Women workers in Zambia and Tanzania pledge to fight violence

All IndustriALL affiliates in Zambia and in Tanzania committed to discuss internally the IndustriALL Pledge on violence and harassment against women and to adopt it formally. The pledge commits the union to a policy of zero tolerance with the slogan “No to violence. Not in our workplace. Not in our union”.

The Womens’ Organizers exchange workshops were part of the Organizing project activities held in Dar es Salaam Tanzania in July and in Kitwe between 27 November and 1 December, which concluded with the project evaluation and the Zambia National Council Meeting.

After the first exchange workshop held in Dar es Salaam in July, three Tanzanian women leaders from IndustriALL Global Union affiliates the Tanzania Union of Industrial and Commercial Workers (TUICO) and the Tanzania Mines, Energy, Construction and Allied Workers Union travelled to Zambia to follow up sharing strategies and experiences in organizing and building women’s representation in our unions.

Margaret Ndagile of TUICO said,

“There are many challenges because we represent many very different sectors such as mining, industrial and energy sectors and we need to study how to bring in more women and workers from all these sectors.”

The twenty-five young women workers from the mining, metal, pharmaceutical and plastic sectors in Zambia expressed the difficulties they face as unionists in their workplaces and in their unions. Their priorities which are not taken into account when their unions make collective bargaining, and the same stereotypical explanations are always given by their unions for the lack of representation of women.

“Women pay equal subscriptions to the unions, but they do not have equal voices in decision making – why?” they asked.  The group of participants from each union caucused and drew up their action plans to carry out in their workplaces and take to their leadership.

“We have learned a lot through this exchange with Tanzanian trade unionists especially when it comes to young workers, they are so engaged in union activities and this is very inspiring” said Yuyi Sikananu, union organizer from NUBEGW Zambia

The final evaluation meeting of the last years of the organizing project followed with participation of Magnus Palmgren from IF Metall- Sweden, who commended the number of young women participating in the meetings and who explained why IF Metall has publicly declared itself a “feminist union”.

The union leadership from the Mineworkers’ Union of Zambia, the National Union of Commercial & Industrial Workers and the National Union of Building, Energy & General Workers claimed ownership of the project. They highlighted the advances gained in learning to map out workplaces to target and recruit around 25,000 new members since 2014 by forming permanent organizing teams.

The implementation of the “golden rules” of non-competition and cooperation among affiliates has built concrete unity and solidarity, which lead our affiliates to gain leadership positions in the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions.

Finally, the Zambia National Council adopted the 40 per cent representation of women, a quarterly calendar of meetings and coordination structure and proposed to table the Pledge against violence during the first meeting of the Council in 2018.

IndustriALL welcomes nine new trade unions

They include four trade unions from Latin America, two from the Middle East, two from Albania and one union from Africa covering sectors including energy, textile, manufacturing and materials.

The new unions have already been taking part in IndustriALL activities. Sutraprotisa union, which is part of new Peruvian affiliate FETRIMAP-CGTP, took part in IndustriALL’s World Conference for the Pulp and Paper Industries in Budapest at the end of November. The Peruvian union has also been part of the CMPC trade union network for two years, receiving solidarity support from IndustriALL and the network in bargaining with the pulp manufacturer.

New Brazilian affiliate, FERAESP, joined the IndustriALL Shell Global Union Network meeting in the Netherlands in September, and has since shown strong commitment to the recently launched campaign against Shell, which operates as Raízen in Brazil.

The largest new affiliate is Argentinian union SEIVARA, which has 6,000 members, 33 per cent of whom are women and 90 per cent of whom are white-collar workers. The union is active in the materials sector, particularly the glass industry.

Panamanian union, SITIESPA, includes members in the electricity sector who are all white-collar workers.

Both the new Albanian affiliates SPILT and FSPILASH represent mostly women workers in the textile sector. 

New African affiliate, SAP, is currently fighting a legal case to defend eight workers who have grievances with Total Gabon. The new affiliate will aim to use IndustriALL’s global framework agreement with Total to help resolve the issue.

IndustriALL’s General Secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“We warmly welcome our new affiliates into the IndustriALL family, which have come close to us through struggles, campaigns and networks. We are ready to fight their corner and champion their interests. Our new trade unions can also be sure to benefit from the international solidarity from our brothers and sisters around the world.”

New affiliates November 2017:

  1. Sindicato de Empleados de la Industria de Vidrio y Afines de la República Argentina (SEIVARA) from Argentina
  2. Independent Trade Union for Textile and Light Industry (SPILT) from Albania
  3. Trade Union of Workers of Light Industry, Handicrafts and Agro-processing (FSPILASH) from Albania
  4. Federation of Rural Workers of the State of Sao Paulo Brazil (FERAESP) from Brazil;
  5. Egyptian Federation of Mining, Quarrying and Building Materials – EUMQB
  6. Syndicat Autonome des Pétroliers (SAP) from Gabon
  7. General Trade Union for Workers in Electricity in Jordan (GTUWE) from Jordan
  8. Sindicato de los trabajadores de la Industria Eléctrica y Similares de la Republica de Panama (SITIESPA) from Panama
  9. Federacion de Trabajadores de la Industria Manufacturera y Afines del Peru (FETRIMAP–CGTP) from Peru

The Executive Committee in Colombo also approved the reaffiliation of the Automobile and Farm Machinery Workers' Union of Russia (AFW), and the Suriname Bauxite Mine and Metal Workers’ Federation (SBMWF).

It brings the total number of unions to 620 from around 140 countries.

Ukrainian miners face searches and strong pressure

In November, humiliating searches were conducted in the mines of Evraz Sukha Balka. Miners were forced to undress and remove their shoes. This was allegedly to prevent theft and was applied mainly towards members of the NPGU. Some workers were questioned by officers of the economic security service in a separate room about the activities of the head of the primary trade union organization at the enterprise, Serhiy Barabashuk, including his movements during working and non-working hours.

According to the union, there is discrimination in wages against members of the NPGU. The miners appealed to the general director of Evraz Sukha Balka to take measures to eliminate violations. It resulted in questioning and searches of workers with violations of legal norms, for instance, searches of women were performed by male security guards.

In addition, NPGU members might be unreasonably suspended from work and transferred to a different department. Serhiy Barabashuk and other union activists experience psychological discomfort because they are under constant surveillance, including video surveillance, by the security services of the enterprise and managers at all levels.

Mychailo Volynets, president of the NPGU, stated:

“Serhiy Barabashuk is one of the best young leaders of the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine. He is an honest person with a strong sense of justice. He appealed to me about the pressure on him, as well as the threats. Sergei also believes that there is a threat to his life. But as brave trade union leader, he continues to struggle”.

Discrimination is caused by the active struggle of the union for justice and demands for safe working conditions, fair wages and the fulfilment of the employer’s obligations under the rehabilitation of miners. In particular, the union demands the cancellation of a provision of the collective agreement that deprives financial assistance to workers who have had disciplinary sanctions for a violation of work rules. There is the negative impact on health in any case, so workers should recover.

In May, workers of Evraz Sukha Balka achieved a salary increase of 20 per cent, with a gradual increase until the end of the year towards a 100 per cent increase. Then the company changed ownership, and the new management refuses to follow the agreement and puts pressure on employees.

Moreover, members of NPGU are resisting corrupt schemes operating in the enterprise, when some workers receive a higher salary and share it with the foremen.

Volynets said:

“The Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine is doing everything possible to protect its leaders and members. Also, we call on all trade unionists for solidarity with Serhiy and his trade union brothers and sisters”.

Ethiopia: Union recruits in industrial parks

The new members came from 27 companies in the Bole Lemi industrial park in the capital, Addis Ababa, Dukem, and Kombolcha in the North East. Ethiopia’s industrial parks, set up by the federal government’s five-year Growth and Transformation Plans to promote industrialization through light manufacturing, are providing unions, including the IFETLGWU, with an opportunity to organise and recruit workers.

Three industrial parks have been opened. According to the Industrial Parks Development Corporation, when fully operational, they will employ 35,000 and 84,000 respectively and one will only cater for the garment and textile industries and its value chain.

There are plans to set up over 12 industrial parks across the country, and to promote the growing of cotton so that factories can get their raw materials locally. A 700 kilometer electric railway line to link to the port of Djibouti is being built to export goods faster.

Global brands buying from Ethiopia include H&M, Tchibo, and Phillips-Van Heusen (PVH). Other buyers are from Bangladesh, China and India. Ethiopia is also a beneficiary of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, giving some Sub Saharan African Countries preferential trade terms when exporting to the US.

While unions welcome the industrial parks and the investments in the garment and textile sector, they are concerned that wages are low and not enough to meet basic needs. The entry level wages averaged around US$40 in Ethiopia, compared to US$68 in Bangladesh and US$500 in China. According to the Ethiopian Investment commission the country has amongst the lowest minimum wages in Africa, and over 50 million potential young workers below the age of 24. 

Further, unions want workers’ rights to be protected and for factories to be safe. Employers are also urged not to withhold dues that belonged to unions.

Said Mesfin Adenew, president of IFETLGWU, says:

The federation is working hard to ensure that the country’s constitution, and ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on the right to organise and collective bargaining are respected. We want workers’ rights and benefits to be protected. Otherwise there won’t be industrial peace.

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

We welcome the Ethiopian government policies promoting industrialization, but it should not be at the workers expense. Industrialization should bring better wages to workers and take their lives out of poverty; this cannot happen when wages are as low as US$40 per month. We are calling for better wages in the garment and textile sector.

The recruitment drive was supported by the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions, FNV Mondiall, ILO, IndustriALL, and Solidaridad.

Global solidarity grows as Posco Assan fires 80 union members in Turkey

Posco, the world’s fifth-largest steel producer, continues to resist attempts by its Turkish workforce to unionize, firing workers joining IndustriALL Global Union affiliate Birleşik Metal-İş. A total of 80 union members have now been fired, with the latest dismissals coming after the union applied to the Minstry of Labour for a majority certificate that would give them the legal right to represent the 420 workers.

Company managers are attempting to intimidate workers by telling workers on the factory floor they will never accept or meet with the union.

The Korean-owned company has a “no union” policy.

In a solidarity letter sent to Birleşik Metal-İş, Kim, Ho-Gyu, president of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU), wrote:

“In Korea, Posco is infamous for its ruthless and harsh union repression. Since the company’s establishment in 1968 – during the military dictatorship era in South Korea – numerous workers have exerted efforts to establish democratic unions, but Posco trampled labor and human rights and built a cold-hearted capitalist empire.”

He urged the workers in Turkey not to give up the fight, saying:

“The long years of workers pounding on the fortress walls of the Posco empire have finally created enough fissures and begun breaking through.”

The KMWU is fighting a long and hard battle for recognition at the company. Because of the “no union” policy, they have only been able to organize some precarious workers, and no direct employees. At Posco’s plants in Korea, precarious subcontractors form the majority of the workforce, despite a court ruling that this subcontracting is illegal, and that the workers should be regularized.

KMWU is demanding that Posco regularize the employment status of precarious workers, stop threatening employees to coerce them into leaving the union, recognize and conclude a collective agreement with the newest organized chapter of the Posco subcontracted workers local, and reinstate the workers dismissed during the unionization.

Members of the subcontracted workers’ local at the Pohang and in Gwangyang plants sent solidarity messages to the workers in Turkey, and held a demonstration outside the plant.

In Turkey, members of Birleşik demonstrated outside the factory, as well as outside Kibar Holding, a Turkish joint venture partner with Posco. The union also held a demonstration outside the Korean consulate, demanding that the company respect workers’ rights.

President Kim of the KMWU finished his solidarity letter saying:

“This is what we want to say to our comrades. Do not bow to Posco’s ruthless violent repression. Just as an individual droplet of water is weak but a flood of water drops together can break through walls, an individual worker may not be strong but acting together in unity, our force becomes insurmountable. They know this too.

“The only reason they respond with force and union repression is because they are afraid. I am convinced that the workers united together in struggle will surely see victory.”

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, said:

“Our affiliates in Korea and Turkey have witnessed the results of Posco’s ‘no union’ policy. They face the same struggle, and they are uniting to challenge Posco. IndustriALL will continue to support their action. Together, we can bring this company to the negotiating table.”

Iran: workers in South Pars oil and gas fields submit petition to state broadcaster

The petition was organized by IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran (UMMI), and addressed to Seyyed Mehdi, director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Corporation.

The petition is significant, because independent union activists are severely persecuted in Iran, and it is rare for workers to publicly identify themselves as union supporters.

The workers of the South Pars Oil and Gas fields and the refineries of Bandar Abbas and Bushehr in Southern Iran submitted the petition because they face unbearable conditions.

The oil and gas industry is controlled by the Ministry of Petroleum through the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company, the world’s second biggest oil company. However, much of the work is carried out through partnerships with the private sector – including foreign companies – and subcontractors.

There are often several layers of subcontracting, and workers are employed through recruitment agencies on contracts with minimal rights. No salary is agreed, and they work a trial period of one month before their wage is determined. The oil companies pay the agencies, who regularly fail to pass on the salaries for months. Workers who complain are dismissed, and sometimes agencies disappear without paying wages.

The oil and gas fields are based in a hot and inhospitable part of Southern Iran, away from major urban centres. Many workers live on site, in shared accommodation, with up to ten people sharing a small prefabricated building. Washing facilities are inadequate, and access to fresh food is difficult. Shifts are typically ten hours long in very hot and difficult conditions.

There is a health and safety crisis, with frequent injury, illness and fatalities. Workers are crushed beneath machines, die from inhaling toxic gases, from boiler explosions and falls.

Workers have held a number of stoppages and occupations to demand unpaid wages and recognition of their rights. Although these actions are sometimes successful, they approached the state broadcaster in desperation because the situation is so serious. The broadcaster has so far failed to investigate.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“The workers in the oil and gas fields and refineries of Iran generate huge wealth for the country, and yet they endure terrible conditions. They are persecuted when they defend themselves.

“These workers have bravely sought to expose their conditions to the country through the public broadcaster, knowing that people would be outraged. We support them, and we repeat: Iran needs a free and independent union movement to defend the rights of its workers.”

Unions at Shell to protest violations on Human Rights Day

10 December is recognized internationally as Human Rights Day, and unions are demanding that Shell stops violating human rights in all of the 70 countries where it operates. 

The planned action is part of the campaign against Shell initiated by IndustriALL’s global network of trade unions at the company during a meeting in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands, in September.

The campaign, which includes demands for Shell to respect its commitments to human rights, was also endorsed at IndustriALL’s Executive Committee in Colombo, Sri Lanka in November.

Examples of Shell Human Rights Violations:

“Shell claims to be committed to respecting human rights around the world, but the company is failing to do so in some countries where it operates. Let’s raise our voice on 10 December and demand that Shell respects ALL workers’ human rights!” said IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan.

Please don’t forget to share your actions with us either through the Shell Global Union Network Facebook group page or send to [email protected].

General Electric unions develop cross-border cooperation and solidarity

The union representatives shared their experience on the common labour issues they face at General Electric, a giant US multinational. The company operates through various industrial sectors such as energy, oil, gas, aviation, healthcare, transportation, energy connections and lighting in 170 countries with more than 330,000 direct employees.

The company officially announces that “GE promotes respect for fundamental human rights (including the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work) and views them as a key component of responsible corporate citizenship”, and it is consistently ranked as one of the world’s leading corporations.

However, the union representatives reported at the meeting that management has intensified its attacks on the workers’ rights in various countries and disrespected the long-term commitments made with employees and communities where it operated. The company has also engaged with investors known as specifically focused on short-term profits.

For example, in Europe, the company management short-sighted strategy entails serious risks for workers and society, resulting in disrespect of the commitments made at the time of Alstom Power’s acquisition. In North America, management decisions to close and curtail productive facilities have broken social agreements with communities. The unions in Europe (See industriAll European Trade Union press-release “General Electric: Shareholders first, workers last”) and US are taking actions against management with the view to protect the interest of workers and communities.

The delegates agreed that the company should fully implement the fundamental workers’ rights, especially freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, covering all company operations throughout the world without exception. The unions believe that GE management must work together with trade unions representing GE workers with the view to achieve a fair and just social business model.

The unions attending the meeting adopted a joint statement to unite GE trade unions around the world to increase workers’ collective power and call on the company to recognize and engage in dialogue with global union network.

The GE trade union network will:

  1. Develop cross-border union cooperation and solidarity to implement and monitor fundamental workers’ rights at all workplaces and to achieve fair and just working conditions for all workers.
  2. Create a mechanism of social dialogue at global and/or regional levels with management, to make workers’ voices heard in General Electric.
  3. Protect and promote sustainable jobs, social and economic justice, and democratic global governance of the company, which enables constructive industrial relations leading to global level negotiations, including the limitation of precarious work and encompassing the principles of Just Transition.

Pulp and paper workers unite in Budapest

The meeting, which took place from 29-30 November, was held at the headquarters of Hungarian trade union affiliate, the Federation of Chemical, Energy and General Workers’ Union (VDSz). Participants analyzed future trends, health and safety, collective bargaining, and digitalization, among several topics.

IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary, Kemal Özkan, emphasized the considerable changes that had taken place in the pulp and paper industry in recent years. While the demand for printed material has fallen, the overall market is growing, particularly in packaging, tissue and pulp.

Gyula Pomázi, Political Secretary at the Hungarian government addressed the opening of the Conference. He argued that the key to the success of the pulp and paper sector is specialist expertise and production, backed by government policies that supported the industry.

Digitalization

“Digitalization and global transformation are having a big effect on the pulp and paper sector in Hungary and workers are turning to unions to represent their issues,” said Tamás Székely, President of host union VDSz.

Globally, the sector is expected to achieve a 3.1 per cent increase in yearly revenue, with a cost reduction of 4.2 per cent per annum – and much of that will be through job losses, said Kemal Özkan.

New pulp and paper plants have a greater capacity to produce more with fewer employees, warned Jon Geenen from Workers Uniting North America:

“The USA has lost 265 corrugated box and sheet plants, even though the packaging industry is growing. Instead there are new facilities with better technology and greater capacity.”

Faced with a domestic decline in newsprint and printed materials, pulp and paper companies in Japan are diversifying and exports are at a record high, said Toshiyuki Hashimoto, Vice President of the Japanese Federation of Pulp and Paper Workers’ Unions – KAMIPA Rengo. The industry is developing new cellulose nanofibre technology that is strong enough to replace carbon fibre.

Peter Schuld from German affiliate, IGBCE, said digitalization, or Industry 4.0, would require Work 4.0, warning that workers must be qualified to meet new requirements and accept life-long learning.

Health and safety

Occupational health and safety in the pulp and paper sector was of key concern at the Conference. Leeann Foster, United Steelworkers (USW) Assistant to the International President and IndustriALL Co-Chair of the sector, said her union is working to put an end to the high number of fatalities in the US, which average seven deaths a year. Pulp and paper is the largest sector at USW, which has 600 bargaining units representing 70 per cent of workers.

Brian Kohler, IndustriALL Director for Health, Safety and Sustainability, urged participants not to focus solely on the fatalities that result from sudden and violent accidents, but also on health impacts resulting in occupational diseases. For every worker that is killed in an occupational accident, four workers die of an occupational disease, often unrecognized. He also urged delegates to look at health and safety as a matter of basic workers’ rights and to take an uncompromising activist stance in demanding them.

Denise Campbell-Burns, CFMEU Forestry and Furnishing Products, said complementary therapies provided by some companies are designed to make sure employees are work-ready all the time, rather than looking at occupational health and safety in the workplace, and that not enough is being done to remove hazards at source.

As part of the action plan, participants at the Conference agreed to take a series of actions to raise awareness of safety, share data, and recognize that health and safety is the strongest organizing tool available.

Sustainability

While the pulp and paper sector is potentially very sustainable, it is not without its problems. Following an appeal from Brazilian union, CNQ/CUT, the Conference resolved to investigate into the scientific implications of new technologies such as transgenic eucalyptus trees in forestry production. The Brazilian government recently gave permission to plant the genetically-modified eucalyptus trees, which are resistant to powerful herbicides. The affects of the herbicides entering the product, the environment, and on the workers in the industry itself, are unknown.

Defending workers’ rights

The Conference expressed its support for the struggles of trade unions in Latin America, with new anti-union legislation in countries such as Brazil making it harder to organize and bargain collectively. Furthermore, trade unionists in countries such as Colombia are paying for their activities with their lives.

More work will be done to improve women and youth representation in activities and meetings of the sector, as well as to continue to map and prioritize the specific issues facing these groups. The Conference heard of the success of Indonesian affiliate FSP2KI in organizing precarious women workers in the sector. Rosalina Silva from CNQ-CUT called for gender issues to be included in collective agreements in the sector.

The Conference also demonstrated strong support for IndustriALL’s Pledge entitled “Violence and harassment against women: Not in our union, not in our workplace.” Participants were encouraged to take the pledge back to their unions for endorsement.

Building union power

Tom Grinter, IndustriALL’s Industry and Research Officer, gave an extensive presentation about the global overview of pulp, paper and board and packaging industries as well as the actions taken since the last World Conference in November 2012 towards building union power in the sector through global framework agreements, company networks and solidarity actions. 

As part of the action plan, IndustriALL’s pulp and paper sector will seek to continue to build union power, strengthening existing networks at CMPC, Sappi, IP, Smurfit Kappa and Mondi, and set up global trade union networks at WestRock, Amcor and DS Smith together with UNI Global Union. IndustriALL will also work closely with sister global unions BWI and UNI to help organizing in the supply chain from forestry, to pulp and paper, and to graphical.

As well as continuing the existing regional networks in Latin America and South East Asia, the Pulp and Paper Sector will put a special effort in building union power in Eastern Europe with continuation of its work supporting affiliates in Hungary, Poland, Russia and elsewhere in the area.

Delegates unanimously re-elected Leeann Foster and elected Matts Jutterström, President of Pappers Sweden, as Co-Chairs of the sector at IndustriALL.

The day before the Conference, many participants toured the Dunapack corrugated packaging company on the outskirts of Budapest, which supplies major multinationals in the region, such as IKEA and Unilever.

In summing up after the two-day conference, IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary, Kemal Özkan, said:

“As the pulp and paper sector expands and evolves, we have to increase our cooperation to make sure that workers do not get left behind. All workers are affected digitalization and health and safety, and trade unions must be ready to defend and promote the interests of their members. We have identified the challenges, now we have a comprehensive action plan from which to go forward.”

Read the Action Plan here.

Following the conference, IndustriALL paid a solidarity visit to a chemical company, BorsodChem, a Chinese investment in the North of Hungary. IndustriALL met with the company management and trade union representatives to discuss labour relations at the plant where around 3,000 people are employed with high union density with VDSz.

IndustriALL takes fight to Glencore in London

The London Mines and Money conference bills itself as the largest mining conference in Europe “where deals get done” between miners and investors. The protest at the conference coincided with a keynote address by far-right, xenophobic former leader of the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage.

The conference nominated Glencore for the “miner of the year” award.

It’s disgraceful that Glencore would be considered for a miner of the year award while it’s attacking workers and their unions around the world. Glencore has established itself as one of the worst violators of workers’ rights among the major mining and metals companies. That’s why unions at Glencore have launched a global campaign against the company,

said IndustriALL campaigns director Adam Lee speaking at the conference protest.

Glencore has locked out CFMEU union members in Australia since May, after they took industrial action against the company’s attempts to replace them with contractors.

According to some media reports, Glencore secretly worked with a notorious middleman implicated in massive bribes to win the Katanga copper and cobalt concession in DRC. At least seven workers were killed at this mine in 2016.

Glencore’s Cerrejón mine in Colombia was fined 2 billion pesos in 2016 for using illegal and excessive subcontracting.

IndustriALL affiliate National Union Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) is planning mass actions against Glencore for failing to pay a living wage to workers at its smelters.

IndustriALL, London Mining Network, War on Want and others followed the conference protest with a “toxic tour” through the heart of London’s finance and mining district, stopping for loud demonstrations at offices of a number of companies including Glencore.

Clemente Bautista Jr of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment spoke at the protest about their campaign against Glencore’s landgrabbing and mass displacement of people for its copper-gold mining project in the Philippines. Kalikasan PNE succeeded in forcing Glencore to abandon this project in 2015.

Unions with membership at Glencore’s operations worldwide meeting at the IndustriALL Executive Committee in November decided to organize a global day of action at Glencore on 10 December International Human Rights Day to demand that Glencore stop violating workers’ human rights.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

Our campaign against Glencore is just beginning. We will fight against Glencore’s unacceptable policies and practices in London, Zug and around the world. We will work with other organizations that demand Glencore stop violating human rights, stop abusing communities and stop damaging the environment. Together we will force Glencore to behave like the responsible company it claims to be.