The hidden crisis of workplace violence against women

As an organization that represents 50 million workers in 140 countries, IndustriALL Global Union believes all forms of violence against women are unacceptable and supports its trade union affiliates as they take action to stop it.

All too often, women working in IndustriALL’s sectors – including mining, textile and manufacturing – are afraid to speak out against abuses they face out of fear of losing their jobs, being stigmatized, or being socially ostracized both at work and at home. When they do speak out they are often ignored or blamed.

A woman union leader at a multinational mining company in Colombia not only endured aggressive verbal abuse and discrimination from her male colleagues, but was also sexually assaulted by one of her bosses. When she complained to the company, another woman was prompted to come forward with similar allegations against the same man. Despite the company saying they would handle the situation, nothing was done.

Very often complicity from the company allows perpetrators to act with impunity. When a young woman working in the aerospace sector in Morocco complained about being sexually harassed by her supervisor, the company accused her of inventing the story. The management put pressure on the woman to drop the allegations, explaining the negative impact it would have on the company if the story got out. The woman had no proof of being harassed and it was her word against his. She ended up leaving the company.

Beneath these testimonies of abuse and harassment is the power that men exercise over women. When this is challenged it can create further problems. A worker at a Colombian mining company said her life was made ‘a living hell’ by a male colleague who refused to accept that the she was his equal. It was only after she took action through her union that the harassment and verbal abuse eventually stopped.

In the male-dominated mining sector in South Africa, sexual harassment of women is all too common. Women report that it starts the minute they walk inside a cage to go underground, and male co-workers take advantage of the confined space to touch them or push their breasts up against the walls of the cage.

Tolerance of sexual harassment can culminate in the most horrific violence. Twenty-seven-year-old South African miner, Pinky Mosiane, was found in a pool of blood with a used condom discarded nearby after being attacked by a co-worker in 2012. The young mother, who had been working underground in an isolated area, died shortly after. Another female mineworker, Cynthia Setuke, was raped and murdered by a male colleague as she worked in a dimly lit mineshaft in 2013. A study released by charity Médécins Sans Frontières in 2016, found that 1 in 4 women living in South Africa’s platinum mining belt had been raped.

However, violence against women is not limited to male-dominated sectors. Trade union representatives and workers from textile and garment unions in Latin America, Asia and North Africa have reported that violence against women is common in their sectors as well.

“We are screamed and shouted at by our supervisors, and ordered here and there even when we have a job to do. They treat us like donkeys, telling us our work is no good, controlling when we go to the bathroom and not allowing pregnant women go to medical appointments”, said a woman textile worker in Peru.

Production pressures also lead to supervisors treating workers badly. In Morocco, women garment workers reported being physically and verbally abused, prevented from going to the lavatory, pinched, slapped or beaten with the clothing they’re making if their work speed is deemed not fast enough. Unions are fighting back, writing to labour inspectorates and employers, and complaining to the police.

Sometimes women are targeted solely because they are pregnant, which then poses a risk to both the mother and unborn child. A garment worker in Peru recounted how she was repeatedly refused permission to seek medical attention when she was feeling unwell at work. Despite her extreme tiredness, the company forced her to continue working 12-hour night shifts from 7pm to 7am and actually increased her workload by 50 per cent. When her work began to falter, she was suspended. The company ended up firing her a few months after she gave birth and even falsified her signature in a letter of resignation. Her union is now pursuing her case of illegal dismissal in the courts.

Women who are less qualified, single mothers and agency or outsourced workers are at greater risk of gender-based violence. But educated white-collar women workers are also victims of abuse. Swedish affiliate Unionen helped a young woman working at an electricity firm successfully take the director of the company where she worked to the labour court for sexual harassment after he touched her inappropriately at the office Christmas party. The police had told her there was not enough evidence to prosecute him through the criminal courts. In a survey of 1,000 of its members, Unionen found that 1 in 4 women had been sexually harassed at work.

As the assistant general secretary of IndustriALL, Jenny Holdcroft, says:

The struggle to eradicate violence against women in the workplace must be taken up by unions everywhere, using every means, every tool, and every effort possible. We cannot claim to support women’s rights, equality or decent work without tackling this most basic violation of human rights.

What is precarious work?

South Africa: Thousands of workers support national strike

State capture refers to the corrupt involvement of business interests in government affairs. The Gupta family was singled out by a report by then public protector Thuli Madonsela as being involved in the appointment of ministers, and in the awarding of government tenders. COSATU, which is demanding a judiciary commission of enquiry into state capture, argued that corruption threatened the socioeconomic rights of workers. Further, it undermined “the constitutional and developmental state that seeks to address the plight of the poor and the workers.”

A Cosatu pamphlet read:

“State capture and the cancer of corruption are immoral and criminal acts, which rob the people of South Africa of their livelihoods, steal their resources, cause job losses and perpetuates poverty.”

In Johannesburg, petitions were given to the City of Johannesburg, banks and the financial sector, and the Chamber of Mines, where retrenchments were condemned. Unions vowed to continue their fight against the closure of five coal-powered power stations. This showed that government’s renewable energy policy was not promoting a Just Transition, but sacrificing jobs. Promoting independent power producers from the renewable energy sector was privatizing the state-owned power company, ESKOM.

The scandal involving the Guptas has dragged in and tarnished the images of international companies, including Bell Pottinger and KPMG.

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

“We applaud South African workers for standing up against state capture and corruption. Neo-liberal policies that promoted taking away jobs and the control of state-owned companies by private interests should be resisted by workers.”

Base metal unions pledge to fight for workers’ rights and dignity

During two days, the delegates discussed responses to such burning issues as unfair trade and steel production overcapacity, challenges of Industry 4.0 and digitization, as well as fundamentally important for the unions issues on how to build union power and strengthen global solidarity.

The meeting was a continuation of the action plan adopted in 2016 at the Global Base Metals Conference in Duisburg, Germany.

The question of global solidarity was pivotal for the meeting; the activists expressed their solidarity with Sitraternium, the union representing workers of steel making company Ternium in Guatemala. In response to the company’s failure to recognize and negotiate with the union IndustriALL Global Union has recently lodged an OECD complaint.

Also, during the meeting the delegates adopted a unified demand for a greater global union collaboration and coordination at the world’s largest steel company, ArcelorMittal. The statement will be presented at the next meeting with global management in Burns Harbor, United States, at the beginning of October.

Participants also re-committed to support the Gerdau World Union Committee’s demand that Gerdau recognize unions at national and global levels, including by partnering with the Committee to improve Gerdau health and safety practices. Four workers have died in an incident at Gerdau’s Ouro Branco mill in August.

Sanjyot Vadhavkar, co-chair of IndustriALL Global Union Base metals sector, says:

“Our coordinated efforts will help us to combat unfair dumping and strengthen union participation in development of trade defence instruments and trade policies. We reiterated the need to continue organizing women, youth and precarious workers in order to build union power and jointly fight for justice, equality and dignity for all workers.”

Thomas Conway, co-chair of IndustriALL Global Union Base metals, sector says,

"The unions of the IndustriALL base metals section met in conference for the past two days and are as committed as ever to push their respective employers and governments to work together with the unions to take all necessary steps to deal with the matter of global overcapacity in steel, which is impacting us all. We are further pledged to confront our employers collectively where labour relations and safety and health conditions are poor and we will not tolerate workplaces where our members aren't safe at work or where the management is unconcerned about these matters."

Kemal Ozkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, said

“We are facing dramatic political changes taking place in the world: Brexit, climate change, rise of right and extreme right forces in Europe. This strongly affects base metals sector. But our struggle continues, we are fighting for an economic and political model based on social right and dignity in every corner of the world and need to be supported by strong trade unions.”

Photos from the meeting are available on Flickr. Some of the meeting discussions could be found on our Facebook channel @IndustriALLGlobalUnion.

Campaign to end violence against women progresses in MENA region

Both Jordan and Tunisia passed important legislation this summer improving the protection of women, while in Morocco the parliament is reviewing a draft to set up a new institution for equality. IndustriALL affiliates have been involved in these processes.

IndustriALL MENA regional women’s network launched a campaign to stop violence against women in August 2016. In its last meeting in Casablanca from 28-29 August 2017, the network declared the passing of the new laws to be a big victory for the advance and protection of women’s rights.

The text adopted by the Tunisian parliament in July 2017 recognizes not only physical, but also psychological and economic violence. It sets up measures to protect and care for victims. It recognizes the role of the media and education in the prevention of violence. Above all, it repeals a very controversial provision of the Penal Code, which allowed a rapist to escape prosecution if he married his underage victim. In August, the same controversial provision was repealed in Jordanian legislation.

In Tunisia, IndustriALL affiliates have already begun raising awareness among their members about the new law. According to affiliates, the next step is start to work on the implementation of the new law. According to a study conducted by a Tunisian state agency last August, 54 per cent of Tunisian women have experienced different forms of violence, whether in public spaces, at work, at school or in the economic and political sectors. Participants in the MENA regional network meeting from other countries including Palestine, Jordan, Bahrain, Morocco also denounced the ongoing violence against women at workplace in their countries, and the fact that most of violence goes unreported as the issue is still a taboo. Unions reported on their actions that have been taking to address this violence in their work place.

“Women are facing harassment everywhere: at home, in the street, in the taxis, at work… Attitudes need to change! Violence against women is unacceptable. Our unions will continue to fight against it,” said Latifa Benwakrim from the Moroccan energy workers’ union, SNIPGN-CDT, and regional coordinator for IndustriALL MENA regional women’s network.

The campaign to end violence against women is part of a broader strategy by the regional and national IndustriALL women networks in MENA to promote equal rights and women’s leadership in the workplace and unions. Participants at the meeting in Casablanca reported on actions and trainings organized over the past year in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Morocco and Tunisia to increase women members’ knowledge on trade union and workers’ rights. As well as campaigning for the government of Tunisia to ratify ILO Convention 183 on maternity protection, unions in Tunisia have been fighting for better inclusion of women in union decision-making structures, under the slogan ‘Women unionists are effective leaders’. In Morocco, unions continue to discuss and influence a draft law which will set up a new institution for equality.

The network resolved to continue its campaign to end violence against women and link it with the ongoing international campaign for an ILO Convention on gender based violence. The network will also seek to reinforce coordination among the network to strengthen the campaign. The affiliates will produce regional tools (such as leaflets and videos) to progress the campaign.

Southern Africa: Building a network of young workers

Supported by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, the workshop discussed building strong unions through organizing and recruiting more workers. Such organizing would be on issues that workers faced every day like low wages and poor working conditions. Therefore, the fight against low wages in Lesotho and Swaziland’s garment and textile sectors, and the living wage campaign in Southern Africa had to be intensified.

Affiliates from Mozambique attended for the first time, strengthening regional networking and coordination.

The meeting also supported the return of the US Africa Growth and Opportunity Act benefits to Swaziland as this would lead to the recovery of lost jobs and improved wages. On migrant workers, it was agreed that they should enjoy the same benefits as other workers.

The workshop agreed to demand the respect of workers and human rights from their governments. The governments should also implement the African Youth Charter which called for education and skills development, poverty eradication, youth employment and sustainable development.

Protecting jobs in the case of retrenchments in mining and other sectors was a must. This, the participants argued, showed the need for collective bargaining agreements that protected workers interests. It was also agreed that unions should continue to fight against precarious work and outsourcing of work through labour brokers.

For unions to be effective against global capital worker education should play its role by exposing the activities of multinational corporations and explaining trade agreements.

The workshop emphasized the importance of addressing gender inequality, ending sexual harassment at workplaces, and campaigning for maternity protection as well as health and safety at work. More awareness was needed on HIV and AIDS as the epidemic continued to affect more young adults.

The workshop concluded that union survival was also based on understanding economic policies that created sustainable jobs. For instance, diversification towards manufacturing instead of depending on mining alone, created more jobs as argued in the African Mining Vision.

Sarah Flores, IndustriALL project and youth officer, said:

“A strong sense of cross border solidarity emerged among the young leaders at this workshop. While discussing the different struggles they face, they came to the conclusion that no local improvement can be sustained if it doesn’t happen at a regional level.
This understanding of the need for solidarity will with no doubt be a driver within the youth Southern Africa network and their fight for economic and social justice.”

Unconditional solidarity from the Mexican public guides rescue efforts after earthquake

In the centre of the Mexican capital, the earthquake caused a building that housed the clothing production workshop and retail outlet of Línea Moda Joven S.A. de C.V to collapse. The rescue team is made up almost entirely of volunteers and neighbours.

Humberto Montes de Oca Luna of the electrical workers’ union (SME) said:

On the day of the earthquake, we went with the SME in several teams to help. We put lamps in the rescue areas to facilitate the search, while other colleagues removed rubble. We managed to rescue between three and five people who were still alive… but we also discovered the bodies of seven victims.

Media reports that the fashion design company Sarah Bustani, forced employees to work even though the building had been closed down by the civil protection authorities as it was deemed to be unsafe. Firefighters went to the company’s premises to try to prevent employees entering the building because of the risk, but to no avail.

University students have developed a Workers at Risk app to identify unsafe buildings and help workers to submit complaints if they are forced to go back to work.

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL General Secretary, said:

IndustriALL, through its affiliates and allies, is in solidarity with the Mexican people. The disaster revealed serious violations that are a direct consequence of ineffective inspections that fail to ensure compliance with the law on the conditions of buildings and factories. We call on all our affiliates to continue in solidarity in this phase of recovering from material and personal losses.

Indian automotive unions to strengthen social dialogue and union power

The workshop and strategic planning meeting witnessed active participation of union representatives from both multinational and Indian automakers from Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune and Gurgaon industrial clusters.

Union representatives highlighted the limited space for social dialogue in automotive sector. The lack of union recognition, as well as of trust and respect, job security, a limited space to discuss precarious work and lack of transparency in sharing corporate information are hindering an effective social dialogue.

Georg Leutert, IndustriALL automotive director said:

Social dialogue is paramount to establish fair economic development. It bestows equal partnership and dignity to the workforce and also makes business sense. Given the massive presence of precarious work and low-level wages in Indian automotive companies, there will be no development if we stay at this level. We need united trade union force to secure our rights.

Participants also emphasized that labour laws provide space for trade union rights, but a lack of proper implementation of the laws and an inactive labour administration stand in the way for social dialogue.

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL General Secretary said:

It is shocking that precarious workers are the bulk of the workforce in leading automotive companies in India. That has to change; workers face an enormous challenge to secure the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
IndustriALL welcomes, encourages and supports the initiative to build a unified network structure to forward workers’ issues in cooperation, unity and solidarity. This is the best way to fight companies trying to pit workers against each other.

Management representatives from companies such as Bharat Benz, Ford India, Skoda, BMW and Volkswagen, participated. On the issue of precarious work, they said that all automotive actors, including leading manufacturers, should come to the negotiation table in order to find a collective position to stop precarious work.

Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL regional secretary, said:

There a very few women in India’s automotive industry. There needs to be a conducive environment in the factory to encourage the recruitment of more women workers.

Discussing the issues of occupational safety and health, union representatives underlined the need to build union capacity and knowledge to take action. Participants decided to strengthen the network, share information and build organizational structures to improve solidarity among auto unions.

They expressed solidarity to jailed Maruti Suzuki workers and resolved to support the efforts to secure their release.

R Kuchelan of IndustriALL affiliate WPTUC said:

Congratulations to IndustriALL for bringing together automotive union representatives as coordinated action is needed. Rapid technological changes and the introduction of electric vehicles in the auto sector pose challenges to job security and employment. United union action is paramount to defend workers’ rights in the Indian auto sector.

The event was organised with the support of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Participants also visited the Daimler India plant located at Oragadam, for discussions with company officials and union representatives.

SKF European Works Council and World Union Committee grow and get stronger

In an internal meeting the WUC delegates had an intensive exchange about the situation in their respective countries. The delegates also discussed and prepared for a joint meeting with the group management.

During the joint meeting, workers’ representatives talked with SKF top-management about the future of this global company in a changing world. SKF is one of the mechanical engineering sector companies that is very active in digitisation and Industry 4.0. So, the company used the concept of "World Class Manufacturing" to describe the company’s approach in this area.

Delegates had the chance to visit one of the new World Class Manufacturing production channels in the Gothenburg "mother factory" on 21 September. This development creates the necessity for a renewed social dialogue in SKF group. The first meeting ever of the European Works Council which took place on 18 September was part of this approach.

During the meeting, the opportunities and challenges of the fourth industrial revolution were the main topics, together with the Working Climate Analysis and health and safety issues.

Company top management, ranging from CEO Alrik Danielson who addressed the delegates, Carina Bergfelt, senior vice president and head of HR who introduced herself and her ideas on HR policies, and Kent Viitanen, president and head of bearings operations who informed the delegates about the status in bearings operations in SKF, used the opportunity to not only address the union representatives but also to enter in a dialogue with the delegates about the future of the company in a changing industrial environment.

Matthias Hartwich, IndustriALL director, said about the meeting:

“SKF is not only number one in bearings solutions worldwide. The company also claims to be benchmark in social dialogue and labour relations. The European Works Council and World Union Committee are looking forward to entering in a new stage of social dialogue on European and also global level, now that already twenty countries send delegates or observers to the global meeting.”

Wage Strategies in a Global Economy: free online course

Billons of workers around the world have no regular income or do not earn a wage sufficient to live a decent life. Wages for many workers have been stagnant and most economic gains have gone to the top of the income pyramid.

Why do income inequalities continue to increase in so many countries? What role can collective bargaining and minimum wages play in reducing social and economic inequalities? What constitutes a fair wage?

The Global Labour University is offering an eight-week online course to explore these questions and develop better bargaining strategies. Endorsed and supported by IndustriALL, the course is free of charge and open to anyone.

The course starts on 24 October 2017.

You can sign up for free here.

For those who want recognition for their work, there is a certificate track to study towards a certificate awarded by the Berlin School of Economics and Law and the Global Labour University for € 49. There are a number of priority scholarships available for members of IndustriALL affiliates. If you would like to study towards a certificate and benefit from a scholarship, please apply for a scholarship by emailing [email protected].

This is a tutored online course led by a group of international experts from universities and trade unions. You will be participating in lectures, readings and discussions with thousands of other participants from around the world.

A Facebook Live question and answer session, featuring experts from the ILO and the course team, will be held on the Global Labour University Facebook page on 24 October 2017 at 1pm UTC.

Jenny Holdcroft, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, said:

“The Global Labour University courses are an excellent opportunity for trade union activists to improve their skills, and to share their experiences with people from around the world.
“If you are involved in union wage bargaining, or just want to understand the issues better, I highly recommend this course, and suggest you register as soon as possible.”

This course is currently only available in English. The Global Labour University Online Academy also offers a number of other free online courses in several languages. Participants from IndustriALL who have completed previous courses have found them extremely useful.