Sanofi: Union solidarity moves through global union network

The meeting was organized in the premises of Sanofi immediately after the meeting of the European Works Council (EWC). The day before the meeting, global management of Sanofi welcomed the international participants and global head of human resources emphasized how and why worldwide exchanges are important. This was considered as a good signal for future cooperation.

IndustriALL Global and European trade unions cooperated well in the preparation phase of the global meeting and François Perniola, Sanofi coordinator of IndustriAll Europe, underlined the importance of collaboration vis-à-vis multinational companies, such as Sanofi.

IndustriALL Global Union formed a Sanofi regional union network in Asia Pacific in 2014 and the network came together in 2015 and 2016 along with regular exchange of information and experience on Sanofi operations in the region. Atsushi Sawaguri, coordinator of the Asia Pacific network, explained how the network played role in times of difficulties of unions in various locations in Asia Pacific. Being originally from IndustriALL’s Japanese affiliate UA Zensen, Sawaguri referred to the cases in the Philippines and Indonesia.

Likewise, Sanofi Latin America union network was founded by IndustriALL Global Union in 2016. The regional network covers all the unions from the countries where the company has important operations in Latin America. Ademar José Oliveira from CNQ-CUT briefed the global meeting about the labour relations and social dialogue in Brazil and the whole Latin American continent.

European Works Council (EWC) members shared their experience through their regular dialogue with the company management in Europe. Sanofi EWC was created in 2005. It has 40 members representing most countries of the European Union.

The aim of the global meeting was to create a World Works Council, for which a dialogue started with the meeting. The participants shared their experiences in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America with an analysis of Sanofi’s current state of affairs in economics and labour relations. ‘Union cooperation in pharmaceutical industry and Sanofi worldwide’ was one of the main topics discussed and a framework of the opening negotiation towards a world works council was debated and agreed. A way forward was also agreed on how to strengthen the global network.

The global network will be coordinated by the Secretary of the European Works Council (EWC) with the assistance of the regional network coordinators from Asia Pacific and Latin America.

Aline Eysseric, newly elected secretary of the European Works Council said,

“A great moment in building our global network, which I am particularly proud to have played a role! A great moment for the participants of this meeting, Europeans, Asians and Latin Americans, and through them for all Sanofi employees! Now it's up to us to extend it.”

IndustriALL Global Union Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan said,

“With our global union network, we want to open a new phase in labour relations and social dialogue in all the operations of Sanofi throughout the world. The signal we receive from the company management is promising. Together with our global network, I am sure, we will make important advancements in working conditions of Sanofi employees.”

Sanofi is a pharmaceutical company present in about 100 countries, with more than 100,000 employees.

Renault Chile workers in victorious 15-day strike

Union Nº1 at Cormecanica Renault Chile (affiliated to Industrial Chile-Constramet, in turn affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union) has reached agreement with the company at the Los Andes plant and ended the strike and other action that it began on 4 December.

Industrial Chile-Constramet gave the local union continuous support and solidarity, attending a series of mass meetings held by the workers and demonstrations outside the company gates.

“The pressure put on by the workers resolved a very complicated and difficult situation. The company agreed to an approximately 4 per cent pay rise and a US$2,000 end of dispute bonus,”

explained Miguel Soto, Industrial Chile-Constramet’s general secretary.

The union and the company have been negotiating for six months. The plant’s 373 workers requested a pay rise, improved benefits and better working conditions.

The company’s initial offer fell far short of union demands and it only reached an agreement after the union took action.

The workers always said they were open to dialogue and would negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement and end the strike.

Marino Vani, IndustriALL Regional Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean, praised the workers’ victory and said:

“We congratulate the workers at Cormecanica Renault Chile for their just and strategic struggle, and our affiliate, Industrial Chile-Constramet, for its support of this legal strike”.

IndustriALL has a Global Framework Agreement with the Renault group, which sets out the company’s commitments to ILO labour standards, including freedom of association and neutrality. It contains a number of major improvements, in particular concerning skills, training, health and safety and diversity.

Tenaris attacks workers’ rights in Colombia

Tenaris TuboCaribe is continuing its efforts to weaken the trade union during the current round of collective bargaining. It recently dismissed Walberto Marrugo, Jairo del Rio and Jorge Buenos as part of its attempt to break the union.

Walberto Marrugo and Jairo del Rio are the president and vice-president of Sindicato de Trabajadores de Tubos del Caribe (SINTRATUCAR), the union of Tenaris workers in Colombia. Tenaris TuboCaribe dismissed both of them on 6 December, after 20 days of negotiations. The company refused to negotiate a new agreement and the union is studying its options in terms of how to proceed.

“We denounce to national and international public opinion Tenaris-TuboCaribe’s violation of the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The company says it will not negotiate until the union is dissolved,” said the union in an official communique.

With the support of other organizations, SINTRATUCAR held a series of protests and a mass meeting of members at the factory gates on 17 December. The meeting called on all workers throughout the world to increase their pressure on the company by joining the Facebook campaign.

On 19 December, it urged all the company’s employees to make a video illustrating Tenaris’ union busting activities and to demand the reinstatement of the dismissed workers.

The situation is extremely serious because the workers run the risk of losing rights they won by struggles in which international solidarity played a part.

The reality of workers in Colombia reflects what is happening to the union of Tenaris workers in Guatemala. In that country, the Tenaris Ternium group is refusing to negotiate and is engaged in a full-frontal attack on the union, intimidating workers and dismissing trade union leaders.

In September 2017, IndustriALL Global Union lodged a complaint against multinational steel producer Ternium with the National Contact Point of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for refusing to recognize and negotiate with a trade union at is production plants in Guatemala.

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL’s general secretary said,

“The unions belonging to the Tenaris Ternium Workers’ World Council are shocked by the company’s treatment of unions in Guatemala and Colombia as Ternium and Tenaris generally have normal relations with trade unions at their plants in other countries.
The committee is calling on unions in other countries to join support and solidarity initiatives.”

Support Algerian union under government attack!

The government of Algeria is escalating its war on IndustriALL affiliate SNATEGS, which organizers workers at the state energy company SONELGAZ. Hundreds of union members, delegates and officers have been dismissed, harassed and persecuted on bogus legal charges for exercising their fundamental rights.

Only last week Abdelkader Koufi, SNATEGS’ general secretary, and Mohamed Al Amin Sulimani, president of the SNATEGS national youth committee, were detained while taking part in a peaceful protest against the illegal and false dissolution of the union by the government. They were released the following day.

In May this year the government revoked SNATEG’s legal status and sentenced union President Raouf Mellal to six months in prison for exposing corruption and massive fraud carried out by SONELGAZ over a decade of overcharging millions of Algerians on their utility bills.

Now the government is attempting to eliminate the union altogether. On December 3, the Ministry of Labour announced that SNATEGS had held a meeting to dissolve itself. No authorized meeting took place, and according to the union’s statutes only a national congress can take this decision. Since the Ministry of Labour announced the dissolution, SNATEGS’ bank accounts have been frozen.

In a letter to the director general of International Labour Organisation, Guy Ryder, the three global union federations with ITUC are calling on the ILO to urgently intervene with the government of Algeria:

We call on you to urge the government to respect the right to freedom of association. In particular, we request that you urge the government to stop the war on SNATEGS, respect the union’s rights and legal status, drop all charges against Raouf Mellal and union members and representatives facing prosecution solely in retaliation for their union commitment, and reinstate all those dismissed for carrying out their union activities and exercising their rights.

IndustriALL general secretary, Valter Sanches reiterates the strong support for SNATEGS, and the free and democratic union movement in Algeria:

We are deeply concerned with the continuing and escalating belligerent behaviour of the Algerian government. IndustriALL will stand by SNATEGS until the government of Algeria stops harrassing and intimidating its members and accepts that a strong and independent trade union movement is vital to democratic society.

Please support the LabourStart campaign and send a message to the Algerian authorities telling them to stop the war on SNATEGS, respect the union’s rights and legal status, drop all charges against Raouf Mellal and union members and representatives facing prosecution solely in retaliation for their union commitment and reinstate all those dismissed for carrying out their union activities and exercising their rights.

Unions around the world take the IndustriALL pledge to end violence against women

IndustriALL recently launched a new campaign ‘Unions say no to violence against women’. Every day since IndustriALL’s Executive committee adopted the pledge at its meeting in November, more affiliates have themselves taken the pledge. All affiliates in Myanmar, Thailand, Philippines and Cambodia and SMEFI in India have taken the pledge, while in Latin America, affiliates in Guatemala, Argentina, Panama, Nicaragua, and Brazil took the pledge and have started to disseminate it through their union structures, including UTICRA, FESTRAS, FESITEX and SINATRAPROFITECC. In Africa, the FID in Burkina Faso and ZEWU from Zimbabwe have shown their commitment by taking the pledge. In Europe and North America affiliates which have so far taken the pledge include the USW, Fellesforbundet, the Metalworkers Trade Union of Croatia – Industrial Trade Union (SMH-IS), Nezavisnost IER in Serbia.

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

By taking the pledge, the affiliates commit to continue and reinforce their action.

The media spotlight is currently on the widespread cover up of sexual violence against women as a result of the long overdue exposure of many high profile cases in the entertainment industry and the political arena. Thousands of women in many countries are breaking the silence through social media with #MeToo. Violence against women exists not only in industries in the public eye, it is widespread in every IndustriALL sector, in every country. THIS MUST END!

IndustriALL urges all its affiliates to take the pledge and promote it through their union structures, prompting discussion and debate to ensure that the act of signing by the leadership or adoption through the union decision making body is well understood and publicized by and within the union.

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.

Restructuring at leading Israeli pharmaceutical company causes mass job losses

Teva has been in a crisis with a huge debt after its unsuccessful US$40 billion acquisition of rival company Allergan.

The restructuring will negatively impact around 1,700 jobs in different locations in Israel, meaning that more or less one-quarter of the Teva workforce in the country will soon disappear. This also includes the plant in Jerusalem where 320 workers will face redundancies next year and other 500 workers will be laid off in 2019 upon the plant’s closure. Teva workers are members of the Food and Pharmaceutical Union, part of Israeli Labor Federation Histadrut.

Mass job losses at Teva triggered a general strike in Israel by Histadrut on 17 December. The strike took place, among others in government offices, municipalities, the Knesset, Israel Airport Autonomy, Israel tax authority, stock exchange, sea ports, Israel Electric Corporation, hospitals, universities, museums, credit card companies, insurance companies, cellular phone companies, hi-tech and internet companies, transportation companies, banks and more.

Before and during the general strike, numerous protests were organized by Teva workers both inside and outside the company. All the activities in TEVA sites were stopped and demonstrations took place in front of the company sites in several cities in Israel.

Job losses at Teva are a huge social and political problem in Israel affecting many families. All the media outlets cover reports about demonstrations and actions taken by Teva workers.

In an interview, Histadrut chairman, Avi Nissenkoren said:

"The solidarity strike to save the Israeli industry sends a clear message. This is a difficult hour, but in the struggle for the social face of the State of Israel, we are all determined and united in the struggle for the benefit of TEVA employees and ensuring the future of the company in Israel.”

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL Global Union’s General Secretary said:

“Workers are not responsible for the current situation at Teva. However workers worldwide are forced to pay the bill over the wrong decisions taken by management. This is unfair and unacceptable. We congratulate Histradut with a successful wide-scale strike and express our solidarity with all Teva workers in this hard time.”

Earlier this year, IndustriALL Global Union’s Hungarian affiliate VDSz faced with similar situation when Teva announced plans to cut 500 employees in the Gödöllő production plant, which is scheduled to close down its production in mid-2018. The restructuring is not expected to affect the Debrecen and Csongrád plants, employing more than 2,000 people, and the company's commercial unit in Hungary.

IndustriALL’s first step towards creating women network in Ukraine

The first IndustriALL Global Union workshop on gender issues took place on 30 November – 1 December in Chernigov, Ukraine. The participants of the workshop were Ukrainian activists responsible for their respective unions’ structures promoting gender equality issues.

Participants articulated how the society imposes different behaviour and different roles to boys and girls from their birth. Women shared examples from their childhood, when they were criticized for the leadership behaviour. They were often advised “Behave like a girl!”, meaning a non-challenging, soft and obedient behaviour, and were pushed back. The same situation remains typical in the adults’ world. Majority of men on the leading positions in the Ukrainian society believe that women have far less leadership ambitions. Therefore, even if a woman seeks a leadership position, she has little chance to get it.

In addition to their main occupation, women are supposed to run the household and raise children, which in reality becomes their "second shift". In fact, it is the most important limiting factor for women to reach the leadership positions. In the same time irregular working hours, negatively affect the children and family.

Participants confirmed that sexual harassment is a serious problem in Ukraine as well as domestic violence. On 7 December, the Ukrainian parliament Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law on combating domestic violence. However, it can share the destiny lots of other laws and conventions adopted by the government which remain declarative.

The average salary among women is 80 per cent of men's average salary. Women are not represented in the 20 per cent of public administration bodies. Only 18 per cent of deputies in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine are women.

Vadim Borisov, regional secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, told about the strong position of the international trade union movement and the IndustriALL’s Executive Committee resolution on violence and harassment against women in the workplace. Every affiliate is urged to take the IndustriALL’s pledge “Violence and harassment against women: NOT IN OUR WORKPLACE, NOT IN OUR UNION”.

In conclusion, the participants agreed on the topics for the following seminars, for instance, ways and methods of overcoming discrimination in Ukraine, promotion of gender equality, conflict resolution, women participation in trade unions, increase of self-esteem and confidence. A special group on Facebook was set up for further communication. It is the first step towards building a women network in Ukraine.

Vadim Borisov states,

“This workshop is a beginning of the IndustriALL gender activity in Ukraine and the very first module in series of workshops and trainings that will be held in forthcoming years. Based on the decisions of the Executive Committee meeting in November 2017 in Colombo, Sri Lanka we’ll implement IndustriALL gender policy in our region. We also consider possibility to hold a gender conference before the sub-regional meeting in 2018.”

Ivory Coast: Continued fight for workers’ rights in the oil sector

Klenzi dismissed eight workers for refusing to denounce their union membership, in clear violation of their freedom of association, as well as of the country’s labour laws.

However, the company’s lawyers are denying violations, and the ministry of labour is asking SYNTEPCI to provide evidence. The union is surprised by this as it gave evidence for the violations a long time ago and see the new request as time wasting. Whilst all this is happening the workers are yet to receive their benefits and struggling to survive. For instance, one of the dismissed workers, Verbier Gautier, has no place to stay after being evicted for failing to pay rent.

Libya Oil, having retrenched eight workers, is refusing to abide by the conditions of a signed agreement. The agreement clearly states that fair compensation should be given to workers when retrenched.

Petroci is also breaking the law by employing temporary workers for more than six months. Some 200 workers have been on temporary contracts from five to even 15 years and have no benefits.

Jérémie Wondje, general secretary, for SYNTEPCI says: “In August, when we picketed at Klenzi offices in Abidjan against the blatant union bashing, the company called in the police and the military to disperse the workers. However, they left without incident after realizing that the picket was caused by a labour dispute.

We are demanding the reinstatement of the workers. The companies lack commitment and this is frustrating; the issue should have been resolved by now.

Fabian Nkomo, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa, adds:

We are in solidarity with SYNTEPCI that has remained resolute despite sustained intimidation, and have written to the Government of the Ivory Coast and the ministry of labour to express our disappointment with Klenzi’s union bashing tactics. The oil companies in the Ivory Coast need to respect workers’ rights.

The union is supported by the confederation UGTCI, the Ivorian League of Human Rights and the Ivorian Human Rights Commission.

2017 – a year of global solidarity in the textile and garment sector

2017 began with massive worker repression in the Bangladesh export industry that resulted in 35 union leaders jailed, union offices shut down, and over 1,000 workers illegally terminated for raising their collective voices for higher wages and better working conditions. On the other side of the world in Nicaragua, workers were terminated and jailed for striking.

But garment unions from across the globe took action. From New York to Tokyo to Amsterdam, solidarity support for these struggles came in the form of letters to governments and global brands, protests and petitions.

Sharing experiences

IndustriALL North American affiliate Workers United, originally founded by immigrant garment workers who came to the United States and Canada seeking a better life for themselves and their families only to face exploitation and poverty at their jobs, holds an annual summer education seminar for all newly elected worker representatives.

This summer, IndustriALL held a session on the global textile, garment, leather and shoe sector on the importance of global solidarity and how Workers’ United’s history is intertwined with the textile and garment global supply chain. Workers United members formed unions that improved their lives and helped bring social reform to their countries, improving life for millions.

David Melman, from Workers United summed it up:

This immigrant history gave our union an ongoing connection to apparel and textile workers around the world. Their history is our history, their struggle is our struggle.

Tyrell Milton, a Workers United representative from Fanatics that manufactures baseball uniforms, added:

The workers who helped found the unions which became Workers United faced horrible sweatshop conditions but were able to build a union which continues today.
It’s crazy that in 2017 apparel workers around the world continue to face the same exploitation. I was glad to learn that we are helping our sisters and brothers build unions and fight for their rights.

In November, representatives of IndustriALL affiliates from Honduras, Nicaragua, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal traveled to Silkebog, Denmark’s former textile hub, as part of an international exchange on how to achieve to decent work in the textile, garment, leather and shoe sector.

The local branch of IndustriALL Danish affiliate 3F organized the interchange with the international representatives and local shop stewards from the Danish global brands Mascot, Europe’s largest work wear manufacturer and also with Egetaepper, a global manufacture of carpets.

Tony Nielson, 3F member of the international committee for the Silkebog branch said:

We want to fight so that all workers get equal rights. Danish workers have fought and achieved this, and we should pass it on. At the same time, we are helping ourselves by helping.

Workers from Mascot have taken global solidarity one step further. Local branch members at the company have negotiated as part of their wage package that 50 øre (US$0.08) per hour goes to a global fund.

Shervin Firouzian, a 3F member at Mascot, said:

When I hear about what some of the workers have endured to achieve decent work, this small amount is one way that that we can help support the global struggle for workers’ rights.

Mexican labour reform proposals respond to employers' interests

The government’s labour reform proposals were apparently drafted in secret by two senators who are better known as pseudo-trade union leaders of the main “yellow” trade unions that represent the interests of employers rather than workers: Tereso Medina Ramírez of the Confederación de Trabajadores de México (CTM) and Isaías González Cuevas of the Confederación Revolucionaria de Obreros y Campesinos (CROC).

The proposals respond directly to the demands of company lawyers, who want to prevent explicit recognition of the fundamental right to freedom of association and stop the initiative to eliminate the employer protection model of collective agreements, which would improve labour justice administration. They also benefit financially from employer protection contracts. These proposals contradict the recent constitutional reform and contravene International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 87, ratified by Mexico, and the ILO’s core conventions, including Convention C98.

Some of the more controversial points of the proposals are as follows:

Allows unlimited outsourcing and removes the articles and rules that regulate this practice. Employers will be able to recur to outsourcing if they only comply with the minimum rights established by law and will have complete freedom to use individual employment contracts to determine working conditions. According to the Mexican labour lawyer Arturo Alcalde, this means that “Work becomes a commodity the price and terms of which will be agreed freely in a commercial contract. It unreservedly protects employers, who will be able to outsource work and avoid employing workers who could be called out on strike". The law currently establishes certain limits for outsourcing jobs. For example, it does not allow companies to organize their entire workforce on this basis or indirectly employ workers to do jobs being done by directly contracted workers. Furthermore, these proposals make no provision for pensions and access to health services so approval would be a major blow to the working class.
Removes guarantees that currently require written notice of dismissal. It introduces procedural rules that leave workers defenceless vis-à-vis employers.
Ignores the requirement for prior consultation in the form of a secret ballot as a condition for approval of a collective agreement. The government had promised the international community it would end employer protection contracts but the new proposals allow employers to continue choosing the trade union of their preference.
Proposes the creation of a new agency to register trade unions and collective agreements, but this agency will remain in the hands of the yellow unions and employers. It maintains the same pseudo-tripartism that the constitutional reform was supposed to eliminate and that only allows yellow unions to “represent” workers. It proposes that they have four representatives each on the board of the new agency.
Creates a misleading authorization mechanism that will allow the registration of collective agreements even if they do not comply with the legal minimum requirements if the authority does not respond in timely fashion to employer applications for registration.
Violates provisions of the Transparency and Access to Public Information Act that require the authority to make trade union and employment contract documentation available to the public. The proposals restrict this right and ignore the new law.

The decree setting out amendments to a series of constitutional provisions was published in the Official Gazette on 24 February 2017. It said that the changes to the Constitution would come into force one year after that date, which involves approval of secondary legislation by 15 December 2017.

With only a few days to go before that date, hopes that the reform would mean significant progress for the country’s workers have been dashed by these new proposals, which respond to the interests of the government, employers and business unions and attack the most basic of human and labour rights.

Independent unions and progressive lawyers held an emergency meeting on 11 December to plan their response, which will be supported by IndustriALL Global Union.

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL General Secretary, said:

“Mexico continues the global trend of labour reforms that hold out the false promise of new investments but only make work even more precarious. We would expect that any reform in Mexico would democratize labour relations, implement freedom of association and, in particular, put an end to protection contracts. Workers have the right to organize and choose their own union. They also have the right to not be subjected to threats or even worse, as in the recent case of the killing of workers at the Media Luna mine”.

This is a reworking of the article published on 9 December 2017 in the Mexican newspaper La Jornada under the title of “Grotesca Iniciativa de Reforma Laboral”, by Arturo Alcalde Justiniani, graduate in law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico) and in Economy and Technology at Monterrey.

For more information, see the article in Sin Embargo "Iniciativa de senadores de CTM y CROC elimina derecho a pensión y salud de TODOS los trabajadores".