DRC: IndustriALL mission finds Glencore gravely mistreating workers at cobalt mines

Systemic human and workers’ rights abuses ranging from constant threats of dismissal, poor health and safety practices, occupational diseases, racism and discrimination, unfair and unjust job classifications, low remuneration, and inferior salaries for local workers compared to foreign workers were among grievances raised at a mid-February meeting of the mission with around 80 workers from the mines at the St. John’s Cathedral in Kolwezi.

Glencore just reported record-breaking profits for 2017 and said it anticipates increasing its cobalt production by 133% over the next three years, largely in response to increasing demand for electric vehicle batteries from companies like Renault, Volkswagen and Volvo. Cobalt from Glencore’s DRC mines is also used in the batteries powering Apple and Samsung phones.

The DRC Glencore workers, who are members of IndustriALL affiliate union TUMEC, described their treatment and conditions of employment as “no less than slavery”, comparable to “Guantanamo Bay”. Workers reported that their families are exposed to occupational diseases because they bring their work clothing home, as there are no facilities at work including laundry facilities, ablution, and showers.

“We are so filthy when we get home that we cannot hug our children,” said one worker.

The workers complained that the 750 ml of drinking water that they are given per shift was not enough. They described how their families did not have access to the Glencore hospital because of the distance between the medical facility and the community.

Workers described the different treatment and conditions of employment between Glencore’s Mutanda and KCC operations as a deliberate attempt by the company to divide and weaken trade unions.

IndustriALL organized the 14-17 February fact-finding mission in response to an urgent request by TUMEC to investigate the appalling conditions faced by mineworkers at Glencore’s operations in cobalt-rich Kolwezi, Lualaba province. The global mission was led by IndustriALL mining director Glen Mpufane, and included shop-stewards of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) who work at Glencore in South Africa, as well as representatives from IndustriALL’s Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Office.

Glencore rejected TUMEC’s request for the mission to have access to Glencore’s DRC mines.

Mpufane said in response to a recent media report on the mission,

“Glencore told the press that it’s committed to open dialogue with IndustriALL and has a positive relationship with TUMEC. In fact, Glencore refused to allow the IndustriALL mission to visit its mines, and TUMEC members told the mission that Glencore gravely mistreats them.”

NUM and NUMSA have expressed their concern about how Glencore treats its workers in the DRC, and expressed their solidarity in the struggle to improve that treatment.

The global mission will send a detailed report to Glencore’s Head Office in Zug, Switzerland, demanding immediate attention to the deplorable working conditions at its operations in the DRC. IndustriALL will also share information with Glencore’s investors and cobalt customers.

“Glencore’s rampant violations of the basic human rights of DRC workers present a serious supply chain risk in the global cobalt market,” added Mpufane.

100 days until current Accord ends – labour signatories urge brands to sign onto 2018 Accord

The 2018 Transition Accord will continue the work of inspecting factories in Bangladesh, identifying safety hazards, and ensuring that they are corrected. As of today 109 garment companies have signed the 2018 Accord, covering more than 2 million workers.

However, many garment companies still must reconfirm their commitment to the safety of the Bangladeshi workers in their supply chain. Among the companies that are still dragging their feet are Marks and Spencer, Next, Sainsbury’s, Metro Group, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Dansk Supermarked.

The global union signatories to the Accord, IndustriALL and UNI, and the four witness signatories, Clean Clothes Campaign, International Labor Rights Forum, Maquila Solidarity Network and Worker Rights Consortium, call upon the garment companies that have not yet signed the 2018 Accord to do so as soon as possible.

Not signing the 2018 Accord means that one hundred days from now workers will be left in unmonitored factories. As a consequence, garment brands will fall short on their due diligence obligations to keep the workers in their supply chain safe,

says Ineke Zeldenrust, international coordinator of Clean Clothes Campaign.

The original Bangladesh Accord came into effect in May 2013, in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza building collapse of April 2013, in which 1,134 workers were killed. The Accord has created a credible system to monitor and remediate factories of signatory brands and to train workers in the field of safety. This work will continue under the 2018 Accord.

There is still no credible alternative to the Accord to protect worker safety in Bangladesh. It is simply not an option for brands to go back to the company-led programs that so clearly failed to prevent large-scale factory tragedies before. Signing the 2018 Accord is the only way for companies to meet their due diligence obligations to ensure that Bangladeshi garment workers can work in safe factories,

says Jenny Holdcroft, assistant general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union.

This is equally urgent for companies that have not fulfilled their obligations under the first Accord yet as well as for companies that have repaired all safety defects discovered in their factories under the first Accord.

“The need for safety committees and inspection programme is ongoing because a factory can be safe one day, and then the fire doors are blocked the next. As long as the Bangladeshi government is not yet ready to assume this responsibility, the Accord will continue to provide the training, engineering expertise, and accountability structures necessary to make garment work safer,

says Christy Hoffman, deputy general secretary of UNI global union.

The one hundred-day warning is also aimed at encouraging garment companies that are not part of the current Accord, including those who have joined the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a corporate-led safety programme, to sign the 2018 Accord.

We urge the Alliance companies and those that signed neither programme to join the 2018 Accord as soon as possible and thereby display their willingness to engage constructively with Bangladeshi and international trade unions and confirm their commitment to keeping factories in Bangladesh safe,

says Judy Gearhart, executive director of International Labor Rights Forum.

Exedy India workers protest against lockout and suspensions

On 9 January 2018 Exedy management put up a lockout notice for almost all 450 unionised permanent workers, after negotiations between workers and management on the implementation of certain welfare measures in the previous wage settlement collapsed.

While almost all unionized workers are locked out, about 700 contract and trainee workers are carrying out the production.

Management is alleging that workers slowed down the production, while workers maintain that there are inherent problems in the machine. In January, management deducted wages for about 150 workers, citing low production.

The Exedy Clutch India Employees Union has approached the labour department to resolve the issue through tripartite discussions. During the tripartite discussions, Exedy management went on to suspend workers, including union office bearers, in total 18 workers were suspended pending enquiry. In addition, the management demanded individual good conduct undertaking from workers.

In the tripartite discussions, union protested against a proposed individual performance responsibility, instead opting for a a collective undertaking by the union. The union also agreed to an internal enquiry and demanded withdrawal of all suspensions. However, management refused to withdraw suspensions and the tripartite negotiations failed. The labour department referred the issue to the court.

Demanding a withdrawal of the suspensions and lockout, 450 workers launched a hunger strike on 19 February.

Georg Leutert, IndustriALL automotive director, says:

It is unfair to resort to vindictive actions against union office bearers while engaged in tripartite negotiations. Towards maintaining industrial peace and protecting the interest of 450 workers, the Exedy India management should immediately withdraw lockout, suspensions workers and resolve all issue through negotiations.

Collie workers’ six-month strike ends in victory

After the successful strike, 29 maintenance workers, all members of IndustriALL affiliate Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), went back to work at Griffin Coal in Collie on 14 February, accompanied by an honour guard from the community and other trade union members.

During the struggle at Griffin Coal, owned by Indian multinational Lanco, workers have seen wage rates dropped by more than 43 per cent, and the value of accrued legal entitlements like annual leave and long service leave slashed in half. Workers have been forced onto anti-family rosters, working more hours for less pay.

Steve McCartney, AMWU WA secretary says:

This is a victory for the members, they’ve fought to restore their family friendly rosters and rescue their stolen entitlements. This dispute demonstrates that Australia’s workplace laws are critically broken, we need to throw out the Fair Work Act and demand a system that respects workers, respects families and can’t be used as a weapon by foreign multinationals.

Valter Sanches, General Secretary of IndustriALL said:

We congratulate Griffin Coal workers, their families and the union for standing up for their rights and taking the fight.

How to get your union’s message into the mainstream media

“Unions must become more aware of workers issues beyond borders, so that we can build a global society which practices equality and dignity for all not just for the few.”

Terry Bell is a South Africa-based journalist, commentator and author with more than 50 years of experience reporting on political and economic analysis and labour issues. He was a guest at IndustriALL’s communications training workshop in Cape Town in December 2017. Terry spoke to IndustriALL about effective communication and how unions can get their message into mainstream media.

Unions in Africa struggle to get their message out to mainstream media. Do you have any advice for them?

"Unions are not communicating enough internally. There has been too much energy put into communicating with outside media. There is also a lack of skill and training among communicators, many unions don't use full-time or trained communicators, often the general secretary or president of the union will make an announcement or write a grammatically badly phrased press release.

"There is a need for professional communicators who are skilled and who understand the sector that they work in, but above all else who understand the principals of trade unionism."

What sort of media should we be using, radio, print and television or social media?

"In Africa we are talking primarily about radio because it is the most widely heard, then print media to a certain degree in some areas but once again it depends on the audience that you are trying to reach.

"You must also be well aware of what language you are using in any specific area. It is significant in South Africa for example among all the trade union websites I have only found one that uses more than one language yet we have 11 official languages here. So with some of the languages being mutually understood you can use at least 3 languages and get to the majority of the population, so one has to think in terms of language."

What is an effective way to reach the mainstream media?

"I think that there is nothing better than rapport with the individual journalist, admittedly it is more difficult these days because there has been a lot of cost cutting in the print and digital media right across the board.

"You also have a lot of people who are under a tremendous pressure who are often very young and often poorly paid, who are having to produce a lot of material. But it is vitally important that the union communicators make contact with these journalists on a personal level to understand and trust one another, because they are both workers after all."

What message should unions have for society?

"The benefit of the union to workers as a whole. I tend to use the term “sellers of labour”. You will sometimes have a journalist or someone who works in a bank say “oh I’m not a worker, I’m white collar therefore professional.” No, anyone who is a seller of labour – and that has to be stressed – has a common interest. The overwhelming majority of the population in any community, country and throughout the world are workers and this has to be the first point that is stressed by unions.

"In South Africa, for example, we have the Bill of Rights which is a fantastic document says that the “dignity of all shall be cherished”. Unions must make it clear that an egalitarian society is a better society, this has to be stressed as the underlying principle."

"Unions shouldn't simply go into a wage dispute and say we want this amount of money, but rather point out how much people are earning in proportion to others, who is being paid what and the inequality between CEO earnings and workers’ earnings."

"Unions must have a more global perspective, we have to make unions aware of what is going on elsewhere. Unions is South Africa should know immediately about what happened at Rana Plaza where a building collapsed killing 1,135 people. Unions must become more aware of workers issues beyond borders, so that we can build a global society which practices equality and dignity for all not just for the few."

Agreement on minimum requirements for Plant level Joint H&S Committees

Peru: union protests violations of labour rights

Negotiations between the union, affiliated to the Federation FETRIMAP – CGTP, in turn affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, and mineral analysis company Alfred H Knight, have come to a halt in the absence of proposals from the company.

On 13 February, workers began a protest, claiming that the company had failed to comply with the rulings of the national labour inspectorate, SUNAFIL, to convene elections for occupational health and safety committees at their sites in Lima, Arequipa and Callao. The union argues that poor working conditions have resulted in illness and several workplace accidents.

Acting as a mediator, the Labour Ministry summoned the company and the union on 19 February to try to unlock negotiations on the collective agreement.

Meanwhile, the CGTP announced a mobilization for labour rights and decent work on 1 March, together with its affiliated unions. They will march to the Labour Ministry to demand a solution to the collective bargaining process in a number of companies, including Alfred H. Knight, problems with trade union registration processes, and an end to collective dismissals.

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches is calling on Alfred H Knight in the UK to intervene at its Peruvian subsidiary to guarantee full respect of fundamental workers’ rights:

“It is imperative that the company implements strict health and safety in their operations to prevent accidents, and to negotiate a new collective agreement with the union that takes into account the demands of workers.”

Swazi union condemns garment company for not respecting workers’ rights

Although ATUSWA organizes more than 80 per cent of workers at Tex Ray companies, including Union Industrial Washing, Kasumi Apparels, TQM textiles and Katat, the company refuses to recognize the union and has instead formed a sham union.

Organizing through denouncing ATUSWA and using bribes to attract workers, the management-led union is aiming to get the necessary recognition at the Commission for Mediation Arbitration and Conciliation (CMAC) ahead of the finalization of ATUSWA’s recognition.

If buyers continue to source garments from the Tex Ray group of companies without ensuring that the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining is respected, they are effectively collaborating with Tex Ray in undermining our rights as workers.
We call on the Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority and the department of labour to continuously engage employers on the importance of respecting workers’ rights. Tex Ray should not be allowed to take our country back to the past that we wish to escape from,

says ATUSWA Secretary General Wander Mkhonza.

“We stand by ATUSWA in their fight for recognition and reiterate workers' right to form their own trade union. Employers should not try to weaken an established trade union by sponsoring a sham union. We call upon CMAC to urgently conclude on ATUSWA’s recognition,“ says Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa.

Trail of workers’ suicides and deaths in South India’s textile spinning mills

Barely eleven days before her 14th birthday, the child labourer from Kalkudi village in Puthukottai district committed suicide in her hostel room. On the day before her death, Dharshini worked 16 hours, in two continuous shifts from 8 am to midnight.

After working these shifts, she was asked to report for the morning shift at 8 am. When the hostel warden knocked on her door at 6.15 am, there was no reply and she was found hanging from the ceiling fan.

Dharshini, who lost her mother and lived with her father and a brother, was recruited through an agent and brought to the mill hostel only three months ago. Before being shifted to a room with ventilation and sunlight, for two and a half months she stayed in a basement room with four girls from the same village.

She was paid Rs 260 (US$ 4) per day. It is usual practice that girls staying in the hostel must work continuously to fill the spaces of absentees.

Representatives of Tamilnadu Textile and Common Labour Union say that recently, many workers’ deaths have been reported. T Manjula (33) allegedly died in an accident at SMP Textiles in Nilakottai, Dinidigul district. Manjula lived with a son aged 12 and two daughters aged 11 and 9.

N Kalaiyarasi, a 14 year old girl, who went to work in Dindigul Cotton Spinning Mills despite suffering from pneumonia, died on 3 October 2017 in hospital. She returned to work after a hospital visit to avoid losing her Rs 2,700 (US $41.52) bonus, paid to workers who worked during the Diwali festival.

An activist worker, Sebastin Inbaraj (24), an assistant fitter in Prabhu Spinning Mills, reportedly committed suicide on 15 May 2017 after factory managers accused him of theft and he was abused and beaten in front of his colleagues. Apparently, he supported women workers to fight for their wages and demand their rights.

On 10 March 2017, a 17 year old girl was found dead in her room in the Ganapathy Spinning Mills compound in Vellakoil in Tirupur district.

In the 2016, more suspicious deaths were reported. A girl was found dead in a spinning mill at Vellakoil on 10 March, and Azhagu Sumathi was found dead on 14 March in Vadipatti village.

Most of these workers are from families of poor agricultural workers. Agents pay an advance to the family to recruit girls to the mills. Even if they want to leave, they cannot go home until they have paid back the advance.

They face harsh working conditions, poor health facilities and sexual harassment at work. With scant government oversight, managers flout the law and workers have no way to address grievances. Managers strongly resist unions, and take advantage of the poverty of workers’ families to close the issue by paying meagre compensation.

Apoorva Kaiwar, South Asia regional secretary of IndustriALL said,

“It is unacceptable that women workers in spinning mills face dangerous working conditions. It is alarming that many suspicious deaths are reported. The government should step in immediately to address the issue.”

IndustriALL and AngloAmerican collaborate on creating safe and healthy workplaces

The meeting was attended by delegates from IndustriALL affiliates from Australia, Botswana, Chile, Namibia and South Africa, and lead senior health and safety managers at Anglo American globally, discussed ways to stop accidents that often led to injuries and death of mine workers. Health effects of occupational diseases were also discussed.

AngloAmerican is a signatory to international protocols such as of the United Nations Global Compact and ILO conventions. The initiative, for instance, commits Anglo American to the International Labour Organization Convention 176 on Safety and Health in Mines. The initiative also commit Anglo American to using its influence to leverage joint country shareholder partners to ratify ILO Convention 176 such as in Botswana,Chile, and Namibia.

As part of the collaboration, training will be conducted on awareness and workers’ rights, hazards, risk analysis, and critical control management. Those who will attend the training will include workers, safety representatives, supervisors and managers.

The collaboration will address real daily experiences at workplaces in the global mining industry as well as integrate with the companies’ human resources policies. It aims to create a new health and safety culture across the business.

“Safety and health should be demonstrated even when no one is watching. Everyone is a custodian, and managers and supervisors should be accountable. Contractors who violate safety procedures should be accountable”, Says Michael Parker, Head of Group Safety, Operational Risk and Insurance at AngloAmerican.

Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL mining director adds: “Integrity is non-negotiable. We are calling for a global collective bargaining agreement which will provide guarantees and safeguards on safety and health that should include downstream sectors across the supply chain. A safety culture practice should be institutionalized.”