IndustriALL condemns mock trials of union activists in Kazakhstan

All three leaders were trialled because of the protests of striking oil workers of Kazakhstan’s Oil Construction Company (OCC). The workers fought against closure of their independent trade union centre Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (KNPRK) in the beginning of this year.

The most recent sentence was issued in regard to Larisa Kharkova, former chairperson of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (KNPRK). On 25 July, Kharkova, was sentenced, on false charges, to four years of restriction of her freedom of movement, 100 hours of forced labour, and a five-year ban on holding any position in a public or non-governmental organization.

Larisa Kharkova is prohibited from changing her place of residence and place of work. The union leader is banned from visiting certain places, and is not allowed leave her city of residence without authorization.

In his letter sent to the president of Kazakhstan IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches says, “We consider Larisa Kharkova’s sentence, as well as the previous sentences of Nurbek Kushakbayev, KNPRK deputy chairperson, to two and a half years of imprisonment, and the sentencing of Amin Yeleusinov to two years of imprisonment, as mock trials, which are in blatant violation of human and trade union rights in Kazakhstan.”

The unjustified punishment of Kushakbayev and Yeleusinov, as well as prosecution of Kharkova pushed the International Trade Union Confederation to submit a formal complaint to the ILO against violation of trade union rights in Kazakhstan. IndustriALL also joined the complaint.

In his letter Sanches also reminded about the international obligations Kazakhstan pledged to abide to, particularly the International Labour Organization’s Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise.

At the recent ILO’s International Labour Conference in Switzerland, in June 2017 Kazakhstan was scrutinized because of violations of the above-mentioned ILO Convention.

Based on the scrutiny the International Labour Conference issued a number of conclusions, including a call to the Government of Kazakhstan to:

At the end of his letter Sanches says, “it is incumbent upon your administration to restore justice in Kazakhstan by reviewing the court sentences of the above-mentioned KNPRK leaders, dropping all charges against them, and cooperating openly and honestly with the ILO and other relevant institutions to implement the ILO recommendations.”

Valter Sanches continues, “The failure of the Government of Kazakhstan to address adequately these violations of fundamental labour rights would force us to refer this question to other international organizations, including the European Union, which would seriously call into question the EU’s cooperation with your country.”

Belarus: IndustriALL condemns arbitrary detention of independent union leader

Some ten people entered the office of REPAM union in the morning on 2 August and presented a public prosecutor’s warrant for the search of the union office. They broke in the door to the office of the chief accountant, as there was no key provided at the time of the search. Some computers have been confiscated while in the rest of them the agents removed hard drives. In the same time a similar search has been carried out in Soligorsk office of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union of Miners, BITU.

According to the public statement appeared on the website of the State Control Committee of Belarus Fedynich and Komlik are accused of tax evasion. Union leaders risk seven years of imprisonment and confiscation of their property.

Natalia Pichuzhkina, union activist and former editor of the union website praca-by.info has also been detained. All three activists were detained at their living places, which were also searched. Natalia has been released later in the evening of the same day, while Gennady remained there till the morning of 3 August. Ihar Komlik remains in custody. It is only known that he was transferred to the Okrestina detention centre.

The work of the union so far is not paralyzed. However there are suspicions that the searches and detentions took place in order to block the activities of the union. REPAM has always been active in protecting workers’ rights in Belarus. Recently the union led a strong campaign against notorious presidential decree 3 also known as “The decree on social parasites”,  penalizing the unemployed in Belarus.

Earlier in May 2017 IndustriALL executives extended their strongest support to their Belarusian colleagues fighting against forced labour and criminalization of dissent in Belarus and adopted a special resolution in this regard.

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL Global union general secretary said,

“IndustriALL strongly condemns arbitrary detention of independent union leaders and extends solidarity to BITU, REPAM and their leadership. This is an attack on independent trade union movement in Belarus. We will continue supporting our affiliates in Belarus. We are not going to sit and wait, while they oppress our brothers and sisters there. Belarus remains for many years under a special attention of the international community precisely because of the violations of trade union and workers’ rights. We will denounce this case to the International Labour Organization.”  

IndustriALL to lead mission to Freeport operations in Indonesia

The mission will include leaders from some of the world’s most powerful unions.

A press conference is scheduled for 10:00 am on 11 August at the Sari Pan Pacific hotel in Jakarta. Union leaders from Grasberg will attend and report on developments.

The aim of the mission is to:

The IndustriALL solidarity mission will include leaders from some of the world’s most powerful unions. The participants are:

In reaction to Freeport-McMoRan CEO, Richard Adkerson’s, recent comments that there is no strike at Grasberg, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, Kemal Özkan, says:

“We’re going to Indonesia to stand behind and stand up for the workers who have been terminated for exercising their right to strike. It’s simply not true that there is no strike. There is an officially declared, legitimate strike, which is now entering its fourth month.

“The situation at Grasberg is serious, while the company is doing everything it can to play it down. Freeport is using the strike as an excuse to fire more than 4,000 workers and to undermine the union.”

There is a remarkably similar situation at PT Smelting in East Java, where workers have also been sacked for striking. PT Smelting depends on Grasberg for copper concentrate and is jointly owned and operated by Freeport-McMoRan’s PT Freeport Indonesia and Mitsubishi Materials.

“We will demand that the government uphold fundamental labour standards. Workers’ rights are being trampled on. Freeport and PT Smelting cannot declare that workers have voluntarily resigned when in fact they’ve been sacked for exercising their legitimate right to strike,” says Özkan.

Fired by voicemail: an EDF worker speaks out

The sackings, which took place during the annual meeting of the EDF Group’s Committee for Dialogue on Social Responsibility (CDSR), grossly breach the most elementary applicable practices in the gas and electricity sector in the country, and the Agreement on Corporate Social Responsibility signed with IndustriALL Global Union and PSI in 2005 and renewed in 2009.

IndustriALL Global Union spoke to one of the affected workers about what happened.  From one moment to the next, he was out.

He said:

“I was on holidays in France end of June when I received a voice message on my cell phone from my boss, saying that he had very bad news for me and that I no longer had a job.

“I did not have to return to the office anymore, due to the ‘economical context’, my job no longer existed.  I was thunderstruck, not only by the way my dismissal was announced but also by the fact that there had been no indication at all that this was going to happen.

“On the contrary, a few weeks earlier, during a team meeting with the whole department, we were informed that the announced projects were confirmed. My trade union representative has not been informed nor consulted, no other job opportunities within the company or the sector were proposed.   From one moment to the next I was out.”

Following the announcement of those dismissals, Luminus workers, together with national unions, staged protests and strikes at various sites in Belgium to express outrage at this blatant disregard for basic labour rights and lack of consultation with unions, and they asked for international support.

Under pressure from global unions, the Committee of Corporate Social Responsibility (CDSR) and several European trade unions with membership at EDF, Luminus management finally apologized for the way the dismissals were announced in a press release.

But the company refused to reverse the decision and reinstate the workers. Instead, management committed to arrange “personalised follow up” for all the laid-off workers and pledged that more would be done to anticipate this type of situation.

“I have been offered outplacement, the support of a career coach to help me in my job search but who will want to hire a guy my age?” said the Luminus worker.

“I have been working for Luminus a long time and I have never had any complaints. I reached my personal targets every year and during performance reviews with my bosses or HR I have always been clear that I was happy in my job and planning to work until I would have to retire at the age of 65. I have been offered no pre-pension arrangement so I am not only out of work but I will also lose all social benefits that I would be entitled to if I would have worked until the age of 65.”

As EDF management is now seeking to launch negotiations for a new CSR agreement, Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL Global Union’s Assistant General Secretary said:

“What happened at Luminus is a disgrace. Management’s contempt for the basic rules of social dialogue calls into question their stated determination to renegotiate in good faith”.  

In a joint statement to EDF CEO, Jean-Bernard Lévy, IndustriALL Global Union and PSI urged:

“The satisfactory resolution of the Luminus dispute is critical for us as a step in restoring trust and re-establishing proper conditions for social dialogue and building constructive industrial relations at global level”.   

Los Mineros complete ten years on strike against Grupo Mexico

The length of strikes at Cananea in Sonora, Taxco in Guerrero and Sombrerete in Zacatecas shows the resistance and perseverance of the miners’ union, Los Mineros, affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, in its defence of workers' rights.

On 30 July 2007, union members took action at three mines run by Grupo Mexico after repeated health and safety problems. One of the worst incidents was the industrial homicide at Pasta de Conchos on 19 February 2006, which caused the death of 65 workers and injuries to another 29 ().

The company and the government did not properly investigate the real causes of the disaster, bring the guilty parties to justice, recover the bodies or compensate fairly the families of the victims.

Moreover, Grupo Mexico owner, German Larrea, refused to take measures to improve safety at the mine or to comply with labour ministry orders. As expected, further accidents occurred. One of the most recent was on 6 August 2014, when a spillage of toxic material into the River Sonora damaged the environment and seriously affected the health of local communities.

The striking workers are also protesting against the company’s refusal to recognize the union and repeated violations of the three collective agreements. The workers have also denounced Grupo Mexico’s government-backed attacks on the union.

For example, in Sombrerete, the company tried to refer the matter of responsibility for the strike to arbitration and has even questioned, on several occasions, the union’s collective bargaining rights at the mine, although it failed in these attempts.

At the strike in Taxco, the company twice sought to terminate the collective agreement during the strike but failed on both occasions. It did the same at Cananea, where it requested termination of the collective agreement in the middle of the strike on the grounds of force majeure.

In none of the three cases did the company seek to resolve the strikes through conciliation procedures. However, Los Mineros are still ready to seek a negotiated solution to put an end to the strikes:

“Once again, ten years after these disputes began, we denounce the company for its lack of principles and values and demand that it meets our demands and seeks a negotiated solution,”

said the union in an official communique.

The United Steelworkers (USW), also affiliated to IndustriALL in the United Sates, expressed its total support for Los Mineros:

“The USW has stood with our Mexican sisters and brothers for the past decade, working together to build cross-border solidarity in defence of workers' rights and in support of local communities. We will continue this solidarity until justice is won”.

Finally, Fernando Lopes, IndustriALL Global Union director, said:

“After ten years, the strikes have solid support and the workers remain united behind their union. IndustriALL supports the struggles led by Los Mineros and calls on the government to take practical steps to find a solution to these disputes”.  

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South Africa: Mine accident kills four workers

The workers were trapped underground following an earth tremor. This happened after mine management ignored safety advice from rock engineers who had visited the mine a few days before the accident.

The accident happened when workers were working overtime, and it may be the case that pressure to reach production targets forced them to work under unsafe conditions. Union campaigns have highlighted workers’ right to refuse  unsafe work.

IndustriALL affiliate, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), said the accident was due to negligence and could have been prevented. The union expressed shock at the number of mineworkers killed in the mines. Although the number of deaths has gone down over the years, NUM fears that this trend might be reversed.

All four bodies were recovered. Three of the mineworkers were South African while one was from Lesotho. The NUM has called on the Department of Mineral Resources to carry out an investigation into the accident.

With 73 mineworkers killed in 2016 and 2,662 injured, occupational health and safety remains a major concern in South African mines. Of the dead, 30 were gold miners, 27 from platinum mines and 12 from diamond, chrome, copper and iron ore mines. With so many workers being killed, achieving “zero harm” in South Africa’s deep gold mines will take far much longer than anticipated.

IndustriALL joins the NUM in sending condolences to the deceased workers’ families. Said Fabian Nkomo, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa:

“We received the news of the death of the workers at Tau Lekoa gold mine with shock and sadness especially when this could have been avoided. Workers safety in the mines must be guaranteed and given priority by employers, and mine management must always ensure workers safety. Adhering to the provisions of the ILO Convention 176 on Safety and Health in Mines as well as the Health and Safety Act was important.”

Serbia: Three week strike at FIAT ends

It follows an unprecedented three weeks of strike action at the factory in Kragujevac, and effective trade union mobilization which benefitted from the support and solidarity of fellow trade union organizations from all the way across Europe and beyond.

On June 27, trade unions and 2,000 workers at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ Serbian subsidiary made the decision to strike after their call to open negotiations to solve their increasingly difficult employment conditions remained unanswered.

Negotiations between Fiat management and Serbian trade unions began on 19 July with the mediation of Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, whose government owns one third of FCA Srbija. The negotiations came after repeated calls from the unions and instructions from the national labour inspectorate to comply with Serbian law on strikes, which FCA local management had violated.

IndustriALL Global and IndustriAll European Trade Union stood in solidarity with FCA Srbija workers and their affiliated trade unions SSMS (the independent metal workers’ union of Serbia) and GS IER “Nezavisnost” (the sectoral trade union in industry, energy and mining sectors) in their fight for decent wages and working conditions.

Trade unions from all across Europe (Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain) and beyond (through FCA-CNH Industrial global union network) expressed their support to colleagues in the Serbian plant and urged the group management at FCA headquarters in Italy to ensure workers’ rights are complied with and proper social dialogue opened with the unions.

IndustriAll European Trade Union and IndustriALL Global Union welcome the fact that social dialogue finally took place on Serbian trade unions’ demands, which allowed for negotiations to take place and yielded some important initial results for FCA Srbija workers, as follows:

IndustriALL Global Union general secretary Valter Sanches said:

“We salute the spirit of struggle and determination of our Serbian affiliates during and at the end of this dispute, and note the importance of international solidarity to achieve this result. We expect this signed agreement to create the foundation for proper social dialogue.

“FCA Srbija must now commit to working with the unions to satisfy the legitimate demands and expectations of the workers.

“Once again our solidarity and support has been and will be with our sisters and brothers in Serbia in their fight for better working and living conditions.”

The agreement provides initial answers to some of the workers’ most urgent claims, and lays the foundations for social dialogue, which will continue after September with negotiations on a new three-year collective agreement.

 Luc Triangle, General Secretary of industriAll European Trade Union, said: 

"The fight against precarious work and wage inequalities is a top priority for industriAll Europe. We can no longer accept that workers doing the same job for the same company across Europe receive notably different levels of wages and working conditions. We thus welcome the agreement reached at FCA Srbija which represents a first step in the right direction. We will pay careful attention in ensuring that the planned further talks help to achieve a decent living for all FCA Srbija workers."

IndustriALL intensifies campaign to ratify Hong Kong Convention

The Hong Kong Convention, adopted in 2009, provides regulations to ensure that ship recycling doe not pose unnecessary risk to human health, safety or the environment. IndustriALL and its affiliates have been actively engaged in demanding that governments ratify the Convention.

The IndustriALL workshop in Chittagong, from 17 to 18 July, was jointly organized by the Bangladesh Metalworkers’ Federation, the Bangladesh Metal Chemical Garments Tailors Workers Federation, the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies and the OSHE Foundation. The workshop witnessed dynamic participation by affiliates and delegates from the International Maritime Organization, civil society organizations (CSOs) and academics

Mujibul Haque, State Minister for labour and employment in Bangladesh also participated in the Chittagong workshop. He said:

“Officials from the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments should take stern action against the shipyard owners who are violating the existing laws and putting workers’ lives in danger. We will consult with other departments concerned and expedite the efforts to ratify to and implement the Hong Kong Convention.”

IndustriALL affiliate Alang Sosiya Shiprecycling General Workers’ Union (ASSRGWA) organized the workshop in Bhavnagar, India, which took place from 20-21 July. There was participation in the workshop from a varied number of stakeholders including representatives from shipbreaking workers’ unions, the employers’ federation, government officials, the Self Employed Women’s Association, as well as CSOs.

Participants underlined the need to improve the health and safety practices at the shipbreaking yards. They also decided to create awareness among workers of the Hong Kong Convention and take forward the ratification campaign. The local government officials, employers and ASSRGWA agreed to have social dialogue on regular basis, in order to develop concrete process to do so.

Kan Matsuzaki, IndustriALL director for shipbuilding and shipbreaking, said:

“So far only six countries have ratified the Hong Kong Convention. We need 14 more major countries engaged in shipbuilding, shipping and shipbreaking to ratify the Convention to make it enter into force. We are still witnessing serious and deadly accidents in the shipbreaking industry. To ensure safe and healthy working conditions in shipbreaking yards, at least shipbreaking countries in South Asia have to move forward to immediately ratify the Convention and implement it.”

South Asia is a major destination for ships at the end of their life. Giant ships around the world are beached on the shorelines of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and workers break them to retrieve steel and other parts which fuels economic activity in downstream industries. The South Asian shipbreaking industry is one of most dangerous industries in the world, where workers risk their lives and get maimed in the process of earning their livelihood.

Unions and civil society in India call for a halt to secret RCEP trade talks

RCEP is a proposed mega regional free trade agreement (FTA) currently being negotiated by 16 countries including ASEAN members and its six FTA partners namely India, China and Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

The 16 RCEP participating countries account for almost half of the world’s population, almost 30 per cent of global GDP and over a quarter of world exports.

RCEP negotiations consist of roughly 23 chapters and aim to rewrite trade and regulatory rules in areas including trade in agricultural and industrial goods, investment, intellectual property rights, services, competition policies and e-commerce.

At a convention held on 23 July, under the banner ‘People’s Resistance Forum against FTAs and RCEP’, 600 people from across India representing trade unions, farmers, agricultural workers, patient groups, public health activists, NGOs, street vendors, human rights activists, academics and many others, gathered in Hyderabad and resolved to build a broad based people’s movement to resist the RCEP.

Participating in the convention, S.Q. Zama of IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Indian National Metalworkers’ Federation, said:

“RCEP the mega FTA will have serious implications for workers' rights and will limit government’s policy space to formulate suitable development and employment policies. We oppose the investor state dispute settlement provisions as they shift the rules of the global economy in favour of corporations and against workers. We call for transparency and democratic process in the RCEP negotiations. Trade unions will join hands with people’s movements to resist RCEP in its present form."

The action-packed week also witnessed a protest march on 24 July with around 1,000 demonstrators, sectoral workshops and discussions on issues such as RCEP and its impact on workers’ rights, agriculture, public services and e-commerce. Some representatives also participated in the stakeholder consultation with the RCEP trade negotiating committee. They shared concerns from respective sectors, strongly criticized the limited space created for stakeholder intervention and called for transparency and democratic process.