Iran: release imprisoned trade unionists Reza Shahabi and Esmail Abdi

The Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran (UMMI), an IndustriALL affiliate, has issued a solidarity call for the release of trade union activists Reza Shahabi and Esmail Abdi, and an end to the repression of trade unions.

IndustriALL urges its affiliates and supporters to support the call. Sign the LabourStart petition or send your own letter, and help raise awareness of the situation in Iran. Foreign investment is flowing into the country in the wake of the nuclear deal, but the country is not honouring basic labour rights.

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches wrote to the President of Iran:

“We have received worrisome reports indicating the persecution, including detention, of workers and trade union leaders for exercising their fundamental trade union rights. In this sense, we call for the immediate and unconditional release of all imprisoned workers and union leaders, including Ismail Abdi and Reza Shahabi.

“IndustriALL Global Union once again urges the Government of Iran to ratify ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, and Convention 98 on the Right to organize and Collective Bargaining. This is a clear call to your administration to guarantee the rights of workers to join unions and to enjoy the protection of collective bargaining.

“We expect that your administration will act promptly to foster an environment conducive to the full promotion and respect of trade unions rights.”

Reza Shahabi is the treasurer of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company. In prison for trade union activity on political charges since 2010 – for “colluding against the security services” and “spreading propaganda” – he was under medical leave of absence after suffering severe forms of ill treatment while in detention.

He has been denied an extension to his medical leave and is now back in prison. His detention was extended by 968 days as a result of his absence. Shahabi joined a hunger strike on 9 August.

Esmail Abdi is a leader of the Tehran Teacher Trade Association. He is serving a six years sentence on false charges. After 38 days on hunger strike, he was transferred to hospital, only to be returned to Evin Prison two days later.

There have been unprecedented restrictions on workers’ unions this year: in April, Maziar Gilani-Nejad, a member of UMMI, was summoned to the Revolutionary Court. He was subsequently acquitted.

Shapour Ehsani Rad, a member of the Free Trade Union of Iran Workers, was sentenced to imprisonment and lashing.

Bail providers for Ja’far Azimzadeh of the Free Trade Union of Iran, and Mahmoud Beheshti Langroudi of the Iranian Teachers Trade Association, have been under pressure in order to force these trade unionists to return to prison.

Hamid Sharghi, another member UMMI, is on bail awaiting his trial. Ali Akbar Baghani, a member of Tehran Teachers Trade Association, is in exile. Ebrahim Madadi and Daoud Razavi, members of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran Bus Company, have been issued with arrest warrants.

In a statement, UMMI said:

“We demand compliance with the law and the release of all prisoners of conscience and labour movement and we emphasize that the responsibility for the well being of the trade unionists remains with the authorities issuing such sentences.

“Threats, arrests, and even violent treatment cannot keep us from the way we have chosen. We steadfastly defend our principles and will do our utmost to realize our demands for the release of our comrades.

“Hardship, danger, death, victory and setback are all natural and possible, however there won't be any retreat from the workers' ideals.”

French unions respond to new labour law

 The French government yesterday announced details of a new labour law designed to “liberalize” the employment relationship. The new law makes it easier to fire workers, and allows companies to bypass national collective agreements by making local arrangements.

President Macron, who won a decisive election victory against far right opponent Marine le Pen in May, claims that existing law holds French business back. During his election campaign, he claimed that restrictive labour laws are responsible for an unemployment rate of almost 10 per cent.

Unions disagree, and argue that making it easier to fire workers will not create jobs. The unemployment rate is a result of the financial crisis, and subsequent austerity policies. The new labour law will throw many workers, particularly the young, into precarious work, and inequality will grow.

The new French labour law comes in the context of a global attack on union rights, including in Bangladesh, Brazil, Argentina, India, Peru, Poland and the UK.

The main focus of the new law is to replace sector-wide collective bargaining with local agreements. These can be reached without union representation at smaller firms, watering down labour standards won at national level. These local agreements will have the power to introduce short term and casual contracts.

Crucially, Macron has introduced the new labour law by decree, which must then be ratified by parliament, rather than submitting it to a democratic process that might reduce its impact.

France has five union confederations, four of them with members affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union. All unions see Macron’s labour law as diminishing labour’s power, but they have chosen different ways to confront the challenge. Some unions see positive aspects to the new law.

The Confédération générale du travail (CGT), historically the most influential federation, strongly opposed the new labour law from the outset. The CGT has called a general strike and mobilizations for 12 September. Since the CGT is strong in many key sectors, including transport, energy and manufacturing, the strike is likely to have a significant impact.

Boris Plazzi of IndustriALL affiliate FTM-CGT said:

“The new labour legislation is an unprecedented attack on workers’ rights and our social model. The objective is clear: to destroy collective rights and introduce an individual contract relation between the worker and the employer.

“It is an attack on the unions. Macron is creating a social dumping model that will affect all workers and unions in Europe and all the world. It’s an attack on the 99 per cent.”

The Confédération française démocratique du travail (CFDT) and Force ouvrière (FO) did not oppose all aspects of the new labour code, and hoped that through consultation they could have a constructive influence. They feel they have won some concessions.

The FO said that despite months of intensive consultation, there were major disagreements with the final document. However, there were some successes as well:

“We have succeeded in pushing back a number of government or employer provisions,” the federation said.

The CFDT believes that some labour reform is necessary, because of shifts in production in the economy. Rather than protecting jobs for life, unions can win “flexible security” that allows for retraining and other Just Transition mechanisms.

But the new law is a missed opportunity: the CFDT believes that the unilateral power of employers has increased. In an interview with Le Monde, Laurent Berger of the CFDT said:

“We are disappointed. Few of our proposals were accepted. We feel that there is a minimal recognition of trade union presence without the means to function.
“The government missed the mark. There is a missed opportunity to strengthen social dialogue, with negative provisions for workers.”

This sentiment was echoed by the CFE-CGC:


“The original project, which was to simplify the labour code and promote employment, was lost on the way. Instead, we face an ideological reform which will not create jobs. This is yet another liberal reform that will increase precariousness and social dumping.

“CFE-CGC bitterly regrets that most measures focus on deregulation. Where are the provisions for the security of workers and energizing companies? This document does not facilitate entry into the labour market – but makes it easier to leave!”

Macron’s new labour law is a development of a law introduced by the previous labour minister, Myriam El-Khomri, which was also fiercely resisted by the unions. The CGT and FO lodged a complaint with the International Labour Organization regarding violations of conventions 87, 98 and 158.

Despite Macron’s victory, he has little popular support, and his approval rates have been falling. The new labour law will test public appetite for his policies. The decrees will not become law until they are adopted by parliament, which must happen within six months. Unions will mobilize in the coming weeks to prevent or influence this process.

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches said:

“Our affiliates have taken different approaches to the labour law, reflecting the mandate they have from their members.

“We believe that this combination of tactics – the strikes and the negotiations – will send a clear message to the French government that undermining workers’ rights is not the way to build an economy.

“History shows that what brings investment and thus employment is a dynamic consumer market. This comes through collective bargaining agreements that result in well-paid workers, and not from legislation that diminishes union power.”

Kazakhstan: IndustriALL demands safety improvements after three killed at ArcelorMittal

IndustriALL mourns the victims of the coalmine explosion and joins the Mineworkers’ Union of Korgau to demand that the coalmine administration improves health and safety standards.

The Miners' Union of Korgau at ArcelorMittal Temirtau is affiliated to IndustriALL through the Trade Union of Workers of Mining and Metallurgical Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

136 workers were underground at a depth of 600 meters when the accident occurred due to a methane explosion. Three workers were at the site of the accident; their bodies were found by rescuers and brought to the surface. Another three injured workers have been hospitalized, and remain in a serious condition. Another miner is undergoing outpatient treatment.

The mine stopped operation and staff began procedures for de-gassing the mine, as the gas concentration in the mine was 70 per cent instead of the allowed 4 per cent. Such conditions greatly complicated the rescuers’ work.

A special commission has been formed to investigate the accident. It includes representatives of the trade union, the administration of the mine, the state emergency department, the department of industrial safety and the Ministry of Labour of Kazakhstan.

Currently, the union is communicating with relatives of the victims to find out what financial assistance they need. Then the union will negotiate financial assistance with the administration, since it is not part of the collective agreement.

The chair of the Mineworkers’ Union Korgau at ArcelorMittal Temirtau, Marat Mirgayazov stated:

“Our trade union is constantly talking to the management about the general fact that the technical equipment at the mine is lagging behind the Russian and Ukrainian mines. Besides, there is a lack of staff at the Kazakhstanskaya mine of 400 workers that also affects health and safety. It is also important to train employees and improve their skills.”

IndustriALL participates in a Joint Global Health and Safety Committee with ArcelorMittal, which is focused on ensuring high health and safety standards at the company’s mining and steel operations around the globe.

IndustriALL general secretary, Valter Sanches, wrote in his letter to the president of the Trade Union of Mining & Metallurgy Workers of Republic of Kazakhstan Asylbek Nuralin:

“We demand that JSC ArcelorMittal Temirtau, which operates as a subsidiary of Arcelor Mittal, adopt stringent health and safety measures in the Kazakhstanskaya mine. Furthermore, IndustriALL Global Union will contact ArcelorMittal immediately to remind the company of its obligations under the Joint Global Health and Safety Committee.”

IndustriALL pulp and paper network in South East Asia honours Ikhsan and fights forward

The meeting was chaired by Alex Millar of CFMEU Australia, and brought together unions from Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

The meeting conducted a poignant ceremony with the family of brother Ikhsan Prajarani who was killed in a road accident in February. Trade union leaders delivered a solidarity payment to the family and the pulp and paper network paid its respects. A video of the ceremony can be downloaded here.

FSP2KI leadership responded: “We cannot describe in words how valuable the award is that IndustriALL provides for brother Ikhsan's family. Our sincere thanks.”

There was a very significant session of the meeting dedicated to experience sharing with the Japanese affiliate KAMIPA RENGO. Union representatives from around the region pressed the Japanese colleagues for detailed information on best practices in bargaining, organizing, health and safety, and building power.

Addressing the environmental debate, CFMEU’s Alex Millar, Chair of the network said:

“Our industry is renewable. Our industry can benefit the environment if things are done right. It is the government’s responsibility to make sure that companies do that.”

All unions shared their struggles and successes and held debated how to build power at common employers.

In 2016 the network identified two multinational employers where a number of the affiliates have significant membership, Asia Pulp and Paper, APP, and Kimberly Clark. Now the network has done a more in-depth mapping of employment conditions and union challenges at the two companies.

The meeting analysed recent developments and trends at the two companies, and committed to continued coordination. An on-going trade union conflict was discussed at Kimberly Clark in Australia where the company is destroying good industrial relations that were built up over decades.

IndustriALL Global Union Assistant General Secretary, Kemal Özkan, said:


“This meeting has addressed a large range of issues with great hunger for solidarity. I was particularly impressed with your discussion on collective bargaining. We are becoming mature as a network.  We will continue our work on KC and APP.  You are a full part of the global campaigns and the family of pulp and paper workers around the world.”

The network adopted two solidarity resolutions, one calling on Malaysian Newsprint Industrial to pay full redundancy compensation to workers following its closure. The second calls on the Indonesian government to properly consult the IndustriALL affiliate FSP2KI in enacting new environmental legislation.

IndustriALL Research and Industry Officer, Tom Grinter, said:


“This region is so important in the global pulp and paper sector. Precarious work is growing fast. The union struggles are tough but the industry will continue to grow here and so will our affiliates. In Indonesia our affiliates have tens of thousands of members in this sector but overall density is two percent, of the 260,000 direct employees and 1.1 million indirect. We will combat the challenges with international solidarity.”

South Africa: Five miners killed in goldmine

The miners were working 3,100 metres underground when a tremor hit the Kusasalethu goldmine, 90km from Johannesburg, on 25 August. “All of the employees who were trapped underground, are now accounted for,” the company said in a statement.

Rescue teams worked round the clock to try and save the trapped miners who were killed when a tremor measuring 1.2 on the richter scale caused a 10-metre fall in the ground. Operations were hampered by large rocks blocking the entrance to the section where the incident took place.

Gold mining in South Africa is becoming increasingly dangerous as mines reach the end of their productive lifespans. According to the Chamber of Mines, as South African mines have got deeper and reached depths of 4,000 metres, it has brought greater health and safety risks to miners as rock stress increases with depth. Furthermore, the deeper the mine, the longer it takes to reach the rock face, which hinders rescue efforts.

Targets set by the 2003 Mine and Health Safety Summit for the gold sector to reach international safety levels by 2013 have also been missed.

The Kusasalethu tragedy occurred just a month after three mineworkers died in similar circumstances in another accident at Tau Lekoa mine, North West Province, in July.

IndustriALL Global Union joins its affiliate in South Africa, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), in mourning the death of five mineworkers who died, of whom at least three were members of NUM. 

Eric Gcilitshana, NUM health and safety secretary, said: “One of the five deceased miners, was a 25-year-old who buried his father last month and left a three-month-old son. It is painful and sad for the family. The lives of workers must always be prioritized to save lives. A safe workplace is a productive workplace. We believe that working as a collective team, we can save lives and achieve zero harm.”

Fabian Nkomo, IndustriALL, regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa, added: “When mineworkers go to work they expect to return home to their families. Mining companies must guarantee workers’ safety at all cost. This is why we are so saddened when workers continue to die underground due to accidents.”

Colombia – Sintracarbón denounces increase in accidents at El Cerrejón

The National Union of Coal Industry Workers (Sintracarbón) organized a peaceful occupation of the premises of Coomeva, the health service provider in the city of Riohacha, Colombia. Linking arms, workers requested a meeting with Coomeva and the El Cerrejón company to discuss improvements in health and safety at work.

On 23 August the company met Coomeva and union representatives. The meeting was attended by company vice presidents and managers of the coal mining, port and handling sectors. The union presented photographic evidence and dates relating to the standard of equipment and working conditions.

The company is not carrying out the responsible mining it preaches and is not complying with safety standards. Management still authorizes the use of substandard equipment that has maintenance problems,

said Igor Díaz López, Sintracarbón’s safety committee coordinator.

Sintracarbon explained that the company’s new policy of setting the production target at one million has increased the pace of work, directly effecting workers and causing the high number of accidents.

The company said it does not prioritize productivity over workers’ safety and welfare but agreed that the situation described by the union shows that the company “is not dealing with health and safety issues as it should”.

They accepted that the new policy is a mistake and agreed to make changes so that maintenance and production comply strictly with safety standards. Measures will be taken in line with those suggested by the workers in order to deal with the problems. We hope they will act quickly to remedy the situation,

Díaz López concluded.

Finally, the director of IndustriALL, Fernando Lopes said on the matter:

"We cannot allow companies to continue operating without respecting safety standards. Having a safe workplace is one of the priorities of IndustriALL Global Union, that is why we support the action of Sintracarbón."

Grupo Mexico attacks Cananea workers during protest

Los Mineros, affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, said that some demonstrators were injured in the early morning of 21 August and others were detained and taken to the local public prosecutor’s office.

“Workers and former workers were violently evicted by the company’s private security forces, armed with clubs and weapons only used by the army, just because they were protesting about the non-payment of their share in profits and other benefits owed to them by Grupo Mexico,” explained the president of Los Mineros and joint regional president of IndustriALL, Napoleón Gómez Urrutia.

The workers have been protesting for a month on the railway lines that give access to the mine. They are calling on the Grupo Mexico consortium and its owner, Germán Feliciano Larrea Mota Velasco, to pay them what the company has owed them for ten years and to improve workplace safety.

Los Mineros issued a communique repudiating the company’s attitude and point out that this act of repression violated the right to petition and protest enshrined in Mexican legislation.

“Its aggressive and repressive conduct and the killings that have made this company notorious were displayed at recent events. The government must intervene in this situation to prevent further arbitrary actions,” said the union communique.

IndustriALL’s General Secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“IndustriALL continues to firmly support Los Mineros and calls on Grupo Mexico to stop its violent union-busting practices."

Zambia: Union condemns plans to cut 4,700 jobs at Glencore’s Mopani Copper Mines

The union said the proposed retrenchments must be stopped as they bring squalor and poverty to the mineworkers. Always keen to retrench, the company laid off 4,300 workers in 2015.

MCM, where Glencore is a majority shareholder with 73.1 per cent, wants to retrench the workers because the Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) reduced its power supply from 130 to 94 megawatts following an industry-wide 30 per cent tariff increase that the company refused to pay.

The government of Zambia argued that if domestic consumers, equally affected by the increase, were paying, MCM should do the same.

Instead of retrenchments, the union demanded that MCM prioritize the interests of the workers, and follow the example of other mining companies in Zambia that dealt with the tariff increases differently.

Chisimba Nkole, MUZ and Zambian Congress of Trade Unions president said:

“We call on the government to stop MCM on the threats of job cuts, and guarantee the employment of mineworkers at Mopani. The government directed MCM and the CEC to negotiate the power increment, which is a commercial transaction, and MUZ is pleased that other mining companies have taken on board the power increment using other options rather than cutting jobs.”

Kenny Mogane, IndustriALL regional officer for Sub Saharan Africa added:

“Protecting jobs and the rights of mineworkers in Zambia is paramount, and companies like MCM should never think that it is acceptable to sacrifice so many jobs. We call upon MCM to protect jobs, respect workers’ rights, and to negotiate its power deal with the CEC without compromising workers interests.”

Georgian trade union signs strong collective agreement with Turkish glass company

On 22 August, the fifth round of negotiations was held to sign a collective agreement at the glass container factory in Ksani (JSC MINA), owned by the Turkish company Şişecam Glass Packaging Group.

IndustriALL affiliate the Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia (TUMMCIWG) concluded the collective agreement with a significant package of social benefits. There are 220 workers at the plant. The collective agreement provides the following for TUMMCIWG members:

In addition, a bonus system will be launched from 1 January 2018. Trade union representatives will have the opportunity to present their own remarks and opinions.

This is the third collective agreement in the metallurgical, mining and chemical industry sector after Rustavi Azot and Zestafoni ferroalloy factory. The company accepted the idea of a collective agreement after a month-long strike of 170 workers in February 2016 that paralyzed operations at the plant.

The first two meetings of the union and the plant management were held in Georgia, but because of the strictly centralized structure of the Şişecam company, the general director of the plant could not take a decision on the conclusion of a collective agreement.

On 19 April, the owner invited five representatives of the TUMMCIWG to its head office in Istanbul, Turkey. The meeting made a breakthrough in the negotiations which resulted in the conclusion of a collective agreement.

The president of the TUMMCIWG Tamaz Dolaberidze stated:

“I would like to thank everybody who has been involved in the collective negotiation process. I would like to thank all the employees of the enterprise from which we felt a great deal of support during this period, it gave us great inspiration to move ahead. I appreciate the support of IndustriALL Global Union, whose leaders have visited Georgia several times during the collective negotiations and held meetings with the administration”.

Willbes & Co reinstates 15 dismissed workers in the Dominican Republic

IndustriALL Global Union wrote to the mother company, the brands supplied by Willbes and the Minister of Labour, calling on the company to reinstate the workers who were no longer being paid and to work with the union to end the climate of fear that had been created. The national council of unions affiliated to IndustriALL in the country also expressed its solidarity.

"We feel the strength and solidarity of IndustriALL Global Union’s support for unionizing workers,"

said Carlos Reyes, president of the National Union of Free Trade Zone Workers (UNATRAZONAS, affiliated to IndustriALL).

The clothing factory workers were dismissed at the start of August, a few days after notifying company managers of the creation of a steering committee to form a union at the company, the Willbes Dominicana Barahona Free Trade Zone Union (SITRAWILLBES), affiliated to UNATRAZONAS.

Finally, in the early hours of 21 August, the company reinstated all members of the steering committee to their jobs, including three leaders, who had, at the company’s insistence, accepted redundancy payments. The company agreed to respect the freedom of association.

Laura Carter, assistant regional secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean and regional officer for the textile sector said the following about the workers’ victory:

“This is the result of workers’ courage and national and international solidarity of the trade union movement and other institutions, combined with the intervention of global brands to promote responsible employment in their supply chains. IndustriALL will closely accompany efforts to consolidate the union, negotiate a collective agreement and establish positive labour relations at the company”.