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:

  1. 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. 
  2. Removes guarantees that currently require written notice of dismissal. It introduces procedural rules that leave workers defenceless vis-à-vis employers.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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".

Brazil Supreme Court bans asbestos use and sale

“All types of asbestos cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, cancer of the larynx and ovary, and asbestosis (fibrosis of the lungs)”, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO says that exposure to asbestos occurs through inhalation of fibres in air in the working environment, ambient air in the vicinity of factories handling asbestos and indoor air in housing and buildings containing friable asbestos materials.

More than 100,000 people die every year from asbestos-related diseases. Millions of tonnes of asbestos are mined and sold every year. Most exports go to developing countries.

A study by Francisco Pedra of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation found that 3,718 people died from mesothelioma in Brazil, a cancer caused by asbestos, between 1980 and 2010. The court’s ruling on 29 November was therefore crucial for both workers and communities that live close to factories in Brazil.

The Supreme Court decided that the federal law allowing the “safe” use of asbestos is unconstitutional because it violates fundamental health and environmental rights. The ruling banned the mining, use in manufacturing and sale of the product in any state of the federation.

Asbestos has been banned in more than 70 countries, including Germany, Argentina, Chile, Spain, France, the United Kingdom and Uruguay because of the threat it poses to life. Brazil now joins that list after a long legal debate even though Brazil is one of the world’s biggest producers and exporters of asbestos.

Two of the largest trade union centres in Brazil, CUT and Força Sindical (IndustriALL Global Union affiliates in Brazil belong to either one or the other of these centres), celebrated the ban. They issued press releases describing it as a major victory for the trade union movement, which has campaigned against asbestos, in defence of workers’ health and lives.

IndustriALL Global Union has a global campaign against asbestos. IndustriALL executive committee, composed of IndustriALL affiliates, this year decided to take immediate steps to develop national action programmes for the elimination of asbestos-related diseases following the guidance of the International Labour Office and the World Health Organization, in all countries, whether or not they already have a ban. 


Asbestos is used in the manufacture of more than 3,000 products, including construction materials (tiles, water tanks, panels) and motor vehicle parts (brakes, clutch housings). It is also used for thermal insulation. 

IndustriALL’s Regional Officer, Marino Vani, comments on the court’s ruling,

“Unfortunately, justice has been done only after many years and many deaths. This is a trade union victory and a step forward for Brazilian society. We hope Brazilian government and governments of other countries in the region develop alternative jobs and incomes for workers employed in the mining of asbestos and ensure health care for all those who suffer from asbestos-related diseases and those who contract them in the future".

ArcelorMittal Temirtau coal miners raised to surface

On 15 December, about 400 coal miners raised to the surface, following the court's decision of Shakhtinsk of the suspension of the strike. Earlier, 154 miners raised to the surface after the meeting with the governor of the Karaganda region on 13 December, another 100 miners came up from the pit on 14 December.
 
The workers demanded 100 per cent increase of their wages, early retirement in 50 years and better working conditions. The management of ArcelorMittal Temirtau agreed for 30 per cent salary increase for all underground workers. This decision was made during the telephone conversation between Prime Minister of Kazakhstan and Lakshmi Mittal, owner of ArcelorMittal Temirtau.
 
The Mineworkers’ Union Korgau which is affiliated to IndustriALL through the Trade Union of Mining & Metallurgy Workers of Republic of Kazakhstan negotiated for the conclusion of an agreement on 20 per cent salary increase in the begining of November. Now it is cancelled and the new one contains 30 per cent salary increase.
 
The percentage increase in wages for ground workers will be further discussed by a special commission. It includes members of the initiative groups, representatives of trade union committees, prosecutor's office, directors of mines, regional administration and the company management.
 
Besides, all employees of the coal department of the company will be paid a lump sum award in the amount of monthly salary.
 
A few miners received court summons for their participation in the strike. ArcelorMittal Temirtau stated in a letter to the regional prosecutor that it will not seek to dismiss or prosecute the workers who struck, and that it will withdraw on 15 December the lawsuits against the workers.
 
IndustriALL’s general secretary, Valter Sanches, stated:

''IndustriALL Global Union is pleased at ArcelorMittal’s commitment to not dismiss or prosecute the workers for striking. We call on the Government of Kazakhstan to likewise agree not to retaliate against the workers and to encourage peaceful social dialog until all issues are resolved.”

Settlement reached with global fashion brand in Bangladesh Accord arbitration

This settlement will ensure that the supplier factories associated with this leading fashion brand are remediated and that substantial funds are available for that remediation work consistent with the 2013 Bangladesh Accord.

Global union federations, IndustriALL and UNI, launched arbitrations against two leading fashion brands in 2016.  This settlement agreement applies to one of those two cases.

The case hinged on whether the global brands involved met the Accord requirements to require their suppliers to remediate facilities within the mandatory deadlines imposed by the Accord and to negotiate commercial terms to make it financially feasible for their suppliers to cover the costs of remediation.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague has required that the names of the brands remain confidential.

The Bangladesh Accord, signed in 2013 after the Rana Plaza industrial disaster, covers 2.5 million workers in Bangladesh’s ready-made garment factories It is the first agreement with a legally-binding mandate requiring fashion brands to help their contractors eliminate fire and structural safety issues.

So far, the Accord’s inspectors have completed fire and building safety reviews at 1,800 facilities which supply more than 200 signatory brands. Accord engineers have identified over 118,500 fire, electrical and structural hazards at these factories.

Nearly 80 per cent of workplace dangers discovered in the Accord’s original round of inspections have been remediated, and 500 Accord factories have completed 90 percent or more of the necessary fixes.

A second Accord was signed in June of this year. It goes into effect when the original agreement expires in May 2018 and extends the Accord’s protections until 2021.

Unions take action against Glencore ahead of investor call

The actions took place around 10 December, to coincide with International Human Rights Day. The actions draw attention to the company’s rights violations as it seeks to establish a positive image for investors.

On 12 December, Glencore held an investor update call, to advise investors about the company’s strategies for growth. After recovering from a deep commodities crash in 2015, Glencore has bounced back in 2017, outperforming many of its peers.

But all of this comes at a terrible cost to the workers who mine and process the commodities that make Glencore a successful company.

To coincide with International Human Rights Day, unions around the world took action to demand that Glencore respect workers’ human rights. Highlights include:

In the investor call, Glencore announced that it intends to double its cobalt production over the next few years. Cobalt is an essential component of the batteries used by smart phones and electric vehicles, and the company intends to tie in deals with major auto and electronics manufacturers – including Volkswagen, Tesla and Apple – to supply cobalt.

Glencore won the concession to mine cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo after making a US $45 million loan to a fixer, as exposed in the Paradise Papers.

The company aggressively exploits commodities, and is a leading producer of copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc and thermal coal. CEO Ivan Glasenberg highlighted the value for money of Glencore’s “low cost assets", and praised the company’s “capital efficient growth”.

Assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“Glencore wants to convince investors that it has a bright future. But Glencore’s abuse of the human rights of its workers, at sites around the world, are a serious liability that will cause ongoing labour conflict.

“IndustriALL and our affiliates will campaign until Glencore respects workers’ rights and begins to address the many serious issues raised by workers and their communities.”

Unions in Sri Lanka march for sustainable industrial policy

A two-day workshop, ‘Towards Sustainable Industrial Policy’, witnessed frank discussions among union representatives on sustainability challenges posed by the industrial transformation taking place against the backdrop of climate change adaptation and industry 4.0.

Since 1970, Sri Lanka has embraced a market-oriented development model with numerous pro-corporate and capital friendly policies. These have consistently reduced the role of state in the economy, having a deep impact on workers’ rights.

Union representatives highlighted that nearly forty years of a market-led development model has exacerbated workers’ vulnerability.

A majority of Sri Lanka’s workforce face long working hours, low wages, poor working conditions, non-implementation of existing labour laws, ever increasing precarious work, lack of job security and social security, denial of health and safety rights, increasing sexual harassment in the work place, as well as an enormous challenge to exercise the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL South Asia regional secretary, said:

It is a paradox that economic growth in South Asia has bypassed millions of working people in the region. Sustainable Industrial policy is an important tool and it is paramount for unions to take a solid initiatives towards desired patterns of industrial development advancing the interests of society as a whole.

Economic policies pursued by successive Sri Lankan governments to attract foreign direct investment have resulted in environmental degradation, land grabbing and loss of livelihoods. Privatizations of essential public services including education and health have increased out of pocket expenditure for workers.

Unionists underlined the urgency to evaluate forty years of market led growth strategy against gains made in social, economic and environmental areas. The policy regime needs to move from its investor friendly approach to address existing weaknesses in the system.

The transformation towards sustainability should ensure living wages, job security, health and safety at work, gender equality, union rights, and implementation of existing laws and fair distribution of benefits.

Sri Lanka needs to enhance its manufacturing capacity, avoid being locked in producing low value products, reduce import dependency, build local brands and enhance the skill level of existing workforce and establish educational and training institutes to produce skilled and creative workforce for the future.

Brian Kohler, IndustriALL director for health, safety and sustainability, said that:

Sustainable industrial policy is the closest we can get to the alternative model of development. We are witnessing rapid industrial transformation and revolutionary changes in the world work. It is essential that the role of state should be strengthened and policymaking process should be collaborative. In order to address emerging challenges to sustainability and ensure Just Transition, unions should be involved in the decision making process.

Sri Lankan affiliates decided to educate union leadership and members on sustainability challenges, conduct research, build capacity, evolve consensus among unions and develop strategies to engage with the government towards achieving sustainable industrial policy in Sri Lanka.

ArcelorMittal coal miners on strike in Kazakhstan

A few hundreds coal miners of ArcelorMittal Temirtau went on strike in Shakhtinsk, Kazakhstan.

The strike started on 11 December when about 200 coal miners decided not to return to the surface after the end of their shift at four mines owned by ArcelorMittal. Workers at the mine are represented by IndustriALL affiliate Trade Union of Mining & Metallurgy Workers of Republic of Kazakhstan.

One day later Labour Minister of Kazakhstan confirmed the fact of the strike and announced that there are currently 684 workers striking underground at all 8 coal mines owned by ArcelorMittal in Kazakhstan. The union estimates more workers involved in the labour conflict. The striking workers are getting meals and water through their supporters and family members.

The workers demand 100 per cent increase of their wages, improved healthcare package, early retirement in 50 years versus current 63, better equipment and safety measures, as well as improvements to the infrastructure of their home town Shakhtinsk. Workers also demanded to speak to Lakshmi Mittal, Indian billionaire, owner of ArcelorMittal Temirtau.

ArcelorMittal Temirtau has eight coal mines and four iron-ore mines in Kazakhstan and operates a steel plant in Temirtau. Last year the company produced about 4 million tons of steel in Kazakhstan.

An industrial action is rarely taking place in Kazakhstan due to a repressive legislation criminalizing union and labour activists’ work. At the end of the last year a strike took place at Kazakhstan’s Oil Construction Company (OCC) where workers protested against dissolution of their union. http://www.industriall-union.org/two-oil-union-leaders-arrested-in-kazakhstan. Those who participated in the strike which was declared illegal by the authorities became subjects to heavy fines and repressions.

Minimum wage win for unions in Mauritius

The new monthly minimum wage announced in parliament on 8 December is Rs 8,140 (US$232) but various compensation payments by the government or the Mauritius Revenue Authority will mean that all workers will take home Rs 9,000.

“I can assure you that for 2019, employees will not be paid less than 9,000 rupees,” declared the Labour Minister for Mauritius, Soodesh Callichurn, about the decision that will benefit around 120,000 workers in the country.

It will be a significant increase for many workers, particularly those in the textile sector, some of whom were averaging only RS 4,000 (US$114) a month, according to unions. Ninety per cent of workers in the Mauritian textile and garment industry are women; conditions are tough and many need to stand all day while they work.

Once the new minimum wage comes into effect, these garment workers will be paid RS 9,000 for a 45-hour week. It will mean they will no longer have to work such long hours to scrape a living.

However, the figure is still below what trade unions judge to be a living wage, calculated at around RS 14,500 (US$414) in 2014.

Reeaz Chuttoo from IndustriALL Global Union affiliate in Mauritius, the Chemical, Manufacturing and Connected Trades Employees Union (CMCTEU), said:

“It’s a step in the right direction. I also appreciate that the government has decided to include the 20,000 workers in the free trade zone (in Mauritius).”

Trade unions have been pushing for the new minimum wage during tripartite negotiations with the government and employers in Mauritius.

IndustriALL’s assistant general secretary, Jenny Holdcroft, said:

“This is an important win for trade unions in Mauritius. Years of campaigning have paid dividends and the new minimum wage will make an enormous difference to the lives of thousands of workers, particularly women. We congratulate our affiliates in Mauritius on their success as they continue to push for a living wage.”

Algeria: union leaders released but oppression continues

Abdelkader Koufi, general secretary of oil and electricity union, SNATEGS, and Mohamed Al Amin Sulimani, president of the SNATEGS national youth committee, were detained on 12 December while taking part in a peaceful protest against the illegal and false dissolution of the union by the government.

According to reports, both of the arrested men were attacked by police with electric batons and have had their phones shut down. Abdelkader Koufi has been charged with threatening public safety, while Mohamed Al Amin Sulimani has been accused of photographing the police during an intervention, says SNATEGS.

The protest took place while the Ministry of Labour was holding a press conference to justify its announcement on 3 December that SNATEGS had been voluntarily dissolved during a meeting by its union members.

However, SNATEGS leadership strongly contests the claim. None of the union leaders are aware of any such meeting. Furthermore, the meeting would not have the authority to dissolve the union, a decision that, according to the union’s statutes, can only be made at a national congress.

Since the Ministry of Labour announced the dissolution, SNATEGS’ bank accounts have been frozen.

SNATEGS president, Raouf Mellal, said:

“The reality is that the Ministry of Labour wants at any cost to dissolve our union because SNATEGS is the first independent union founded in the economic sector in Algeria. Our battle is to free the workers of economic and industrial sector in Algeria.”

IndustriALL wrote to the Algerian Minister of Labour and Social Security on 11 December calling on the government to revoke the illegitimate dissolution of the union. The Ministry’s action not only violates national legislation but also shows evidence of strong governmental interference in the internal affairs of the trade union, violating ILO Convention 87 ratified by Algeria in 1962.

IndustriALL’s general secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“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.”

SNATEGS has been under continued attack from the authorities in Algeria for the last two years. The government tried to withdraw registration of the union in May 2017, while President Raouf Mellal is facing a prison sentence for his trade union activities and blowing the whistle on corruption at state electricity provider Sonelgaz.