Bangladesh garment workers call for increased minimum wage

At the end of February, IndustriALL’s affiliates in Bangladesh’ garment sector, organized a series of actions including a joint press conference on 25 February and a human chain march on 28 February.

Under the banner of the IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC), unions are demanding an increase of the minimum wage to 16,000 BDT(US$192) per month, and other welfare measures for workers in the sector. The IBC submitted a memorandum containing workers’ demands to the chair of the newly constituted minimum wage board on 28 February.

The minimum wage has been the same for nearly five years, and increasing has been a longstanding demand of garment workers in Bangladesh. In December 2016 to January 2017 unions and workers faced a severe crackdown by the government when demanding increase in minimum wages.

Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL regional secretary, says:

It has taken the government of Bangladesh a long time to set up the minimum wage board, and now we hope that it will take swift measures to fulfil workers’ demands. An increase in minimum wage will have a progressive impact on the standard of living, and it will also go a long way to promote decent work and the country’s economy.

In addition to a new minimum wage, the IBC is demanding that job grades are streamlined; from seven to five, on which workers’ pay is based. They are also proposing a promotion criteria, absent in the current system, where workers in the 5th grade should be promoted to 4th grade after one year of work. Subsequently after every two years of continuous work, workers should be promoted to upper grades.

Furthermore, the IBC want a 10 per cent annual increase in payment. Piece rate workers are paid according to the production of each unit, and the piece rate is often decided only after workers complete a certain amount of work, a system which often leads to disputes. The unions say that payment for piece rate workers should be decided before the work starts.

The IBC also want to restrict the training period for apprentice workers to three months, as opposed to current practice of extending it to six months. Wages for apprentices should be raised from BDT 4,180 BDT (US$50) to 10,000 BDT (US$120).

Sponsor of Bundesliga teams fires union members

Roy Robson is a German clothing company known for its sharp suits, and is a major sponsor of well-known German soccer league Bundesliga football teams FC St Pauli, Werder Bremen and VfL Wolfsburg. Players dress in suits supplied by the company at events or when travelling.

Roy Robson operates its own production facility for suits and sports jackets in Izmir, Turkey, employing approximately 600 people. The plant is part of an industrial complex containing factories of other German clothing brands, including Hugo Boss.

IndustriALL Global Union’s Turkish affiliate Teksif has tried to organize the workforce at the Izmir plant for some time. However, when workers join the union, the company fires them. A total of eleven union members have been fired this year.

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches wrote to the general manager of the Roy Robson factory in Izmir, Timur Şengezer, in January, saying:

“IndustriALL Global Union is outraged to learn that the Teksif member were dismissed by Roy Robson management in Izmir as soon as they joined our affiliate Teksif.”

He urged the company to “… to reinstate immediately the union members, respect the right of workers to organize and join a union, and engage in constructive negotiations with Teksif.”

When IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan proposed a meeting with Mr Şengezer to establish constructive dialogue, however Roy Robson refused the request, saying that on principal, the company never meets with unions. The company subsequently increased its pressure, through mass meetings, over the workers for preventing them to join Teksif.

Speaking after the firings, Özkan said:

“Roy Robson have scored an own goal by firing their best team. The union eleven are committed to winning better conditions at the company. Roy Robson must respect the right of workers to organize.”

Roy Robson is proud of its association with Bundesliga teams, claiming that “the players, trainers and staff cut quite a dash in the new outfits.” The company claims to have high social standards saying “as an employer, the company guarantees to maintain high labour law and social standards in production…”. Roy Robson also claims to offer a one shift system, transport and a meal for workers, and bonuses on top of wages. However, workers who join unions continue to be fired.

This anti-union stance is especially ironic because St Pauli fans pride themselves in their support of progressive politics. St Pauli is famous across Europe for its sense of social responsibility, clearly articulated in its fundamental principles.

Roy Robson produces almost 9 per cent of its products in Europe, in Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia and Portugal.

UK: GKN workers urge government to stop debt-fuelled takeover bid

Automative and aerospace company GKN – which traces its roots to 1759, at the dawn of the industrial revolution – faces a hostile, debt-fuelled takeover by Melrose, a “turnaround” specialist. The bid will leave GKN with over £1.3 billion of debt, while Melrose advisors will gain up to £140 million in fees. Workers believe that they will be expected to pay off the debt through cuts and restructuring.

GKN employs 6,000 workers at 14 sites across the UK. On 28 February, GKN aerospace, automotive and defence workers from sites across the country came to the Houses of Parliament to lobby MPs and call on the government to stop the takeover.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate Unite is urging the government to block Melrose’s bid in the public interest, on the grounds of national security. GKN supplies and maintains UK defence equipment.

Unite believes that the Melrose bid is using vast loans to lure shareholders with an ‘exceptional dividend’ and then shoulder GKN with debt. The takeover’s focus goes little beyond a pay out to shareholders, banks and Melrose executives who are in line for over £280 million in bonuses. Melrose has no serious long-term plan for GKN’s future, based on investment to defend thousands of highly skilled jobs.

A takeover by Melrose could lead to GKN being sold off piecemeal and jobs cut or shipped abroad.

Unite assistant general secretary for manufacturing Tony Burke said:

“GKN is a world class manufacturer. It is essential to the government’s industrial strategy and is one of the jewels in Britain’s manufacturing crown.
“In Melrose’s hands, all that would be put at risk and ministers’ plans for the UK to be a leader in electric vehicles could be left in tatters.

“Melrose’s debt-fuelled bid would not happen in France or Germany. Theresa May has said she will act in the national interest. It’s time she did and saved British jobs by ensuring her government stopped the GKN takeover.”

IndustriALL and IndustriAll Europe previously wrote to Unite, expressing support for Unite’s position. Speaking ahead of the Parliament rally, assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“Melrose show no intention of investing in GKN and protecting thousands of skilled jobs. This debt-fuelled deal is designed only to create short term profit for shareholders and bonuses for executives.
“We support Unite in their opposition to speculators who feed on the productive economy.”

Georgian workers demand better safety at work

About 2,000 workers from different parts of Georgia marched on 23 February along the central avenue of Tbilisi carrying banners with slogans like "I am a worker who has not died yet. Make labour safe." The protest continued in front of the Parliament building against the new law “On labour safety”, which should enter into force on 1 January 2019.

Since the abolition of labour inspection in 2006 by the Georgian government, workers have been exposed to high levels of risk at work. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 359 workers died and another 947 were injured in the last 11 years in a country with a population of 3.7 million. These appalling figures are most likely lower than the actual figures, according to Georgian trade unions.

The draft labour law proposed to Parliament in February 2018 provides stricter safety regulations, however these only apply to workplaces with particularly dangerous conditions. In addition, it limits the access of labour inspectors to companies, giving them the right to carry out scheduled inspections once a year only. In the case of unscheduled control, experts will have to appeal to court, which requires additional time and prevents an immediate response to violations. According to TUMMCIWG, the low financial penalties do not correspond to the gravity of the violations, and will have no effect.

Participants at the latest action demanded that the government adopt a draft labour law prepared by the Georgian Trade Unions Confederation.

Tamaz Dolaberidze, president of the TUMMCIWG, stated,

“The government has not considered recommendations proposed by the unions. The law “On labour safety” and the labour inspectorate, if adopted on this basis, will not improve the difficult situation in health and safety. Georgian trade unions intend to fight until an improvement to the law is achieved.”

In the past, the trade unions have conducted a number of mass protest rallies in a bid to attract public attention to the bad health and safety record of the country. The last protest took place in May 2017.

IndustriALL Global Union calls on affiliates to support the LabourStart campaign launched by Georgian trade unions and join their demands to adopt truly effective labour inspection legislation in accordance with the international labour standards.

Vadim Borisov, IndustriALL regional secretary, commented,

''Georgia is trying to integrate its economy with the European Union. However, working safety standards in Georgia must be also at the EU level. Workers must not lose their lives so that Georgia becomes more attractive to business. IndustriALL is urging the government of Georgia to listen to the recommendations of working people, expressed by the trade unions''.

“Gender-based violence is unacceptable and not part of the job”

Why do we need an international labour standard on gender-based violence?

I think that #MeToo and #TimesUp show exactly why we need the ILO to be working on an international legal baseline to deal with violence and harassment, and particularly gender based violence, in the world of work.

The social media outpouring shows that no country has managed to tackle this in a satisfactory way, even in countries where laws might be in place. If it took this long for women working on film sets or in newsrooms to speak up, imagine how much more difficult it must be for domestic workers working behind closed doors or the machinist working in garment industry to speak up.

I think it is critical that we adopt an instrument that tells the world that gender based violence is unacceptable and not part of the job. It is against decent work and we need to act.

We can’t just have a generic instrument that advises, “if you take these measures” without looking at the fact that women and men do not experience the world of work in the same way. If we really want to tackle this issue with the seriousness and urgency that it needs to break the circle of silence and violence, we need the full force of the rule of law. In ILO terms this means a convention supplemented by a recommendation.

Why is this a union issue?

It goes to the heart of what we do as unions. Our mission is to achieve decent work and dignity in the workplace, and the issue of violence and harassment really goes to the heart of that.

What can our unions do?

Scale up organizing activities around gender based violence, even before the issue is discussed at the International Labour Conference.

We also need to talk to our governments and employers about why this is so important. Thanks to the public debate, this is no longer a hidden issue as it might have been before. So we need to seize that momentum and make sure that governments are aware that women everywhere are saying that enough is enough. It is time for action! Almost everything that has come to light around #metoo and #timesup has involved the world of work.

Indeed, working together with employers is important. We know that employers are concerned with this issue, and they are not all necessarily against an ILO convention supplemented by a recommendation. Binding instruments are sometimes less attractive to employers, but we know that in relation to this issue, there is support from some employers. We are encouraging those employer who might support our positions to speak up and to showcase their best practice.

The next two years will be important. The second discussion at the ILC will probably take place in 2019, which is also the ILO’s centenary. It would be great if in 2019 employers, workers and governments can adopt a strong set of instruments that outlaw gender-based violence and show that after 100 years of the ILO, this is how social dialogue makes decent workplaces.

Argentine unions reject Mercosur-EU agreement

Negotiators of Mercosur and the EU are holding meetings until March 2 in Asuncion, Paraguay, to resolve differences and sign a FTA. The unions of Argentina have taken a unified stand against the agreement.

“Signing this agreement would be a death sentence for our national industry”, said the workers.

In the release, they alert the public to the negative impact that the agreement will have on national production in general and on certain strategic industries in particular, such as technology, sea and river transport, public works, government procurement, medical laboratories, the auto industry and regional economies.

The Argentine union representatives held a meeting with the chief negotiators of the Bi-regional Association Agreement between Mercosur and the EU on 23 February in parallel with the meeting of the European Economic and Social Committee and the Economic and Social Advisory Forum with negotiators of the EU-Mercosur association agreement at the headquarters of the Industrial Union of Paraguay in Asuncion.

The members of representative bodies of organized society, both of the EU and Mercosur (consisting of chambers of commerce, unions and civil society organizations) presented their legitimate concerns. For their part, they called for the establishment of a joint follow-up committee to ensure the involvement of the public in the final phase of negotiations and subsequent monitoring of the agreement.

In addition, they called for the inclusion of a social-labour chapter to make it possible through the social dialogue to resolve the imbalances that may emerge for labour as a result of the agreement.

The Mercosur and the EU labour representatives, consisting of the Coordinating Committee of Union Confederations of the Southern Cone and the European Trade Union Confederation, also submitted a letter to the chief negotiators in which they listed the reasons why they did not accept the agreement.

Finally, in the letter they asked to participate as fundamental actors in the present negotiations to ensure that the Agreement benefits the working class of both trading blocs.

South Africa: Metalworkers' fight against precarious work goes to the Constitutional Court

In South Africa, temporary employment services or labour broking companies hire workers which they then place in “client” companies. NUMSA is being challenged by one such company, Assign Services, which wants to continue employing workers on a contract basis for longer than three months.

Despite losing its challenge against IndustriALL Global Union affiliate NUMSA in the Labour Court of Appeal, the company is determined to continue its anti-worker campaign and is hoping that the previous judgements will be overturned. Assign Services is arguing that both the labour broker and the client company where the worker is placed are employers.

According to NUMSA there is only one employer. Argues NUMSA’s lawyers Suzanna Harvey and Tembeka Ncgukaitobi in their papers to the Constitutional Court:

The parallel employer interpretation is not correct because it does not result in the intended protection. The only interpretation which properly protects precarious workers is that the client becomes the sole employer for purposes of the Labour Relations Act.

The Constitutional Court, the highest court in South Africa, reserved judgement on the matter.

In a statement, NUMSA says that:

NUMSA won a decision at the Labour Appeals Court last year which confirmed that temporary and casual workers must become permanent after three months, with the same rights and benefits. Assign Services took the matter to court because they want to be able to continue to abuse the working class with temporary contracts, poor working conditions and low pay. The only way they can do this is if these contracts continue endlessly.

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

We are in solidarity with NUMSA in their struggle against precarious working conditions of the temporary and contract workers. By going all the way to the Constitutional Court the labour brokers are determined to continue exploiting workers, but NUMSA is showing them how equally determined workers are in fighting against the labour brokers.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Union organizes artisanal cobalt miners

Local communities were moved off their land involuntarily and resettled without adequate compensation. Their land was then sealed off and they returned to work as artisanal and small-scale miners in the mines that they once owned. Their backyards became mines, now owned by Chinese companies CDM, MKM and Cicomin, says TUMEC, the IndustriALL Global Union affiliate in the DRC.

IndustriALL visited the area as part of a mission to investigate conditions in cobalt supply chains and campaign for commodities giant Glencore to respect human and workers’ rights in Kolwezi.

Artisanal and small-scale miners contribute significantly to cobalt production in the DRC. This is seen by the many cobalt collection depots that line the roadside on the approach to Kolwezi from Lubumbashi. Artisanal and small-scale miners are regulated by the ministry of mines’ division of small scale mining and exploration.

TUMEC is working with the miners to improve health and safety, and deal with the harsh effects of mining on the environment, and on the communities.

“We are dealing with fair trade issues, as some of the cobalt buyers are engaging in unfair trade practices by buying our cobalt cheap and then lying to us that the grade is low when this is not the case,” said a worker in an interview.

Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director of mining, said:

“We support initiatives by our affiliates that reach out to the community and believe that mining companies have a social responsibility to the communities in which they have operations.
“Therefore, they must improve the infrastructure in the communities by building roads, clinics, and houses. Instead squalor, poverty and diseases are common in the adjacent communities next to the concessions”.

An example of responsible mining can be drawn from the state-owned Gécamines, which has invested in education and health. However, Gécamines has scaled down its operations and ceded its stakes to private companies, including Glencore. The global mission took a tour of some of the infrastructure developed by Gécamines, which contrasted sharply with the Chinese operations at Kasulu.

Interview with Iranian trade unionist Maziyar Gilaninejhad

Q1. Introduction by Kemal Özkan (KO) regarding UMMI and its affiliation to IndustriALL.

Would Maziyar Gilaninejhad (MG) explain how independent trade unions are trying to operate under difficult circumstances in Iran… Can you please tell us about your union? Whom do you represent? Information about your organization etc.

MG: In our country, Article 26 of the Constitution enshrines the right of workers' organizations, trade unions and political organizations to form and recruit members and clearly states that nobody should interfere with their activities – as has been articulated in ILO Conventions 87 and 98 – but unfortunately this has not been observed or respected and the trade unions in Iran are put under extremely heavy pressure should they try to engage in any meaningful activities.

And this is not only the case regarding UMMI – all our brother independent trade unions in Iran, including Sherkat-e Vahed (Bus Workers' Union), Haft Tappeh Syndicate (Sugar Cane Mill/Plant Workers) and the Syndicate of the Project and Contract Workers are all facing the same issues and, occasionally, the leaders and activists of these trade unions are arrested and imprisoned.

At present, Reza Shahabi is in prison and it was only two days ago that he ended the hunger strike he commenced in protest at his imprisonment – unfortunately, his health has been completely neglected by the authorities and there were real concerns for his life had he continued [with his hunger strike].

Also, the president of the Free Trade Unions of Iran, Jafar Azimzadeh, has been recently recalled to prison. He is not in a very good condition health-wise either and if he is forced to go back to prison then his physical health will certainly deteriorate and his life will be in danger.

These are the conditions under which we work in Iran. We are prevented from operating offices or holding bank accounts for the trade unions. In Iran, the regime does not allow us to have legal gatherings and prevent the likes of me, Reza Shahabi, Ebrahim Madadi, Davoud Razavi and Nasser Aghajari – as they don't accept that we are legitimate workers' representatives – from representing our trade unions and under no circumstances will they enter into any negotiations with us whatsoever.

As a result of these limitations, those workers who would like to get involved with their trade union and become active members are forced to think again and they look at trade union activities with some concern and doubt. We have been attacked on numerous occasions. For example, in 2009, in an attack on the meeting of a cooperative for consumer goods run by the UMMI, 15 people were arrested. And, towards the end of that same year, we again witnessed some arrests and then again more recently.

These arrests cause those workers who are thinking of becoming involved to become hesitant in taking the next steps to join the union and become active. As a result, we often have difficulty in recruiting members officially. We face many difficulties in organizing open activities.

Of course, there are certain officials in the government and judiciary that try a softer line in relation to us. However, the limitations are just too extensive. For example, if we write letters to the Ministry of Labour or Parliament in respect of some of our issues, we'll receive replies but these are insubstantial and never reflect the provisions of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 – they do not even satisfy the spirit of Articles 26 or 27 of the current Constitution of our country. And, as a result, this means that our outward impact and visibility in society is limited.

KO: What does the affiliation to IndustriALL mean for you? What are your expectations? What do you need exactly? What can we do to support your democratic union activities in the country?

MG: Firstly, I am so grateful to IndustriALL who wrote a letter to Dr. Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian President, and asked him to consider the situation of Reza Shahabi and other trade union and political prisoners – and I thank you for this.

This international solidarity; the fact that we can come to Yerevan and attend meetings with you; the fact that you ask me about our situation, this gives us strength. It strengthens our heart and resolve and gives confidence to us and our workers. They now realise that their brothers on the international scene have not abandoned them and are standing by them.

Our membership of IndustriALL has meant that we are working harder, more energetically, because we now know that we can channel our complaints to the ILO via IndustriALL in relation to the violation of laws and workers rights and that our issues will be brought to international attention and be raised at that level.

The fact is that the issues that Iranian workers confront are not so different from those faced by workers in, for example; Sweden, Turkey, Pakistan and Germany – they are often the same – the forces of capitalism are attacking our achievements, trying to destroy them and reverse the situation, essentially take us back.

For example, in Iran, they want to raise the retirement age to 65, they want to limit national insurance cover and social security, they want to increase the length of the working week at the same time as reducing salaries and wages – they are, in effect, trying to ensure that neo-liberalism governs every aspect of life and the working conditions in Iran just as elsewhere in the world.

At the moment, in our country, in the oil and gas industry, some workers receive their salaries up to six months in arrears! There are a lot of protests against this practice though unfortunately nobody seems to be paying any attention. We are planning to write a letter to the Iranian Parliament and to raise the importance of them passing a law which prohibits this delayed payment of salaries. This law that we request should penalize those employers that do not pay their workers on time so that the very minimum expectation amongst workers that their salaries will be paid and that they can provide food for their families can be realized and not put on hold for six months.

I can't understand how those who don't pay their workers salaries for six months … how do they live? Would they be able to carry on if they didn't receive their salaries for even two months while they expect their workers to accept not receiving their own wages for six months and to continue to work without protest?

In the oil industry, those project workers who represent their fellow workers on these issues or protest are subsequently blacklisted and will never be able to work in that industry again. And, this is a very blatant cruelty perpetrated towards a worker who is limited to working in that industry.

Work is not abundant and there is high unemployment. And they – the government and employers – use the existence of this army of the unemployed as a weapon against those working – not only in Iran but across the world – in order to undermine wages and lower conditions of service.

Unfortunately, we are faced with these problems. The fact that we are able to raise this; to tell our friends in IndustriALL; the fact that our Swedish friends, before they came to Iran, stated their solidarity with and support for us – this gives us strength. When they come to Iran, we ask them to raise the issues of the Iranian peoples' rights within the European Union. We asked our Swedish friends that in their own country and in the European Union they try and raise the issue of the lifting sanctions in respect of food and medical items and supplies – because the sanctions are an instrument of war against the Iranian working class. And, we demand this.

When this happens, when our Swedish brothers do this, it strengthens us and warms our heart. In addition, we – in these brotherly relations with IndustriALL – would be able to benefit from the facilities of IndustriALL, such as training and education facilities.

So, our workers can come and receive training and become familiar with the viewpoints of our brothers in IG Metall, our brothers in Sweden, Yerevan or elsewhere, and see what they think, what problems they have, what plans and programmes they envision – this provides the opportunity for us to learn from you and also for you to realize what conditions we are contending with in Iran.

Ukrainian miners escalate protest against unpaid wages

The protestors, which include five trade union leaders from IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine (NPGU), and four miners from state-owned coal enterprise, Selidovuhillya, began their hunger strike after failed talks with the Ministry of Energy and Coal on 21 February.

It comes days after 7,000 Selidovuhillya miners staged a three-day strike from 14 to 16 February demanding payment of salary arrears. The action led the government to transfer US$13.5 million for unpaid salaries in the coal sector, of which US$3.4 million US was sent to miners at Selidovuhillya. However, the miners are still owed US$4.5 million. The general debt in wage arrears in the entire coal industry in the Ukraine is estimated at US$18.7 million.

The protestors are demanding full repayment of wage arrears; an increase in salaries in line with inflation; and investment in health and safety, particularly personal protection equipment. Some 18 miners have been killed in Ukrainian coal mines over the past year, according to NPGU.

They are also demanding the return of ‘stolen’ coal reserves, following recent reports that the state has sold off some of the country’s most profitable coalfields to a private company, which is linked to the son of former Ukrainian President Yanukovich.

Other miners from Selidovuhillya, which is based in the Donetsk region of the Ukraine, intend to protest in the cities Selidovo and Novogrodivka.

IndustriALL affiliates, the Trade Union of Coal Industry Workers of Ukraine and NPGU, are calling on the government to enter into serious social dialogue.

Mychailo Volynets, president of NPGU, stated:

“The meeting with the Minister has shown that we are in a deadlock. It is essential to pay wage arrears in full; stamp out corruption in the industry; appoint managers of enterprises and mines on merit alone; and establish an effective social dialogue with trade unions.”

Valery Mamchenko, deputy chair of the Trade Union of Coal Industry Workers of Ukraine, said:

“The development of state-owned mines is possible in a stable environment, but wages must be paid on time. Last year, UAH 2.8 billion (US$100 million) was allocated for the development of the coal industry, including the wage fund, but this year the amount is less than half.”

Valter Sanches, general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, wrote in his letter to the Prime Minister of Ukraine:

“We urge Ukrainian government to re-launch social dialogue with the unions, and take effective measures to solve the problems affecting the coal industry. We stand in solidarity with our affiliated trade unions and our fellow miners in the Ukraine and support their legitimate demands and necessary legal steps required to protect the rights of workers.”