Workers recount impact of outsourcing in Brazil

In-depth interviews were carried out with union leaders and 22 subcontracted workers in the states of Sao Paulo and Bahia. Six of the workers were women and three were migrant workers from Haiti and Bolivia.

All the workers are employed by numerous subcontractor companies supplying services to seven different multinational or national companies in the chemical (plastic, cosmetic, personal care, pharmaceutical, ink), garment, and pulp and paper sectors.

Discrimination and lack of prospects:

The 22 subcontracted workers reported poorer working conditions and lower salaries than direct employees at their worksite. In one chemical company, they earn half the salaries of direct employees. They get also lower benefits, if they get them at all, notably lower social protection.

Our health plan is charged between R$80-90 (US$25-27), whereas the lead company charges R$18 (US$5) and has national coverage. If I am out of town, I cannot even use mine.

Many work longer hours than direct employees. In one case, subcontracted workers work 44 hours a week, compared to 39 hours by direct employees. Several have very irregular working hours, while direct employees benefit from fixed hours. Some work on Saturdays unlike their colleagues.

One worker has performed the same administrative job for 11 years at a pulp and paper company but through five different subcontractors. Because of the changes in employers, the worker lost social protection benefits and salary increases. He eventually lost his job after his job was outsourced to a remote provider.

Some workers said they have no access to the work canteen, and when they have, their meal voucher has a lower value than those of direct employees. They have no access to company transport services nor direct employees’ sport and leisure rooms.

The workers feel this discrimination very strongly. The contempt and the indifference of direct employees towards them make them feel inferior. They report that their work is often not valued or respected. Maintenance workers said that subcontracted workers are always the ones to be blamed for any problem; another said that permanent workers made fun of subcontractors’ yellow uniforms, exclaiming when they see a subcontracted worker: “Here come the canaries!”

I did a better course, but often I was treated as a second-class worker because I worked for a subcontractor.

What helps them to overcome these feelings is the solidarity between subcontractor workers. Nonetheless, while some are looking for a better job, or to get more qualifications, others feel totally disenchanted. They have lost all hope of new prospects in their professional life. None of them are really interested in their job.

Health problems

All of the workers interviewed reported an intensive rhythm of work and high pressure, generating a lot of stress. Some talked about double pressure from the lead company and their employer: “It was like having two bosses”.

Two migrant workers at a chemical company load and unload heavy cargo into trucks in all weathers, without gloves or protection. Both reported feeling back pain but only have access to the basic Brazilian health system. However, direct employees at the company get better health protection.

One worker was injured at work, losing part of his vision, and was dismissed. He said subcontracted workers go to work even if they are sick or injured or they won’t get paid. Others reported that subcontracted workers work when they are sick because they are afraid to be put on a black list and dismissed. Some of them do not even benefit from proper personal protection equipment.

We do not receive any health risk premium, but we are manipulating chemical products, just a spatter of it takes your skin off.

In garment sectors, workers reported vision problems because of the lack of light in the workplace, as well as pains in their arms and back.

Poor quality of life:

I feel stuck in the middle of a system that is smashing me up.

Workers with very irregular hours said that it was very difficult to build a life outside of work. One cleaning worker, who works at three different locations, said she had no control on her working hours or the places she was sent to, making it impossible to build a social life. Workers forced to do overtime to supplement their meagre salaries said they went directly home to sleep and came straight back to work the next day. Some workers are on such a low wage that they often need to complement it with another job after work, or even during lunchtime.

Workers also reported other negative consequences of precarious employment:

The bank that denied me a loan to buy a car, approved a loan to a direct worker from the company for four times the amount I requested. This worker even receives a lower wage than mine, but the bank has greater confience in him because he is directly employed.

Exploitation of migrant workers:

Migrant workers are particularly vulnerable and easily exploited. One of the garment workers interviewed from Bolivia worked in illegal workshops in Sao Paulo for five years producing for subcontractors of big garment companies. She lived in the same place where she worked and was not allowed to leave. She worked 15-16 hours per day for less than the legal minimum wage and with poor food. Despite changing jobs several times, conditions were the same. Even when she finally got a work permit, her employers continued exploiting her and her last employer began bullying her when she became pregnant.

Our routine started every day between 6 or 7 o’clock in the morning and working until 10 pm, when they served dinner with a break during the day for lunch. I was only allowed to take a shower three times a week. They were probably receiving R$3.00 (US$0.90) per piece, but we were just paid R$0.30 (US$0.09) per piece. They were telling us that the rest of money was to pay rental costs and meals.

Unions’ role

Several IndustriALL affiliates and their trade union confederations in Brazil have been fighting for years to prevent the adoption of a bill in Brazil that will allow private employers to outsource indiscriminately.

Often employees of subcontractors cannot be represented by trade unions at the lead company, nor do they know which trade union represents them.

Direct employees’ trade unions are trying to protect subcontracted workers and regularize their situation. In the pharmaceutical company, the trade union has been able to regularize the situation of 50 per cent of subcontractors’ workers. One of the workers interviewed will benefit from this and will be able build his house and invest in his qualifications as a result.

Other workers said the trade union at the lead company has taken up their cause, discussing their demands with the lead employer. In the pulp and paper company, the trade union has taken a case to court where subcontractors’ employees who do not receive any health risk premium.

Unions have been active in denouncing the situation of migrant workers in the garment sector. According to the Sao Paulo dressmakers’ trade union, there are more than 100,000 migrant workers in the city in more than 7,500 workshops. The union carries out actions with the Ministry of Labour in order to identify clandestine workshops exploiting workers and accompanies labour inspectors on visits to ensure that all rights and dues to workers are given.

Thailand tyre and rubber union network builds strength together

Thai union leaders in the rubber and tyre sector from 10 unions and eight companies – Goodyear, Yokohama, Maxxis, IRC tire, Michelin, Bridgestone and Sumitomo – participated in the meeting organized by the Confederation of Industrial Labour (CILT) and IndustriALL Global Union. They were joined by Christian Bradier, a representative from Michelin in France.

The meeting discussed key issues for the sector, including: problems with shift work patterns and compulsory overtime to ensure 24 hour production; the fact that not all unions collect dues by check off; lack of day care and breastfeeding facilities for women in factories; and the fact that some important unions that play a key role in the sector are not IndustriALL affiliates.

The tyre and rubber network was established through a workshop organized by IndustriALL in February 2012. The workshop focused on international labour standards and social dialogue, and aimed to start discussion, exchange information and establish the union network.

After the 2012 meeting, IndustriALL has worked to develop the potential of the network. A network meeting was organized in 2015, to provide updates on the global situation and an overview of the sector, exchange information and discuss strategies for improving workers’ conditions.

A structure was created and a coordinator identified to help build cooperation between unions. An action plan and schedule of future activity – including bi-monthly meetings – was agreed to carry the work of the network forward.

The network brings unions together, and there is now cooperation and coordination. In 2016, the Rubber Worker’s Group of Thailand coordinated with CILT and the IndustriALL union building project to develop an organizing plan. This aims to increase membership by recruiting for unions in the network, with a targeted organizing drive at the Linglong company. There is also a focus on health and safety. IndustriALL guidelines were followed to establish a women’s committee, and increase women’s activity and representation in union structures.

“This is a big step to strengthen the network, build bargaining power and reach standard protection and welfare through a collective bargaining agreement at national level.

“We will consolidate a strong network in the sector and expand company-based networks to regional level in South East Asia to make union bargaining more effective. We at IndustriALL appreciated your good work and hope that we will be in the same family, as we are stronger together,” said Helmut Lense, director of automotive and rubber at IndustriALL.

Yongyuth Mentapao, president of CILT, closed the meeting by saying:

“This is an important meeting for us. As you know, Thailand has much lower union density in comparison to other countries worldwide. We have more than 30 million workers, but only 600,000 union members – just 1.5%.

“We need to change our union culture, starting with three key issues: financial management, member engagement and communication.

“We now have IndustriALL as our international partner, cooperating with Thai affiliates to support our activities and build a stronger labour movement together”.

South Korea: 150,000 metal workers strike

Tens of thousands of trade union activists demonstrated in Seoul, South Korea on Friday 22 July as part of a general strike of 150,000 workers across the sector. The strike is in support of a dispute over wages and conditions at Hyundai Motor Group.

There have been strikes at Hyundai Motors almost every year. In order to resolve the dispute and improve the bargaining position of workers at other companies, the Korean Metal Workers Union (KMWU) called a general strike to demand sector wide collective bargaining.

Hyundai is the dominant multinational conglomerate – called "chaebol" – in the metal sector in Korea.

Workers at Hyundai Motors plant in Ulsan walked out on Friday, and were joined by workers from Kia Motors, shipbuilders from Hyundai Heavy Industries and other affilated companies.

There will be further action tomorrow, 26 July.

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, said:

"We welcome this action by the KMWU to tame the power of the chaebols and defend workers conditions. We offer our full support and solidarity to the metal workers of Korea."

LG India workers return to work after 10 day protest

On the evening of 20 July, LG India workers reached an agreement with the management of the company in which, according to reports, it was agreed that the workers will now be transferred to nearby locations rather than far off places as previously instructed. No vindictive action will be taken against workers engaged in the protest and all workers will return to work.

LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd employs some 2,350 workers with approximately 850 permanent workers and 1,500 contract workers. LG workers first took the initiative to form a union in January 2016, and applied for the registration of the LG Electronics Employees Union with the registrar of trade unions.

On 9 July, 11 workers, including office bearers of the proposed union were denied entry to the factory, and management took their ID cards away. The workers were then informed that they were being transferred to different locations in distant parts of India including, Jammu Kashmir, Jharkhand and Bihar and asked to report to work in those places. A twelfth person received the transfer order a couple of days later.

Workers were surprised with this move, and were in no position to move immediately to new locations along with their family members and children. In solidarity, all permanent workers, including about 60 women, staged a sit-in protest on 11 July demanding withdrawal of the unilateral transfers, union recognition, a statutory eight-hour work, increased wages and regularization of contract workers. Some 250 permanent workers demonstrated outside the gates of the company, while 650 permanent workers remained inside the factory on protest.

On 19 July, police detained three workers on charges of attempting to stop contract workers entering the factory. According to workers, police have not made a formal arrest, and in order to pressurize the protesting workers, police kept workers at the Surajpur police station, refusing to release them. Owing to the arrests and the fear of being attacked by hired goons, workers reached an agreement with management on 20 July and withdrew their protest. While their key demands have not been met, the protest showcased the unity of all permanent workers at the company.

Most permanent workers have been working at the LG factory for six to ten years. However, they receive a low salary of around Rs 18,000 (US$268) a month for an eight hour day with overtime of Rs 24,000 (357 USD) per month. Contract workers are paid even less. In reality, every worker does overtime for around four hours, almost daily, making their usual working time 12 hours a day. In order to improve working conditions, the workers established a union and sent a charter of demands to management.

Instead of engaging with workers, LG management deployed unfair labour practices against union members and began union-busting. The management promoted active union members to the staff category. Subsequently, the registrar of unions denied statutory union registration citing promotion of office bearers and stated that promoted workers can no longer be union members, hence the union cannot be registered.

Workers at LG will now pursue the legal process for union registration and take forward their demands.

“This is a typical union busting case in India. The LG management should know that these types of cheap tricks will damage the company image as they declare to protect employees' basic labor/human rights and build a future-oriented "Win-Win Labor-Management Relations" in their CSR policy. Together with SMEFI, we stand with the LG workers’ struggle in India and will continue to support them.” said Kan Matsusaki, IndustriALL sectoral director for ICT, Electrical and Electronics.

ENEL Global Works Council meets to develop GFA renewal

The Global Works Council of the Italian energy multinational ENEL held its annual meeting in Rome in July 2016, with representatives of management and unions from ENEL operations around the world. One of the items on the agenda was the renewal of the (GFA). The GFA was signed in June of 2013 between ENEL, IndustriALL Global Union and Public Services International (PSI). The agreement was valid for three years, and both global unions seek further improvement in GFA implementation through the renewal process.

The renewal of the European Works Council Agreement between the company and the European Federations, IndustriAll Europe and EPSU, was also on the agenda, and management and European worker representatives negotiated and agreed a new one.

Over the course of the three day meeting, union representatives raised issues that need to be resolved by the GFA to be renewed, many of them experienced by affiliates in Latin America. This includes some cases over agreed outputs at an operation in Chile, and a case in Peru where the union is seeking compensation for the family of a worker who lost his life at work three years ago. In Colombia, maintenance work has been subcontracted, and in Argentina, white collar workers are excluded from collective bargaining.

Diana Junquera Curiel, IndustriALL energy director, said:

“It is very important to have this agreement, which we believe is the best mechanism for ensuring fairness across all ENEL workplaces. Now it is time to renew and make further steps.”

“The renewed agreement should certainly be more effective, and we need to ensure complete implementation everywhere in the world that ENEL operates.”

ENEL management has committed to move forward the renewal process as soon as possible.

Ahead of the meeting in Rome, the ENEL Latin American regional union network met in Buenos Aires in April 2016, to prepare. This was the second meeting of the union network, after a previous meeting in Fortaleza, Brazil, in 2014. It was attended by affiliates to IndustriALL Global Union and PSI from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Panama and Peru.

The Latin American meeting set out to develop a mechanism to ensure compliance with the GFA and to establish a system of rotation for participating in meetings so that all Latin America affiliates are represented. The meeting sought to establish a system for the network, with continuous communication between unions and workers for the effective implementation of the Agreement.

During the meeting the affiliates spoke about issues in each country and chose Sintraelecol from Colombia and APSEE from Argentina as representatives to the Global Works Council.

UK oil and gas workers to embark on first North Sea strike in a generation

The workers are employed by Wood Group across eight Shell oil and gas platforms in the Brent Field, located of the coast off Shetland in the North Sea. The workers will take strike action on 26 July – the first North Sea strike in a generation.

They will also be taking action short of strike action. The first 24-hour stoppage will on Tuesday July 26 and will be followed by a series of other stoppages over the following weeks.

The strike follows a massive 99.1 per cent vote in favour of strike action by Unite members and 98.5 per cent by RMT members on a very high turnout. This is a resounding endorsement and support of the action.

Recent changes have seen workers move from a two-week working cycle to a three-week working cycle, which means working extra weeks offshore for the same salary. Wood Group employees used to enjoy the same conditions as Shell employees, but they have seen these undermined.

RMT regional organizer Jake Molloy said: “We have a long history of good relations in the North Sea. The last time we had a dispute was 27 years ago, and some of the workers involved then are involved this time too. Workers are clearly very angry, because it feels like all the progress we made has been torn up.

“It is time the UK oil and gas sector got in line with the Scandinavian countries and reduced hours for health and safety reasons.”

The planned strike follows a breakdown in talks at the ACAS employment arbitrator, after Wood Group showed little willingness to resolve the dispute.

Unite regional officer John Boland said: “Strike action by our members is not a decision they take lightly, but they have been pushed to the limit by an employer unwilling to rethink proposals to slash their pay and allowances.

“These members work in some of the most hazardous conditions in one of the toughest jobs in the world and deserve better than Wood Group’s bogus claims that their proposed pay cuts won’t amount to much.”

The strike action will be taken across the Shell assets in the Brent Field. Unite and the RMT will co-ordinate the strike action to ensure the maximum impact. The Offshore Coordinating Group, made up of all the unions in the sector, including GMB, BALPA and Nautilus International, are working to support the action and ensure coordination.

The unions remain committed to achieving a negotiated settlement in this dispute and will leave the door open for Wood Group to enter into meaningful negotiations.

Jyrki Raina, IndustriALL general secretary, sent a letter to the affiliates, saying:

“IndustriALL Global Union deplores in the strongest terms Wood Group’s proposal to impose severe pay and allowances cuts on a hardworking as well as highly skilled workforce.

“We demand that Wood Group desist from its intransigent stance and enter into meaningful negotiations with Unite and the RMT, to reach a fair deal. “

Take action

Please send messages of support to North Sea workers taking strike action on Tuesday 26 July. You can do this by emailing a message of support to [email protected] and [email protected].

You can also show support and follow developments on the Unite Offshore Facebook page and on Twitter @UniteOffshore.

All messages of support are welcome.

Massive numbers of Uruguayans join strike for better pay

“The strike is against cuts to social services and in favour of employment, better pay, more public investment and an end to private sector involvement in social security provision,”

explained John Almada, a member of UNTMRA who was active in preparing the day of action.

Because of the massive participation of workers and social organizations, trade union confederation PIT-CNT described the event as one of the biggest general strikes since Tabaré Vásquez became president of Uruguay in 2015. IndustriALL Global Union affiliates UNTMRA, UOC and FOPCU helped to organize the strike.

The strike forms part of a strategy to encourage the government to negotiate and change its pay policy:

“We called a strike to change things. One issue is the government’s pay policy for the next round of wage negotiations, which is very bad for the workers,”

said Fernando Pereira, President of PIT-CNT, at a press conference on 14 July.

Pereira said that if the government does not agree to change its pay policy, the PIT-CNT will organize major action during the next six-month.

Jorge Almeida, IndustriALL regional secretary, said:

“IndustriALL supports these union initiatives, which seek to protect wages and the social gains made by Uruguayan workers.”

Sri Lanka: workers reveal violence and sexual harassment

Twenty-five trade unionists, including eight women, participated in the workshop, which is part of the precarious work project in Sri Lanka run by IndustriALL and Dutch affiliate FNV.

The women participants said violence and sexual harassment was a virulent problem in the free trade zones where they work. Women who complain to management about the issue either lose their jobs or come under extreme pressure to withdraw or underplay their grievances, said the women at the workshop.

During discussions about working conditions, participants reported a severe problem with chemicals. Many of the workers handle toxic chemicals, which burn their skin. One young woman complained that her hair was falling out, and others linked the chemicals to cancer in workers.

However, it is difficult for workers to know whether or not the chemicals they are using are dangerous, because the labels on the chemical containers are pasted over.

Monika Kemperle, IndustriALL’s assistant general secretary, took part in the workshop and also visited a group of workers, living in the free trade zone. She found that two to three people were living in a small single room, with toilets and bathrooms located outside the accommodation. Most of the workers she met were very young.

The workshop – entitled ‘Precarious work – organizing, collective bargaining and trends in the labour law’, also covered topics such as maternity protection, women’s role in the workplace and women in leadership. Both men and women were interested in learning more about maternal and parental leave.

Kemperle, who is also IndustriALL’s director for women, said:

“If women are to free themselves from the burden of violence and sexual harassment, women’s demands must be included in collective bargaining agreements with employers. We can only do this if women have a say in negotiations and that means more women in leadership positions in unions.”

Sexual harassment of garment workers in India exposed

The reports confirm what garment workers, their unions and women’s rights activists have been saying about the hostile working environment faced by women garment workers while earning a living.

Courageous testimonies of women garment workers, who some of whom work in factories supplying to global brands, revealed a deep-rooted, callous, sexist work culture, and the psychological impact it has on women.

Women garment workers recounted ordeals of sexual harassment including physical advances, demands for sexual favours and sexual remarks made by male supervisors on the shop floor. Perpetrators promised preferential treatment for sexual favours, and threatened women workers with repercussions if they refused their advances.

Regular audits conducted by brands have failed to adequately address these issues, pointing to the inadequacy of company auditing processes. Testimonies of workers reveal that they are tutored and forced to suppress facts at the time of audits.

In 2013, the ‘Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act was passed by the government of India with detailed provisions to prevent and address sexual harassment at workplace. The Act, which is applicable to both the formal and informal workforce, mandates that all establishments having more than ten workers are to form an Internal Complaint Committee (ICC), and establishments with less than ten workers are to go to a Local Complaints Committees (LCC) at the district level to receive and act upon complaints of sexual harassment. This legislation also offers clear-cut procedures to deal with workplace sexual harassment.

The reports reveal that most of the garment-manufacturing units do not have appropriate mechanisms to prevent and redress incidences of sexual harassment as mandated in the 2013 Act, and are in violation of the Act.

Often the social and cultural stigma around sexual harassment does not allow women workers to break their silence on the issue. Hostile and precarious work environments in garment units, and laxity of government authorities in addressing workers grievances reinforces workers’ vulnerability and leads to further victimization.

Trade unionists working among garment workers say that workers face an environment of fear and intimidation and are subjected to serious discriminatory treatments when they join unions or complain against sexual harassment. The mostly male leadership of unions also acts as an inhibiting factor. In these circumstances most women workers prefer to stay silent and do not reach out to unions for support.

Only at the end of June, the government of India announced a special package of Rs 6000 crores (US$900 million) for the textile and apparel sector with the intention of generating one hundred million jobs in three years, intended to attract investments of US$11 billion and generate US$30 billion in exports. This package will mean nothing for workers unless the government ensures that women workers' rights are protected.

Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL's regional secretary for South Asia, stated:

The law in India must be enforced to make sure that women workers complaining of sexual harassment are supported and are able to access and get justice. Government, employers and brands should work with workers’ representatives to prevent sexual harassment at workplaces and create an environment in which workers can freely exercise their statutory rights. IndustriALL will work with garment workers’ unions to ensure that sexual harassment of women workers is a priority issue for unions.

Akzo Nobel union network breaks barriers to organizing in Colombia

The network, which is a standard setter, meets annually and communicates regularly. The last meeting of the network included IndustriALL and unions from Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay and Colombia, and included a social dialogue session with senior Akzo Nobel management at the Mauá, São Paulo factory. While the network highlighted issues in each country, a key priority was set to ensure that workers in Colombia can freely organize and join the network.

As a result of this demand, the Akzo Nobel Human Resources Director for Colombia, Ecuador, Chile and Peru, Carlos Toro, met the network coordinators, IndustriALL Global Union, and Colombian union USTI on 19 July 2016, in Medellin, Colombia.

In the constructive meeting, Carlos Toro told the union delegation that the management’s door is always open to workers’ complaints, that workers responded positively to a recent job satisfaction survey, and that there exists a procedure inside the factory whereby a rotating worker representative position can speak to management about employment issues.

The company message was “why should foreigners come to our factory and form a union when our workers don’t want one”. To which the union response was that they simply demand that workers inside the factory have the freedom to choose whether or not they wish to form a union, in line with the company’s code of conduct.

The representative of IndustriALL affiliate USTI informed Dr Toro that Akzo Nobel workers in the Colombian factory say that they fear the management’s reaction to union organizing but that a union is needed.

Sergio Carasso, coordinator of the network explained the union proposal, to conduct a first meeting inside the factory with IndustriALL, USTI and the factory management. The next step would then be to meet workers and make it clear that there will be no management reprisals to union organizing. Dr Toro agreed to respond within 45 days to the proposal.

Tom Grinter, research and industry officer at IndustriALL, said:

“The opportunity to start the process of organizing Akzo Nobel workers in Colombia is down to the strength of our Brazilian affiliate, and to years of good work by the regional network. We are determined to hold Akzo Nobel to its own code of conduct and provide the space for organizing free from threats or reprisal inside the factory."