Trade unions stand with Lula

PROFILE

Country: Brazil

Text: Léonie Guguen

www.brasiljustopratodos.com.br

The democratically elected President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, was ousted by a right wing coup under Michel Temer in May this year. Since then, workers’ rights in the country are being eroded and the persecution of Lula has intensified.

“The de facto government is reversing all we have achieved in the last 12 years. It has no respect for democracy, women or youth. We must defend our rights. We need your support,” said Lucineide Varjão, president of Brazilian affiliate the national chemical workers federation (CNQ/CUT) in proposing the resolution.

Since coming to power, Temer has begun to cut back social programmes in Brazil and installed an all-white, all-male cabinet, last seen in 1979.

“What we have seen with the current government of Brazil is the social rights of workers being destroyed. There is a proposal for labour reform to be voted on in Congress that would generalize outsourcing, which will hinder the rights of workers. We need to have the solidarity and support of all unions in IndustriALL,” said Jaoao Paulo Da Costa Cunha from Brazilian metalworkers’ union CNTM.  

Speaking at the opening ceremony at IndustriALL’s Congress, Lula said:

“We were making real progress in Brazil, creating good jobs, building a powerful, sustainable economy. But the coup by the right wing threatens to undo all of this.

“We need to take advantages of democratic spaces that are still open to us. We need to fight for the rights we have won, and demonstrate to the world that we can do things differently.”

IndustriALL affiliates at Congress resolved to join the ITUC campaign to defend former President Lula for the legal abuses perpetrated against him in Brazil, as well as to denounce the powerful vested interests that seek to limit his freedom of political action.

Lula was born into poverty and became a metalworker at the age of 14. As a leader of the ABC Metalworkers union, he led a wave of strikes in the 1970s that saw him being imprisoned under the military dictatorship. He was one of the founders of the Workers Party in 1980 and went on to become Brazil’s most popular president, introducing social changes that lifted 30 million out of poverty and promoted a thriving economy.

His personal approval ratings when he left office in January 2011, were the highest ever recorded in Brazil at more than 80 per cent.

However, his popularity is a threat to neo-liberal forces in Brazil who have embarked on relentless campaign to undermine him. In the past year, Lula has been forced to give testimony five times to the Federal Police and the Federal Attorney General’s Office. In March this year he was forcibly and illegally taken from his home by to give a statement.

There have been 38 search and seizure warrants at the homes of Lula, his family, employees of his institute and his associates. State agencies have leaked details of his banking and tax records to the press, as well as those of his family, the Lula Institute and his public speaking company. He has had his phone tapped and communications over the internet accessed, and so have his family and even his attorneys.

Despite no evidence of any wrongdoing by Lula, the Temer-backed Public Ministry is pressing ahead with charges against him and his wife in relation to the corruption investigation into state-oil company Petrobras.

In October 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Committee announced it will examine allegations that Sergio Moro, the lead judge in the Petrobras investigation, had "violated Lula's right to privacy, his right not to be detained arbitrarily and his presumption of innocence."

A new movement of unions, political parties and civil society, called For a just Brazil for all and for Lula, has been established with the aim of restoring democracy and ending the political persecution of Lula.

Lula’s remains the favourite to win a Presidential election in 2018. However, if he were to be found guilty of corruption, he would be unable to run for office.

To sign up to the ITUC campaign and stand with Lula go to: www.standwithlula.org.

LafargeHolcim message heard “Workers’ rights are human rights”

Mobilizations and rallies took place in the Americas, Europe and Africa where members of IndustriALL Global Union, the Building and Woodworkers’ International (BWI) and the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) used the slogan “Workers’ rights are human rights” to declare loud and clear that they would not tolerate violation of workers’ human rights and would continue raising their voice on behalf of workers in LafargeHolcim.

Some like the Uganda Building Workers’ Union used the day of action to launch an organizing drive and bring more outsourced workers at LafargeHolcim into their ranks. In Lebanon workers held general assembly dedicated to the global day of action.

Others, like the PTHI union in Indonesia used the day to voice their discontent and disagreement with management over company risky plans, which the union believes would eliminate permanent jobs and increase precarious work.

PCWC members in the Philippines supported the day of action with their members’ mobilizations and meetings, while on the other side of the world in the USA, United Steelworkers at Allegheny Technologies Steel who were locked out last year extended their strong solidarity support to locked out USW members at Texada in Canada. The same day United Steelworkers bargaining a new contract at LafargeHolcim’s rival Heidelberg Cement also showed their support to their brothers and sisters at LafargeHolcim.

Workers’ demands remain unchanged since 2015 when the company merged. The global unions want a functioning social dialogue repeatedly promised by management in order to tackle unsolved issues, including:

Matthias Hartwich, IndustriALL construction materials director said,

“LafargeHolcim claims to be market leader and benchmark in the sector. Now it is high time for them to show that they are serious: LafargeHolcim has to keep its promises to workers and build a meaningful social dialogue that helps to safe workers’ lives and workers’ rights. ”

DNO Yemen has property seized for failing to pay workers

In August 2016 the company was ordered to pay its workers or face having its property and assets seized. The company appealed that ruling, however on 23 November 2016 the final decision of the court of appeal was in favour of the 175 workers. According to the DNO Yemen Union the company left the country the same day without an official handover of at least part of its properties and assets. DNO has so far failed to pay due redundancy packages to their workers. Yemeni authorities have now seized DNO’s property, bank accounts and vehicles in Yemen.
 
DNO is an Norwegian oil company with an annual turnover of over US170$ million employing approximately 1,000 workers. After the war broke out in Yemen in March 2015 the company halted its operations. A few months later, in June the company notified its workers through SMS and emails of their dismissal. No work related compensation, let alone wages have been paid back.
 
The company used to pay the lowest wages in Yemen compared to other oil companies operating in the country. Back in 2013 and 2014 workers organized a number of wage related strikes. Management responded with a written threat to dismiss all striking workers in violation of workers’ legal rights to strike in Yemen. The company has investments in countries such as Iraq, Tunisia, Somaliland, Oman, UAE and until recently Yemen.

Once aware of the case of workers deprived of their due income, IndustriALL Norwegian affiliate IndustriEnergi raised the case of Yemeni workers both nationally and internationally. Commenting on the seizure of DNO's assets to Norwegian business newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv, Leif Sande, IndustriEnergi president and co-chair of the IndustriALL energy sector said “the verdict and the seizure of DNO’s properties and assets are very good and appropriate”.
 
On 16 November DNO signed a letter of intent to start operations in Iran. After the fact became known publicly, IndustriEnergi sent an official letter to the National Iranian Oil Company denouncing DNO’s misconduct in Yemen and warning them from working with DNO.
 
IndustriALL global union assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan pledged IndustriALL's support to Yemeni workers saying,

“It is scandalous what DNO has done in Yemen. Leaving with no pay those who worked for the company for more than ten years especially in time when the war broke out in the country. We join our affiliate IndustriEnergi’s efforts and will exert all our pressure on the company and will not stop until they pay out the last penny due to the workers.”

Justice for the Tipitapa 12

The protest took place in June this year outside the Korean-owned SAE-A Tecnotex garment factory, in an export processing zone – Zona Franca Senika – in Tipitapa, near the capital Managua.

Union leaders at the factory raised concerns about animal hairs found in the drinking water, and about unrealistic production targets. They were fired for speaking out.

Three thousand workers downed tools to support their union leaders, and protested outside the factory. They were joined by family members, workers from other factories, and passersby. Riot police arrived to suppress the protest, and arrested 13 people, including a minor and two taxi drivers who had nothing to do with the protest.

The minor was released, but twelve people were charged by the state prosecutor with obstructing the police. They include three trade unionists, six workers from neighbouring factories, the two taxi drivers, and the mother of one of the trade unionists.

They were found guilty two weeks ago, and are currently awaiting sentencing. This is expected to happen before the Christmas holidays. They could receive up to three years in prison.

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches said:


“IndustriALL has written to the president of Nicaragua, the prosecutor and to the company, asking that the charges be dropped and the workers unconditionally released.
 
“These letters have been ignored.
 
“IndustriALL has now launched a campaign, with LabourStart, calling for the charges to be dropped.”
 

Please send a message here.
 
A number of IndustriALL affiliates are also writing to Nicaraguan embassies urging them to pass on their concerns. The present government was elected on the strength of the Sandinista legacy, which is associated with the defense of democratic freedoms. It has a responsibility to defend the rights of workers.
Nicaragua recently signed a trade deal with Korea, a country notorious for repressing union rights. On Monday, the leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Han Sang-gyun, was sentenced to three years in prison. There are concerns that the Tipitapa twelve are being used to send a signal to Korea that labour protests will not be tolerated in export processing zones.

SAE-A Tecnotex is a multinational apparel producer, with 41 factories in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Haiti, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia. The factory in Nicaragua employs 3,000 people, and makes clothes for the US market. The biggest client is JC Penney, but the company also produces for other brands, including Kohl’s, Target and Walmart.
 
IndustriALL has written to the companies asking them to put pressure on their supplier.

Take action

Please take action by supporting the LabourStart campaign. Please also share this story on social media, and retweet or share some of the messages below.

IndustriALL 2nd Congress, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil3-7 October 2016

CONGRESS REPORT

OPENING CEREMONY

BERTHOLD HUBER, IndustriALL President 2012-2016

“We are a union federation based on the principle of mutual solidarity. We stand together, we are friends and allies. We do not let anyone down whether he or she works in the mining, chemical and energy, textile and garment, metal or electronics industry, or whether he or she has a permanent or precarious or atypical job or works in the informal sector. Unity makes us strong. It is only together that we can move things forward. This also means that IndustriALL is only strong when everybody advocates for it.”

MIGUEL TORRES, President CNTM/ Força Sindical

“There are many different threats from politicians and business people trying to break union power. To face such challenges, the Brazilian union movement has made a huge effort to advance an alternative, to increase average income and guarantee education for all. We greet all delegates in the name of unity, so that we can consolidate and advance the global union movement to confront capital. We must show the unity of all workers!”

PAULO CAYRES, President CNM/CUT

“Democracy is a right that is non-negotiable. After 38 years of struggle we have been able to change our country. We have been able to lift 36 million people from absolute poverty. But the rich cannot accept this and will continue to try to undo the work we have done.

Comrade Lula is the one who brought about all the change, and he is under attack. We need to defend him.”

LULA DA SILVA, President of Brazil 2003-2011

“I joined the labour movement in 1969 when I was 24. By 1972 I was a rank and file delegate. I became president of my chapter of the Brazilian metalworkers’ union in 1975. In 1980, I was banned by the military regime, because of the strikes we organized.

Why am I telling you this? Because the struggle goes on. The struggle will go on for a long time, if we are not careful.

We were making real progress in Brazil, creating good jobs, building a powerful, sustainable economy. But the coup by the right wing threatens to undo all of this. I say with pleasure and pride: another world is possible.”

AFRO LATA from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro

In 1998, a young group from Vicar General, a favela in the north of Rio met and formed a band. Despite the lack of conventional percussion instruments, they started playing with broomstick pieces, oil cans, barrels and plastic buckets. Self-taught, they learned percussion completely intuitively. Proving that music is a truly democratic art; the Afro Lata group was born.

YOUTH IN ACTION

A vibrant intervention from Juventud en movimiento – Youth in Action!

80 young trade unionists from Latin America, Germany, Russia, Japan and Austria made a surprise entrance into the Congress hall with tambourines, banners and flags chanting “I am IndustriALL”.

On 3 October a Youth Event was held to ensure active participation of young trade unionists from all over the world. It also provided a platform to plan an intervention at the Congress plenary. Participants discussed the need to provide training for young people, creating opportunities for youth within trade union structures and the creation of affirmative and specific policies for youth.

"Young people are both the present and the future of the labour movement. Unions need to give them space to develop as future union leaders,"

said  Jyrki Raina, IndustriALL General Secretary 2012-2016

BUILDING STRONG UNIONS

Organizing and retaining members is IndustriALL’s number one priority.

Strong industrial unions are the basis of bargaining power and legitimacy as the global voice of working people. Through organizational development, IndustriALL builds strong, united, democratic, independent, representative and self-sustaining trade unions throughout the world.

MARTIN LINDER, Unionen, Sweden

“In 2010, Unionen was losing members and something needed to be done. We decided to shift focus from problem solving to improvement provider. With the help from superheroes and traditional advertising, we made people see that being a member of a union can give you superpowers.”

BENEDICTA MOHAPI MAMAKALO, IDUL, Lesotho

“Textile and garment is the main industry in Lesotho. Five different unions used to organize the 40,000 workers in our small country. But despite dynamic trade unionists, the workers’ conditions have not improved in years. But with the support of IndustriALL, the three biggest unions in Lesotho started to work together. A joint campaign on maternity leave led to its extension from one to four weeks.”

RANE VIDYADHAR SMEFI, India

“The SMEFI has gone from zero to 20,000 members in the last ten years. 10,000 members were gained from 2012, when IndustriALL was created. The organizing focuses not only on India, but is now expanding to Bangladesh and Pakistan where more than 50,000 workers in shipbreaking are waiting for our union support.

SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRIAL POLICY

Industry is a key driver of jobs and development for national economies and the foundation of good living standards. IndustriALL is calling for strong industrial policies that advance social, economic and environmental sustainability. IndustriALL will not leave decisions about the future of our industries, our jobs and our planet to multinational companies and market forces. We will take action to promote our vision of sustainable industries and industrial jobs to governments and employers. Through IndustriALL we make the voice of industrial workers heard!

RALF BARTELS IGBCE, Germany

“There are no jobs on a dead planet, and there is no sustainable development without peace and security. There are no energy reforms with bankrupt companies and jobless workers. Thus, we struggle for a planet with global warming limited to two degrees Celsius or less. We struggle for peace and social security. We struggle for energy reforms that lead workers to environmentally friendly jobs and to jobs that are more decent as well.”

ISSA AREMU NUTGTWN, Nigeria

“Africa is a wealthy continent, blessed with an abundance of raw materials. Yet we don’t profit from this, because value is added further up the supply chain, after we have exported the raw materials.”

ULRIKA JOHANSSON Unionen, Sweden

“Around half of all jobs will disappear due to the rise of robots, what it shows is that a number of occupations are more susceptible to automation than others. Many of these jobs will not disappear, but change in character and nature. A famous example is how bank tellers were affected by the introduction of ATMs. Rather than becoming unemployed, the bank tellers shifted to becoming salespeople of financial products.”

CLAUDIA BLANCO, SINTRACARBON, Colombia

“The future is in all our hands. The action we take now will influence the kind of world our children will live in. Together, we can transform our industries to bring dignity, security and sustainability to all.”

CONFRONTING GLOBAL CAPITAL

IndustriALL makes the voice of workers heard globally, building power to influence the global companies and institutions whose decisions and policies affect the lives of working people. Affiliated unions organize along the supply chains of multinational corporations, and hold them accountable for salaries and working conditions of all the workers who create their profits, consistent with their responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

TONY MAHER, CFMEU, Australia

“ IndustriALL has had a number of campaigns. The campaign against Rio Tinto, the mining giant, is the flagship. The campaign has been far-reaching, professional and tough. Rio Tinto is changing. We do have dialogue with the company. But we won’t let them off the hook until we are convinced that the change is fundamental.”

CAROLINE BLOT FGMM-CFDT, France

“IndustriALL has negotiated 48 global framework agreements. These don’t prevent problems from arising, but they provide a mechanism to solve them.”

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE SCIBERRAS Head of Group Industrial Relations &

Social Innovation, Solvay, addresses the congress in a video message:

“We believe in social dialogue, trust and transparency. Being challenged by an independent organization can only bring us further. For us IndustriALL is a strong challenger. If we cheat they will know. We talk, we exchange, and together we improve.”

Affiliates took to the stage, saying:

“We hold C&A responsible”

“We hold Uniqlo responsible”

“We hold Kik responsible”

“We hold all brands responsible”

DEFENDING WORKERS’ RIGHTS

IndustriALL is a fervent defender of workers’ rights and employs all possible means to exert pressure on the companies and governments that violate them.

When faced with attacks on workers and unions, IndustriALL’s global strength is used in targeted actions by affiliates and in strategic alliances with related organizations and other campaigners. The goal is universal recognition of workers’ rights to freedom of association, collective bargaining and to strike, safe and healthy workplaces and an end to all forms of workplace discrimination.

MICHELE O’NEIL, Textile Clothing and Footwear Union, Australia

“Australian unions heeded the call for solidarity by IndustriALL affiliate FTZGSEU on behalf of the fired workers. We publicly campaigned and had many of Ansell’s glove and condom customers demand Ansell respect workers’ rights. We protested at Ansell’s head office and at their Annual General Meeting of shareholders. And we told Ansell leadership we would not give up the fight.”

SQ ZAMA from India, spoke on behalf of ANTON MARCUS, FTZGSEU Sri Lanka

“That support forced Ansell’s CEO to sit down and negotiate with us for the first time ever. We were able to reach an agreement with Ansell and the fired strikers are returning to work.”

MATS SVENSSON, IF Metall, Sweden

“IF Metall is supporting the global campaign to defend workers’ rights in South Korea. We’ve lobbied the South Korean embassy in Sweden and sent solidarity delegations to South Korea. And we’re ready to do more.”

SEONGSANG KIM, KMWU, Korea

“South Korean unions greatly appreciate the support that IF Metall and IndustriALL affiliates around the world have offered in this struggle. We have a long hard battle ahead of us, and we appreciate your continuing support.”

STOP PRECARIOUS WORK

IndustriALL is campaigning to raise awareness on how precarious work undermines workers’ rights and has a big impact on the whole society. Through organizing, bargaining, campaigning and fighting legislation, campaigning to STOP Precarious Work in all its forms is a priority and will continue until all workers have access to a secure job with all their rights protected, including the right to join a trade union.

LANA PAYNE UNIFOR, Canada

“Our bargaining program contains an important directive to bargain away contract work by lifting the floor for our members in lowwaged and precarious jobs and by enhancing stability, security and work-life balance for our members across the industrial spectrum.”

IGOR DIAZ LOPEZ, SINTRACARBON, Colombia

“In SINTRACARBON we changed our union structure to enable the affiliation of precarious workers and worked to ensure their inclusion in collective bargaining agreement, which in turn improved their working conditions. We will not rest until we achieve not only the affiliation of outsourced workers but real changes in legislation in Colombia for outsourced workers.”

MARIA CARMO, CNQ/CUT, Brazil

“I started outsourcing work through a cleaning company. My salary was half than that of my colleagues. I was getting sick from inhaling the gasses of the materials. Everyday I could be given a different time to work. I couldn’t plan my social life, study or have a family life. With my union I’ve recovered my self-esteem. All workers should have the same benefits regardless if they are contract or permanent workers. And they all need to be unionized.”

A group of affiliates shouted together “nao nao nao a precarização” (no no no to precarious work). The new STOP Precarious Work logo was unveiled as they all march through the Congress hall.

STOP PRECARIOUS WORK AT RIO TINTO

To mark the World Day for Decent Work hundreds of photos were shared on social media of Congress delegates holding a banner calling on mining giant Rio Tinto to STOP Precarious Work at all their operations around the world.

JYRKI RAINA General Secretary 2012-2016

“We have launched a new era in global union solidarity. We need the greatest possible unity to fight capital. The workers of the world do not need 600 different unions: unions need to unite their forces for the benefit of workers. We need to build real industrial muscle.”

INDUSTRIALL 2ND CONGRESS IN RIO ELECTED A NEW LEADERSHIP FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS

JÖRG HOFMANN IndustriALL President

“Your commitment has made this Congress into a very lively exchange. We, the trade unions of IndustriALL, have established a very good action plan. We must become the counterweight to global capitalism.”

VALTER SANCHES IndustriALL General Secretary

“All our action plan points are related; we can’t talk about fighting precarious work without talking about union building, confronting global capital and defending workers’ rights. We see that precarious work always finds a way, even in Germany, which has the highest standards of all.

The only we can move forward is to help strengthen our unions in the region.”

JENNY HOLDCROFT IndustriALL assistant general secretary

“Confronting global capital is one of the most important parts of our action plan. We heard that global capital seeks to optimise profits. We heard that trade agreements are affecting workers’ rights.

We need to protect the interest of workers. We need union tools to work. We have no global architecture for unions to work. It is up to us to build it. We are successfully building global framework agreements. We are truly proud of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, we need more agreements like that. We will continue to fight and we will win!”

ATLE HØIE IndustriALL assistant general secretary

“It is unfortunate that we have to defend fundamental workers’ rights, rights that we won a long time ago. But solidarity works. I expect many of you will request the support of IndustriALL when your rights come under attack.

We will support you. At the same time, I ask that when we request your solidarity, you will extend it too.”

KEMAL ÖZKAN IndustriALL assistant general secretary

“The old ways of thinking about industrial policy, not taking into account the social and environmental impacts, will no longer work. Every discussion on sustainable industrial policy must include a plan for a Just Transition. There will be changes, whether we act or not. However, if we do not demand measures to ensure a Just Transition, we are guaranteed an unjust one. If a sustainable future is our goal, a Just Transition is the bridge that will take us there.”

GUEST SPEAKERS

GUY RYDER ILO, Director General

“The formation of IndustriALL was good news for the world’s workers. This Congress is meeting in traumatic circumstances. We have a global economy that has lost the capacity and will to grow, since the financial crisis of 2008. And there is more bad news coming our way. This means mass unemployment, and young people will be the first victims. Let us reflect on our challenges. This is a moment when every act of the democratic process brings with it the realisation that what was once unthinkable is now possible, and in some cases happening. Economic collapse has brought social crisis and grave political dangers. As our economy changes, the future of work must be decided by us, not for us.”

SHARAN BURROW ITUC, General Secretary

“The global economic model is broken, and the rich and corrupt are on the move. Right here in Brazil we have a coup, against the work of our brother, former president Lula. Lula’s legacy, the union legacy, is being torn up right now. In supply chains, millions of workers have no chance of decent work without us. There is a hidden workforce, making up 90 per cent of workers in supply chains. This model is broken. Enough is enough. We demand an ILO Convention on supply chains. We demand the rule of law.

We have released a global scandal report: Samsung Exposed. This is one of the most evil examples of out of control supply chains. We have corporate capture of the state: workers’ rights are being attacked at the behest of capital. Jyrki, you are a great union leader and a great friend. I wish you all the best. I welcome the new leadership team, who are great brothers and sisters.”

CONGRESS ADOPTED A NUMBER OF SOLIDARITY RESOLUTIONS

SOUTH KOREA

Emergency resolution on South Korea The president of IndustriALL affiliate Korean Metal Workers Union (KMWU) Sang Gu, told Congress that the government is removing laws protecting workers and calling it labour reform. Workers and unions are under attack, and the South Korean government is not adequately guaranteeing freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining agreements. Congress participants were given red headbands and endorsed the resolution in true Korean style!

COLOMBIA

PABLO SANTOS SINTRAELECOL Colombia

“We call for a responsible solution to bring peace. The Nobel committee has taken the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to President Santos. It is major step to recognize the efforts towards peace. We have millions of people displaced, and hundreds of people including trade unionists assassinated. We unanimously support this resolution. The moment of solidarity is now.”

FORD

ANNE DONNELLEN AMWU, Australia

“For many years, Ford plants had high levels of unionization. Ford has taken the decision to reduce car making in Australia. We cannot be silent about the closure of Ford in Australia – it is devastating. The automobile industry has provided jobs to thousands and thousands of workers and many of those jobs will be lost. I call upon you to support this resolution based on the principles of our global solidarity for Ford workers and their families, and a collective condemnation of the neoliberal thinking of the governments.”

VOLKSWAGEN

KRISTYNE PETER UAW, USA

“160 skilled trade workers at the Volkswagen plant voted to join the UAW. However, Volkswagen refused to recognize the union. The company refuses to comply with its own global framework agreement with IndustriALL. It refuses to comply with US labour law. This case has the potential to impact all workers in all unions across the world.”

TONY BURKE Unite the Union, UK

“VW must immediately stop stalling and start talking. If it’s acceptable to negotiate with workers in Germany, how can they refuse to negotiate with UAW workers in America? Valter, you must put them on notice that we will revert our agreement with VW if they don’t negotiate with workers in Chattanooga.”

CARLTON-UNITED BREWERIES

ANDREW DETTMER AMWU, Australia

“The union boycott of CUB products has resulted in a significant loss of sales. This resolution asks for your support to condemn the actions of InBev and solidarity for the reinstatement of the 55 CUB maintenance workers.”

BRAZIL

LUCINEIDE VARJAO CNQ/CUT, Brazil

“Workers in the world are facing serious attacks. In Brazil the coup government is implementing an agenda that removes rights and social benefits. What we have achieved in the past 12 years is being reversed by the government coup. This government does not respect democracy, women, and youth. Rights should not be reduced; we need your support!”

Free and independent trade unions fight for workers’ rights in Iran

PROFILE

Union: Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran (UMMI)

Country: Iran

Text: Walton Pantland

The Iranian free and independent union movement fights for fundamental labour rights, despite repression, imprisonment, executions, and extrajudicial murder.


UMMI was originally formed in 1960. After 1983 the union was forced to operate underground for more than two decades, but since 2005, it has operated openly. Although not officially recognized by the state or employers, UMMI represents a considerable number of workers in vehicle assembly, components factories, steel plants and detergent companies.


The union is not able to operate openly in the workplace, as workers suspected of being union members are dismissed and arrested. Despite this, the union is able to mobilize workers, who are inspired by UMMI’s independence, militancy and resistance.


Iran is ruled by an authoritarian theocratic regime, and is considerably behind international standards on labour rights. It has yet to ratify the core International Labour Organization Conventions 87 and 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining.


In theory, workers have the right to organize, but union organization in the workplace is not allowed. Strikes are suppressed by the security forces, militia and riot police. Earlier this year, 17 workers from the Agh Darreh gold mine in West Azerbaijan were publicly flogged for protesting the firing of 350 of their colleagues.

Iran was ruled by a Western-backed monarch, the Shah, until the revolution of 1979. The revolution had leftist and anti-imperialist tendencies aspiring for fundamental reform of the economic, social and political order, and was supported by general strikes in the oil industry and many other sectors. Many Iranians hoped it would improve the lives of ordinary people.

Islamists took control of the movement under Ayatollah Khomeini, who promised socio-economic reforms. These promises were betrayed, and independent workers’ organizations were repressed, leading to UMMI operating underground.


The government has a monopoly on workplace organization, and the labour ministry supports the Workers’ House of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It sponsors pro-regime Islamic Labour Councils, tripartite organizations containing worker and employer representatives and government appointees. It is nominally a national labour centre, affiliated to the World Federation of Trade Unions, but is in reality controlled and funded by the Iranian government.


Islamic Labour Councils manage industrial relations and discourage industrial action,  operating as instruments of the state in the workplace. They are hugely unpopular in the Iranian labour movement and violently oppose independent trade unions.

UMMI leader Maziyar Gilaninejhad says:

“In the thirty years that these institutions have been active, they have been controlled by the ministry and have no independent function. They are not worker organizations as they are ideologically exclusive – belief in Islam is a pre-condition of membership. They are state-controlled religious organizations. They have never done anything positive for workers.”

Iranian workers face a new challenge: the influx of foreign capital and further liberalization of the labour market. Since the revolution, Iran has faced sanctions and international isolation. But after the country signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – also known as the Iran nuclear deal – with the great powers, sanctions have been lifted, and foreign companies are investing.

To make the country more attractive to investors, the government has moved to further weaken labour law and remove protections for workers. On 15 November workers’ representatives and trade union activists protested against these changes outside the Iranian parliament (Majlis) in Tehran. 

All independent trade unions participated in the protest, called by the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company. UMMI has said that the removal of minimum protections for workers is the red line which, if crossed, will be confronted by the determined response of the Iranian working class.   

Gilaninejhad says:

“If the government keeps conceding to finance capital, we will not benefit from foreign investment. The IMF wants Iran to provide cheap and deregulated labour for foreign investors. Iran’s government has created special trade and commerce zones that are excluded them from coverage by the labour law.

 “Will the influx of foreign investment lead to the import of modern technology into the country, or would we continue fastening nuts and bolts only?”

“Taking Iran’s free and independent trade unions into the family of the global movement is an important step for the country’s workers. International affiliation will help to strengthen UMMI’s position in Iran, and offer protection to its members,” says Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary. 

Transforming how we organize

SPECIAL REPORT

Text: Alexander Ivanou

At its 2nd Congress, IndustriALL Global Union defined its mission as building union power and defending workers’ rights in its sectors. Increasing union membership and getting members more active in their unions are among the most important activities IndustriALL promotes and supports.

The task is enormous. According to the International Trade Union Confederation at the global level only 7 per cent of workers are organized in free and independent trade unions.

REDISCOVER ORGANIZING

Before focusing on organizing, Finnish Metalworkers’ Union faced the dilemma of an inactive and dwindling membership in a rich European country. By the 1970s trade unions had been instrumental in improving labour standards and had a achieved a binding national collective agreement across the metalworking sector. 40 years later, the union’s position was much less strong.

The union started with a mapping exercise. One of the first discoveries at the smaller sites was that conditions did not meet the standards in the national agreement.

The union decided not to act in the traditional way, which meant sending a union representative from the national headquarter to demand the employer to immediately deal with violations, or if not go to court. Instead the union helped workers set up an organizing committee and elect shop stewards, so that the local union could lead the fight themselves.

Teaching the workers and finding out what they wanted to change was a challenge. An important discovery was that the workers’ concerns in the workplace often differed from issues covered in the collective agreement.

Haarahiltunen says that things that seemed minor, like the date when salaries are paid out or the number of parking spaces, could actually become key issues, allowing workers to decide themselves on the priorities and run powerful organizing campaigns around those priorities.

Organizing is not an easy task and the availability of resources and a dedicated union leadership are decisive factors. Haarahiltunen says that is needed from the start, as so much can go wrong. For the Finnish Metalworkers’ Union, the organizing drive has resulted in a more active membership and 13,000 new members, around ten per cent of the total union membership.

The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) is facing declining union membership and power in North America According to Tyler Brown, executive director of the industrial sector at IBB, only seven per cent of private sector workers in the US are unionized.

“IBB Construction locals in the western United States agreed to start an organizing fund that will allow hiring around 15 new organizers within the next year or two. It is a pilot project, but if it proves successful it can be used in other parts of the United States.”

Boilermakers are successfully revitalizing organizing in both the US and Canada. The union is using new legislation issued by the US National Labor Relations Board, allowing them to enter into facilities and organize smaller groups of workers.

Traditionally, the industrial sector allowed only for organizing of the entire facility, which meant that a majority was needed for unionization. Under the new conditions, the union can start organizing from smaller groups with the aim to expand the union later.

ORGANIZE TRANSNATIONALLY

In 2015, German union IG Metall decided to put more resources into organizing transnationally. Many German companies, particularly in the auto industry operate on a global level and employ more people abroad than in Germany. Maintaining union power in those companies requires building strong unions wherever they operate.

IG Metall joined forces with US union United Automobile Workers and the metalworkers’ union VASAS in Hungary. Together they developed a fast track communication system enabling them to and help partner unions to organize workers at German companies abroad. The project focuses specifically on auto suppliers in southern USA and western Hungary.

Through the project, trade unions in the US and Hungary will get support in their organizing drives at German-owned auto companies, and at the same time IG Metall helps to ensure it has a strong union partner at German auto companies’ operations abroad.

INDIA

In 2015, 19,200 new workers in the steel, mining and energy sectors were organized, using trainings on union building, workshops on occupational safety and health, rallies and gate meetings.

ZAMBIA

IndustriALL’s union building project aims to increase and better target organizing. In 2015, this resulted in 8,440 new members.

INDONESIA

In 2013, Indonesian affiliates organized some 12,000 members in the metal sector. In 2014, thanks to the organizing project over 15,000 members were organized, and through the Organizing sustainable metal and mining unions project another 6,500 new members joined IndustriALL in 2015.

KYRGYZSTAN

IndustriALL affiliate Mining and Metallurgy Trade Union of Kyrgyzstan (MMTUK) has recruited 12,000 workers since 2008. By a targeted approach to organizing, membership has gone from 8,000 to 20,000. One component of the organizing was a string of one-day training and consultancy workshops organized by IndustriALL regional office.

ORGANIZE WITH INDUSTRIALL

Based on affiliates’ experience, IndustriALL has developed a set of key principles for unions to practice as a basis for successful organizing:

These principles are helping to guide IndustriALL organizing work, including support for IndustriALL organizing projects. IndustriALL runs organizing projects around the globe, primarily in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Focus is on encouraging and enabling affiliates to develop a permanent organizing culture and to run their own organizing programs.

All projects are aimed at action and unity building, while cultivating an inclusive organizing culture involving women, nonmanual, youth, precarious workers and migrants – parts of the workforce that unions have historically marginalized or ignored but which they must focus on in order to stay relevant.

In 2014-2015, IndustriALL projects helped affiliates organized over a quarter million new members into their unions.

India: Thousands of workers lose employment and wages

On 8 November, Indian Prime Minister Modi announced that Rs 1,000 (US$14.8) and Rs 500 (US$7.4) notes, which constituted 86 per cent of the total cash in the country, would no longer be legal tender by midnight. The government called on people to exchange their old notes and get new currency at the banks.

Involving 1.3 billion people, this massive exercise was said to bring unaccounted cash (popularly known as black money in India) into the system, to check counterfeit currency and to stop funding terrorist activities in India.

However, as old notes have not been replaced by new currency one month after the announcement, there is a lack of cash at the banks and cash machines. This has painful consequences for people across the country.

Poor penetration of the banking system and a minimal use of debit and credit cards, as well as other online transactions, have made matters worse. According to the World Bank, over 86 per cent of Indian workers receive wages in cash. Only 53 per cent of adults have bank accounts, and only 39 per cent of account holders have a bank card.

Rural areas, where more than 60 per cent of the total population live, are worst affected with limited banking reach. Only about five bank branches and four cash machines are available per 100,000 people in rural areas, while urban areas have 18 branches and 37 cash machines for the same amount of people.

Rajendra Prasad Singha of the Hind Mazdoor Sabha trade union centre and executive committee member of IndustriALL says:

Central trade unions oppose the demonetization drive. It has caused enormous distress and misery to millions of workers and common people with loss of employment, wages and livelihood. After one month it has become obvious that the irresponsible policy did not have big impact on black money, while workers faced irreparable losses.

The cash crunch has interrupted the economy’s payment system and has deeply disturbed production activities and workers all over the country. Not only agriculture, informal sector and daily wage workers, but also precarious workers in manufacturing and services sectors and all who received their wages in cash are facing severe implications. Reports from industrial areas across the country suggest that large number of big, small and medium enterprises have reduced or stopped their operations resulting in huge job losses.

Mobile manufacturing and assembling companies like Foxconn, Lava, Korbann and Micromax have drastically reduced production and sent workers on unscheduled holidays.

According to reports, automobile sales across India steeply declined in November 2016. Many original equipment manufacturers have drastically reduced their production, while some have even halted production. Permanent workers of these units have been sent on leave, while a large number of precarious workers will go unpaid.

The cement industry has been deeply affected as cement demand declined by 45 – 50 per cent. Large number of mini steel units and rolling mills were also seriously affected, as employers are not able pay wages in cash.

Almost 10,000 migrant shipbreaking workers are reported to have left the Alang shipbreaking yards in Gujrat.

Workers in industrial areas around Delhi are facing similar problems. Many workers were paid wages in old currency, but without bank accounts they have nowhere to deposit their money and are unable to exchange their cash for new notes. In cases where companies have deposited wages in workers’ bank accounts, workers have had to queue at the banks and cash machines to withdraw cash, while being marked absent at work.

Many companies have fired precarious workers, as employers no longer can pay cash wages. The shutdown of Sree Hanuman Jute Mills in Howrah, one of the biggest in West Bengal which employed over 2,500 workers, represents the crisis faced by over 200,000 jute mill workers in the state, who are predominantly paid wages in cash.

About 10,000 to 12,000 daily wage migrant workers reportedly left the industrial hub of Gurgaon as employers are not able to pay and workers are not able to buy food and pay rent for their accommodation. Workers who stayed are asked to work for half of the payment or get paid in old currency notes.

In the garment and textile industry in Tirupur, about 2,000 small and micro units have reduced their production from 15 to five shifts per week, affecting over 150,000 workers. Massive layoffs of construction workers are reported in Tamil Nadu, where about 1,000 major projects in Chennai and Kanchipuram districts have been affected.

Apoorva Kaiwar, South Asia regional secretary of IndustriALL says:

The demonetization policy has deeply affected precarious workers across the country as manufacturers including automobile OEMs, auto parts, electrical electronics, garment, textile and leather sectors have reportedly reduced or halted their production.

South Korean union leader Han Sang-gyun sentenced to three years in jail

Han Sang-gyun was sentenced to five years in July. After an apppeal, the sentence was commuted on Monday 12 December from five to three years in jail, with a fine of 500,000 won (US$ 430). The court dismissed charges related to a May Day rally held this year.
 
Han was charged because he was one of the organizers of a People’s Rally for democracy and against anti-labour legislation on 14 November 2015, which saw riot police clash with protesters. Police used excessive force against largely peaceful protesters, killing farmer Baek Nam-gi with a water cannon.
 
Although no one has been charged with Baek Nam-gi’s death, more than a 100 cases against participants in the rally have been processed, with more than a dozen sentenced to jail.
 
Han and five other KCTU activists remain in Seoul detention centre, where they were recently visited by a solidarity delegation from the international trade union movement, including IndustriALL Global Union general secretary Valter Sanches.
 
In recent weeks, there have been mass protests and a general strike against the government of President Park, who was impeached on 9 December. Park has refused to resign, and is challenging the impeachment.
 
Park was impeached due to a corruption scandal involving the chaebols, the powerful Korean family-run multinational corporations that dominate economic life. Unions accuse her of repressing labour on behalf of the chaebols.
 
The chaebols, including Samsung and Hyundai, have a history of violently repressing unions. A report released by IndustriALL and the ITUC demonstates the medieval conditions at Samsung, which has a no-union policy.
 
The impeachment of Park and the commutation of Han’s sentence is seen as a partial victory by Korea’s unions. However, the work to tame the power of the chaebols and end the repression of trade unions is far from over.
 
Valter Sanches took part in a march of more than a million people in Seoul on 12 November to demand the resignation of Park. Commenting on the sentencing of Han, he said:

 
“Due to the strength and commitment of the Korean unions, and the huge outpouring of international solidarity, we are beginning to make progress.
 
“But the fact remains that Han and others are in prison for leading a peaceful protest, and union activists face severe repression at the hands of the chaebols.
 
“The trade union activists must be unconditionally released so that Korea’s unions can continue in their work of containing the illegitimate power of the chaebols.”

Iran: petroleum workers win back pay after strike action

Workers went on strike on Monday 5 December after not receiving wages since June. On Saturday, they were paid for the months of July, August and September, and returned to work. However, the dispute is ongoing. Administrative and support staff – who were not part of the original strike action – have not been paid, and have subsequently gone on strike.

The Bushehr complex is a subsidiary of the Iranian state-owned National Petrochemical Company, situated in a special economic zone built outside the port city of Asalouyeh to exploit the South Pars gas field.
 
The company does not recognize unions, and the workers took wildcat action. However, they were supported by IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Union of Metalworkers and Mechanics of Iran (UMMI).
 
Workers in the sector are employed through recruitment agencies on contracts that guarantee minimal rights. No salary is agreed, and they are told they will need to work a trial period of one month before their wage is determined and paid. The oil companies pay the agencies, who regularly fail to pass on the salaries for months. Workers are afraid they will lose their jobs if they complain.
 
Shifts are ten hours long in very hot and difficult conditions, and workers live in shared accommodation, with up to ten people sharing a prefabricated building of 24 square metres.
 
Vartan Khorramdin, reporting on the strike for UMMI, said:

“What workers want to know is this: where does all the money from the oil and gas in South Pars and Asalouyeh go? Why do we get nothing? Do government officials not understand how to use our economic resources to benefit our country and its people?
 
“We, the workers, want to grow ourselves, our families and our society. We will not look kindly on anyone who reaches into our pockets, and steals food from our tables.”

Bushehr province, in the south of Iran, is home to the port city of Asalouyeh. A special economic zone has been constructed around the city for the National Petrochemical Company, attracting significant foreign investment.
 
The IndustriALL Middle East and North Africa oil and gas network, meeting today in Istanbul, sent a statement of solidarity, saying:


“We stand with the workers at Bushehr. The oil and gas sector generates significant income for Iran, and yet workers face terrible conditions and unpaid wages. Strong unions will help the people of Iran to benefit from their natural resources.”

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:


“This dispute shows why it is vital that Iran develop a free and independent trade union movement. After the nuclear deal, the country is attracting record levels of foreign investment, which means global corporations stand to profit from the exploitation of Iran’s workers.
 
“We will support our affiliate and the workers in Iran to build strong unions to defend their rights.”

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches sent a letter to UMMI president Maziyar Gilaninejhad, expressing solidarity for the struggle.