Rotterdam Convention discredited as chrysotile asbestos fails to be listed

The eighth Conference of Parties to the Rotterdam Convention, a United Nations treaty that requires dangerous substances listed by the Convention to be traded only with prior informed consent, is currently taking place in Geneva, Switzerland.

Today, 3 May, a small minority of countries with commercial interests in continued asbestos use, including India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Syria and Zimbabwe, blocked chrysotile from being listed on Annex III of the Convention. For a substance to be listed, parties must reach unanimity.

Chrysotile asbestos will not be considered for listing until the next COP in two years’ time. Russia even advocated taking chrysotile off the list of proposed chemicals for listing, a move not permitted under the Convention.

“Failure to list chrysotile asbestos on Annex III once again is an absolute disgrace. While they dither, hundreds of thousands of people will die from asbestos-related diseases,” said Andrew Dettmer, National President of IndustriALL affiliate, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU).

Chrysotile asbestos meets all the scientific criteria required for listing on Annex III and the majority of parties to the Convention support listing. Carolyn Vickers from the World Health Organization told the plenary:

“All forms of asbestos, including chrysotile, are carcinogenic to humans, and cause mesothelioma and cancer of the lung, larynx and ovary.  The evidence that chrysotile is carcinogenic is conclusive and overwhelming, and it has continued to strengthen over time.” She added that it caused a serious threat to public health.

The representative from Uruguay said: “This issue is about human rights. Listing still allows you the right to produce a chemical and sell a chemical but we have a right to be informed, as an equal right. We need prior informed consent.”

In the meantime, the Parties are considering a proposal from a group of 12 African nations to amend Article 22 of the Convention, so that a substance can be listed with a 75 per cent majority of voting parties. A contact group during CoP8 has been formed to consider the proposal but workers’ groups have been excluded.

“People are more concerned about preserving a broken process than preventing more deaths. Failure to involve the voice of workers goes against any notion of transparency,” said Dettmer.

Asbestosis sufferer, Siti Kristina, worked in an asbestos textile factory in Indonesia. She told the meeting:

“I was exposed to asbestos in the factory for 23 years. If asbestos got under our clothes it was difficult to remove it. After ten years I started coughing. In 2010, I was diagnosed with asbestosis. I am just one and many of friends have been suffering.”

Speaking on behalf of IndustriALL, Frank O’Grady, from Australian union the CFMEU said: “Like most other workers in the construction industry, we were never informed of the dangers of asbestos. For those countries that oppose the listing of chrysotile, the signs, the practice and the reality show otherwise. At the very least, 130,000 workers dying annually from asbestos-related diseases says otherwise.”

A representative from the Pacific Islands said: “We have new chrysotile building materials on sale in the shops now. There is very low awareness of the dangers of asbestos. The threat of natural disasters, which are growing in terms of frequency and intensity, means our citizens are at risk. We need to know when chrysotile materials are being imported.”

Australia has some of the highest rates of mesothelioma in the world. A country representative told the plenary. “We have and continue to pay a high-price for using chrysotile asbestos.” An estimated 25,000 Australians are expected to die from asbestos-related diseases over next 40 years.

Andrew Dettmer, said: “The asbestos awareness campaign we have supported in South East Asia has helped bring countries like Vietnam, Laos and Indonesia into the support listing chrysotile camp. Reform of the Rotterdam Convention is now a live, international issue.”

IndustriALL’s director for health, safety and sustainability, Brian Kohler, said:

“The Rotterdam Convention is broken. Enough is enough. For the Convention to be effective, it must stop allowing the financial interests of a few powerful oligarchs to threaten the lives of millions. It’s a shameful example of a dysfunctional system and a discredit to the entire United Nations system. How many hundreds of thousands of people must die from asbestos-related diseases before the parties to the Rotterdam Convention change this?”

IndustriALL brings global solidarity to Bangladesh

While addressing the May Day gathering of the IndustriALL Bangladesh Council, Sanches stressed the need for unity, especially in the aftermath of the Ashulia struggle. The event organised to commemorate May Day by the IndustriALL Bangladesh Council was a vibrant and lively event with more than 3,000 workers sloganeering for their rights.

Speakers Valter Sanches, Jenny Holdcroft, IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary, and leaders of the IndustriALL Bangladesh Council spoke of the need for unity and support for workers struggle to achieve union rights and a living wage. The event was followed by a march on the streets of Dhaka calling for a living wage for workers and freedom to form unions.

During his mission to Bangladesh, Sanches visited a unionized factory, where the remediation process of Accord is close to completion.

Congratulating both union and management on the good industrial relations in the factory, he said:

It is heartening to see functional industrial relations, but more needs to be done for improvement in the working conditions, especially wages.

Sanches also met with the garment manufacturers’ associatiion BGMEA, the Minister for Labour and Employment, as well as the ILO country director. During these meetings, he stressed the importance of unions being free to organize and better industrial relations to the future of the garment industry .

IndustriALL demonstrates against asbestos on 28 April

More than 100,000 people die each year from asbestos-related diseases. Around two million tonnes of asbestos are mined and sold every year, with most exports going to the developing world.

Around 100 IndustriALL affiliates, currently in Geneva for IndustriALL’s Executive Committee meeting, were joined by representatives from global unions, BWI and UNI, and the Australian Council of Trade Unions in the demonstration outside the United Nations. Trade unions want the Rotterdam Convention, a UN treaty, to put chrysotile asbestos on its list of hazardous substances to help stop the asbestos trade.

IndustriALL President, Jörg Hofmann, said at the rally:

“On this 28 April, a day of mourning for workers killed and injured on the job, I am in mourning for the millions who have been killed by asbestos. Millions of workers, their family members, and people who just happened to live in the communities that surround or surrounded the asbestos mines, mills and factories, past and present.

“Do not be deceived by the lies of the asbestos industry – all forms of asbestos kill. Chrysotile is not somehow magically different from other forms of asbestos, and saying so will not make it so. The global labour movement has looked at the science, has looked at our dead and dying sisters and brothers, and we demand a global ban on ALL forms of asbestos.”

The demonstration held a minute’s silence for those who have died from asbestos exposure and then marched from the UN to the conference centre in Geneva where the eighth conference of the parties to the Rotterdam Convention is currently meeting.

The Rotterdam Convention requires that dangerous substances on its list be traded with prior informed consent from importing countries, and with full disclosure of their harmful properties. However, chrysotile asbestos is repeatedly blocked from being added to the Convention’s list by a handful of countries that profit from the asbestos trade, such as Russia and Kazakhstan.

IndustriALL supports a proposal from a group of 12 African nations to amend Article 22 of the Rotterdam Convention, so that no single country can veto a deadly substance from being added to the list. Instead, a 75 per cent majority of voting parties would be sufficient.

IndustriALL affiliates later approved for an escalation of the campaign against asbestos at the Executive Committee meeting. The resolution includes clauses to:

IndustriALL welcomes the creation of the Trade Union of Industry Workers of Russia

On 18 April, an extraordinary congress of the Textile Workers' Union of Russia and Engineering Workers' Union of Russia was held. Congress resolved to merge with the Trade Union of Defense Workers of Russia.

In turn, the Trade Union of Defense Workers of Russia adopted at the extraordinary congress a decision to reorganize with the accession of the two unions. The successful merger process has resulted in the creation of ROSPROFPROM that unites about 400,000 workers.

On 19 April, the congress of the reorganized union approved the statutes, the symbolism, the action plan 2017-2022 and the resolutions "On legal status of members of trade unions", "On social partnership", "On legal protection of trade union members", "On labour protection", and "On financial provision of the activities of the union". In addition, delegates elected the leadership and approved the central committee and the audit committee membership.

President of ROSPROFPROM Andrey Chekmenyov stated:

“I hope that by becoming bigger, the union will more effectively carry out its trade union work. Territorial organizations must significantly improve their status. We will create one large, strong territorial organization in areas where now there are three organizations.”

In the near future ROSPROFPROM will legally complete the merger process, register the statutes and align its structure. The union will continue the previously planned activity on the campaign for collective bargaining and preparation for demonstrations on 1 May.

There are currently 42 sectoral trade unions in Russia. According to Andrey Chekmenyov, the present merger might herald future reorganizations and mergers.

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches welcomed the establishment of ROSPROFPROM in his letter:

“We are looking forward to working together with you, as the new Trade Union of Industry Workers of Russia, to promote and defend fundamental workers’ rights, including the right to organize, and collective bargaining, in Russia and all over the world”.

IndustriALL women set priorities for action

It is the first Women’s Committee meeting since IndustriALL’s Congress in Rio in October 2016, where a target was set in IndustriALL’s statutes for 40 per cent representation of women in decision-making bodies by 2020.

“We have taken a huge leap forward and we are in a strong position to move further towards our goals,” said Jenny Holdcroft, IndustriALL’s assistant general secretary. “As sisters we must not take all the responsibility for that, it must also be taken by the Executive Committee.”

The Committee has new co-chairs Michele O’Neil from Australia and Monica Veloso from Brazil. Participants began by approving terms of reference setting out the purpose and the role of the Women’s Committee in IndustriALL.

Priorities

The Women’s Committee approved the following priorities, which are based on the work already being done in the regions.

      – Increase women’s participation in unions

      – Increase women's representation and leadership

Participants also called for a means to better share information and experiences as a way to learn from each other. Others highlighted that organizing women, especially young women, should be a priority for the Committee.

Action plan

In a key outcome of the meeting, participants gave IndustriALL the mandate to work on four main action points:

  1. Each sector to develop plans to identify and work on issues for women workers in the sector as well as women’s representation and participation in sectoral activities
  2. Ask each region to develop its own plan to increase participation and representation of women from the region in IndustriALL structures
  3. Collect data on where women are in the sectors as well as in affiliates
  4. A report to be produced that identifies resources allocated to women

Gender and programme coordinator, Armelle Seby, highlighted IndustriALL’s work towards promoting women’s participation, which include the regional women’s committees and national IndustriALL women’s committees in more than 20 countries. She outlined IndustriALL’s work to organize women and integrate women’s issues in all union work, not through separate women’s structures. She highlighted successful IndustriALL campaigns, eg maternity protection in South East Asia.

IndustriALL has also been empowering women through education programmes to improve skills and collective bargaining, so that women’s issues are included in collective bargaining agreements.

Women’s representation in IndustriALL

While women are well represented in IndustriALL projects, at 35 per cent, the figure is much lower for global company networks, at only 11 per cent, and global sectoral meetings at 15 per cent, showing much need for improvement.

IndustriALL’s general secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“The 40 per cent quota is a means and not an objective. What we are fighting for is equity. So we have to empower women and get more women in leadership to achieve equity.” 

At present IndustriALL’s Executive Committee titular members are 32 per cent women. Only one region has so far met and exceeded the 40 per cent target – North America – with 44 per cent women.

In concluding the meeting, Holdcroft said:

“The Women’s Committee has made a great start. We’ve established priorities and decided on immediate action to take towards achieving the goal of 40 per cent women’s representation.”

Ivory Coast: union condemns lay-offs at Libya Oil

The union says the economic reasons given for the redundancies are not supported by evidence.

On the contrary, Libya Oil, which operates in 18 African countries, has increased investments; opening nine new filling stations in 2017, renovating an additional 15, and opening seven shops and two restaurants. In January 2017, the company sold more fuel than it did in the same month in 2016: 9,7 million litres compared to 7.9 million litres. Generally, the company’s sales are increasing.

In a letter to the tripartite National Council for Social Dialogue, the union questions Libya Oil’s arguments.

The economic reasons cited are odd given Ivory Coast’s 2015 GDP growth of 8.2 per cent, which was driven "by the dynamism in agriculture, services, major public works and the petroleum sector".

Surprisingly, Libya Oil

pretends not having benefitted from the growth

argues SYNTEPCI.

The other reasons given for the redundancy include “rationalising the company’s organisational structure for more efficiency.” Again, the union challenges this especially at a time when the company is recruiting new workers, with four hired this year.

Libya Oil also fails to explain how “the introduction of new technology” is linked to the redundancy.

SYNTEPCI general secretary, Jeremie Wondje says:

There must be a social plan for the lay-offs, following the legal requirements for the petroleum sector.

Oil and gas union network in Middle East and North Africa grows in strength

Supported by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, this was the third meeting of the network, formed in 2015 to strengthen coordination between unions. Thirty-five delegates from 16 unions in 12 countries participated, representing most major oil and gas companies with operations in the region.

The network held a lively debate about the challenges in the region: exploitative companies, repressive governments, and the chaos and dislocation created by war in Syria and Yemen and the ensuing refugee crisis.

The outcome of last years’ successful strike by Kuwaiti oil unions was discussed, as well as the establishment of a new union for private sector workers in the country.

The ongoing case of the DNO workers in Yemen, who were abandoned by their employer when war broke out, was highlighted. Participants pledged their support and solidarity to win justice for the workers.

The working practices of companies in the region diverge greatly: from the exploitative practices of companies like DNO and ExxonMobil, through to companies like Total who engage in social dialogue. In Iraq, a deal was concluded with Shell, which established a union to cover 6,000 gas field employees.

However, Khaled Bettine of Tunisia said:

"Foreign oil companies don’t invest for the long term. When the oil price drops, they disappear without compensating workers."

Privatization has been a major issue in Morocco, where the state-owned SAMIR refinery was privatized, and subsequently shut down and went into liquidation, threatening thousands of jobs. The company is currently searching for a buyer.

Human resources director of Total, Olivier Chavanne, addressed the meeting by video conference from Paris. IndustriALL has a global framework agreement with Total, and the company pledges to uphold the right of workers to unionize. Ongoing social dialogue with the company helps to resolve industrial relations issues.

The war and refugee crisis, and repression in the backlash against the Arab Spring, were major concerns. As Hassan Jumaah Awad of Iraq said:

"ISIS occupied 20 of our best and most productive oil fields, and later burned them. We are restoring wells that have been damaged, but major national wealth has been squandered."

Speaking about the refugee crisis and the influx of migrant workers, Latifa Benwakrim of Morocco said:

"We have weak economies because we have inefficient governments. It is not refugees who created the problems. As a union that carries the slogan of social justice, it is our duty to defend refugees."

But Sleiman Hemdan pointed out that Lebanon has 1.5 million refugees for a population of less than 5 million.

"We are passing through exceptional times, and we are very close to the Syrian border. We are also coming out of a 17-year civil war. We want to be open. But our unemployment rate is 38% and our growth is zero."

IndustriALL energy director Diana Junquera Curiel reported on the results of a survey conducted to determine organizing priorities. The survey compared labour law, the ratification of ILO Conventions, health and safety, wage levels, the position of women and youth, the increasing use of precarious work, and unionization levels in the region.

Curiel said,

“The priorities identified by our affiliates were social protection for workers, followed by the inclusion of women and youth in union structures, the need to fight precarious work, and to provide training in negotiation and dialogue.”

The network developed and approved an action plan to address these priorities. The plan sets out to strengthen company and country networks, create a common strategy to fight precarious work, and develop social dialogue at a regional level.

The process for developing the network is unfolding according to this plan:

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan spoke at the meeting and also met privately with many of the delegations, pledging his support and providing practical advice and assistance. He said:

"I am very pleased with the progress that has been made in the region, where we have seen some real breakthroughs.

“We will continue to support our affiliates to build a strong network and challenge both governments and multinational oil and gas companies."

Thermo Fisher workers fight for their jobs in Switzerland

Some 130 staff members are taking part in the action.
 

The earlier agreement was negotiated with the help of the employment office of the canton of Vaud on 20 April, and met three demands of the union, namely:

  • UNIA must be recognized as a negotiating partner;
  • The consultation period must be prolonged till the end of May;
  • The company must provide all the elements needed for formulation of counter proposals regarding the site delocalization, as foreseen by law.

The US board of the company rejected the negotiated agreement and refused to accept any compromise. US corporate management did not provide reasons or justifications for their decision. This lack of dialogue and unfounded decision of the management pushed workers to continue their strike.

The first union action took place on 19 April after the company announced their plans to relocate production from Switzerland. The company site in Écublens specializes in the production of X-ray and optical emission spectrometers, and wants to move part of their production to Brno in the Czech Republic. This move would result in the loss of 106 jobs out of 165 in Écublens. 

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches sent a letter to the US board of Thermo Fisher Scientific and insisted that the company “address the legitimate demands of the workers at the plant in Écublens, and accept the locally-reached agreement, which takes account of the negotiations on the planned relocation of production from Écublens to Brno in the Czech Republic, the extension of the consultation period for the preparation of alternative proposals to this massive job loss, and the provision of the necessary information, and consultation.”

Valter Sanches also expressed full support and solidarity with Thermo Fisher Scientific workers and their representing union UNIA in their struggle for workers’ rights.

Organizing and campaign workshop held in Philippines

Trade unionists from the Philippines, with the participation of Malaysian and Cambodian colleagues, united to continue the campaign to stop precarious work and to improve maternity protection benefits.

The workshop facilitated by Adam Lee, IndustriALL director for organizing and campaigns, resulted in the development of a clear campaign brand and messages that the affiliates carry on in their campaign to stop precarious work. Affiliates from the three countries shared their experiences on their respective campaigns in their own country and learned from each other.

The long struggle of Filipino workers to end contractualization remains a challenge that needs to be confronted in unity by all affiliates. Advances in the campaign to improve maternity protection serve as a model of effective coordination and the dynamism of women workers that other countries can adopt.

The sharing of campaign activities in Malaysia on addressing rights of foreign migrant workers, and the campaign against short-term contract workers in Cambodia, serves as a platform for learning to improve future campaigns.

The participants brainstormed on how to strategically target factories for organizing, taking into account criteria such as the size of an enterprise, capacity of organization and winnability.

Affiliates further explored the targeting of factories in the supply chain of multinational corporations with global framework agreements with IndustriALL, as well as an established trade union network, where affiliates can work together at the national, regional and global level.

Textile and garment unions advance organizing in Tunisia and Morocco

At the meeting in Hammamet, Tunisia, on 13-16 March IndustriALL Global Union and its affiliate Fédération Générale du Textile, de l'Habillement, Chaussure et Cuir (FGTHCC-UGTT) focused on the next steps in finalizing and implementing the newly negotiated 2017 sectorial agreement. In early March the trade union center Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail (UGTT) and the employers’ organization Union Tunisienne de l'industrie, du commerce et de l'artisanat (UTICA) have signed the agreement on six per cent wage increase for each 2016 and 2017 to cover the workers in private sector.

The activists also highlighted the importance of supply chain industrial relations in the global sectoral policies of IndustriALL and debated on how these can translate to the national context in Tunisia.

“It is essential that our sectorial work continue to emphasize the role of industrial relations in the supply chain rather than voluntary non-binding initiatives,”

stated Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL Global Union’s textile and garment director.

As part of an overview of the sectorial global framework agreements (GFAs), a working group was elected to review and plan next steps on GFA implementation in Tunisia, specifically focusing on the Inditex supply chain in the country.

In recent years FGTHCC-UGTT has taken important steps in strengthening union density within the sector. Since 2015, the union has launched an organizing campaign in the key areas of textile and garment industry in the country http://www.industriall-union.org/tunisian-textile-and-garment-union-sees-strong-growth.

Ayda Elzerai, leader of FGTHCC-UGTT said,

“Organizing is becoming a dominant element of our everyday union work. We are committed to constantly exert efforts and develop strategies aiming at increasing union density.”

IndustriALL continues to run a range of training on methods of mobilizing union members and attracting new members into the union.

In Casablanca, Morocco, Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT) announced that it would begin to take next steps in creating a national textile and garment union. This is an important step in enhancing the union’s organizing efforts.

“The fast expansion of the global garment supply chain and brands in Morocco has imposed various challenges for workers in the sector. It is now imperatives to build an effective sectorial union structure to better defend our workers’ rights in such complex nature of the industry,” said Araby Hamouk, leader of UMT textile and garment unions.

During the two-day meeting in Casablanca on 16-17 March, the role of global brands in the supply chain was debated and UMT local union leaders discussed the importance of union participation in the brand’s audits of their workplace.

Many leaders felt that the auditing of the factories need real worker input to be meaningful. With the launch of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector, there is a common understanding that workers are not peripheral to the due diligence process, but that they are core to it. UMT local leaders hope that in the future workers can be involved in on-site supplier assessments, development of corrective action plans, and the design of operational-level grievance mechanism of the global brands producing in Morocco.

At the following Inditex GFA meeting on 21 and 22 March unionized and non-union Inditex Moroccan suppliers discussed the importance of social dialogue. Participants from workers/unions and national suppliers were introduced to the content of the GFA between IndustriALL and Inditex and how its implementation can improve social dialogue in the industry in Morocco.

“Working with the garment global brands to improve the social dialogue and working conditions is a new approach in Morocco and MENA. We are keen to further develop such potentials with our affiliates and to include the supply chains of more global brands operating in the region,” stated Ahmed Kamel, IndustriALL Global Union’s MENA contact person.