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.

Henkel uses scabs in US to break workers’ strike

The strike at Henkel Aerospace in Pittsburg producing adhesives for Boeing and other airline companies, started in response to the deadlocked negotiations with management over a new agreement, which would improve safety procedures at the Henkel facility.

However, the company’s response to the conflict has been retaliation and discrimination against union leaders and members at the plant. In an effort to destroy the union, Henkel employed scab workers through a union replacement/strike breaking company Strom Engineering. Reportedly Henkel is now spending millions of dollars on these temporary replacement workers.

Henkel is a well unionized company throughout Europe. However the state of affairs in the USA is far from was is described in Henkel’s sustainability report for 2016, where the company says that “An in-depth exchange of views and consultations with the management take place both at the operational level, for example, with the local works councils, and across companies with the trade union.” In the same report the company also claims to “promote the health and vitality of our employees to help create an agile and high-performance organization.”

In 2013, 26-year-old David Eleidjian, a temporary worker died after being pulled and crushed to death while working a chemical mixing machine. In result of the subsequent investigation made by the US California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) numerous violations were found, and the company was fined for US$200,000.

Since then workers have managed to negotiate their first contract with the company. The contract however failed to address numerous safety issues continuing to be ignored and contested by Henkel.

Over the past 6 months, several severe steam burns have occurred, due to the lack of scheduled maintenance recommended by the current safety committees. One injury caused third degree burns over 30 per cent of an IAM member.

The Machinists Union have submitted a number of Unfair Labor Practices (ULP) claims and Cal/OSHA has cited and penalized the company. According to IAM, the current ULP’s filings regard violation of grievance timelines, mandatory five 12-hour day work schedule and training of nonunion employees to perform IAM work while the union was still in negotiations. The union is also preparing new ULP claims.

IndustriALL German affiliate IG BCE was the first one to express their solidarity and support to Henkel workers. Michael Mersmann, director for globalization and European policy at IG BCE comments,

“The use of scabs is unacceptable and we express our solidarity with the Machinists. IG BCE, together with the German works council, have engaged into discussions with management, but an appropriate solution is yet to be found. We hope and support, that both sides get back to the negotiation table and find a proper solution!”

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches addressed a solidarity letter to the Machinists,

“IndustriALL Global Union fully supports the strike, which is the result of the intransigent stance of Henkel Aerospace. Your 80 proud production workers have every right to demand a safe and healthy working environment, and a constructive social dialogue with the company. No company should be able to deny responsibility for the health and wellbeing of their workers, and refuse to take responsibility for a tragic death on their premises.”

“We demand that Henkel Aerospace negotiate a fair contract with the union to address basic urgent safety and health issues, effective grievance procedures, as well as the implementation of the negotiated system of advancement and training. Furthermore, Henkel Aerospace should redress any unfair labor practices, and act in full accordance with the decisions of Cal/OSHA.”

Indian unions resolve to fight precarious work and strengthen union power

The IndustriALL India Council meeting on 26 November and the unity meeting of Indian affiliates the following day, witnessed frank discussions on challenges faced by Indian trade union movement and ongoing initiatives of Indian affiliates.

Jenny Holdcroft, Assistant General Secretary of IndustriALL said:

In moving forward, IndustriALL aims to intensify its efforts to support workers in the supply chains across the manufacturing sector. IndustriALL will provide strategic support to its affiliates through global framework agreements, fight to stop precarious work, fight for a living wage, capacity building on sustainable industrial policy, industry 4.0 and just transition.
Strengthening women’s participation and their rights, and the campaign to stop violence against women will be integral part of IndustriALL’s work in future.

G. Sanjeeva Reddy, President of INTUC and IndustriALL Executive Committee member said:

The Indian trade union movement is facing extraordinary attacks from the pro-corporate and anti-worker policies of the Indian government. We have launched countrywide mobilizations of workers to fight these unjust policies. It is paramount that the international trade union movement extends concrete solidarity to millions of working people in India.

R Kuchelan, President of WPTUC, said:

India is facing many challenges, including erosion of democratic norms and secular values, unprecedented attacks on union rights, and a proliferation of precarious work and unemployment. Given the challenges, the trade union movement ought to build unity to resist anti-workers policies of the government. We need to strategically work to build union power across the manufacturing sectors.

The meeting discussed the achievements, hurdles and the way forward in union organizing in IndustriALL sectors, including steel, shipbreaking, textile, garment, leather and shoes sector, the fight against precarious work in India, strengthening women participation and to stop violence.

Unions call for good and safe jobs at Unilever

Unilever is looking to sell the spreads business, with the buyer expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

The sale will directly impact more than 1,000 employees in Europe, and the union is criticising the fact that they have not been involved in the process.

The European Works Council says in a statement that they expect the sales discussion to include the maintaining of jobs and working conditions, including company pensions.

“It should not purely hinge on which of the interested parties is prepared to pay the highest price. A buyer should have a business plan based on the sustainable growth of brands and it should also be in a position to offer employees good prospects.”

As the food supply chain is under scrutiny, times are increasingly tough for the Unilever workforce. Sites around Europe are audited and some have been sold, and centralizing services in the last year has added to the burden. Together with strict saving plans, supply bottlenecks have emerged and the EWC has issued several warnings about possible consequences.

Now trade unions and the EWC call on Unilever to re-evaluate decisions made in recent months:

“Unilever’s primary objective must be to provide people with good products, protect the environment and take on board the needs of employees throughout the whole value chain whilst keeping good and safe jobs in Europe.”

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary, says:

"Unilever claims to be a champion of sustainability, incorporating human and labour rights along with economic development and environmental protection in the concept.

"But the social dimension is not secondary to the economic dimension – sustainability cannot be achieved without sustainable jobs.”

Mission accomplished! Canadian Steelworkers stop Glencore attack after nine month strike

The workers went on strike at the CEZinc refinery in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, on 12 February, after the company tried to cut costs by raiding their pension scheme.

Members of USW Local 6486 voted 82 per cent in favour of accepting the new collective agreement, which protects their pension rights. They will return to work on 3 December.

USW representative Luc Julien said:

“They return with heads held high. They fought proudly for nine months, to defend conditions for themselves, but also for future generations. The trade union movement must defend decent conditions for future generations, and that is what these strikers have done.”

The campaign was supported by the local community, and by the international trade union movement. IndustriALL took global action in support of the strike at the Glencore AGM in Switzerland in May, and at the Glencore global network meeting in September. IndustriALL also lobbied Glencore top management directly on a number of occasions. Australian affiliate the CFMEU – which is involved in a bitter dispute with Glencore at the Oaky North mine – also extended the hand of friendship and solidarity.

At its meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 9 November, the IndustriALL executive committee endorsed a global campaign at Glencore. The campaign seeks to establish dialogue with the company at a global level to improve conditions for workers everywhere, and will continue until the company changes its approach to unions.

The campaign will take global action on International Human Rights Day,10 December, to highlight the company’s violations of workers’ rights around the world.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“This is a very encouraging way to begin our campaign against Glencore. We hope it sets a precedent for more victories to come.
“The solidarity, sacrifice and commitment of the Métallos and the brave strikers brought this victory after nine difficult months. We salute them, and we take this fight forward, so that Glencore workers everywhere can win decent conditions.”

Iraq approves ratification of ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association

A parliamentary source said the House of Representatives voted on 20 November in favour of a draft law that allows the Republic of Iraq to join the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention No. 87 of 1948.

IndustriALL Global Union was one of the first to demand that Iraq ratifies ILO Convention 87, which upholds trade union freedoms, during a mission in 2013 to the Iraqi Council of Representatives.

"The ratification of this Convention is a historic achievement for the trade union movement in Iraq, which it has long fought for. It will pave the way towards the legislation of the law on trade union rights and freedoms, which will require a serious effort by Iraqi unions for its enactment,” said Hashmeya Alsaadawe, President of the General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians, and a member of IndustriALL’s Executive Committee.

“Despite the unstable situation in Iraq, the struggle of the trade union movement, the efforts of the good people of Iraq, and the support and solidarity of international organizations and federations, including IndustriALL Global Union, have brought about this success,” she added.

Trade unions hope that in approving ratification of the Convention, the House of Representatives will reject a draft trade union law, which has been strongly criticized by trade unions, and falls short of ILO standards.

IndustriALL and its Iraqi affiliates are calling on the parliament to consider a draft proposal called Trade Union Freedoms instead, which has been submitted by Iraqi unions to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

IndustriALL’s assistant general secretary, Kemal Özkan, said:

“We congratulate Iraqi trade unions in their significant victory which will go a long way to protecting workers’ rights to organize in Iraq. The Iraqi government must now do its upmost to ensure that the freedoms enshrined in Convention 87 are respected, particularly with regards for the new law for trade unions.”

Mexican workers’ deaths sharpen labour debate in NAFTA

The fifth round of negotiations between the United States, Mexico and Canada on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in Mexico City ended on 21 November without an agreement on the most controversial issues.

Unresolved issues include calls for Mexico to improve its labour standards so that the three countries can negotiate on a level playing field.

Discussion of this issue became more contentious after news of the killing of two Mexican employees of the Canadian company Torax Gold Resources at the Media Luna mine. IndustriALL Canadian affiliate UNIFOR, IndustriALL Canadian and Northamerican affiliate United Steelworkers (USW, representing both US and Canadian workers), and IndustriALL Mexican affiliate Los Mineros have vigorously called on the Mexican government to halt the constant attacks on freedom of association.

Jerry Dias, UNIFOR president and advisor at the NAFTA talks, called on the Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto, to improve working conditions and prevent violations of the freedom of association if he wants to continue with the free trade agreement:

I challenge Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to show courage and do the right thing by accepting the proposed NAFTA labour reforms to guarantee the right to free association and free collective bargaining. UNIFOR will never support NAFTA without labour reform in Mexico.

The trade union leader also referred to the recent increase in the minimum wage in Mexico to 88 Mexican pesos per day (US$6), which is well below union demands and leaves Mexican workers below the poverty line.

This does nothing to achieve balanced trading relations. There is no way that United States and Canadian workers can compete with their counterparts if they are paid just a few cents per hour.

The USW has asked the Canadian government to demand improved labour standards during NAFTA, and urged it to ask Mexican authorities and the company to recognize the basic rights of Mexican workers, and avoid further violence:

"We are once again urging the Canadian government to intervene with Mexican authorities and the company to recognize the basic rights of Mexican workers and prevent further violence. The Mexican government and this Canadian company must ensure this conflict is resolved without further bloodshed."

Finally, the president of Los Mineros, Napoléon Gómez Urrutia, condemned the cowardly attack on workers at the Media Luna mine, demanding that perpetrators be prosecuted and that the government cancel the foreign company’s mining concession:

The governments of Canada and Mexico must act quickly to ensure justice in this dispute, at a time when the North American Free Trade Agreement is being renegotiated.

Banks and shipowners join campaign for the safe recycling of ships

Shipbreaking is the most dangerous job in the world. A year ago, at the Gadani shipyard in Pakistan, 28 workers died when the ship they were breaking down on the beach exploded. IndustriALL has long campaigned for the safe recycling of ships, and held a series of meetings with industry stakeholders to develop a collective response to improving the industry.

In a meeting facilitated by the Dutch union FNV, on 30 October a union delegation including representatives of shipbreaking unions in India and Pakistan met representatives from the Dutch banks ABN AMRO, ING and NIBC Direct NL.

The Dutch banks finance the building of new ships, and – along with Norwegian bank DNB and Norwegian export financier Eksport Kreditt – are concerned about the environmental and human impact of the shipbreaking industry.

Rikjan van Zalingen, sustainability issue manager at ING and Robin Willing, head of sustainability, jointly presented the banks’ Responsible Ship Recycling Standards, which aim to put conditions on loans for building or refinancing ships on a best efforts basis. The conditions would ensure that provision is made for the safe recycling of ships at the end of their lifecycle.

One suggestion, made by Vidyadhar Vasudeo Rane of the Steel, Metal & Engineering Workers’ Federation of India, is that a levy should be placed on newly built ships to pay for the safe recycling of the ship at the end of its life.

In the future, the banks might want owners to commit to break ships in yards which have been whitelisted by the EU ship recycling regulations, and contain an inventory of hazardous materials. The unions feel that the EU regulations are a high standard, but currently no yards in Bangladesh, Pakistan or India have been white listed, so this standard would cost jobs.

130,000 workers break ships on the beaches of South Asia, with millions of workers employed downstream. Ship breaking is a major source of steel in South Asia. The work is dangerous, and environmentally hazardous, but people need the jobs.

Unions believe that the Hong Kong Convention – the International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships – developed by the UN shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization, is the most effective and universal mechanism for improving conditions. The Hong Kong Convention provides a level playing field so that dangerous yards can't undercut safe ones.

On 2 November, the union delegation met with the Royal Dutch Shipowners’ Association (KVNR) at their headquarters in Rotterdam, to discuss the most effective way to introduce circular economy thinking to the lifecycle of ships. The KVNR is very concerned about the human rights and environmental issues in shipbreaking.

Niels van de Minkelis of the KVNR proposed making a joint approach with the unions, urging the Dutch government to ratify the convention. The Hong Kong Convention will come into force when it is ratified by 15 countries, representing 40 per cent of gross tonnage and 3 per cent of recycling facilities. Currently it has been ratified by 6 countries, with Turkey expected to ratify soon, representing 21 per cent of tonnage.

That evening, IndustriALL and the FNV held a public meeting in Rotterdam to talk about shipbreaking. FNV Metaal member and former shipbuilder Joop van Oord spoke about his work in providing safety training to shipbreaking workers in South Asia.

“I built some of these ships,” he said. “So I know how to take them apart safely.”

IndustriALL director for shipbuilding and shipbreaking, Kan Matsuzaki, said:

“There are many stakeholders who are concerned about the terrible conditions on the beaches of South Asia. The best way to make shipbreaking safe is to bring everyone together and develop a joint approach.
“Both the banks and the shipowners’ association have made impressive commitments to improving the industry. We believe that ratifying and implementing the Hong Kong Convention is the most realistic and comprehensive way to safely recycle ships as a first step forward.”

Violence against women at work – a trade union issue

Violence against women at work is a core trade union issue affecting workers’ rights, safety, health and dignity. Gender-based violence is also one of the main obstacles to equality between men and women.

IndustriALL recently endorsed a new campaign: Not in my union, not in my workplace, encouraging all IndustriALL affiliated trade unions to take the pledge and commit to taking action to stop violence against women.

Violence against women remains one of the most tolerated violations of human rights and trade unions have a responsibility to defend and promote women’s rights.

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

“IndustriALL is committed to eradicating violence against women, with support from IndustriALL trade unions around the world. We urge all our trade unions to take the pledge and call for an end to violence in unions and at work.”

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