Sri Lanka: Workers protest arbitrary dismissals

Workers at Global Star Logistics joined IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Free Trade Zone and General Services Employees’ Union (FTZ & GSEU) and formed a branch organization in September 2015.

Management responded by criminalizing workers, with threats, intimidation and even attempts to physically attack leading union members. Workers approached the labour department to resolve the issue, and the case was referred for the intervention of the Commissioner of Labour.

To resolve the dispute, the commissioner called a meeting of workers and management on 19 January 2017. After receiving notice of the meeting, management punished the workers, paying reduced wages and deducting the incentive due to the workers for the month of January 2017.

Management provided no explanation for the non-payment of the incentive after repeated requests from the workers.

When workers arrived at work on 13th January, they found that management had locked them out and put up a notice stating that all except for 66 workers whose names were listed could report to work.

Later in the evening, management arbitrarily announced that the 66 workers were “dangerous” and would be suspended without salary until 27 January. The notice also stated that if workers underwent counseling, they would be paid a stipend of Rs 10,000 each.

Workers protested the arbitrary suspensions and dismissals and hoped to raise the issue during the meeting with the commissioner. However, management representatives did not show up for scheduled meeting on 19 January, but asked to defer the meeting.

The next day, as a meeting with the Negombo labour official to resolve the dispute was in progress, in a blatant attempt at intimidation, picketing workers were detained by police for allegedly possessing explosive materials. They were released after the intervention of a FTZ & GSEU representative.

In a subsequent meeting at the commissioner’s office, management insisted that the dispute be referred for arbitration, while workers called for immediate resolution through mutual discussion.

The FTZ & GSEU has urged Sri Lanka’s Minister of Labour and Trade Union relations to immediately intervene to settle the dispute amicably. The union also expressed concern that the dispute may adversely affect Sri Lanka’s application for the GSP Plus preferential import tariff with the European Union.

Global Unions and LafargeHolcim to develop Global Framework Agreement

“We strongly believe that people are core to the success of the company and our ambition is to create a workplace that is safe, diverse, inclusive, and respectful where people enjoy coming to work. We want to build on our past track record of constructive and responsible social dialogue with the global unions through the development of a Global Framework Agreement”

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

“We expect that LafargeHolcim ensures the respect and promotion of international labour regulations in all the geographies where it operates”,

said Valter Sanches, General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union.

“We welcome the results of the meeting and are ready to put our energy in developing a strong agreement for the well-being of workers of the company”,

said Ambet Yuson, General Secretary of BWI.

The meeting concluded with all parties agreeing their mutual intent to begin to draw up a Global Framework Agreement that will prioritize four key pillars: fundamental rights, health and safety, exchange of information and solution of conflicts and contractors management. Detailed discussions between LafargeHolcim and the BWI and IndustriALL on the agreement are expected to begin in due course with a protocol signing expected in 2017.

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Press contacts:

Matthias Hartwich, IndustriALL Global Union, tel. +41 79 945 57 26
Fiona Murie, BWI, tel. +41 79 446 12 90

IndustriALL Global Union – represents 50 million workers in 143 countries in the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors and is a force in global solidarity taking up the fight for better working conditions and trade union rights around the world. For more information http://www.industriall-union.org/

BWI – The Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) is the global union federation for unions covering workers in the building, building materials, wood, forestry and related areas of work. The BWI has 335 national affiliates in 131 countries with a global membership of 12 million. For more information http://www.bwint.org/

Bangladesh crackdown calls preferential EU trade deal into question

Nearly four years ago, in April 2013, the world watched in horror as the Rana Plaza building collapsed, killing more than 1,100 garment workers and injuring many more.

This tragedy should have been a turning point for the garment industry in Bangladesh, but the government has done disturbingly little to guarantee respect for the rule of law, including national labour law and international labour standards.

The ready-made garment industry accounts for more than 80% of Bangladesh’s exports. The minimum wage of US$67 per month has not been increased since 2013 and wages in the garment industry are among the lowest in the world. Meanwhile, the cost of housing, basic commodities and medical care is spiralling.

Now Bangladesh has taken an alarming step backwards. When workers went on strike for higher wages in December, at least eleven union leaders and workers’ rights advocates were detained under the Special Powers Act 1974, a wartime emergency law which authorises detention without charge for up to six months.

Employers responded to the strike by closing 59 factories and filing charges against hundreds of workers. As many as 1,500 workers were dismissed, and many of them have been blacklisted from getting other jobs in the industry.

Speaking in Davos in January, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sought to assure the world that Bangladesh is “highly committed to ensuring compliance with regard to the ready-made garment industry”.

Meanwhile, her government and the country’s powerful garment factory owners are using the wage strike as a pretext to crack down even further on the labour movement.

It is still extremely difficult for workers to exercise their fundamental labour rights in Bangladesh. For many garment workers, it is near impossible to organise and form unions without retaliation. The Registrar of Trade Unions arbitrarily rejects registration applications from the most active and independent trade union federations and a severe climate of anti-union violence prevails, coupled with near total impunity for the perpetrators.

The Sustainability Compact, agreed between Bangladesh and the EU to improve labour rights in the garment industry, is essentially dead. It is clear that the government has no intention to comply with its terms and is in breach of the labour conditionality of the EU GSP ‘Everything but Arms’ scheme.

But despite Bangladesh’s obvious failure to comply with its international obligations, the European Commission is not taking sufficient action to hold the government to account. It will take more than dialogue.

The EU must immediately launch an investigation under the GSP. Only the potential loss of market access will demonstrate to the government of Bangladesh that Europe is serious about workers’ rights.

Garment workers in Bangladesh have the unequivocal right to organise. Until the government stops suppressing trade unions and can guarantee a climate in which workers are free to join unions and demand better wages and working conditions, it should not benefit from special trade privileges reserved for those countries that properly respect fundamental labour rights.

Algerian union leader gets jail sentence for whistleblowing

Mellal Raouf, who is President of IndustriALL affiliate the electricity and gas workers’ union SNATEGS, was sentenced in absentia to six months in prison for the theft of supposedly confidential documents that were already in the public domain and published on the internet. The documents exposed the illegal inflation of electricity bills by Sonelgaz over a ten-year period.

The overcharging only affected the lowest electricity consumers in Algeria, such as domestic properties and the poor. High voltage customers, such as business and industry, were untouched by the scandal.

Instead of punishing those responsible for the corruption, Sonelgaz, which is 100 per cent owned by the government, retaliated by bringing the charges against Raouf at a tribunal in Guelma in northeastern Algeria.

Raouf, who is not yet in prison, can appeal the tribunal’s verdict, made on 15 December 2016. A passionate trade unionist, Raouf has succeeded in establishing SNATEGS in 27 different regions across Algeria. It is not the first time he has come under attack from the authorities; he lost his job for his union activities in March 2013.

Following his dismissal, the same court in Guelma fined him and his fellow union leader 50,000 Algerian Dinar (US$455) each on allegations of work disruption.  He was also summoned to another tribunal in Biskra by authorities investigating cybercrime for reaching out to workers on Facebook.

Sonelgaz management continues to put pressure on Raouf’s colleagues and the leaders of SNATEGS, threatening them with dismissal unless they stop their union work.  

In a letter to the Minister of Labour in Algeria, Mohamed El Ghazi, IndustriALL condemned the sentencing of Mellal Raouf in the strongest possible terms and called on the on the government to immediately drop all charges against him.

Sonelgaz is the only provider of electricity and gas in Algeria, employing more than 86,000 workers. It has resisted independent unions with an iron fist, according to SNATEGS.

IndustriALL’s general secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“The government should be applauding Mellal Raouf for exposing years of corruption at Sonelgaz, rather than persecuting him. This verdict is entirely unjust and serves as a green light for corruption. We urge the government to step in and see that Sonelgaz drops all charges against Raouf so that justice prevails.”

Sign the International Trade Union Confederation petition in support of Melllal Raouf.  

Hungary: workers put jobs on the line to defend sacked union leader

IndustriALL Global Union joined some 200 workers and union representatives from Hungarian unions at the protest on the morning of 24 January.

Kovács, who was secretary of the Richard Fritz trade union, AMASZ, was dismissed on 13 January. She was also President of the Workers’ Council, and member of the Health and Safety Committee at the company. AMASZ is affiliated to IndustriALL through the VDSZ union.

Many sections of the VDSZ union joined the protest in solidarity, along with other national trade unions in light of the growing pressure on unions in the country.

Tamás Székely, VDSZ President, said: 

In the past few months, several trade unionists in Hungary have been sacked.  We must fight back and send a message that this is unacceptable. We will not let our representatives – who struggle every day – be humiliated and punished for bargaining in the interests of members.

Edit Kovács, who attended the demonstration, said: 

Our simple demand is to be treated with respect and for the employer to negotiate with the union in good faith.

The Richard Fritz group, which makes vehicle windows at plants in Germany, Slovakia and Hungary, is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Turkish company, Şişecam.

In speaking to the rally on behalf of IndustriALL, Tom Grinter said:

Multinational companies like Şişecam, which owns Richard Fritz, think they are above the law. And many governments side with the employers, turning a blind eye to abuse. We will not stand by. IndustriALL’s message to the Şişecam CEO and the Richard Fritz management here in Aszód is give Edit her job back today.

IndustriALL has written to Şişecam demanding that Kovács be reinstated and that fundamental labour rights are respected at Richard Fritz. 

 

Victory for metalworkers in Turkey

Some 2,200 workers at three companies and 13 plants across Turkey began strike action on Friday 20 January, after union collective bargaining negotiations with major electrical equipment multinationals, Schneider, General Electric and ABB, broke down.

Even though the Turkish government swiftly issued a decree postponing and effectively banning the strike, the metalworkers went ahead with industrial action.

A breakthrough came following talks brokered by the Ministry of Labour on 23 January, between union representatives and management in the capital, Ankara. The companies finally increased their offer and reached an agreement that will increase workers’ wages, social benefits, and overtime pay, as well as provide other benefits.   

Birleşik Metal İş General Secretary Özkan Atar says:

"For many years now, workers in Turkey have been unable to exercise their right to strike because the government banned almost all strikes claiming they were a threat to national security or public health. By not accepting the ban, metalworkers took a huge risk as these big electrical equipment companies threatened to dismiss them for illegal strike action. But our members did not submit to threats and they set a new path for workers. They have regained the right to strike for the entire working class in Turkey."

In congratulating Birleşik Metal İş and their members, IndustriALL General Secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“You showed that through mobilization, and not backing down in the face of threats and intimidation, it is possible to win. It's an important example for us all. Multinational companies must stick to international laws on freedom of association and workers’ rights, wherever they operate, not just when they are forced to.”

The agreement, which was signed between Birleşik Metal İş and EMIS (Electromechanical Employers' Association), includes:

Turkish metalworkers strike outside General Electric on 20 January. 

Birleşik Metal İş members protest loudly outside Schneider Electric in Turkey before an agreement was reached. 

South African union saves mineworkers’ jobs

Gold mining company AngloGold Ashanti issued a section 189 notice to the union on 20 January 2017 of its intention to lay off a massive 849 workers. A section 189 is a notification in the event of mass retrenchment, and is a formal legislative requirement.

The notice initiates formal consultations with unions. Failure to reach agreement with unions would lead to a mediated facilitation in terms of labour law.

The NUM successfully averted the planned retrenchment in negotiations with AngloGold Ashanti, saving all 849 jobs. The workers will be retrained and transferred to other areas of the company.

The NUM rejected the company’s retrenchment plans as insensitive to the high unemployment rate, and argued for alternatives. The job losses would have had disastrous consequences for mineworkers at AngloGold Ashanti, their families and the country. 

AngloGold Ashanti and the union entered into an agreement that would save the “over complement” jobs involved. The agreement entails a re-skilling of the affected workers and a transfer of others to the company’s other business units.

In what has been described as “robust negotiations” by the NUM’s mining coordinator for AngloGold Ashanti, Tafa Moya, an analysis of all the business units within the company was undertaken to determing labour needs and opportunities, with a view to finding a mutually beneficial solution.

This is in contrast to what AngloGold Ashanti did in Ghana: 3,100 mineworkers lost their jobs when the Obuasi mine was placed on limited operations, while a comprehensive feasibility study was undertaken that would see the mine become highly mechanised.

Moya said the NUM will meet with the company on Friday where AngloGold Ashanti will report back on where the workers will be transferred to.

Complimenting the NUM on this great achievement, IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said: 

“This is another example that shows that mining companies, left to their own devices, will pursue profit above all else. The NUM has shown that by rejecting AngloGold Ashanti’s initial plan to retrench 849 workers, trade unions can fight back and protect the collective interests of their members”.

AngloGold Ashanti is a gold mining company with its headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is globally diverse, boasting seventeen gold mines in nine countries, and is the third largest gold mining company in the world measured by production.

Two oil union leaders arrested in Kazakhstan

The arrested leaders are Nurbek Kushakbaev, KNPRK’s deputy chairman, and Amin Yeleusinov, chairman of the KNPRK’s affiliate the Trade union of Oil Construction Company. They are still detained and their whereabouts unknown.

Kushakbaev is accused of a criminal offence for taking part in an illegal hunger strike. Reportedly, at least 16 other participants of the hunger strike, which reached more than 700 supporters, have been subject to fines from 45,000KZT (US$135) and one of them even 113,500 KZT (US$340), representing significant amounts for the workers.

Similarly to Larisa Kharkova, a former chairperson of KNPRK who was accused of union funds embezzlement soon after the strike started, Yeleusinov is also charged with the same accusations of embezzlement of union funds, which carries a potential sentence of 7 to 12 years’ imprisonment. Police so far however refuses to publicly state how many funds are stolen.

KNPRK’s representatives say the criminal cases have been fabricated to stop the mass hunger strike of workers at the Oil Construction Company. The first rally began on 5 January, and new protesters joined the action on 15 January.

Workers have been forced to stop their hunger strike after their leaders were arrested.

Following their arrest, Kushakbaev and Yeleusinov were denied contact with their lawyer for two days. Employees of the department of internal affairs refused to show the lawyer the police report and to inform him where the leaders are.

Prior to the recent arrests, Valter Sanches, IndustriALL Global Union general secretary, sent a letter to the President of Kazakhstan and demanded that he took action “to restore the registration of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (KNPRK) and protect the right of workers to freely establish trade unions in Kazakhstan”.

IndustriALL supports and joins the ITUC’s campaign at LabourStart and appeals to all affiliates and activists to participate in the campaign for safeguard of the KNPRK from forced dissolution.

IndustriALL Japan Liaison Council established

Four years after the establishment of IndustriALL Global Union in June 2012, the Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Unions (JCM), the chemical and energy federation IndustriALL-JAF, and the Japanese Federation of Textile, Chemical, Food, Commercial, Service and General Workers’ Unions (UA ZENSEN) got together to form IndustriALL-JLC.

Twenty seven delegates from the three organizations attended the conference. Representing IndustriALL, assistant general secretary Atle Høie, conveyed a fraternal message from general secretary Valter Sanches. Sanches expressed his expectation of the JLC:

“At the second world congress in Rio de Janeiro, the 2016-2020 action plan was adopted. In implementing the plan, we expect IndustriALL-JLC to play a big role.”

In his opening address, Hisanobu Shimada, chair of IndustriALL-JAF and vice president of UA ZENSEN, emphasized the importance of the establishment of IndustriALL-JLC, saying that the international activities of the Japanese affiliates would be strengthened and efficiency increased further.

Kaoru Kishimoto, vice chair of IndustriALL-JAF, explained the process of forming IndustriALL-JLC.  He said,

“Immediately after the formation of IndustriALL, the three organizations shared information and prepared for the conferences. In this process, we reached consensus to unify commonly conducted international activities as much as possible.

“We give a birth to a small baby, but will raise her to be big. Also we would like to strengthen solidarity with the IndustriALL affiliates, especially in the Asia Pacific region through IndustriALL-JLC.“

Subsequently the IndustriALL-JLC Statutes, 2017 action plan and budget were adopted. Goals stipulated are as follows.

IndustriALL-JLC will aim to unify international activities which have been already commonly conducted. The translation of IndustriALL documents, preparation for IndustriALL decision making meetings and related meetings and coordination of international solidarity actions responding requests made by IndustriALL will be main activities for the time being.

The main officers elected for the two year period from 2017 to 2018 are as follows:

President: Yasunobu Aihara , president of JCM and president of JAW

Vice President: Hisanobu Shimada, chair of IndustriALL-JAF and vice president of UA ZENSEN

Kaoru Kishimoto, vice president of IndustriALL-JAF and president of DENRYOKU SOREN

General Secretary: Akiko Gono (Ms.), vice president of UA ZENSEN

On behalf of the elected officers, Yasunobu Aihara, president of IndustriALL-JLC expressed the 4 goals of IndustriALL-JLC as follows:

Atle Høie reported on activities after the world congress and expressed his expectations of the future activities of IndustriALL-JLC.

IndustriALL-JLC will start its activities from January 2017.

Bangladesh: union signs collective agreement with Donglian Fashion in major turnaround

On 14 January, a two-year collective bargaining agreement was signed between representatives of the union and of Donglian Fashion, a ready-made garments manufacturer in Ashulia, the garment-producing hub in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The comprehensive agreement includes provisions on wages, time off, maternity leave, a grievance procedure, fire and safety, meal and festival allowances, space for union activities and more. Workers are now entitled to an annual wage increase, sick leave and paid holidays, and will no longer have their pay arbitrarily docked for arriving late.

Collective agreements are unusual in the textile and garment sector in Bangladesh, where recently union leaders were arrested in a government crackdown.

The agreement is a remarkable turnaround for industrial relations at the company, following a previous labour dispute in which 12 union members were fired. The Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation (SGSF) – an affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union – mobilized international support, and through IndustriALL, SGSF was able to work with Japanese affiliate UA Zensen. Donglian Fashion is owned by a Japanese parent company, and UA Zensen was able to raise the problems at the factory, and pressurize local management to negotiate with the union.

This resulted in the reinstatement of the 12 workers, and a memorandum of understanding being signed between the company and the union in February 2016.

The new collective agreement builds on this relationship, and is important for industrial relations in the sector. 

SGSF president Nazma Akter said:

This agreement is a good example for the trade union movement in Bangladesh and shows what can be achieved with global solidarity. Support from IndustriALL and other unions has enabled us to turn around the situation at Donglian and produce a strong collective agreement.

The management at Donglian now realizes that the union is a very good platform to negotiate with workers and we have a much better relationship.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Jenny Holdcroft said:

This is wonderful news. Just two years ago, union members at the factory were forced to resign. Now the company and union have signed a good and comprehensive collective agreement.

Donglian Fashion have chosen the right path by working constructively with the union. We need other garment manufacturers in Bangladesh to take the same approach.