LafargeHolcim: Final step taken towards Global Framework Agreement

The three parties agreed earlier this year to begin discussing, negotiating and concluding a GFA in 2017. The agreement confirms that the workers are core to the success of LafargeHolcim, and the ambition is to create a workplace that is safe, diverse, inclusive, and respectful where people enjoy coming to work.

The objective of the GFA is to establish and conduct a constructive and responsible social dialogue between the company and the global unions.

After the merger of Lafarge and Holcim, IndustriALL Global Union and BWI formed a World Union Committee (WUC) with the involvement of unions at LafargeHolcim workplaces worldwide. Through a democratic decision of the WUC, a successful and efficient campaign was conducted where one of the demands was identified to reach a GFA.

In the meantime, LafargeHolcim signed a new agreement in March 2017, creating a European Works Council (EWC). The objective of a GFA was reiterated and supported at the Annual Shareholders Meeting of LafargeHolcim in May 2017.

During the negotiation process, a series of consultations with the relevant affiliates were made and a number of comments and suggestions were received and inserted. This includes main ILO conventions, neutrality, a scope covering all operations of the company, access to workplace, LafargeHolcim Annual Conference (LHAC) as a platform of dialogue at global level, procuedure for dispute resolution.

At the signing of the MoU in Zurich, LafargeHolcim was represented by Eric Olsen, CEO, and Caroline Luscombe, Head of OHR, Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan represented IndustriALL, and General Secretary Ambet Yuson BWI.

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary, said on the MoU:

"A Global Framework Agreement between LafargeHolcim and IndustriALL/BWI is now a benchmark in the materials industries, and will have an impact on improving working and living conditions of our members.

“It is also a strong signal to other multinationals in the sector to engage with their most important stakeholders and their workforce. Our job is now to make sure that this GFA is successful with proper implementation and monitoring."

According to the MoU, in the period to come, within the framework of the GFA provisions on health and safety which identify fundamental rights, IndustriALL Global Union and BWI will develop a detailed Global Health and Safety Agreement with LafargeHolcim.

BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson said:

"Health and safety at work is a priority for trade unions and a critical area covered in this agreement. This year we will develop a global health and safety agreement with LafargeHolcim, and the company has agreed to set up a H&S working group. We look forward to working with LafargeHolcim and our affiliates around the world to implement these standards, and we thank the negotiating team who worked very patiently to make this agreement come to fruition.”

Caroline Luscombe, Head of Organization and Human Resources at LafargeHolcim said:

“We are positively progressing to build a scheme of relations for LafargeHolcim based on mutual trust. This agreement contains important elements for our social approach and will surely be a pillar of the social dialogue we aspire to develop."

LafargeHolcim was established as a result of the merger of equals by Lafarge and Holcim in 2015 as the largest Group in the building materials industry, particularly in cement and concrete production. The Swiss-based Group employs more than 90.000 direct workers with operations in around 80 countries.

Also present at the signing were the members of the negotiation team Feliciano Gonzalez, Head of Group Labor Relations and Social Policies at LafargeHolcim, Vincent Giard,  Labor Law & Social Policies Group Manager at LafargeHolcom, Fiona Murie BWi Global Director Occupational Health and Safety and Construction Industry, and Matthias Hartwich, Director for Mechanical Engineering and Materials Industries at IndustriALL.

CFMEU fights back against mining giant

On 11 July, a support rally for workers at Glencore’s Oaky North mine was held in the Central Queensland town of Tieri. The mineworkers have been on strike since May, when negotiations for a fair agreement broke down after two years.

The rally was attended by hundreds of locals, as well as supporters who flew in to show solidarity with the Oaky North workers.

Tony Maher, CFMEU National President, said:

“Glencore wants to impose a whole raft of conditions on these workers that would reduce their pay, provide less security and increase their costs.

“This is just not on. These workers have been fighting this unfair agreement for two months and now it’s time for the rest of the country to join with them in taking a stand.“

Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary Sally McManus attended the rally, calling the striking workers “an inspiration to the country, leading the fight against our broken industrial system and against corporate greed”.

CFMEU Queensland District President Stephen Smyth expressed the significance of the dispute:

“It’s not just a fight for Tieri but a fight for all workers across the country, where we are all fighting to fix a broken system that is failing to deliver fairness to workers. It’s the fight of our lives, one we will win by acting collectively.”

The proposed workplace agreement for Oaky North put forward by Glencore would:

A mass meeting at Singleton in the New South Wales Hunter Valley on 10 July, saw more than 1,000 miners from seven Glencore operations in the area, resolved to continue a co-ordinated campaign of stoppages.

Addressing the crowds, CFMEU Northern District President Peter Jordan, recalled the words of a member who talked about this fight not only being about current members, but about future ones.

“It’s about us standing up and making a principled fight now, not leaving it until later. Let’s take on Glencore and protect local jobs and the local economy.”

The use of contract labour, around 40 per cent according to the CFMEU, and inadequate redundancy and pay increases are central to the resolution of the dispute.

CFMEU National Secretary Michael O’Connor, told the meeting that companies like Glencore have been attacking workers’ rights for decades:

“… slowly chipping away at a system we believed protected us. So what we are seeing is a massive mobilization of workers across the country to restore fairness to the industrial system.”

General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, Valter Sanches, condemns Glencore’s behaviour:

“We are appalled at Glencore’s unreasonable approach, devoid of any good-faith intentions in collective bargaining and undermining sound industrial relations. We call on Glencore to return the negotiating table and negotiate in good faith.”

Employer refuses to pay compensation despite legal ruling

On 19 June, IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Interregional Trade Union "Workers Association" (ITUWA) won the case against the employer AvtoVAZ, after seeking financial compensation for harmful working conditions, that had not been paid for several years. More than 1,000 workers were to receive compensation in the form of paid vacation days, ranging from five to 25 additional days for 2014, 2015 and 2016.

After the trial, which included company management forcing workers to withdraw their claims, then threatening them with dismissal, and Sergey Topolov, the chair of the shop committee of ITUWA, sent on a compulsory treatment at the company sanatorium to prevent his participation, the union won the lawsuit.

But despite the victory, the company is still refusing to allow workers to take holidays, citing staff shortages and possible stop of operation.

Sergey Topolov says:

“Really there is a situation that the employee goes on vacation, not when it is convenient to him, but when it is convenient to the employer. 

The union won the case in court. We are meeting management on 21 July, if issues are not resolved by then we will go on an indefinite strike, which will reduce capacity.” 

AvtoVAZ is the largest manufacturer of passenger cars in Russia, and is owned by Renault-Nissan Alliance and the Russian state company Rostec.

Turkey: Conflict resolved at sock and underwear factory

IndustriALL’s affiliate Öz İplik-İş faced difficulties while conducting an active union organizing campaign at the Beks Sock and Underwear Factory in the city of Çerkezköy.

The Beks plant, which employs 2,000 workers, is a major supplier of Tchibo, H&M and M&S, who all took action to ensure that management took corrective measures following the dispute. Earlier this week, Beks management met with IndustriALL Global Union and Öz İplik-İş in Istanbul and a protocol towards resolving the ongoing issues was signed.

Beks openly declared that they respect the right of freedom of association of its employees over their own free choice,  and recognize Öz İplik-İş as legitimate representative for a constructive dialogue.

“IndustriALL Global Union’s support and intervention has been vital and instrumental in this successful result with Beks,” said Murat İnanç, General President and Raif Ay, General Secretary of Öz İplik-İş.

“This case once again demonstrated that global framework agreements with multinational brands are incredibly important and useful for our day-to-day actions.”

The signed protocol also provides the opportunity for the dismissed workers to return to their jobs. The union and management agreed to clear up all the ongoing court cases, and to instead undertake regular dialogue sessions.

“IndustriALL Global Union is satisfied with this solution,” said IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan, who was present in the last session with the company management.

“I congratulate our affiliate for its determination in the organizing drive and its constructive behaviour in the final solution. Likewise I commend Beks' management actions in reaching a final deal.

"Our GFA partners, Tchibo and H&M, genuinely and sincerely fulfilled the requirements of the provisions of our global agreements”

No more dirty diamonds

Union representatives met in Windhoek, Namibia 3 to 5 July to set up the Global Diamond Network (GDN), aiming to end human rights abuses and improve wages and working conditions in diamond mining.

The GDN network will work to secure jobs and fight for an end to precarious work and subcontracting. Setting minimum wages, retraining of workers in case of job losses, and fair deals during retrenchments would improve livelihoods for workers. Gender equality, sustainable economic development, and fair competition are some of the key demands.

The GDN plans to work with local and global organizations including companies involved in the diamond trade, as well as governments. It will campaign for the setting up of due diligence standards at local and global levels. In the absence of a world regulatory body on diamond mining, the global network decided to participate in credible voluntary certification systems such as the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) and to call on governments to regulate the industry.

Solidarity initiatives will also be carried out to promote responsible sourcing, that will boycott diamonds produced under conditions of human rights violations.

To achieve the GDN’s goals there will be campaigns for the certification of diamonds and for labour laws, collective bargaining agreements, and health and safety regulations that protected workers’ rights. The network will also promote information and knowledge sharing on organizing, capacity building, collective bargaining, women empowerment and leadership.

The need for the GDN comes from a past tainted with blood or conflict diamonds. Money from such diamonds has financed armies and rebel militias in civil wars that have killed close to four million people in Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Central Africa Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

There were also rights violations including rape, child and forced labour, environmental damage, and health risks to local communities because of diamond mining. In cases of armed conflict in the Central Africa Republic and human rights abuses by government security forces in Zimbabwe, international and humanitarian laws were violated.

Existing mechanisms have been largely ineffective in dealing with the abuses. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, some regulations from the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation and even industry associations including the Responsible Jewelry Council have done little to stop abuses.

Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL mining director said:

The GDN will engage stakeholders, and jewelry brands and retailers, to ensure that the mining of diamonds also benefit workers, and that there were no human rights abuses.

Yves Toutenel, AVC-Transcom, Belgium and Beverley Murangi, Mineworkers Union of Namibia will co-chair the network.

Time for a union at Nissan US plant

Nissan’s Canton plant is one of only three Nissan facilities in the world, including two in Tennessee, where workers are not represented by a union. This week, employees announced plans to seek a representation election on 31 July – 1 August for blue-collar employees.

“Nissan employees want fair wages for all workers, better benefits, and an end to unreasonable production quotas and unsafe conditions in Mississippi,” said Nina Dumas, a Nissan technician who has worked in the plant for five years. “The company doesn’t respect our rights. It’s time for a union in Canton.”

The Canton plant shows a grim pattern of labour abuses, and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an agency of the U.S. government, has charged Nissan with:

“When we speak out to demand basic protections, Nissan threatens and harasses us,” said McRay Johnson, a technician in the Canton plant who also has been there for five years. “Employees need and deserve representation in the workplace.”

In addition to the NLRB’s complaint, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued multiple citations against Nissan for violations of federal safety and health laws in Canton. The most recent citations, issued in February 2017, found the company

did not furnish employment and a place of employment which was free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees.

“Every day, we literally are risking our lives at Nissan,” said Rosiland Essex, a technician who has worked at Nissan for 14 years. “We deserve better.”

Management at the Canton plant have already expressed that they are not supporting the workers’ decision to seek representation.

IndustriALL Global Union General Secretary Valter Sanches said:

“It is an outrage that the workers are being denied the fundamental right to join a union. IndustriALL will continue to support the workers’ fight and we call on Nissan to facilitate the vote.”

Nissan employees’ move to form a union comes four months after the historic “March on Mississippi,” when an estimated 5,000 workers and civil-right activists converged on the Canton plant to demand that the company respect workers’ rights. Organized by the Mississippi Alliance for Fairness at Nissan (MAFFAN) — a coalition of civil-rights leaders, ministers and worker advocates — the march featured U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sierra Club President Aaron Mair, former NAACP President Cornell William Brooks, actor Danny Glover and others.

Argentine unions protest at Atucha dismissals

The protest was held on 9 July, the anniversary of Argentina’s declaration of independence. But with the dismissals affecting more than 1,000 families in the city of Zárate, there was not much evidence of any festive spirit at the event.

The protest aimed to highlight the dispute and denounce a situation that is becoming all too common in Argentina. The loss of 1,000 jobs at the Atucha nuclear plant is a direct consequence of economic measures taken by Mauricio Macri’s government.

The government is dismantling energy policies that had facilitated the development of plants such as Atucha in Zarate. The construction of other plants has been suspended or cancelled, worsening the unemployment situation.

Dismissals are taking place in all sectors of Argentina’s economy. Moreover, one in every four dismissals in the second quarter of the year were due to company closures, according to the most recent employment survey conducted by the Centro de Economía Política Argentina (CEPA).

CEPA’s report notes that 3,700 workers have been affected every month since the beginning of the year. CEPA calculates that there has been a total of 264,143 dismissals and lay-offs (76,526 in the public sector and 187,617 in the private sector) since Macri became president in December 2015.

In the case of Atucha, the unions decided to act because the labour ministry failed to initiate mandatory conciliation procedures. The unions will meet ministry officials on 11 July, when they hope to get answers to their questions and solutions for the dismissed workers.

Fernando Lopes from IndustriALL Global Union, said:

“Macri’s government is implementing neoliberal adjustment policies that have an impact on workers. They will not accept these policies and the struggle will get increasingly tough. They have the support of IndustriALL Global Union”.

The construction workers’ union, UOCRA, affiliated to the Building Workers’ International (BWI), organized the protest with the support of the autoworkers’ union, SMATA and the metalworkers’ union, UOM, both affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, and the chemical workers’ unions.

Korean unions need your support!

President of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Han Sang-gyun remains in prison. 15 August is a key date when Korean presidents sometimes grant pardons, and pressure must be kept up to ensure Han is pardoned.

IndustriALL Global Union is calling for continued support for the Korean unions. We urge you to take action as soon as possible and by the end of July to demand that KCTU President Han is pardoned, and also demand key reforms that will ensure Korean workers’ rights are respected.

There are a couple of ways you can take action:

We must send the message to the Korean government and national assembly that the world continues to demand respect for South Korean workers’ rights,

says IndustriALL General Secretary Valter Sanches.

G20 leaders can no longer ignore inequality

“The huge amount of security surrounding this year’s G20 meeting shows that governments are failing and people are angry,” said IndustriALL Global Union General Secretary, Valter Sanches.  “The disparities of wealth and opportunity have continued to grow on the back of an economic model that is broken. The G20 leaders can no longer ignore the calls for a more equal society,”

Speaking at the alternative global solidarity summit in Hamburg, held on 5 and 6 July, Sanches said it was not acceptable that eight white men own the same amount of wealth as half the world’s population. He also cited G20 countries such as Turkey, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Argentina and the USA where attempts to organize workers in trade unions face massive opposition. 

IndustriALL actively works to influence the G20 agenda. In May this year, IndustriALL joined other global unions at the Labour 20 Summit to demand a more inclusive, sustainable and responsible model of globalization. 

In a statement handed to German Chancellor and G20 President Angela Merkel, the L20 leaders said:

“Neither ‘trickle- down’ strategies nor fiscal austerity policies are working. While the 1% or 10% of top income earners capture a more than proportionate share of the gains of globalization and technological progress at the expense of the bottom 90%, monetary policy is either ineffective in re-launching the economy or, alternatively, is running the risk of creating debt financed by asset price booms that are ultimately followed by a crash.”

ACT, IndustriALL’s initiative with global brands to achieve living wages in garment supply chains, was presented as a model at this year’s G20 Labour and Employment Ministers meeting, also held in Germany in May. This resulted in ACT being included in paragraph 26 of the Ministerial Declaration from the meeting Towards an Inclusive Future: Shaping the World of Work.  

“We put our demands to the G20 nations and we want them to respect ILO conventions and OECD guidelines not just in their own countries but also in the countries where global supply chains are based. This is an area where there is a governance gap and where workers are particularly exploited in producing products for richer nations,” said Sanches.

While there are many good intentions as a result of the G20 Summit, it rarely results in change.  The Brisbane G20 target of adding an additional 2 per cent of GDP by 2018 appears to be beyond reach.

“IndustriALL will continue to influence the global agenda to help our affiliates in the bargaining process. We recently established a working group on trade and development and will hold a conference on Industry 4.0 and sustainable industrial policy later this year,” said Sanches.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: union fights to save 1,000 jobs

The union – Samostalni sindikat hemije i nemetala u Federaciji Bosne i Hercegovine, or the independent trade union of workers in chemistry and non-metals in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – is affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union.

The plant, which has been in operation since 1945, is located in the town of Lukavac, 125 kilometres from Sarajevo, in the Canton of Tuzla. There has been an ongoing issue with the 1,000 workers not being paid their salaries on time.

The company signed a collective agreement with the union, and for several months it seemed that the issue had been resolved. However, recently the company started to pay late again. After unsuccessful attempts at negotiation, the union took strike action on 5 June.

The union contends that the company is being mismanaged, with a lack of investment and management stripping capital from the company to pay their high salaries. The union wants management pay to be linked to the average wage in the company, and the ownership structure to be made clear.

GIKIL is a joint venture between Global Steel Holdings and KHK, a coke and chemicals conglomerate owned by the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Global Steel Holdings, an Indian company headquartered in the tax haven of the Isle of Man, acquired the majority share when the company was part-privatized in 2003. The company is owned by Pramod Mittal, brother of ArcelorMittal boss Lakshmi Mittal.

GIKIL has a large amount of debt, but unions believe it has been artificially created, with assets hidden by opaque corporate structures. The plant produces metallurgical coke, and supplies crude tar, ammonium sulphate, crude benzene, anhydride maleic acid and mineral fertilizers.

The union held a demonstration on 7 June in front of the building of the government of Tuzla Canton. The union also held a general meeting within the company premises, which was attended by union members and addressed by the Prime Minister of Tuzla Canton, Bego Gutić, and the minister in charge of the sector, Srđan Mićanović.

On 22 June, under pressure from the union, the Tuzla Canton Assembly held a meeting on the issue, and discussed the demands of union members:

The Assembly adopted a resolution in support of the workers’ demands, but the issue has still not been resolved.

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches wrote to the Prime Minister of Tuzla Canton, saying:

"We strongly condemn the mistreatment of the 1,000 workers at the company, which left the workers no other choice but to strike and demonstrate. Non-payment of wages is an unacceptable breach of international workers’ rights, as well as of the national legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina."