37 million tonnes annually. The Iranian government has announced plans to increase national steelmaking capacity to 55 million tons by 2025.

During a plenary session of the OECD Steel Committee in Paris on 5 March, IndustriALL’s Director for Base Metals, Adam Lee, warned that this increase in steel production in Iran and the Middle East combined with the lack of respect for core labour rights in the region is deeply concerning, citing the arrest of the ten steel workers in Ahvaz.

“We urge the OECD Steel Committee to raise concern with Middle Eastern governments about both overcapacity and violation of workers’ fundamental rights,” said Lee.

DRC: IndustriALL supports new mining code, demands greater share for workers

The DRC will tomorrow sign into law a new mining code, passed by parliament in January 2018, and announced at the African Mining Indaba in Cape Town earlier in February, where IndustriALL participated as a labour representative.

Unions in the DRC believe that the code is progressive, as it seeks to address loopholes that have led to mining companies accumulating profits at the expense of workers and communities. Although the DRC is rich in natural resources, its 80 million people are among the poorest in the world. Despite billions of dollars in private investment in mining, there has been very limited benefit to the people of the country.

It is appropriate that the people of the DRC benefit from the current cobalt-lead commodities boom. Demand for cobalt, pushed by smartphones and electric car batteries, has seen prices skyrocketing by 127 per cent in a year to $75,000 per tonne, and copper prices increasing above $7,000.

The code increases taxes and royalties on mining companies, as well as addressing environmental concerns and the rights of communities, especially those whose livelihoods depend on agriculture, that are affected by mining.

The code increases royalties from 2 to 3.5 per cent for copper and cobalt. Royalties in neighbouring countries are higher: Zambia (6 per cent), Ghana (5) and Tanzania (4). The state’s stake is also increased from 5 to 10 per cent, to be held by the state-owned mining company, Gécamines. The code also seeks to increase corporation tax from 30 to 35 per cent.

The introduction of the new code is opposed by mining companies Randgold, Glencore, China Molybdenam and Ivanhoe. Mining CEOs travelled to DRC to lobby President Joseph Kabila against the code.

On a recent visit to DRC, IndustriALL witnessed a stark difference between the appalling conditions reported by workers at Glencore operations and Chinese-owned artisanal mines, and the facilities available at Gécamines operations. However, Gécamines lacks the capital to develop DRC’s mining potential. The small increase in royalties will give the DRC the capital to develop mining, create jobs and improve infrastructure, including roads, schools and hospitals.

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches wrote to President Kabila to raise the unions’ issues, saying:

“We were saddened and outraged at what we discovered: the daily experience of abuse and violation of fundamental labour rights of Congolese mine workers at these operations are in total disregard of the laws of the country and collective bargaining arrangements.
"Taking into account the appalling working conditions at some multinational mining companies’ operations in the country, we attach extreme importance to the actual implementation of this new mining code.”