Strengthening the bargaining power of cement unions in South East Asia

The cement unions agreed an action plan to expand their bargaining power. One of the steps included in the plan is to organize and recruit precarious workers (i.e. contract workers) in the cement industry.

Matthias Hartwich, director for the materials industries and mechanical engineering at IndustriALL presented milestones of the campaign for respect of workers’ rights at LafargeHolcim. Hartwich also informed participants of the recent positive developments towards concluding the Global Framework Agreement with LafargeHolcim.

However, there are still unresolved issues at LafargeHolcim, including a lockout in Canada, a conflict in India over land and the right to employment, and the threat to many jobs in Indonesia, due to the implementation of a Regional Business Service Centre project.

HeidelbergCement’s European Works Council chairman Giel Beks, connected via video conference, addressed the audience and answered questions from the participants regarding the social dialogue system in Europe and especially in HeidelbergCement.

Beks referred to the usefulness of Global Framework Agreements for all unions of the group around the world. At the end of the meeting, Beks expressed the wish that the company would honour not only shareholders, but other stakeholders, including especially the workers who create revenue for the company and hence also for the shareholders.

During the meeting participants appreciated the unique opportunity of a direct communication with local leadership of Indocement (HeidelbergCement) and Holcim (LafargeHolcim) who attended the second day of the meeting and spoke with workers about challenges in the cement industry of Indonesia. Chairman of the Cement Employers' association, Widodo Santoso also attended the meeting and spoke about general trends in economy and cement market.

In addition, Feliciano Gonzalez, head of labour relations and social policies of LafargeHolcim globally, spoke to meeting participants by telephone. In the course of this exchange, union activists raised burning issues including the future industrial footprint of LafargeHolcim in Indonesia, alleged union busting, the influence of Industry 4.0, the use of alternative fuels and wage levels.

Participants embraced the idea of sectoral wage bargaining and committed to work towards this together. Representatives of the cement unions agreed that it is important to organize precarious workers in their companies. They composed an initial plan of action, which includes steps on collective bargaining, campaigning in support of the Global Framework Agreement, occupational health and safety and further organizing efforts to include precarious workers.

Concluding the meeting, Matthias Hartwich said,

“This was a wonderful  workshop. I find it encouraging that our colleagues from Indonesia and hopefully also Thailand and the Philippines have come to the decision to organize precarious workers.

“We have made good progress in the global coordination of cement unions, especially at LafargeHolcim and also HeidelbergCement. The cooperation with the respective European Works Councils helps a lot. Also, starting the process of negotiating the Global Framework Agreement with LafargeHolcim is a good signal to move forward and extend our activities to other multinationals in the sector, especially HeidelbergCement.”

India: trade unions call for equal pay for equal work

The mass meeting was called to protest and launch a joint campaign against precarious work in the state of Tamil Nadu. About 2,500 delegates, including a large number of workers and union representatives from across Tamil Nadu, participated in the event.

Participants included G Sanjeeva Reddy, IndustriALL executive committee member and president of the Indian National Trade Union Congress, and representatives from central trade unions including:

Dignitaries including former finance minister P. Chidambaram and retired judge T Hariparanthaman addressed the gathering.

The conference passed a resolution condemning the reduction of the permanent workforce and the deployment of precarious workers in production activities under various names such as casual labour, temporary worker, daily wage worker, trainee, apprentice, non-muster roll workers, ad-hoc worker, contractual employee, sumangali scheme contract and outsourcing.

These precarious workers usually work on par with permanent workers and are at times subjected to increased workload and longer working hours. They are paid poor wages and denied medical, pension and social security benefits.

Speakers at the conference expressed concern that, even though the law provides for the regularization of workers after 480 days of service and restrictions on the recruitment of temporary workers to 10% of the total workforce, the labour department has lost its capacity to implement the rule of law. The public sector, supposedly a model employer, itself refuses to pay equal wages for equal work, while the situation is much worse in the private sector.

Speakers highlighted the Supreme Court of India’s recent judgment in the civil appeal no. 213 of 2013 State of Punjab & others Vs Jagjit Singh & others, which upheld the principle of equal pay for equal work and observed that:

“an employee engaged for the same work, cannot be paid less than another, who performs the same duties and responsibilities. Certainly not, in a welfare state. Such an action besides being demeaning, strikes at the very foundation of human dignity…… the principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’ constitutes a clear and unambiguous right and is vested in every employee – whether engaged on regular or temporary basis.”

The conference called on the state and central governments to immediately implement constitutional provisions, labour laws and pronouncements of the Supreme Court. It appealed to workers and trade unions to build unity cutting across party lines and launch a relentless struggle and take active part in campaigns to achieve demands such as:

Belarusians protest tax on “social parasites”

On 26 February, about 1,000 people took part in protests in Vitebsk and Bobruisk, and about 200-300 in Baranovichi and Brest. Participants demanded the abolition of decree no.3 "On prevention of social dependency", which obliges citizens unemployed for more than six months to pay the state a tax of about US $240.

Among the protesters were not only unemployed but also employed workers, students, and women on maternity leave. The participants shouted, "No to the decree number three," "Women of Belarus are not parasites" and other slogans, and carried historic national Belarusian white-red-white flags, symbolizing opposition to the regime of President Lukashenko, as well as flags of independent trade unions.

Police did not intervene in the action, with the exception of a detention in Vitebsk, when Tatiana Seviarynets, one of the organizers, read a chapter from the constitution, written on paper, then tore the sheets of the notepad and threw them into the crowd. She was detained immediately after the rally for violation of the order of organization for holding mass events.

Earlier, on 17 February, the "march of the angry Belarusians" gathered about 3,000 participants in Minsk and became one of the largest rallies since 2010. The protesters adopted a resolution demanding the abolition of the decree, an end to the raising of the retirement age and the price of utilities, and a return to free and fair elections. They also urged the authorities to begin negotiations.

Activists of IndustriALL Global Union affiliate Belarusian Radio and Electronic Industry Workers' Union (REPAM) organized a signature collection at the rally. According to the union, more than 46,000 signatures calling for the abolition of decree no. 3 have been collected manually and on the online platform zvarot.by.

Another IndustriALL affiliate Free Metalworkers' Union also collected signatures. Chair of the union Alexander Bukhvostov said:

”The action was spontaneous. However, we have collected 1,000 signatures against the decree. The protest has showed growing dissatisfaction with the authorities’ policy attacking workers' rights”.

The marchers gave the authorities until 17 March to respond to demands. If the authorities do not take action by then, the protests will continue.

Currently about 50,000 people have paid the tax, while notice has been sent to 470,000 citizens. Two Belarusians have filed a lawsuit against the tax office and insist on being excluded from the list of “parasites”.

Chair of REPAM Gennady Fedynich believes that active protests are necessary for the decree’s abolition:

“The government might abolish the decree if people do not remain silent and prepare new protests. No song, no supper”. 

Video from Brest.

Video translation from the event.

IndustriALL Global Union Regional Conference – Report: “Towards Sustainable Industrial and Energy Policy”

Report prepared by:

Brian Kohler

Director – Health, Safety and Sustainability

IndustriALL Global Union

54 bis, route des Acacias

1227 Genève, Suisse

tel: +41 22 308 5050

mobile: +41 79 734 9178

With thanks to the extensive notes taken by Hannah Schmelzer during the meeting.

IndustriALL Global Union Regional Conference Report: "Towards Sustainable Industrial and Energy Policy”

Report prepared by:

Brian Kohler 

Director – Health, Safety and Sustainability / Directeur – santé, sécurité et développement durable

IndustriAll Global Union

54 bis, route des Acacias

1227 Genève, Suisse

tel: +41 22 308 5050

mobile: +41 79 734 9178

With thanks to Marlon Cornelio, who took extensive notes during the meeting.

IndustriALL Global Union Regional Conference – Report: Towards Sustainable Industrial and Energy Policy

Report prepared by:

Brian Kohler

Director – Health, Safety and Sustainability

IndustriALL Global Union

54 bis, route des Acacias

1227 Genève, Suisse

tel: +41 22 308 5050

mobile: +41 79 734 9178

With thanks to Leo Fried, who took extensive notes during the meeting.

Get ready for International Women’s Day

Affiliates in Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines will be mobilizing to demand better maternity rights and benefits. In Sri Lanka there will be rallies in the north of the country where women suffer particularly poor working conditions and low wages. In Latin America, IndustriALL affiliates will be taking action in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.

In virtually every society in the world, women are underrepresented in positions of leadership and power. The gender pay gap stands at 24 per cent globally.

This year, the United Nations’ theme for 8 March is “Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030”. Gender equality is at theheart of the UN’s sustainable development goals for 2030.

IndustriALL and its affiliates around the world work continuously to organize women workers, develop women’s leadership in unions, achieve equal pay and equal representation, guarantee maternity protection and end violence against women, among other issues.
 
Jenny Holdcroft, IndustriALL’s assistant general secretary, said:


“IndustriALL’s aim is to engage and organize more women workers and fight for equal opportunities and equal pay. We are working together with IndustriALL affiliates to strengthen women’s representation at local, national and global level and to reinforce women’s leadership in unions. At our last Congress, we set a target of 40 per cent women’s representation throughout all levels of IndustriALL decision-making bodies and now we must act to make this happen.”


IndustriALL is calling on affiliated unions to report back on their actions and send pictures to Armelle Seby [email protected] and [email protected]. Please use the hashtag #ALLWomen on social media.

Garment workers in Myanmar are fighting back

Many workers at the Chinese-owned Hundred Tex Garment factory in Myanmar have been paid less than the daily minimum wage of 3,600 kyat (US$2.7), have not received overtime payment according to the law, and the customary skills bonus has also been withheld.

An agreement between management and the union, backed by the Confederation Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM), was reached in December 2016.

However, the conflict has since escalated as Hundred Tex Garment has not upheld their part, and is also refusing to set up a workplace coordination committee, as required by Myanmar labour dispute settlement law.

The employer is clearly not respecting the outcome of the negotiations in December. There seems to be a lack of good faith from their part and we urge them to engage in dialogue and resolve the conflict,

says Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL textile director.

On 30 January, the union president Thet Paing Oo was dismissed when returning from a pre-agreed sick leave with medical certificate, sparking a strike among the workers the following day.

The Hundred Tex factory produces for Swedish fashion company H&M. IndustriALL and H&M signed a global framework agreement in September 2015, protecting the labour rights of 1.6 million workers in H&M’s global supply chain.

There has been several attempts from the union and H&M to resolve the conflict with the factory owner.

Until there is well functioning industrial relations, all of H&M’s business is on hold with Hundred Tex,

says Johan Stellansson at H&M.

Australian Workers’ Union calls for action on Chinese steel

Newly elected national secretary Daniel Walton said that the union would lodge a complaint with the government’s Anti-Dumping Commission. The Commission has the power to impose tariffs to address dumping.
 
"Chinese dumping has put our manufacturing sector on the brink of collapse," he said. “There can be no place for trade cheats.”
 
Walton explained that vast sums of money are being spent by the Australian government on infrastructure projects that use no Australian steel. At the same time, more than 8,000 workers at the Arrium steel plant in South Australia face an uncertain future as it went into administration last year.
 
The AWU is holding its National Conference on the Gold Coast in Queensland this week. Following a panel discussion on Chinese dumping, where experts debated the effects of dumping on the domestic market and strategies to fight it, delegates passed an anti-dumping resolution, accusing China of flooding the international market with 100 million tonnes of steel sold at prices below the cost of production.
 
The resolution calls on the Commission to impose a significant tariff on Chinese steel. “Dumping is cheating”, it says.
 
The steel industry is in crisis across the world, and IndustriALL affiliates are taking action to defend the industry and the jobs it provides. In November last year, thousands of steel workers marched through Brussels to demand action on dumping.
 
An action plan was adopted at IndustriALL’s base metals conference in Duisburg, Germany, committing affiliates to coordinate initiatives to oppose market economy status for China, on the grounds of unfair trade practices. In 2004, Australia became one of only two major developed economies to grant market economy status to China (after New Zealand), severely hampering its policy options for addressing Chinese dumping.
 
IndustriALL will participate in the next OECD Steel Committee on 23-24 March and together with affiliates will fight there, as well as in the G20 forum on steel overcapacity,  for measures to be taken against dumping.
 
IndustriALL assistant general secretary Jenny Holdcroft, who was at the AWU National Conference, said:
 
“This is neither free nor fair trade when a country subsidisies its own industries at the expense of workers, their jobs, families and communities, in other countries. The AWU has taken an important step by demanding that its own government stands up to dumping. We will support them, and coordinate with our affiliates in the steel industry across the world to develop an united trade union response.”

New Labour Code will undermine workers' rights in Belarus

The planned amendments are mainly based on the Presidential Decrees No. 29 "On supplementary measures to develop labour relations, to strengthen labour and executive discipline" and No. 5 "On strengthening requirements to the executives and workers of organizations". Both decrees have been seriously criticized by the International Labour Organization (ILO) for their non-conformity to the ILO Conventions ratified by Belarus.

In contradiction to the existing Labour Code, Presidential Decree No. 29 introduced a system of widespread short-term contracts. As a result, up to 90 per cent of employees were shifted from permanent to one-year contracts, often without their prior consent. According to the Belarusian Constitution a presidential decree prevails over national laws. In absence of any protection against anti-union discrimination, many workers had to withdraw from independent trade unions.

Later, under pressure from trade unions and the general public, the decree was amended and certain categories of employees saw their contracts increased by up to three or even five years, although their legal status did not change.

The proposed amendments based on decree No. 5 once again shift more power to the employer and stripped workers of their rights.

"The consequences of the decree resulted in transformation of the contract based labour relations, into a legal enforcement tool, which is contrary to ILO Convention 29 – said Nikolay Zimin, Belarusian Independent trade union of Miners, Chemical workers, Oil-refiners, Energy, Transport, Construction and other workers.

Alexander Bukhvostov, Free Metalworkers' Union (SPM) explains that, “Proposed changes to the Labour Code will make the use of forced labour a normal practice among certain categories of workers.”

“All amendments to labour legislation will only worsen workers’ situation. For instance all of chapter 38 has been removed regulating compensations for disability as result of a trauma at work. Also holidays would be reduced by an average of six days," explains Gennady Fedynich, Belarusian Radio and Electronic Industry Workers' Union.

“Unfortunately, trade unions are deprived of the opportunity to make legislative initiatives. We have to ask MPs or contact the National Centre for Legal Information. Our union has studied the issue, made a complete analysis of the proposed changes, involved the legal community, and now we are working with MPs so that they can influence the bill," explains Svetlana Klochok, Belarusian Trade Union of Chemical, Mining and Oil Industries Workers.

Despite the complexity of the situation, the Belarusian trade unions are not giving up. IndustriALL affiliates repeatedly appealed to the legislative bodies of Belarus demanding the abolition of the decree No. 29, and suspension of the decree No. 5.

Kemal Özkan, assistant general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, says: "IndustriALL is seriously concerned about the proposed changes to the Labour Code. In a time of economic crisis in Belarus, further oppression of working people through national legislation could undermine social stability in Belarus. Under such circumstances, instead of attracting foreign investors to the country, the authorities run the risk of driving them away."