Moroccan unions to march to demand oil refinery reopens

The demonstration will take place from the head office of the trade union confederation, CDT, to the Commercial Court in Casablanca. Other unions affiliated to the CDT from many sectors will join the march in solidarity.

SNIPGN-CDT held a previous demonstration on 14 October when more than 350 vehicles drove in convoy from Mohammedia to the Commercial Court.

The union is demanding the government acts immediately to end the impasse surrounding the SAMIR oil refinery, which stopped production in August 2015 after being unable to pay a US$1.3 billion debt to the Moroccan tax authorities.  

More than 1,000 workers at the refinery have been left in limbo, on an income that has declined by 45 per cent, no contribution to their pensions, and without health coverage for themselves or their families for more than a year. 

The crisis has also led to the loss of thousands of jobs in related industries, an increase in prices of fuel to the general public, as well as a decline in the commercial prosperity and development of Mohammedia city and its subregions, according to the union.

SNIPGN-CDT is calling on the government to either take over SAMIR, which has capacity to produce 200,000 barrels a day, or enter into a joint venture with a private enterprise to get the refinery back up and running as soon as possible. The union is also demanding that workers are provided with healthcare coverage and paid their due social protection contributions.

The government has continuously refused to consult with SNIPGN-CDT regarding the future of the workers or the future of the refinery industry in Morocco. The government has also failed to hold SAMIR to account for failing to respect an agreement it made with the government to invest in the refinery, safeguard jobs and make social security contributions. 

A commercial court of appeal in Casablanca ordered the liquidation of Morocco’s only oil refinery in March 2016. Since 2017, the government has been taking bids to take over the beleaguered operation. However, the stalemate continues and the government has done nothing.

IndustriALL has written to the Head of the Government of Morocco, reiterating its call for the government to protect the rights of workers at the company, and redouble efforts to find a durable solution for the refinery and its employees, with the active participation of SNIPGN-CDT. 

The Moroccan government estimates that SAMIR’S total debt amounts to around US$4.5 billion and growing. Up until the court ordered liquidation proceedings, SAMIR was controlled by Corral Holdings, which had a 62.26 per cent stake in the company. Corral Holdings is owned by the second richest man in Saudi Arabia, billionaire Sheikh Mohamed Houssein El Amoudi.

SAMIR failed to raise a cash injection of US$1.4 billion in 2015 and the court rejected a debt-restructuring proposal from the company, which came without guarantees.

Council meets to improve health and safety at ArcelorMittal

IndustriALL Global Union, the United Steelworkers, IndustriALL Europe, and ArcelorMittal met with the overarching goal of transforming ArcelorMittal into a fatality-free company by supporting the efforts of the local joint health and safety committees. The council was formed in 2008 and it remains the only one of its type in the global steel industry.

Henri Blaffart, executive sponsor of the JGHSC and executive officer, EVP, group head of HR and corporate services, ArcelorMittal, opened the meeting saying:

“Responsibility for a safe workplace lies with management and it is one I take very seriously, not only because safety is our top priority as a group, but also because taking care of our people is the right thing to do. Ensuring a safe workplace, however, is a job for every single one of us at ArcelorMittal. That’s why this collaboration between all levels of management, our health and safety teams around the world and the unions is so important.”

Since its inception, the council has visited 26 steel facilities throughout the world to meet with local health and safety committees, share best practice and encourage strong and seamless cooperation. During these onsite meetings, the council focusses on developing and maintaining a strong dialogue between unions and senior management.

Important outcomes of the meeting included a mutual understanding on the importance of collaboration between ArcelorMittal management and the unions to effectively handle health and safety issues; the need for continuous dialogue between the parties to ensure health and safety strategies align; and a confirmation of each organization’s sponsorship of the JGHSC at the highest level.

The council also acknowledged the importance of jointly managed incident investigations and key performance indicators; and renewed its commitment to promoting reporting and finding better ways to remove people from risks.

Looking forward, the JGHSC proposed three meetings next year and defined its roadmap for 2018, which will support and empower local health and safety committees to tackle the potential root causes for fatalities and severe injuries through meaningful, high-quality dialogue.

 IndustriALL’s Brian Kohler stated:  

“We view occupational health and safety as a matter of rights and responsibilities. Getting these understood and respected by everyone in the ArcelorMittal organization will go a long way towards preventing injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Everyone has a role, even if not everyone has the same role. That’s why good dialogue between the workplace parties is essential to identify and create the systems necessary to protect everyone – whether a worker, manager, contractor or visitor – at ArcelorMittal, every day.”

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

“We’re pleased the health and safety council is back on track with a renewed commitment from all sides. It demonstrates that IndustriALL and ArcelorMittal are ready to collaborate on important issues facing workers. We look forward to developing a global network of unions at ArcelorMittal next year and will seek to expand our collaboration with ArcelorMittal at the global level to cover broader industrial relations issues.”

Watch the World Conference on Industry 4.0 live here

Eighth session

Formulating a global policy and plan of action on Industry 4.0

Panel discussion

Concluding remarks

Seventh session

Formulating a global policy and plan of action on Industry 4.0

Panel discussion

Sixth session

Panel discussion

Impacts of Industry 4.0 on various sectors with IndustriALL jurisdiction: threats and opportunities

Fifth session

Anticipated labour and social impacts of Industry 4.0

Keynote speaker: Wolfgang Lemb, IG Metall, Germany

Experiences and case studies on the impacts of Industry 4.0 in developed and in developing countries.

Fourth Session

Anticipated labour and social impacts of Industry 4.0

Panel discussion

Third session

Global Concepts Analysis: Future of Work

Keynote: Deborah Greenfield, Deputy Director General, International Labour Organization.

Panel discussion:

Followed by questions and answers and discussions from the floor.

Second session:

Keynote speaker: Francisco Betti, World Economic Forum

Panel discussion with Sharan Burrow of the ITUC, Luc Triangle of IndustriAll Europe, Issa Aremu of NUTGTW in Nigeria and Shigetoshi Asai of JCM Japan.

Opening session with Valter Sanches, Kemal Özkan and Brian Kohler.

Philippines: Strengthening research capacity of trade unions

The training, which was supported by Swedish organization Union to Union, aimed to enhance trade unions’ skills in using strategic research to complement organizing and campaign work. The workshop trained a pool of corporate researchers that will network among each other to coordinate and share information.

The concept behind the training is to empower trade unions in the face of the growing influence of multinational corporations on global production. As profits are concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer corporate elites, the conditions of workers who toil in their production facilities gets worse. Very many major brands and multinational corporations are failing to take responsibility for their suppliers, which are denying workers the right to organize and bargain collectively.

To confront these challenges, unions need better skills to undertake research and information gathering on multinational corporations and their supply chains. This information can be used as leverage in their organizing campaign at the ground.

At the conclusion of the workshop, participants agreed to work together and coordinate by setting up a network to share data and strategic research.

Tom Grinter, IndustriALL’s industry and research officer, who facilitated the workshop, said: 

“As corporations have changed over time, unions have to adopt to new realities and look for strategies where we can bring these corporations to the bargaining table. Undertaking corporate research and using that information strategically is a useful tool we can wield against multinational corporations.”

Watch IndustriALL’s World Conference on Industry 4.0 on Facebook Live

Keynote speakers include Francisco Betti from the World Economic Forum, Deborah Greenfield, Deputy Director-General of the International Labour Organization and Wolfgang Lemb from IndustriALL’s German affiliate, IG Metall. Panel discussions will include debates on Industry 4.0 with ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow and Luc Triangle from industriAll Europe, as well as representatives of IndustriALL affiliates from all corners of the globe.

Conference themes include:

A DRAFT discussion document "The Challenge of Industry 4.0 and the demand for new answers" has been prepared in advance of the conference and can be found here. Input from the conference will be included in the final version.

Watch the live stream from 9am on Thursday 26 October on our Facebook page.

Process agreed to prepare for future handover of Bangladesh Accord to a national regulator

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, was set up in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, and is valid until May 2018.

IndustriALL and Uni Global Union met with the country’s factory owners’ association BGMEA, in Dhaka on Thursday and agreed on a set of conditions for the handover from the Accord to a national regulatory committee. The conditions include provisions on transparency, enforcement, capacity, as well as confidential complaints mechanisms.

In a further meeting with Bangladesh’ Commerce and Labour Ministers, and the BGMEA, it was agreed that the Accord will be granted an extension to operate beyond May 2018, if at that point the national regulatory body is not yet ready to take over the Accord’s work, as is widely anticipated. 

The extension after May 2018 will initially be for six months. A joint committee comprising brands, global unions, BGMEA, ILO and the government will continue to monitor the readiness of the government program to take over from the Accord and further reviews will continue on a six-monthly basis..  Once the conditions for handover are met, there will be a further handover period to the national regulatory body  of six months.

IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary Jenny Holdcroft says:

The Accord has remedied thousands of safety issues for workers in Bangladesh’ garment industry and is instrumental in protecting workers. It has also created a model that can be adopted by a national regulatory body to ensure compliance with safety standards into the future.

Building capacity to meet the conditions for a handover of Accord functions is vital. We will continue to work with the Accord to support the Bangladesh government in this task and  ensure that the requirements are met for a safe and sustainable garment industry.

Christy Hoffman, Deputy General Secretary of Uni Global Union says:

A goal of the Accord has always been to transition to a credible regulatory regime by the Bangladeshi government.

The talks with the government show that it recognizes the importance of a safe ready-made garment industry, and we will continue to work with regulators to help enhance their capacity. We have an agreement that the 2018 Accord will operate until the Bangladeshi government is prepared to take over the responsibilities, as measured by agreed criteria.  We will review progress every six months.

In the meeting, it was also agreed that the 2018 Accord will be referred to as the Transition Accord.

Asia-Pacific electric power unions to push for decent work

At the meeting, the network resolved to become a driving force in the fight for workers’ rights and interests in the electric power and energy sectors, and push for good quality jobs in the face of technological transformation.

The network also reaffirmed its commitment to tackle precarious work, support democractic unions, and champion safe and secure electricity supply that limits the impact on the environment and people.

The meeting, which was hosted by the Taiwan Electric Power Labor Union (TPLU) and sponsored by the Ministry of Labour in Taiwan, included high-level guests Su Jia-chyuan, President of the Legislative Yuan of Taiwan, and Chu Wen-Chen, Chairman of the Board at the Taiwan Power Company (Taipower).

Su Jia-chyuan highlighted the challenge of safeguarding the quality of the electricity networks, while also guaranteeing workers’ rights. He said the Taiwanese government is supporting all the stakeholders to ensure good cooperation and exchange.

Deregulation, liberalization and technological change, combined with digitalization (Industry 4.0) and increased precarious work are the common challenges in the Asia-Pacific region, putting pressure on the industry and undermining the employment security of workers in the sector.

At the same time, the trend of “Energy Transition” to phase out of nuclear power and fossil fuels, is creating new tasks for trade unions to organize and protect workers in electric power sector.

“Technological change and the increase of precarious work are seriously influencing the jobs of our workers and union members. Additionally, the instable political situations in the world are creating significant obstacles to trade union movements,” said the out-going Chair of the network, Kim Joo-young, from KNEWU (South Korea).  He said trade unions need to influence government policies on power and energy so that workers’ views are taken into consideration.

The network unanimously elected Kaoru Kishimoto, President of DENRYOKU SOREN (The Federation of Electric Power Related Industry Workers' Unions of Japan) as the new Chair.

On the second day of the meeting, the network participants visited the Linkou Power Plant, the biggest coal-fired plant in Taiwan.  It is currently undergoing retrofitting to increase its electricity generation capacity to 2.4 GW at a cost of US$4.69 billion, with an environmental protection investment of around US$1.23 billion. The changes will help to improve efficiency of the plant by 7 per cent and reduce carbon emissions by 19 per cent. All 390 workers at the plant are unionized, including the General Manager. 

Canadian Steelworkers enter ninth month of strike at Glencore refinery

The dispute started on 12 February, when workers rejected the company’s plan to cut costs and increase productivity by raiding the pension plan. Despite the fact that the pension pot is over-funded with a 114 per cent funding ratio, the company wants workers to increase their contribution.

Despite the long strike, the company has not changed its position: on 3 October, 97 per cent of workers voted to reject the latest offer, which was essentially the same as the February offer. Other Steelworker locals have donated to a strike fund to help sustain the striking workers.

The union believes the company is trying to wear down the resolve of the workers through attrition. The workers are standing strong, but they really need support and encouragement. Please send a message to the company, telling them to negotiate in good faith.

CEZinc is a zinc refinery in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec. It is part of Glencore’s Canadian zinc supply chain, which includes two mines. Glencore manages CEZinc, and has a 25 per cent stake in the company through the Toronto-listed Noranda Income Fund.

CEZinc has used scab labour to maintain production. The Quebec labour ministry has found the illegal use of strike breakers on more than one occasion, and the union believes that the use of strike breakers is widespread.

Glencore has a track record of attacking workers’ rights, and IndustriALL and its affiliates launched a campaign against the company in September. In May, a delegation of Métallos joined IndustriALL and Swiss affiliate Unia in a demonstation at the Glencore annual general meeting in Zug, Switzerland.

A delegation of Métallos is currently in Queensland, Australia, to build solidarity with 190 members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, who have been locked out of Glencore’s Oaky North mine since June this year. Glencore is using contractors to do their work.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“Workers at CEZinc have a right to a decent retirement after a lifetime of hard work. IndustriALL will stand with the Métallos and continue to support them. We urge all our affiliates to send a message to the company today.”

Take action

Send a message to the company, telling them to negotiate in good faith.

Mauritius: Seven on hunger strike for living wage

Low wages of US $43 per month and casual employment through contractors for 333 women cleaners at Mauritian government-run primary and secondary schools prompted the Confédération des Travailleurs du Secteur Publique et Privé (CTSP) president Reeaz Chutto and general secretary, Jane Ragoo, and five women cleaners to start a hunger strike on 13 October.

The confederation, which is affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, took this drastic action when it felt that its demands for higher wages made in the last five years were being ignored. Demonstrations and strikes by the union did not lead to wage increases.

Despite meetings with the finance and labour ministries, which the union felt were a breakthrough, the cleaners continued to be paid less than US $2 per day, and therefore did not have enough money to support their families. Yet the government was increasing the wages of the teachers, thus discriminating against the cleaners. Taking this into account, unions doubted government’s commitment to increase wages as announced in its minimum wage policy that was meant to benefit lowly paid workers.

CTSP hopes that Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun, the Minister of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research, will meet with the unions after the setting up of a solidarity committee to support the hunger strike.

Ragoo, who is also an executive committee member of IndustriALL, said:

“We do not understand why the minister is not interested in ending the exploitation of the women cleaners. We are yet to hear from the government, but a support committee of trade unions and opposition political parties has been set up to meet with the minister of education on 20 October, and hopefully the government will agree to our demands”.

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches has written to the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravin Jugnauth. He said:

"Numerous attempts to address the matter with several government ministers have not received the attention required to address this unsustainable situation for workers that deserve a living wage.

Therefore, IndustriALL Global Union urges you to intervene immediately to resolve the situation before the health and welfare of our comrades are further compromised."

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

“We always expect governments to lead by example in our campaign for living wages. This explains our frustrations and disappointment when governments become the offending employers. We support an immediate resolution to this dispute for the sake of our comrades.”

In the meantime, the hunger strike continues.

Take Action

Trade unionists in other countries have pledged to join them for a 24 hour hunger strike in solidarity. Join them!

IndustriALL signs Global Framework Agreement with Safran

The agreement has the following objectives:

Furthermore, the agreement affirms a commitment to promoting “an open and constructive labor-management dialog on a global scale, in order to continuously improve and develop best practices at all Safran facilities”.

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL General Secretary, says:

Signing a GFA with a company in the fast-growing aerospace industry means a big step forward for safeguarding workers’ rights. The GFA provides mechanisms for a global monitoring committee, which will be the key to a good dialog across all Safran’s operations worldwide and the companies throughout its supply chain.

An international monitoring committee will be set up to assess how well these agreements and commitments are actually applied. The committee will meet twice yearly, and will be composed of representatives of Safran corporate management and unions affiliated with IndustriALL Global Union in all areas where Safran has offices or facilities. One of these two meetings will be held in a different country each year to help evaluate the local application of the agreement.

Jean-Luc Bérard, Safran Executive Vice President for Human Resources, says:

This agreement is the upshot of a long negotiating process with IndustriALL Global Union and its affiliates. It also extends our already existing relationship with IndustriALL Europe, within the scope of European negotiations. As a truly international enterprise, it was important that Safran’s first global agreement lay down principles that resonate with all of our employees, including equal opportunity, occupational health and safety, and environmental protection, encompassing all products developed by our Group, as well as a code of business ethics wherever we operate. The agreement is built on these solid foundations.

This agreement reflects Safran’s commitment to developing its business in line with its policy of sustainable development, with respect for the rights of employees and their representatives, as well as the rights of suppliers and subcontractors throughout the world.

The agreement signed today covers a period of five years. Negotiations for its renewal are already planned, possibly leading to a permanent agreement.