Newly formed Kyrgyz union concludes first agreement with Turkish investor

MMTUK primary organization was created at Eti Bakir Tereksay in September 2016. On 27 July, the union chair, Usubaly Omurbekov, signed the collective agreement for 2017-2018 with the general director of the enterprise. 

President of MMTUK Eldar Tadjibayev commented on the agreement reached:

“The administration was not ready to make concessions, they had to solve different production troubles including licenses, construction and preparatory activities. However, the union with the support of the Central Committee has managed to persuade company management to start negotiations and conclude a collective agreement”.

The social package for employees includes among others the following:

The union will also receive the amount of 50,000 KGS (US $720) from the company in monthly financial assistance for worker’s recreation and cultural activities.

In addition, according to the collective agreement, dismissals can be done only with approval of the union. 

In 2015 Eti Bakir Tereksay won a contract by tendering on the development of gold and antimony deposits of Terekkan, Perevalnoe and Terek in Jalal-Abad region of Kyrgyzstan. 25 per cent of the company is owned by the gold exploration service company Kyrgyzaltyn, and 75 per cent by the Turkish mining company Eti Bakir A.Ş. The latter is a subsidiary of large Turkish holding company Cengiz Holding A.Ş.

According to the terms of the bid, after obtaining the license, the investor should develop the project of exploration and deposit development within one year. Within two years, Eti Bakir Tereksay has to build a gold processing plant. 

14 clothing brands express support for reform of Mexico’s labour justice system

Adidas, C&A, Inditex and Nike are among the brands wrote to Mexico’s Secretary for Labour and Social Security, Alfonso Navarrete Prida, to call for improvements to the labour justice system and guarantees for workers' rights.

The constitutional reform abolishes the tripartite conciliation and arbitration boards (JFCAs) and transfers their legal role to a Higher Court of Justice (Tribunal Superior de Justicia). This means that the labour justice system will no longer be directly controlled by the President of the Republic, complicit state governors and employer-dominated trade unions.

The independent and decentralized institution will be composed of experts who will register trade unions and collective agreements impartially, transparently and efficiently. This reform will help to combat one of the main problems faced by workers in Mexico –“protection contracts”.

At the moment, the JFCAs allow the registration of collective agreements by unrepresentative trade unions that cannot demonstrate through a democratic process the legitimate support of the workers they intend to represent.

The clothing brands support compliance with internationally recognized core labour standards and the Federal Labour Law. The reform will pave the way for workers to better enjoy their rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, as protected under ILO Conventions 87 and 98, and for a stronger labour justice system.

“We are hopeful that the new legislation will guarantee Mexican workers the right to be represented in collective bargaining by a union of their free choice and where all procedural rules particularly the right to democratically elect the union and union representatives of their choice and to vote on any collective bargaining agreement before it is registered are observed and respected,”

said the letter.

The joint letter is an initiative of the Mexico Committee, a multi-stakeholder forum that includes international apparel brands that source and/or manufacture clothing and footwear products in Mexico, the FLA, the international organization IndustriALL Global Union, and the Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN).

The Senate approved the constitutional reform in October 2016. The decree setting out the reform of various provisions of the Constitution was published in the Federal Official Gazette on 24 February. In one year from this date, the federal government will fully promulgate the constitution changes, when it will have completed drafting the necessary secondary legislation.

“Pressure must therefore be applied to ensure that the secondary legislation fully reflects the progress made by this constitutional reform,”

said Fernando Lopes, director at IndustriALL Global Union.

Lesotho: Union keeps up wage demands

Moleboheng Koqo from the Middle Sky textile factory in Maseru was at the rally.

“We came because we want salary increases that improve workers’ livelihoods. At our factory we are demanding an increase of 21 per cent from our current wages of US$106. We are also demanding to be paid overtime.”

Women constitute over 90 per cent of workers in the low wage textile sector where average wages are less than US$100 per month.

The union demanded decent wages, full pay while on maternity leave, doubling maternity leave for textile workers from six to 12 weeks as is the case in the public service, improved health and safety conditions, job security and workers’ rights, better labour dispute resolution, and the establishment of a labour court, at the event.

The ministers of mines and energy, and small business enterprises attended the event and promised to consider the demands. The same demands were made to the country’s Prime Minister, Thomas Thabane, a few weeks ago.

The rally was organized as part of IndustriALL’s union building project in Lesotho.

Tendai Makanza, IndustriALL union building project coordinator for Sub Saharan Africa, says:

“We hope the government will respond to the wage demands on time as the workers' patience is running out. The union building project's goals include mobilizing and organizing women’s empowerment at the workplace and gender equality, and we are also working towards reviving the IndustriALL women’s committee.”

Pakistan: Shipbreaking workers win wage increase

The 2016 oil tanker blast at the Gadani shipbreaking yard in Pakistan killed 26 workers and injured an additional 19. Despite promises from the employers, no improvements in working conditions have been made since the tragedy. Six more workers have lost their lives and many more have been injured in workplace accidents, workers’ wages have remained same and there has been no progress in social security registration for workers.

The SBWUG gave employers an ultimatum, calling for an indefinite strike at shipbreaking yards from 5 August if demands were not met. The union demanded 50 per cent wage increase, one week’s paid holiday, implementation of the shipbreaking code, health and safety measures, registration with the Employees Old Age Benefits Institution, and provision of social security cards.

An agreement was reached on 4 August, with a ten per cent wage increase for all categories of shipbreaking workers. In case of future accidents, cases will only be filed against employer or the management, not against supervisors or people  in charge of workers.

Nasir Mansoor, president of the National Trade Union Federation said:

“This is an important victory for shipbreaking workers. The employers did not seriously address the issues. It is only after we called for a strike that the employers came to the negotiation table and agreed on our main demands.

“However, we have long way to go to improve the working conditions in shipbreaking yards, we need the cooperation of the government authorities and employers.”

Pakistan’s Gadani shipbreaking yard in Balochistan province is one of the major destinations for end of life ships in South Asia. The IndustriALL affiliate NTUF has formed SBWUG and is working in the area to improve the working conditions and wages of shipbreaking workers.

Indian unions call for massive mobilization against Modi government’s anti-worker policies

A national convention on 8 August in Delhi, organized by ten central trade unions in association with all independent national federations of workers of both industrial and services sectors, expressed serious concern over the pro-corporate and anti-people policies of the Modi government.

The convention adopted a four point action programme including a massive campaign to mobilize workers across the country and three days of demonstrations in Delhi on 9-11 November 2017 and preparations towards indefinite countrywide strike action against anti-people policies of the government.

A declaration stated that the unemployment situation is getting worse with drastic cuts in social expenditure, price rise of essential commodities and a deepening impoverishment of workers in unorganized sector.

The Modi government is undermining the social dialogue by refusing to implement consensus recommendations on equal pay and benefits for contract workers and minimum wages norms given by the successive Indian Labour Conferences, the apex social dialogue forum in the country.

Unions condemn anti-worker labour law reforms. They oppose the government’s move to evolve the social security code by dismantling existing social security infrastructure and usurp the massive social security fund subscribed by workers amounting to more than 300 billion US$, and instead make them available for speculation in share market under the camouflage of ‘universalisation of social security’.

G. Sanjeeva Reddy, IndustriALL executive committee member and president of IndustriALL affiliate INMF and of the national centre INTUC, said:

"There is great unity within India's trade union movement. The anti-labour policies of the Modi government are compelling trade unions to launch collective protests to safeguard the interests of the working class. The trade union movement will continue the struggle."

The ten central trade unions organizing the convention include INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, UTUC and LPF.

IndustriALL mission to Indonesia finds human rights crisis for sacked workers

More than 4,200 workers at U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan’s PT Freeport, which operates the massive gold and copper Grasberg mine in West Papua, have been sacked for striking, while some 300 workers at PT Smelting in Gresik were fired after striking in January.

The mission, from 8-11 August 2017 included high-level leaders from IndustriALL trade union affiliates in Australia (AWU and CFMEU), the Netherlands (FNV), North America (USW) and South Africa (NUM). 

It met with leaders of Indonesian unions CEMWU SPSI, FPE SBSI and FSPMI, the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, as well as PT Freeport company management and Rio Tinto, which has an interest in the mine. PT Smelting – majority owned by the Japanese company Mitsubishi and of which PT Freeport owns 25 percent – refused to meet.

The Mission heard grave testimony on the treatment of PT Freeport workers, who the company says have “voluntarily resigned”:

“The mission has been informed that after firing the workers, the company has forcibly ejected the workers from company housing, denied them access to company hospitals and company schools, and has worked with local banks to restrict workers’ access to credit. We received the disturbing report that several workers and their family members who were denied medical care have died as a result. Many of the workers who lost their housing are now living in tents or the union’s offices,” said the IndustriALL mission in a statement on 11 August.

“Both PT Freeport and PT Smelting have treated the workers they fired inhumanely and with contempt. PT Smelting has refused to pay workers’ salary or benefits while their union contests their firing in court, notwithstanding a note from the provincial Ministry of Manpower asking the company to do so. PT Smelting has also repeatedly refused to negotiate with the workers’ union FSPMI to seek a negotiated solution for the dispute. FSPMI reports that the fired workers are now being treated worse in court hearings than terrorists, guarded by police carrying firearms and tear gas. These actions are clear violations of the workers' rights to organize, bargain collectively, and strike, established in ILO Conventions,” continued the statement.

In meetings with leaders from the Ministry of Manpower and Ministry of Minerals and Energy Resources on 9 August, the mission requested that they redouble their efforts to facilitate resolutions of the PT Freeport and PT Smelting disputes.

The Mission also called on PT Freeport and PT Smelting to immediately reinstate all the workers they have fired, then negotiate fair resolutions of the matters that provoked the workers to strike in the first place.

IndustriALL general secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“These are not just labour disputes, these are not just violations of the right to strike, but this is a human rights crisis. PT Smelting has not paid strikers wages or benefits that they are entitled to for six months and families are suffering. PT Freeport is attempting to do serious harm to strikers, their families and their communities in order to crush the strike. This cannot continue. We urge both companies to reinstate the workers and urgently enter into negotiations before matters deteriorate any further. In the meantime, IndustriALL will discuss with its affiliates worldwide how to further support and escalate pressure on both companies.”

Read the full statement here. 

Global unions call for release of the union leader in Belarus

In their letter to the Belarusian president, global unions said the work of trade union organizations in the country was in jeopardy after authorities have raided many trade union offices and seized the hard drives of computers along with personal property of union leaders. Futhermore, the chief accountant of the REP union, Ihar Komlik, has been arrested.

ITUC and IndustriALL said: “We have serious reasons to believe that these actions are aimed at undermining the activities of the independent trade union movement in Belarus in retaliation for the active civil position of trade union leaders and the activities of independent trade unions to protect the social and economic interests of the working people of the Republic of Belarus.”

The global unions called these recent attacks on trade union leaders and their unions by the Belarusian authorities, an “interference in the internal affairs of the trade unions, which is a grave violation of ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association.”

The global unions are demanding the government "stop interference of state structures in the internal affairs of the REP and BNP unions and adopt urgent measures to ensure normal conditions for the work of trade union organizations in accordance with the obligations of the Republic of Belarus under ILO Convention No. 87.”

The ITUC and IndustriALL also made a strong protest and called for the "immediate release of Ihar Komlik, to stop criminal prosecution of Gennady Fedynich and Ihar Komlik, the leaders of the Belarusian trade union REP, and to remove all groundless accusations against them.”

In the letter, IndustriALL and ITUC reserved their right to inform the International Labour Organization, European Union and other competent international institutions of the on-going violations.

Iraqi unions urge parliament to reject social security bill

The proposed legislation was approved by the Iraqi cabinet on 1 August and is now being rushed through parliament under pressure from the World Bank, which wants to see a reduction in government spending as a condition for millions in loans. The Iraqi government has ignored comments and objections to the draft social security law from trade unions and civil society groups.

Iraqi unions, under the umbrella of the Conference of Iraqi Federations and Workers Unions, are calling for a new social security law that will provide comprehensive social protection for all Iraqi people to promote social stability in times of crisis.

Thousands of Iraqi citizens have been displaced due to internal conflict and the recent decline in oil prices has deepened the economic crisis in the country, contributing to a rise in unemployment and precarious work. As a result, tens of thousands of families and workers are living in poverty.

"This draft is contrary to international standards and conventions and has been drawn up on the guidance of the World Bank in order to obtain loans. Such loans will cause Iraq to sink. The adoption of this draft will lead to increased poverty among Iraqis, even though they are living in one of the world's richest countries in oil wealth,” said Hashmeya Alsaadawe, President of the General Union of Electricity Workers and Technicians, and member of IndustriALL’s Executive Committee.

The dire economic situation in Iraq has increased the pressure on the relatively weak social security system, highlighting the need to expand its coverage rather than reduce it, say unions.

Unions oppose the draft social security law that would: 

The Conference called upon the Iraqi Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to urgently begin social dialogue with trade unions to discuss the proposed legislation.  

In a letter to members of parliament in Iraq, IndustriALL Global Union’s general secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“IndustriALL urges the Iraqi parliament to return the draft to the government so it can be discussed with Iraqi trade unions and all relevant stakeholders in a proper consultation process. In addition, IndustriALL calls on the government to ensure that any new social security law meets international labour standards, particularly Convention No. 102 on Minimum Standards for Social Security and Recommendation No. 202 on National Floors for Social Protection.”

Living wage campaign launched in the Philippines

Twenty-two national and local union leaders in the textile and clothing sector affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union and representatives from the Workers’ Party and the NAGKAISA labour coalition participated in the planning workshop for a living wage campaign on 20-22 July 2017 in Baguio City, Philippines jointly organized by IndustriALL and FES.

For IndustriALL the living wage is fundamental. Through training projects and workshops IndustriALL and its affiliates develop and implement national action plans, helping unions to fight for a living wage and eradicate wage discrimination. The promotion of industry-wide wage agreements that guarantee all workers, including precarious workers, a fair share of the wealth they generate, is an important part of this struggle.

The participants of the workshop resolved that workers should never stop fighting for a just wage as a reasonable way of distributing wealth equitably. The participants also said that unions should engage in the fight for living wages, while strengthening their arguments and evidence proving that a bare minimum income is not sufficient for workers and their family to live decently.

In the Philippines workers and their families are unable to live a decent life on the minimum wage.

“Even for those of us who are organized and have a collective agreement, we are still struggling because of the rising cost of basic goods. It must be much worse for workers on the minimum wage,” lamented Ferdinand Meneses, union officer at a textile factory.

“There is a need for the affiliates to assess their strength in representing the sectors to be able to come up with an appropriate strategy in pushing for a just living wage,”

said Annie Adviento, IndustriALL South East Asia regional secretary.

There are three key elements for unions to pursue a living wage: supporting a national minimum wage campaign, increasing capacity to bargain for a living wage and IndustriALL’s initiative with global brands called ACT. 

“The ACT process that has been developed by IndustriALL seeks to establish freedom of association, collective bargaining and living wages to be negotiated with major brands is worth replicating at every level,”

added Adviento.

Participants adopted the following action plan for the living wage campaign:

The participants will work on the living wage campaign with the support of the broader trade union movement at the national, sectoral and enterprise level.

South Africa: NUM marches against plans to cull 8,500 jobs at AngloGold Ashanti

The union called on the government to intervene through job protection policies in important sectors of the economy such as mining, construction and energy.

The mines have ignored an agreement that ensured job protection, leading NUM to demand a month’s salary for every year served as part of the retrenchment package.

NUM called on mining companies in South Africa to find ways to save jobs especially in an environment where at least 70,000 mining jobs have been lost over last five years, according to the Chamber of Mines.  

As well as the proposed job losses at AngloGold Ashanti, close to 6,000 workers are set to lose their jobs at Bokoni Platinum, half of which are contract workers. Meanwhile, Sibanye Gold has announced plans to retrench 10,000 workers. Earlier, this year, South Africa’s Anglo American Platinum said it expected to cut up to 2,000 jobs at its Union and Twickenham mines.

“The NUM strongly condemns these irresponsible companies. The jobs bloodbath is a clear attack on the working class, communities and the poor, a direct attack on mine workers in particular,” said the union in a statement. 

The NUM is accusing the mining companies of only being interested in maximizing profits and mechanizing mines and paying little attention to job security or retraining of workers. Quick retrenchments were convenient for the companies who often cited making losses as the reason behind their decision, even when they had made profits in previous years. Mining companies are not socially responsible when it came to workers’ rights and welfare, argues the NUM.

Gold mining in South Africa is also declining with some mines reaching the end of their production life, getting deeper and unsafe to mine. It is estimated that gold in South Africa will be exhausted in the next 30 years.

 Glen Mpufane, Industrial director for mining, said: “We are deeply concerned at the scale of job loses proposed by AngloGold Ashanti which will seriously affect working class communities in South Africa. In 2015, AngloGold Ashanti reneged on our global framework agreement by unilaterally cancelling it. This only strengthens our resolve to unite workers across borders to stand up against the company.