Bangladesh: workers win termination benefits

In December 2016, Bangladesh garment workers demanded an increase in minimum wages. Employers and the government responded with repression on trade union activities, incarceration, and terminations for thousands of workers.

IndustriALL and its affiliates launched a global campaign against the repression. Based on the GFA, IndustriALL called on the Swedish clothing giant H&M to intervene and urge its suppliers to reinstate terminated workers, withdraw criminal cases filed by its suppliers and take steps to create an environment conducive to well-functioning industrial relations. Subsequently, H&M issued three conditions to its suppliers from the Ashulia area:

The national monitoring committee (NMC), set up to monitor the implementation of IndustriALL’s GFA with H&M in Bangladesh, worked together with brand representatives and held series of meetings starting in March,with its six suppliers including Artistic Design (Ha-Meem Group), Windy Apparels, Rose Dresses Ltd., Sharmin Apparels Ltd., Fountain Garments Ltd., Dekko Design Ltd. Representatives of BGMEA, the garment factory owners’ association, also participated in the process.

Following hard negotiations during the meetings it was agreed by all attendee factory management that they will withdraw charges and call for the disposal of pending cases in accordance with legal procedure. Respective legal advisors of workers and factory management will hold time-to-time consultations to expedite the process.

Factory management will be open to reinstating workers, and where it is not possible, the worker will be paid termination benefit and owed wages. Suppliers also agreed to continue to engage with NMC in order to create well functioning industrial relations.

Out of 1,074 dismissed workers from the six suppliers, a total 984 workers (92 per cent) have received their compensation. 76 workers who have not responded so far, can visit the respective factory anytime within this year to claim termination benefits. On the criminal cases filed against workers, the court dismissed four out of seven cases. About 11 cases of reinstatement are expected to be resolved soon.

Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL director for textile and garment industry, said:

It is an important achievement that a large number of workers received termination benefits. The NMC worked hard to implement IndustriALL’s GFA with H&M in Bangladesh, and we congratulate them for their successful efforts.

Union bashing in Ivory Coast’s oil sector must end

Libya Oil, which operates in 18 African countries, the Island of Reunion, and the United Arab Emirates, cited economic reasons for the recent retrenchments of eight workers. IndustriALL affiliate SYNTEPCI says that Libya Oil is not only ignoring but refusing to update an agreement signed in 2008. Workers’ rights were also ignored, and the reasons given for the retrenchments were unjust and misleading.

SYNTEPCI has approached the Minister of Labour, Jean Claude Kouassi, and the National Council of Social Dialogue, for the retrenchments to be reversed.

A three-week strike, the third in two years, against privatization at the state owned National Oil Company of Ivory Coast, Petroci, ended on 18 July. With no social plan to protect jobs, workers feared that Petroci’s proposed privatization would leave them worse off.

However, an agreement was reached, and wages for workers with more than ten years experience will be reviewed and the rights of the 13 workers transferred to a private company, Puma Energy, after the sale of petrol stations, protected. Working conditions for precarious workers will be discussed, as well as health insurance, pensions, and housing for workers. Packages paid to 48 workers retrenched in 2016 will be reviewed.

At Klenzi, a fuel distribution company, there were blatant violation of the rights to organize, and shop stewards were not recognised. Management, which refused to meet the union, openly harassed workers and threatened them with dismissals if they remained union members. Other grievances included the company’s failure to pay overtime, health insurance and pension benefits.

SYNTEPCI has written to the government, expressing its disappointment on how the labour ministry was dealing with the union bashing and trampling of workers’ rights.

Said Jérémie Wondje general secretary of SYNTEPCI:

“We wrote to the Directorate General of Labour on how badly they were managing workers grievances that we have brought to their attention. We told them that their failure to act was weakening our union.”

Diana Junquera Curiel, energy director at IndustriALL, says:

“We are calling upon Libya Oil, Petroci and Klenzi to stop attacking unions, and to instead engage in good faith dialogue and to work with them to resolve their grievances. Workers’ rights are protected by labour laws and international conventions that the Ivory Coast has signed.”

The fight against precarious work continues

A recent study in the UK shows that young people employed on zero-hour contracts are more likely to have worse mental and physical health than their peers with more stable work. Among the negative impacts of zero-hour contracts on health are, financial stress and anxiety.

In November 2016, zero-hour contracts made up 6 per cent of employment contracts in the UK. 43 per cent of workers in the UK are in precarious employment. In the European Union standard employment on the basis of full-time permanent contracts has continuously decreased in the last ten years from 62 per cent to 59 per cent. The crisis has led to an increase in involuntary temporary and part- time employment.

“It’s time to be rid of the aberration of human dignity of zero-hour contracts.” said Len McCluskey, Unite the Union’s General Secretary, on 8 July 2017.

Unions are fighting back.

In the UK, unions have been taking action against precarious work notably by urging the Government to ban the abusive zero hour contracts.

In Germany in May, IG Metall negotiated an agreement with the employers’ associations that will allow temporary agency workers in the metal and electrical Industries to receive a 65 per cent supplement in order to reach the same wages as permanent workers. The new agreement also makes it easier for temporary agency workers to become permanent workers after 24 months.

The European Parliament has recently adopted several resolutions, highlighting a decline in the quality of jobs due to the use of precarious work.  On 4 July, members of the European parliament adopted a new non –legislative resolution recommending improvements in working conditions and tackling precarious employment, including undeclared work and bogus self-employment.

Recommendations include the respect of a set of minimum standards on social protection, minimum wage and access to training to increase the quality of non-standard jobs; renewed efforts to combat undeclared work, bogus self-employment and all forms of illegal employment practices; and the prevention of zero-hour contracts.

In Australia, permanent employment in a full-time job is now enjoyed by less than 50 per cent of Australia’s working population. 23 per cent of manufacturing workers are now casual, an increase from virtually zero in the 1980s. Casual employees in the manufacturing sector have enjoyed a “right to request” conversion to permanent status for nearly twenty years.

However most casual employees are unaware of this right as employers are under no obligation to tell them. And even when knowing, workers were concerned with losing their jobs if they exercised the right.

Unions launched claims to the Fair Work Commission trying to improve prospects for permanent employment among casuals in manufacturing, by making permanent employment mandatory after six months of regular engagement and to extend this right to workers in other industries.

On 5 July, the Australian Fair Work Commission issued a decision on casual employment leaving the rights for manufacturing workers more or less unchanged, with the difference now being that the Commission can make a recommendation should a casual worker be refused the right to be made permanent. However employers faced with such a recommendation are not forced to follow it.

Even though this ruling has ignored many of the unions’ claims, the decision has given greater impetus to Australian unions’ campaign to Change the Rules. IndustriALL affiliates in Australia will be campaigning to Change the Rules up to the next (federal) election in 2019, and beyond.

Casual work and subcontracted labour also remain a significant and increasing issue in Asia. In the Philippines, unions are campaigning for legislation against the use of contractualisation in the country.

On 1 May, more than 3,000 workers mobilized. Trade union leaders were invited to a discussion organized by the Office of the President, held in Davao City in the Mindanao region.  A new Decree Order (DO 174-2017) was issued by the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) in March 2017. The new DO partly legitimizes the employment of contract workers through contracting agencies. This provoked the unions to appeal to the Philippine President to issue an Executive Order to prohibit the use of contractualisation.  

As a result of the dialogue, the President requested trade unions to come up with a draft Executive Order (EO) prohibiting contractualisation. The draft has since been submitted to the Office of the President for review and further discussion.

Unions are still waiting for the President’s comments on the draft. Unions are also campaigning for the adoption of the bill on Security of Tenure, to restrict precarious work/short term contract and temporary agency work that has been under review in the Parliament for several years.

“Let’s take action on 7 October throughout the world, demonstrating again our united commitment to stopping precarious work. Unions have to continue to mobilize and fight back the increase of precarious work around the world. With the development of supply chain models, and of digitalisation the problem could spread uncontrollably,” said Valter Sanches, General Secretary of IndustriALL

Fight for future jobs pays off

Workers at Mercedes-Benz Untertürkheim plant had refused overtime as of 1 July, amid fears that the new battery factory would lead to job losses.

But with a new agreement reached, several billion euros will be invested into the future development of the Untertürkheim site in the next years. In total, the agreement creates over 250 new jobs in the area of e-mobility and has long-term effects for safeguarding the employees at the site.

In order to ensure competitiveness, the company agreement reached between the plant’s management and works council includes measures to enhance flexibility and efficiency. This refers for example to the optimization of the plant’s operating time as well as to variable shift models and flexible workforce deployment.

Untertürkheim is taking a large step towards electric mobility and strengthening our competencies for alternative drive systems. These are good signals for the Untertürkheim plant,

says Wolfgang Nieke, Chairman of the Works Council Mercedes-Benz Untertürkheim Plant.

The Mercedes-Benz Untertürkheim is the lead plant in the global powertrain production and the home of the Daimler headquarter. With more than 19,000 employees, the plant produces engines, axles, transmissions and components.

Helmut Lense, IndustriALL director for the automotive industry, says:

With the transformation to electric cars many of these components are no longer needed. The agreement is an important step in creating new workplaces as a compensation for the loss of existing ones.

Women’s issues are union issues

IndustriALL invited three experienced women organizers from affiliates in Zambia; MUZ, NUBEGW and NUCIW, to a three-day meeting with affiliates TUICO & TAMICO in Tanzania.  

The workshop, carried out in the framework of an organizing project in Zambia, supported by Swedish IF Metall and UniontoUnion, had three key objectives:

The meeting was hosted by both affiliates with over 22 women leaders and organizers present from five regions in Tanzania to interact with women delegates from Zambia. The participants represented the mining-construction, steel, metal and industrial workers.

Through extensive and lively exchanges, participants nailed down the main challenges, shared organizing experiences and skills, visited workplaces and met with branch committees. An action plan and strategies to support each other in building policy and space for increased women’s representation in their unions was devised.

The last day each union group presented lessons learned and proposed a way forward, where each union drew up three key points to discuss within their unions and committees, to address and engage union leadership to support proactive measures to build more equal unions.

All women participating expressed that

Women committees cannot be the only space for women workers’ representation in our unions- women’s issues are union issues

Although participants recognized that women committees are a valuable first stepping stone to gather strength and to develop more knowledge about the problems women face in their workplaces, ultimately women cannot aim to remain confined in women committees, while most leadership positions continue to be occupied by men.

Women need to stand up for positions, firmly support each other, and gain backing from both male and female workers in their workplaces and unions. The participants also highlighted that “women and men urgently need to learn to work together in all union matters and structures including leadership”.

In a return visit three Tanzanian women organizers will travel to Zambia to meet with women members and leadership in November, to assess progress and finalize action plans.

Labour market: gender gap still widespread

According to the report, not only are women less likely to enter the labour market than men, but when they do, they face more difficulties to find a job. Globally the unemployment rate for women is 6.2 per cent whereas for men it stands at 5.5 per cent.

At the global level these gaps have remained relatively unchanged even if in some countries the gaps are closing more rapidly.

A large proportion of women don't have access to decent work. 15 per cent of working women are contributing family workers. This proportion has declined in the recent years, but it reflects the shift of women to *own-account work, for which women do not benefit from any kind of social protection.

Although the gender pay gap varies from country to country it remains widespread. In some countries the gap in hourly wage rates between women and men can reach 40 per cent. In developed countries, not only are women paid less but there are also fewer women in highly paid positions.

“Over 800 million women still lack adequate maternity protection. The gender pay gap is narrowing only at a glacial rate. Women continue to be represented in low paid jobs, and the concept of equal value remains allusive for far too many. […] This trend should worry us and must worry us and the progress is not going to happen by continuing to do more of the same.” Said Guy Rider, General Secretary of the ILO, at the World of Work summit during the ILC in 2017.

Gender segregation in sectoral distribution is a reality. At global level women are primarily working in education, health and social work, followed then by retail and sales. In Asia and in North Africa women are also concentrated in manufacturing, reflecting the high proportion of women workers in apparel manufacturing. This segregation reflects the difficulties faced by women to enter certain jobs.

Women face a series of socio-economic constraints varying from country to country: discrimination, gender role conformity, lack of education, work-life balance, lack of childcare and transportation.

Sexual violence and harassment also remains a barrier for women to enter and evolve in the labour market.

“We have to empower these women to understand their rights and those who are not rights at them, they do not understand their rights at work, because they do not understand. They think it is right for me to be this. We have to empower them. Let them know that it is not right…. The big issue is awareness of the women,” said Rehema Ludanga, from the Tanzania union of industrial and commercial workers at the World of Work summit, ILC 2017.

The ILO is calling on governments and other stakeholders to take action by promoting equal pay for equal work, tackling the root causes of occupational and sectorial segregation, transforming institutions to prevent and eliminate discrimination, and dealing with violence and harassment against both men and women.

“These gaps are not acceptable anymore. Things are changing too slowly. We, as trade unions have a significant social responsibility in closing these gender gaps. We need to fight at work to advance women’s rights and promote equality. We need to empower our women members, develop their leadership capacity to create opportunities and space for them to jointly fight with male workers for workers’ rights and promoting equal rights!” said Valter Sanches, IndustriALL general secretary.

Ukraine – miners remain underground demanding to be paid

On 15 July, 70 miners from the first shift In the Kapustin mine launched an underground action, protesting against salary arrears since 2015, totaling 96 million UAH ($ 3,7 million US).

31 miners are currently underground, according to IndustriALL affiliate the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine (NPGU). Drainage and ventilation systems are working in the mine, but company administration kept silence about the rally for more than a day and failed to inform the rescue servicers, which is a gross violation.

On 16 July, 21 miners at the Novodruzhska mine also went on strike.

According to the NPGU president Mykhailo Volynets, there are wage arrears at other state mines as well:

"On 13 July, parliamentarians approved changes to the state budget. 280 million UAH (US$ 10,8 million) was allocated in support of the mining industry. I hope that these funds will be used to pay arrears of wages. An additional 100 million UAH (US$ 3,8 million) was allocated for the provision of labour protection measures, but that is only half of what was promised.”

According to Volynets, if the debt is not repaid by the Miner's Day at the end of August, similar strikes will take place around Ukraine.

On 17 July, miners’ families and colleagues from other mines held a rally near the Kapustin mine to express their solidarity with the protesters.

Vadim Borisov, IndustriALL regional secretary, says:

It is outrageous that the miners have to strike to get paid. We call on the employer to engage in a dialogue with the union and workers.

TOTAL FAIR Committee meets during the second year of GFA’s implementation

The FAIR committee is composed of representatives from trade unions affiliated to and designated by IndustriALL Global Union. Currently the committee contains one representative from IndustriALL, three Group employees from countries outside the European Union (Argentina, Nigeria and Morocco), and four members of the European Works Council (France, Germany, Belgium and Spain).
 
This is the second time that the FAIR Committee meets to evaluate the work and implementation of the agreement, while realizing that not all workers and union representative are aware of its existence. Further spread of the GFA among local mangers and unions in countries where the company is present is needed. The union group developed a work plan for next year to improve communication among TOTAL workers.
 
During the meeting all chapters of the GFA were discussed with management. Having a GFA is not an end to all problems, but they can be monitored and solved quickly.

In Nigeria, there is a problem with the individual protection equipment, necessary for the health and safety of the workers. Most of the time it is of bad quality and incomplete, and sometimes it is delayed.

The process of hiring new staff was frozen in 2016, due to the drop in oil proces. With retired workers not being replaced, existing workers are tired and exhausted, which can lead to dangerous mistakes. Management confirmed that they are planning to open the hiring process again in 2018, as new people are needed.

Contractors and suppliers need to have the exactly the same health and safety conditions as permanent workers of the Group, and it needs to be monitored in the agreement.

Employees of the group has a life insurance provided by the company, but the insurance currently covers only 88 per cent of the workforce. Although increasing, the full 100 per cent will not be covered due to new subsidaries aquired, sometimes in countries where there are no insurance companies.

After the meeting the committee members visited two oil stations to see the working conditions and exchange some impressions with local management.
 
TOTAL has around 290 service stations and employs 500 people in refining, chemical, marketing, services and renewable energies in Morocco.

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.”