Guinea ratifies ILO Convention C176 on mine safety

The Guinean National Assembly approved the ratification of C176 and three other ILO Conventions on 26 December 2016. They include C189 on Domestic Workers, C167 on safety and health in construction, and C187 on the promotional framework for occupational safety and health. 

IndustriALL mining affiliate in Guinea, SYNAMIC/ONSLG, has long pushed for better working conditions in the sector and lobbied for ratification of C176. The country has some of the world’s largest high-grade bauxite and iron ore reserves. Gold mining is also becoming increasingly important to the economy.

IndustriALL facilitator and SYNAMIC/ONSLG general secretary, Mamadou Saliou Diallo, said:

“Ratification of C176 by Guinea is extremely important because many accidents happen without recognition of the employer. And if the employer is faced with a complaint, they can put their lawyers into action, which the workers can’t. So it puts even more emphasis on the elimination of risks in the workplace.”

Guinea becomes the 32nd country to ratify C176. IndustriALL has a global campaign to improve safety in mines through ratification and enforcement of the Convention.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary, Kemal Özkan, said:

We sincerely welcome this move by Guinea to ratify Convention 176. We hope that the government will work with employers, labour inspectors and unions to see that it is enforced so that workers can carry out their jobs in safety.

 

Death toll rises to 18 at Indian coal mine collapse

The tragedy occurred on the evening of 29 December when the overburden dump at Lalmatia mine slid 35 metres, trapping workers and excavation equipment, including around 26 Volvo trucks, under an estimated 9.5 million cubic meters of earth.

The mine is part of the Rajmahal open cast mining project operated by public-owned company Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), which is a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, one of the largest state-owned mining corporations in the world.

The National Disaster Response Force reached the accident site after about 17 hours and is still engaged in rescue operations.  Most of the trapped workers are contract workers, employed by an outsourced company, Mahalaxmi Private Limited. 

According to reports, just a few days before the tragedy took place, workers refused to work due to lack of safety measures. However, the company ignored all warning signs of minor mudslides in the weeks and days before the incident and forced workers to continue. The company does not have a list of workers who were engaged at the time of the incident and so far there has been no final confirmation of the number of workers who have died or been injured.

S Q Zama, Secretary General of IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Indian National Mineworkers’ Federation (INMF), said: 

Absolute negligence by the mine management and outsourced agency has caused this avoidable accident. It is unacceptable that the employers ignored all warnings by workers and violated all safety regulations. The government should punish all those who are responsible for this accident. India should immediately ratify and implement provisions of ILO Convention 176 on safety and health in mines to prevent such accidents in future.

ECL has announced ex-gratia compensation of Rs500,000 (US$7,300) to the families of the dead, in addition to the statutory compensation under Workmen Compensation Act. However, unions strongly criticized the low compensation being offered by ECL and the INMF is calling on the coal ministry to provide additional compensation of Rs2,000,000 (US$29,300) to the kin of each deceased worker. Unions have also demanded employment of the dependents of deceased workers, including contract workers.

Coal India has set up a high powered committee to probe into the incident, which is expected to submit its report within one month.  The INMF has also appealed the committee to hold discussions with trade union representatives on events leading to the accident.

According to official information, from 2013 to June 2016, 166 workers lost their lives in 159 incidents at Coal India. In the same period, 574 workers suffered serious injuries in approximately 558 serious accidents.

Worst of the worst – shipbreaking in Pakistan

Babul Khan sits in his home of two small huts a broken man. On 1 November 2016, his sons, 18-year-old Ghulam Hyder and 32-year-old Alam Khan, were helping to dismantle an oil tanker at the Gadani shipbreaking yard in Pakistan when it was blown apart in an enormous explosion.  A raging fire ensued and swept through the vessel taking two days to burn itself out.

Alam and his brother Ghulam had been draining oil from one of the ship’s tanks with a bucket when they were caught in the blast.  Alam was admitted to hospital with 100 per cent burns to his body. In his final agonizing hours he thanked the fishermen who rescued him and his co-workers from the sea. His brother Ghulam burnt to death in the ship.  

“The death of my sons feels like my both arms have been broken," says Khan. Ghulam and Alam, who had a son, were the sole providers for the family of seven that lives in the village of Gadani Morr.  

Eighteen-year-old Noor Bux was another worker from the same village to perish in the oil tanker inferno. He was the only breadwinner for a family of ten. His mother Zaloo cries as she looks at his identity photo card. "I feel angry and shattered, I feel so much pain and no one is helping me," she cries.

Official figures put the death toll at 28 in the disaster at Gadani, which is the world’s third largest shipbreaking yard.  Four people are missing and more than forty have been injured. But no one knows for sure how many workers were on board the ship at the time of the incident.

The night before the explosion, 24-year-old Sherdade went to the Gadani yard with other workers from his village. In the morning, his family heard about the fire and rushed to the site but they couldn’t find him. They searched hospitals in four different cities, they scoured local mortuaries and made enquiries with other workers, but they found no trace of him.

"We are angry. The government should help us find his whereabouts; at least they should find his body. We shall not believe he has died until we get his body," says his mother Allah Dini.   

Lowest standards of all

In an industry that is considered the most dangerous in the world, the Gadani shipbreaking yard is the worst of the worst. It employs around 12,000 workers none of whom are registered. Despite its size, there are no residential colonies for the workers at Gadani. Many live in small makeshift huts put together with scrap wood salvaged from ships.  There are no toilet or washing facilities so they must relieve themselves outside and take a bath in the open air. Many workers have families but there are no schools. There is no running water so workers spend a large part of their meager wages on buying water from a tanker brought from afar. Or they fetch polluted water from wells that makes them sick.

Sixty-year-old Naseeb Gul has been working as a daily labourer at the shipbreaking yard since 2009 but is not on the official records at Gadani. When he works, he is paid PKR 750 (US$7) for an eight hour day, six days a week.

Gul is a member of the Gadani Shipbreaking Workers’ Union, which is affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union through the National Trade Union Federation Pakistan (NTUF). He says workers are denied safety equipment and must buy their work clothes, shoes and helmets out of their own pocket.  "This is a very dangerous job and we are not paid enough for doing risky work. And there is no job security or safety, and working conditions are bad," he says.

Gul says shipbreaking workers are not given any training on how to work on the ship or explained how to carry out shipbreaking processes such as de-fuelling and removing gas.

Shipbreaking boom

Unlike shipbuilding, the shipbreaking industry is undergoing a boom and expected to triple in the next 25 years. But with the global price of steel currently so low, the temptation is for ship owners, brokers and breakers to go to the cheapest yards with the cheapest labour, to get the maximum return on their ships. The health and safety of workers, nor the environmental pollution caused by dangerous recycling practices, do not figure.

Aside from limited safety equipment and inadequate training, workers at shipbreaking yards face multiple risks, such as exposure to asbestos and other toxic substances, electrocution, burns, falling from the ship or being crushed under huge steel plates as the ships are dismantled.

It is no coincidence that most of the workers prepared to do the job at Gadani are from the poorest parts of Pakistan.

Following the fire, the Gadani yard was shut down for a month. It has reopened but working conditions are no better.  The authorities in Pakistan have yet to reveal the findings of an initial investigation into the incident but workers say that welding had already begun on the ship before it had been drained of oil, sparking the massive explosion.

The NTUF is demanding that the findings of the investigation are made public and that those responsible are held accountable. They are calling for the Pakistan government to ratify the The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, and implement a shipbreaking code that meets international guidelines.

‘Kept as slaves’

Over the years, democratic trade unions’ attempts to improve conditions at the yard have come under continuous resistance; often they are deregistered for inexplicable reasons and union officials are dismissed. Nasir Mansoor, deputy general secretary of the NTUF, says shipbreaking yard owners and contractors instead registered a bogus workers’ union with the authorities, allowing them to continue exploiting labourers at the Gadani yard: 

“The workers were forced to pay an extortion as fund monthly to this union and they were kept as slaves. Workers are deprived of all their rights such as safe working conditions, decent wages, social security, pensions, residence, safety equipment, and the right to form a democratic union in complete violation of labour laws in Pakistan.”

Compensation

The government has approved PKR500,000 (US$4,700) for each family of the deceased workers while the shipbreaking owners’ association has announced that it will contribute another PKR1.3million (US$12,300) for each family. The NTUF is asking for double the amount, and demanding that injured workers should be given PKR500,000 (US$4,700) each in compensation.

Kan Matsuzaki, IndustriALL director for shipbuilding and shipbreaking says:

How many workers need to die before the authorities in Pakistan wake up to the appalling conditions in shipbreaking yards in the country? These workers’ safety and dignity are treated with utter contempt by the government and the entire shipbreaking industry. Pakistan must act urgently to improve safety and inspection of the shipbreaking yards. We urge the government to ratify the Hong Kong Convention as a starting point.

Eighteen-year-old Mir Hasan Gadani, suffered serious burns to both of his arms after being caught in the oil-tanker blast and thrown from the ship. But he is prepared to risk his life again:  

I will go back to work because I have no other option. I am not literate and can't find another job, so even though it is dangerous, I have to go back.

Gas Natural Fenosa plans on keeping its Colombian subsidiary Electricaribe

The president of the Colombian trade union Sintraelecol, Pablo Emilio Santos, and William César Falcón, president of the union’s Sucre region, travelled to Madrid, Spain, for a meeting with Electricaribe’s parent company Gas Natural Fenosa. The aim was to get first-had information about the company’s plans for its workforce.

Electricaribe, an electricity distribution and marketing company that operates in northern Colombia, was privatized in 2000 and bought by the Spanish company Gas Natural Fenosa.

The meeting conducted a full analysis of Sintraelecol’s situation. The union representatives said there was too much subcontracting and too many temporary workers and pointed out that it was costing the company more to employ temporary workers than to employ workers directly. They also highlighted the low levels of investment in technology and said that this contributed to the company’s poor public image.

Gas Natural Fenosa management said the company planned to invest in Electricaribe and maintained that shareholders wanted to develop the subsidiary, as long as the country’s rules are clear enough to ensure the business can be viable. 

The company said it wanted measures to reduce arrears in bill payments and fraud and confirmed its commitment to maintain employment levels. However, the Colombian government, through the Superintendency of Residential Public Services, the country’s public utilities regulator, has temporarily taken control of the company.

Finally, the company gave assurances that it is willing to conduct rapid and transparent negotiations that will benefit Electricaribe workers once the government intervention in the company is over.

Diana Junquera, director of IndustriALL’s energy industry sector, said: 

“The future of 1,500 workers is at stake because of bad management. Some of them have been working for the company for more than 30 years. It is unacceptable that workers and their families are being made to pay for this injustice. IndustriALL Global Union urges the Colombian government to respect workers' rights and guarantee their jobs, whatever the future holds in store for the company”.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of IndustriALL Global Union and its Spanish affiliates, FICA UGT and CCOO Industry, who played a key role in facilitating the meeting between the company and the unions.

Sri Lanka garment workers protest over unpaid wages and benefits.

Since October 2016 almost 200 workers of the factory of whom 140 are members of the union, have been facing a number of problems including delayed salaries, unpaid gratuity to retired workers, company’s failure to contribute to social security fund as required by law, and other. The factory, which no longer executes export orders and produces mostly for local market, remains under the jurisdiction of the Board of Investment, a Sri Lankan authority responsible for export processing zones (EPZs).

The wages for the month of October 2016 were supposed to be paid on 10 November, but as no payment was done till 18 November, workers stopped the work. The stoppage forced management to pay 30 per cent of the due wages. However, office staff remains unpaid for the last three months. In the same time on 23 November management suspended both branch union president and chief organizer based on the charges for organizing a strike.

On 25 November management sent all the workers on leave till 5 December without paying rest of the due salaries. On 5 December, the factory remained closed and the gathered workers were again asked to come back ten days later and collect salaries due from October 2016. But on 15 December, when workers came to the factory, it was still locked. Neither director, nor CEO was present, and factory general manager and HR informed workers that the salaries could not be paid on that day and the factory would not be opened. A government representative, assistant commissioner of labour was then also present at the factory.

Outraged and desperate workers organized a protest in front of the factory demanding:

Workers also raised a number of these issues with the state labour department. The CIWU union will appeal to labour tribunal and demand reinstatement of the suspended unionists.

Belarusian unions call for abolishment of decree on “social parasitism”

Early December, Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko agreed to introduce certain amendments to a controversial decree on "social parasitism".

The current version of the decree reads that, "The citizens of the Republic of Belarus, foreign citizens and stateless persons who have received a permanent residence permit in the Republic of Belarus, in the case of their non-participation in the financing of public expenditures or participation in such financing less than 183 days of the fiscal period are recognized as payers of the tax for financing of public expenditures".

The initial idea was to ensure workers in the black economy paid taxes. Independent trade unions in Belarus believe that with 400,000 people unemployed and employment centres offering 20,000 vacancies, the decree will mean that many workers will have to pay for the fact that they cannot find a job.

Changes will be adopted before the end of the year. Local authorities will be able to make a decision about tax exemption for citizens who are in a difficult life situation, upon providing supporting documents to the tax office.

Gennady Fedynich, chairman of IndustriALL affiliate Belarusian Radio and Electronic Industry Workers' Union (REPAM), says:

“Local authorities don’t care about employees. If a public commission were created, which included representatives of independent trade unions and other stakeholders, then we would believe that decisions on tax exemption would be fair".

Other amendments will include expansion of the categories exempt from the tax, for instance sportsmen of the Belarus national team and other categories of citizens not receiving any income. The tax potentially can be paid later and its amount can be decreased, also people who have not yet paid the tax, will not be subject to punishment for the moment.

Alexander Buhvostov, chairman of Free Metalworkers' Union states:

“The decree should be abolished, not improved. It is in contradiction with ILO conventions and contains elements of forced labour. In a country where the economy is in crisis; enterprises cut production, work schedules are reduced or stopped, the unemployment rate is growing, people can't find work in small towns, this decree looks like a mockery.”

According to the Ministry of taxes, so far only 10,800 people paid their tax on “parasitism”, instead of 400,000 initially forecasted. In light of this REPAM sent the question about the decree’s effectiveness to all 123 tax inspection offices of Belarus. There were 65 answers received, which referred to a state secret.

Unions will continue their campaign for abolishment of the decree.

More on topic:

Belarusian unions oppose law calling unemployed "social parasites" 

Trade unions file OECD case against Renault-Nissan Alliance in three countries

Today in The Hague, Tokyo and Paris, the UAW and IndustriALL filed their case under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises against Renault-Nissan BV, Nissan and Renault, with the NCPs for the OECD of The Netherlands, Japan and France. The unions request that these NCPs support their calls to put an end to the systematic, prolonged and serious violations of labor rights that have been taking place at Nissan North America Inc.’s plant in Canton, Mississippi. The unions also hope the NCPs will attempt to mediate with all three entities as all have responsibility to undertake human rights due diligence concerning ongoing reported violations relating to the business activities of Nissan’s manufacturing facilities in Mississippi.

The violations condemned by the UAW and IndustriALL are documented in a report based on interviews with workers, testimonies and documents from Nissan. They include aggressive policies and practices of union avoidance, harassment and intimidation, which instill fear at work with the aim of preventing workers from securing union representation. For years, management at Nissan and Renault have repeatedly ignored calls from workers and policy-makers to use their powers to address these global human rights violations.

The UAW and IndustriALL previously submitted a case against Nissan and Nissan North America with the U.S. NCP. These proceedings ended in January 2015 with the Final Statement of the U.S. NCP confirming that the “issues raised by UAW/IndustriALL merited further examination under the Guidelines”, but noting that Nissan was not willing to accept the NCP’s offer of mediation.

The U.S. NCP also noted in its Final Statement that the NCPs of The Netherlands, Japan and France were consulted throughout the process and would remain available to offer assistance to the parties. While Nissan is a Japanese corporation, it is linked through cross-ownership with French automaker Renault, with Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn serving as CEO of both companies and of their Alliance, the Renault-Nissan BV incorporated in the Netherlands.

Having failed since then to obtain a remedy from Nissan, and in light of persistent and egregious violations of the OECD Guidelines, the UAW and IndustriALL are following the recommendations of the US NCP and seeking the assistance of the Dutch, Japanese and French NCPs with the hope of a fair union election in Mississippi. The NCPs will have three months to announce their recommendations.

IndustriALL General Secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has direct influence over the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi, and that's why we’re taking our case to the countries where the control lies. Nissan workers around the world are free to join a union but not in Canton, Mississippi. The harassment and intimidation of Nissan workers wanting to unionize must stop. IndustriALL has long backed UAW’s fight to represent workers at Canton, Mississippi, with actions in the U.S., Brazil, Switzerland and France, and we will not back down until the workers get a fair election.

UAW Secretary-Treasurer and Transnational Department Director Gary Casteel said:

The Renault-Nissan Alliance’s repeated failures to address the serious workers’ rights and civil rights violations in Mississippi are deeply troubling to the UAW and the workers’ allies, in the U.S. and around the world. We hope that OECD officials recognize the severity of the situation and will consider intervening in the interest of ensuring the health, safety and well-being of the hard-working employees in Canton. The UAW appreciates the firm support of IndustriALL in this matter.

A growing number of workers at Nissan’s plant in Canton, Mississippi, have expressed their desire for union representation as a reaction to poor and deteriorating working conditions. By some estimates, many of the 5,000 workers at Nissan’s Mississippi plant are temporary employees who work for years earning significantly lower wages and benefits than regular employees. Workers also are concerned about safety issues inside the plant which recently led to a fine by the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

The UAW is assisting workers who desire union representation, but Nissan has – over a period of years – worked overtime to undermine workers’ rights through threats and intimidation. The anti-worker situation in Mississippi has drawn attention from the U.S. State Department, the National Labor Relations Board, international labor allies, and even members of the European and French Parliaments and French government, the latter being the largest shareholder of Nissan’s partner, Renault. Renault currently holds 42.4 % of Nissan’s capital. The two companies formed the Renault-Nissan Alliance that is integrating key business segments, including human resources. Despite the growing criticism, Renault-Nissan refuses to back down.

OECD Guidelines

The OECD Guidelines are a unique set of government-backed international corporate accountability principles aimed at encouraging responsible business conduct. They establish minimum international standards for companies to meet in terms of labor and human rights for ensuring these rights are respected. The Guidelines also prescribe procedures for resolving disputes between corporations and civil society, trade unions or individuals negatively impacted by corporate activities. Governments that adhere to the Guidelines must establish a National Contact Point to promote the Guidelines and handle complaints against companies that have allegedly failed to adhere to Guidelines’ standards.

The ‘specific instance’ procedure – as the Guidelines’ complaint process is officially called – is focused on resolving disputes primarily through mediation and conciliation. The Final Statement issued by an NCP may include recommendations on the implementation of the Guidelines, as well as the NCP’s determination as to whether a breach of the Guidelines has occurred. However, the NCP process is a non-binding process so in cases where the company refuses to participate, or the parties cannot agree on the terms for mediation, or if mediation fails, the NCP may still issue its own Final Statement.

Update on the #Tipitapa12

Last week, IndustriALL launched a campaign in support of 12 workers in Nicaragua to be unconditionally released. The workers had been arrested and charged with "obstructing the police", after a spontaneous protest erupted in an export processing zone in Tipitapa when the factory fired the union reps after they raised concerns.

Around 4,000 signed a letter to the government of Nicaragua and to the Korean garment manufacturer SAE A Tecnotex, asking for the workers to be unconditionally released. Many unions sent letters of protest to their local Nicaraguan embassies.

However, on 16 December the 12 workers were sentenced: the union leaders to two years, the others to one-year house arrest. All of them have their political rights suspended and cannot leave the country. They cannot work and lose their current employment.

Criminalizing a labour protest in this way sets a very serious precedent.

All 12 workers are going to appeal the sentence on 9 January 2017.

Get your Congress special issue of the Global Worker now!

The new colourful edition includes a full report and pictures from our mighty IndustriALL 2nd Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Around 1,400 members from trade unions across the globe attended the Congress in October.

There’s also an interview with IndustriALL’s new General Secretary, Valter Sanches, and an insight into the political persecution being endured by former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva, who gave a rousing speech at the Congress opening ceremony.

Continuing the Latin American theme, there is a feature on trade unions’ role in the peace process in Colombia. A resolution supporting peace in the fractured country was unanimously adopted by IndustriALL affiliates at Congress.

Plus you can read about our newly approved affiliate in Iran, the Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran, which joined IndustriALL earlier this year.

Union building is an integral part of IndustriALL’s work and transforming how we organize is subject to a special report in this edition of Global Worker.

The challenges of organizing in Somalia as it emerges from a long civil war are immense, particularly in a society where the rule of law is weak. Read our fascinating interview with Omar Faruk Osman, general secretary of the Federation of Somali Trade Unions in our organizing in a fragile environment piece.

Plus if you subscribe to Global Worker you will find a stunning Congress poster to keep as a souvenir!

Welcome to global worker

The powerful IndustriALL 2nd Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in October, gathered more than 1,500 trade union delegates from more than 100 countries. They voted on a renewed action plan for the organization, and together with updated statutes we are in an even better position to fight for workers’ rights around the world.

Our Congress was an opportunity to show a fraction of the work that has been ongoing since the creation of IndustriALL in 2012. Using IndustriALL’s five goals, affiliates showcased and discussed building strong unions, confronting global capital, defending workers’ rights, sustainable industrial policy and precarious work.

Pages 10 – 19 display some of this. Congress adopted a number of solidarity resolutions, reaching out to unions around the world and showing our support. On pages 6 – 7 you can read more about the peace process in Colombia and the role unions play in bringing stability to the Latin American country.

Unions in South Korea are struggling against government attacks on labour rights. President Park, implicated in a corruption scandal, has attempted to make changes to Korean labour law that include permitting firing without due process, cutting wages for senior employees and allowing more outsourcing. Delegates in Brazil adopted a solidarity resolution supporting the struggle against the crackdowns.

IndustriALL offered further solidarity to trade unions in Korea during a global union mission in November. We joined a staggering one million people on the streets of Korea’s capital Seoul in a mass mobilization, calling for the immediate release of all workers imprisoned for trade union activities.

In early November we highlighted a tragic anniversary. It was a year since a dam at a mine in Mariana, Brazil, owned by BHP Billiton and Vale, broke. The toxic mud spill killed 19 people and caused lasting damage to the environment. IndustriALL joined hundreds of demonstrators for a rally, promising to hold the companies accountable and ensure that this could never happen again.

Climate change is a union issue. Last year’s climate conference COP21 in Paris was widely publicized and the outcomes include the necessary ingredients for a successful accord. A Just Transition for the industry is incorporated, and as unions we need to ensure that both workers and the environment are included. COP22 in Marrakesh, Morocco, comes a year later and the discussions continue with a strong union presence determined to show the way to a sustainable economy.

We will continue our relentless struggle to organize and defend workers in 2017, taking on the responsibility given to us by Congress. I look forward to carrying on the fight.

A luta continua!

Valter Sanches

General Secretary