Mexican trade unions and social organizations march against renegotiation of NAFTA

The march was organized to coincide with the first round of negotiations, being held in Washington, to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, the US and Mexico. The mobilization in Mexico City began just hours after the talks were launched in the United States.

The march started at the city’s emblematic Angel of Independence monument and culminated at the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs. Around 2000 people representing free and democratic trade unions attended the march.

On reaching the secretariat, the protestors read out a manifesto, which they then handed over to the department of foreign affairs. The text proposes that rather than modernising NAFTA, the parties should work towards a cooperation and complementation agreement that does not leave everything in the hands of the market.

“We are seeking a new form of integration within a global dynamic that benefits all peoples and the planet. We are proposing a new agreement that contributes to strengthening the domestic economy and diversifying Mexico’s external relations, an agreement that respects the national sovereignty of the three countries and recognizes the right to self-determination,”

said Humberto Montes de Oca, foreign relations secretary of the Mexican electrical workers’ union Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas (SME), affiliated to IndustriALL.

The main premise is that since the treaty took effect, in 1994, it has undermined workers’ rights. They point out that NAFTA has led to the marginalization of small farmers and has contributed to impoverishing the country and its workforce.

Paradoxically, during the talks scheduled to take place between now and the end of the year, the United States is planning to put pressure on Mexico to raise its labour standards and wages, with a view to preventing “unfair competition” with US workers.

“This is owed to the fact that the original treaty had considered a parallel agreement to protect workers’ rights, but it was never included or formally respected within the trade agreement,”

explained Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, president of Los Mineros miners’ union and joint regional president of IndustriALL.

Urrutia believes that what Mexico really needs is a progressive labour reform “that brings about profound rather than superficial change, which will not only provide genuine protection for workers’ fundamental rights but also for democracy and freedom of association”.

The demonstrators also condemned the federal government for failing to call on the workers to elect representatives to take part in the renegotiation of the free trade agreement and holding the talks behind closed doors.

“Negotiations that will determine our future should not be carried out in a hurry and in secret. We are demanding that the roadmap and the terms of the negotiations be made public, and that final approval should not be given without broad consultation of all sectors of society,”

insisted Montes de Oca.

The government unilaterally appointed a leader from a pro-employer trade union centre, the Confederación de Trabajadores de México (CTM), which does not represent workers’ interests.

IndustriALL director, Fernando Lopes, commented:

“This is a crucial time for us to strengthen the alliance between trade union and social movements in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The governments will try to pit the workers against each other, but they will not succeed. Workers of the three countries will stand united in defence of their rights!”

Violence breaks out at Grasberg mine as dispute drags on

Hundreds of striking mineworkers blockaded entrances to the mine from 14:00 on Saturday 19 August in an attempt to stop production and force the company to negotiate with them. During clashes with police and security guards, several miners were injured with rubber bullets, and office buildings and a number of vehicles were set alight. Police and security guards regained control at about 23:00.

The local police chief stated that the army would be deployed to maintain order.

The blockade was carried out by both direct employees and contractors, and was not organized or endorsed by the union. The workers are in a desperate situation, after being fired for taking strike action.

The escalation comes as the crisis at the mine deepens. In a case that is still under investigation, shots were fired at a company vehicle last week, injuring the driver. Workers at Grasberg mine have been on strike since 1 May this year. The mine is owned by PT Freeport, the local subsidiary of US mining company Freeport McMoRan. The company has so far fired 4,200 striking workers.

IndustriALL Global Union has warned for months of the possibility of serious conflict. In a statement issued in May, mining director Glen Mpufane said:

“The situation is very tense. We need to intervene urgently to prevent another Marikana.”

The current crisis adds pressure to an already volatile situation. The Grasberg mine is controversial for a number of reasons, and the sovereignty of West Papua is contested, sometimes violently. In the past, Freeport has used the Indonesian army to provide security, and a number of people have been killed in clashes.

A recent solidarity mission to Indonesia by IndustriALL found a social crisis at the mine: workers and their families have been without income, access to credit, accommodation, education or medical care for four months, and several people are believed to have died as a result.

To make the situation worse, severe flooding two weeks ago meant several areas had to be evacuated.

The strike is the result of a dispute between Freeport and the Indonesian government over control of the mine. The Indonesian government wants a 51 per cent stake in the mine, and cancelled Freeport’s export permits when the company refused. In response, Freeport slowed production and began laying off workers, triggering the strike. Indonesian media reports that Freeport has now signed a new contract with the government.

On Friday 18 August, before the recent clashes, IndustriALL wrote to the director general of the ILO, Guy Ryder, urging the ILO to urgently intervene in the crisis.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“IndustriALL has warned for months now of the possibility of violence. Workers at Grasberg are in an absolutely desperate situation. Despite our repeated warnings, Freeport has escalated the situation at every turn.

“IndustriALL finds it despicable that Freeport plays games with people’s lives and livelihoods, to score political points in their dispute with the Indonesian government.

“The situation has to end now. All parties need to get around the table and immediately resolve this crisis.”

Mozambique: South-South solidarity boosts leadership skills for women

The training programme, which is taking place from 2015 to 2017 in Maputo, is carried out by leadership and facilitators from another IndustriALL affiliate, CNM/CUT from Brazil. The programme brings the solidarity and expertise from CNM/CUT to train SINTIME. Both unions organize in the metal and energy sectors, in Sub Saharan Africa and Latin America respectively.

Important topics covered in the training modules include women’s role in political life in Mozambique and globally, women in the trade union movement, in the labour market and in collective bargaining, women’s health at the workplace, and basic human and trade union rights. Participants learn to share experiences and trust each other to grow together within the union.

Under the leadership of Marli Melo do Nascimento, CNM/CUT’s national women’s secretary, and in close cooperation with the IndustriALL head office project officer, two to three participative training modules are designed and conducted yearly in Maputo by a team of experienced union leaders and educators. The Brazilian women leaders from different industrial sectors give examples of women’s needs and demands, and how women leadership was enforced in their unions, showing how this process is relevant for unions in Mozambique. They emphasize the common struggles of the working class against global capital and the importance of building a strong women leadership at local, national and global levels.

Inocência Ernesto Tembe, coordinator of SINTIME’s national women’s committee (Comutra) said:

“The training is helping us to overcome obstacles women face daily at work and in social life. The training emphasizes how to achieve gender equality and to access opportunities for women. We learnt about the Labour Act and how to be effective in collective bargaining processes. The employers now respect us because we know our rights. This is not a struggle that will be won overnight but we will continue to the end. SINTIME decided to conduct additional workshops for women who did not take part in the training programme so that they would benefit as well.”

Maria Eulália Raul Muianga from SINTIME added:

“After the training we were able to interpret the Labour Act on maternity protection and defend our rights as women workers. SINTIME’s women’s committee representatives’ participation in collective bargaining became more noticeable after the training”.

IndustriALL will continue to seek support from its affiliate Unifor, CNM-CUT and other Brazilian affiliates to extend this outstanding and unique experience of women empowering young women.

Global unions call to support independent union movement in Belarus

15 days have passed since the Belarusian authorities began an unprovoked campaign against independent trade unions and their leadership in Belarus. Two union leaders, Gennady Fedynich and Ihar Komlik from Radio and Electronics Industry Workers’ Union (REP), an IndustriALL affiliate, and also an affiliate of ITUC through Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, are under criminal investigation and may face up to seven years in prison. Ihar Komlik remains in custody since his detention on 2 August.

Visit LabourStart and demand the release Ihar Komlik and the dropping of all groundless accusations against REP leadership. https://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=3512

Both union leaders are now under investigation for alleged large-scale tax evasion. However, the accusations of unpaid taxes refer to the solidarity support received by the union in 2011, and cannot be treated as private funds. In reality the accusations are groundless and aim at undermining the union in retaliation for their leaders' active civil position and the work to protect the social and economic interests of the working people in Belarus. 

One of the recent episodes was the REP’s active participation in mass protests against a presidential decree imposing a tax on the unemployed, dubbed in Belarus the decree “on social parasites”. Already then REP leadership was subject to reprisals. Fedynich was accused of taking part in an unauthorized, illegal "March of angry Belarusians" on 17 February in Minsk and repeated violation of the law "On Mass Events”. The authorities then fined him for US$ 640.

In their letter to the Belarusian president IndustriALL and ITUC called the 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.”

Gennady Fedynch is a prominent union leader, who has been chairman of Radio and Electronics Industry Workers’ Union (REP) since the beginning of the nineties. Together with a few other unions from former Soviet Union in 1999, REP was recognized by global trade unions as a free and democratic organization, and joined the International Metalworkers’ Federation, predecessor of IndustriALL.

At the founding Congress of IndustriALL Global Union in June 2012 Gennady was elected as titular member of the Executive Committee of IndustriALL. Four years later at the 2nd World Congress of IndustriALL in Brazil his colleagues from the CIS region re-elected him as substitute executive committee member, representing unions of the region.

Ihar Komlik is also not a stranger to the trade union movement. An engineer and labour lawyer by background, he worked in the design bureau at the radio and electronics plant “Planar” from 1994 to 2004. In the same time he was also elected as working chairman of REP local union organization there. Since 2010 he has lead REP Minsk city union organization and also works as REP chief accountant.

IndustriALL Global Union appeals to all affiliates to support the LabourStart campaign https://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=3512 and demand the immediate release of Ihar Komlik, and an end to his and Gennady Fedynich’s criminal prosecution.

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL General Secretary said,

“We call on all our affiliates to help us defend our affiliate Radio and Electronics Industry Workers’ Union and its leaders, Ihar Komlik and Gennady Fedynich, in Belarus. They are only guilty of not staying silent at continuously falling living and working standards of the working people in Belarus. Truly independent unions make life better in every country. Send your demands to Lukashenko’s regime today, let’s stop this attack on independent trade unions and their leaders in Belarus."

ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said,

“These actions constitute state interference in the activities of independent trade unions. They have interrupted the work of the two unions’ secretariats and created an atmosphere of repression and fear. Belarus must bring its legislation into conformity with its international obligations and implement in full the recommendations of the ILO Commission of Inquiry, including on external aid, and cease using existing legal provisions like these to harass trade union leaders.”

Two workers killed in explosion at Gerdau Brazil

Gerdau workers continue to die because of health and safety problems at the company's plants. Less than a year after an accident caused the death of three employees, the same plant was again the scene of a tragedy.

“This is the fourth major accident in less than a year at the plant, which employs around 2,000 workers. Last year, five workers died in three separate accidents,” said Jorge García-Orgales of the Gerdau World Workers’ Committee."

On this occasion, the incident occurred at the top of a chimney on Coking Plant 2 during maintenance of a gas tower. Two workers were killed, including an outsourced worker, another two are in intensive care and in a serious condition and others were injured.

The Ouro Branco Metalworkers’ Union (SINDOB, affiliated to the CNTM, which is in turn affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union) called a halt to work at the plant for one hour and announced it will consider further action during the week. Sindob attributes the deaths to the lack of preventive maintenance.

The coordinator of the Gerdau World Workers' Committee and general secretary of the CNM/CUT (affiliated to IndustriALL), Loricardo de Oliveira, reported that the Committee is calling workers at all Gerdau facilities in Brazil and in other countries to mobilize on 23 August in solidarity with the steelworkers of the plant of Ouro Branco and against precarious work at all plants of the company.

The Gerdau World Workers’ Committee visited Gerdau's Ouro Branco plant for the first time in May and approved an action plan to promote a health and safety policy capable of preventing this type of accident.

Fernando Lopes, Director at IndustriALL and a union leader at a Gerdau plant in Brazil said:

“This proves that Gerdau's zero accident policy does not work. After so many deaths, it is time the company sat down with the unions to discuss a serious safety policy at its plants.”

Israeli High Court signals end of right to strike at state-owned enterprises

The conditional order overturns an earlier judgement in support of the right to strike, and comes in response to industrial action by the Histadrut union federation against the privatization of the publicly owned monopoly, the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC).

The IEC employs 12,500 workers. For the past three years, the government has instituted a so-called market reform programme to end the state monopoly on electricity generation. The privatization plan means the company will stop generating electricity and sell its power stations to the private sector.

The so-called reforms have already cost 800 jobs. The Histadrut expects the privatization to result in between 5,000 and 6,000 job losses. Workers at IEC took part in industrial action in June and July, including refusing to issue electric bills.

In May 2017, the High Court upheld early judgements by regional and national labour courts in support of the right to strike. However, the government appealed the ruling, claiming that because the strikers oppose government policy, the strike is political and therefore illegal under Israeli labour law.

The government was supported by private electric corporations, who argued that strikes should not be allowed to influence, harm or cause financial loss.

The Histadrut argued in court that the strike is economic, and therefore legal, and not political. It is a legitimate defense of workers’ terms and conditions, and the right of the union to be consulted before the so-called reforms are implemented.

The ruling is seen as an attempt to fundamentally challenge the position of labour in Israeli society. The court signaled that the right to strike undermined anti-trust and competition law, preventing the government from making pro-market reforms.

The outcome of this case will have ramifications on other essential public services and on the legal status of the right to strike. In previous cases, the right to strike was recognized by Israeli High Court of Justice as a fundamental and constitutional right derived from the right to freedom of association, including in cases when the strike was against the government's decisions.

Historically, there was a very close relationship between the Histadrut federation of labour and the public sector, with the federation also owning a number of enterprises. This relationship has been successively undermined by economic liberalization and changes to the law since the 1980s.

In a letter of solidarity to the Histadrut, IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches wrote:

“The Court’s decision would seriously impinge on fundamental workers' rights, including the right to employment stability. It is obvious that one of the main tasks of the Israeli High Court is to protect human rights, and the right to strike is one of them.

“IndustriALL Global Union is very concerned about the possibility of imposing serious restrictions on the right to strike. We believe such an outcome would be against the International Covenant on Economic, Social and cultural Rights, as well as against ILO's Convention 87 concerning freedom of association and protection of the right to organize, and ILO's Convention 98 concerning the application of the principles of the right to organize and to bargain collectively.”

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.