Facing the living wage challenge in Ethiopia

At an IndustriALL Global Union workshop in Addis Ababa on 11-12 April supported by the FES, affiliates from the textile and garment, chemical, electrical and mining sectors met to consider the first steps that need to be taken towards developing comprehensive and effective wage-setting mechanisms in the country.

Affiliates were keen to learn from the experiences of unions in other countries. They heard how minimum wage systems in countries such as Cambodia and Bangladesh have proven to be inadequate to raising wages up to the level of a living wage.

In order to better understand which systems the unions in Ethiopia should be working towards, there was a substantial discussion on the potential advantages and disadvantages that a national minimum wage mechanism as well as industry-wide collective bargaining could bring to Ethiopia.

Affiliates see a national minimum wage as setting a benchmark for wages that cannot be undercut by employers, is enforceable by law and ensures that even workers at companies with less economic power get the same wage.  A national minimum wage would demonstrate the commitment of the government to improving workers conditions and would also contribute towards tax accountability and transparency.

Drawbacks of the system include that workers are not involved in setting the amount, there is no flexibility and the rate may not keep pace with inflation. There is a risk that employers will not be prepared to pay above the minimum, including those with better economic performance.

Jenny Holdcroft, IndustriALL policy director said:

Industry bargaining has certain advantages, primarily that workers have a say in the outcome. Collective agreements were seen as having a positive impact on quality and productivity as they are based on trust and negotiation. There is flexibility to reopen agreements and industry-specific workload, skills and other issues can be taken into account. Importantly, industry bargaining helps build union power to negotiate.

However, it will take time to achieve such agreements when there is currently no system for it, and work needs to be done to increase union power. Both systems were seen as important for creating stability in the industry and certainty for workers and investors.

Ethiopian affiliates agreed to continue these discussions and to engage with the confederation and the ILO to take further steps towards developing wage mechanisms.

Meanwhile, the unions continue to fight for their members and there have been several successes in achieving significant wage increases for members through collective bargaining with individual employers. For example, at the Ayka textile and garment factory, the union has been able to increase the basic wage from 600 to 990 birr and at the Bahirdar factory they have achieved 915 birr, but both unions acknowledge that these increases are still not enough for workers to earn a living wage.

Inditex GFA – working towards a national trade union network in Vietnam

The meeting in March brought together VNUTGW factory level union leaders from the Southern provinces of Vietnam to discuss how to implement the existing GFA, and to ensure that international labour standards are followed in the over 100 Inditex suppliers and subcontractors.

IndustriALL Global Union, its Spanish affiliate Industria-CC.OO, the Vietnamese trade union centre VGCL and German foundation Friedrich Ebert Stiftung brought their expertise on organizing in Inditex’s global supply chain and making the GFA relevant for a local context.

The plan to develop the network has been progressing since 2015 when IndustriALL, together with the VGCL, Vietnamese garment union VNUTGW, and the FES launched a series of workshops to discuss organizing in the country’s garment and shoe industry.

IndustriALL textile and garment industry director Christina Clausen, encouraged participants to

use the GFA to build a network that develops solidarity and an exchange of information among factory level union leaders. 

Isidor Boix, from Industria-CC.OO and IndustriALL’s coordinator for implementation of the GFA with Inditex, said that the network is interesting both for the workers in Vietnam and global trade unionism.

This is about defending labour rights in the global supply chain and organising workers in factories producing for the big brands.

Workers at Inditex factories discussed issues faced at work, like long working hours, widespread use of precarious work, low wages, hot, dusty and noisy work environment, violation of workers’ rights, a lack of real collective bargaining, and a reluctance from the employer’s side to pay full-time shop stewards and to allow time for union activity to build sound labour relations.

Through IndustriALL’s union building project and in cooperation with the VGCL and VNUTGW, collective bargaining training for the shop stewards of Inditex suppliers is focusing on how to improve the quality of CBA. Implementing the GFA inside supplier factories by instructing leaders on international standards such as ILO core conventions and OECD Guidelines is another important issue.

Erwin Schweisshelm, country director of FES Vietnam said:

FES is supporting the process as part of our global trade union program.

German steelworkers raise their voice

IndustriALL German affiliate IG Metall organized series of mass actions under the theme “Steel is the future”, sending the signal that European steel industry exists and has a future.

In Duisburg, home of ThyssenKrupp’s largest steel plants, 16,000 steelworkers came to show that they stand together for a strong steel industry in Europe and Germany, and that they will not accept the deindustrialization of Europe.

Their main arguments are:

This was a strong signal to German and European political leadership, demanding a change of policy and a stop to the deindustrialization, which would mean jobs losses in Germany and Europe, but also a higher level of CO2 emissions, as well as worse working conditions.

The German vice chancellor and minister of economic affairs were present at the meeting and promised to raise their voice on behalf of the steel industry and its workers.

The whole IG Metall board was also present in Duisburg. In a passionate speech supporting the future of steel production in Germany, IG Metall president Jörg Hofmann said:

”We want a future for our jobs! We want a future for our families! We want a future for our regions and we want a future for manufacturing in Germany and Europe, and manufacturing is not possible without steel!

“Steel is future and the reason we are here today. We are not only fighting for German steel mills today, we are fighting for the survival of manufacturing in Europe!”

The entire international committee at ThyssenKrupp, where IndustriALL is represented, showed its solidarity and joined in the cheers “Steel is the future!“

Matthias Hartwich, IndustriALL director for mechanical Engineering and materials Industries,  and member of the international committee at ThyssenKrupp, said:

“You could feel the heartbeat of steel from 16´000 men and women gathered here today in Duisburg. I hope this heartbeat was heard from Duisburg to Berlin and even Brussels so that politicians act against an unhealthy deindustrialization of Europe. It was a good feeling to be here today.“  

IndustriALL Pulp and Paper Work Group sets active agenda

The pulp and paper unions from USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, UK, Sweden and Finland all reported challenging situations for members as the industry is becoming less attractive to young workers.

A large subsector of the industry is shrinking as people communicate more and more electronically, but tissue and packaging subsectors will continue to grow but are beginning to suffer from overcapacity. Production is shifting geographically across the sector, from the global North to South, and from West to East.

Many pulp and paper jobs have moved from North America and Europe to China. Now as China’s domestic growth slows the country has massive overcapacity in pulp and paper as across the industrial sectors, causing oversaturation of the market and yet more threat to jobs elsewhere.

The co-chairs of the sector for IndustriALL, Leeann Foster of USW and Petri Vanhala, president of Finnish paper workers union Paperiliitto led discussions.

Co-chair Leeann Foster said:

“Only by standing together as paper workers in all countries can we ensure good, safe and sustainable jobs in the sector. Just as the USW is aiming to organize more workers in the multinational paper companies, we must think globally in our campaigns.”

The group examined current and future global framework agreements in the sector and existing trade union networks at International Paper, Huhtamaki, Sappi, Smurfit Kappa, Mondi and in the Latin American region.

The Work Group will conduct a regular and structured information exchange on employment and bargaining in the sector.

The meeting was held in conjunction with the USW 2016 Paper Sector Conference “Stand Up. Speak Out. For Safety.” The 550 delegates representing members at around 30 major pulp and paper companies focused discussions on safety and honoured the 19 brothers and sisters killed in the sector since the last paper conference two years ago.

As well as detailed debates on organizing and bargaining, the conference talked about the importance of being politically active as a union.

In his speech to the conference plenary, IndustriALL Global Union Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“I salute you, dear Sisters and Brothers, for the inspirational leading role the USW has played down the years at the heart of the global labour movement. Working in the paper industry can be very dangerous. We must build our trade union networks at paper companies to connect workers, share experiences and collective bargaining successes, but also to act as one to reject dangerous plants and mills.” 

Sappi trade union network keeps momentum

South African pulp and paper company Sappi has production in three regions, Europe, USA, and Southern Africa. Almost all Sappi facilities are unionized, and over two-thirds of the 12,800 workers are covered by collective bargaining agreements.

The two most serious common problems reported by shop stewards from the mills are understaffing and training. As is the case across much of the pulp and paper industries, companies are increasing production but reducing employment levels.

The expectation of considerable overtime combined with insufficient training is resulting in an aging workforce as new young workers look for jobs elsewhere.

IndustriALL Global Union Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan urged the network’s unions to support each other in bargaining:

“We will monitor the various contract expirations throughout Sappi and demand that the company addresses the concerns of our sisters and brothers in bargaining.”

The three Sappi mills in the US, Cloquet, Somerset and Westbrook, are all organized by the USW, covering 2,060 workers. Sappi’s seven mills in Europe employ 5,131 workers and were represented in this meeting of the network by a IG BCE in Germany, ACV and ABVV in Belgium, and the Austrian head of the European Works Council. In South Africa, there are 5,126 Sappi workers in seven mills and 492,000 hectares of forest.

Some job losses were reported from the last six months by the South African union CEPPWAWU. The Sappi Enstra Mill has been sold to Corruseal leading to 12 job losses. The Cape Kraft mill was sold to Golden Era who agreed not to cut staff. However since the purchases both sets of new management have attempted to make cutbacks. CEPPWAWU is taking action to maintain conditions and has criticized both Sappi and the purchasing companies.

Chair of the trade union network at Sappi, Peter Schuld of IG BCE Germany said:

“This network continues its important work on information exchange and building the coordination between Sappi workers. As we continue to learn from each other we will all be stronger. We will continue to work towards a contractual relationship with the company at the international level through a Global Framework Agreement.”

Hugo Boss continues to treat Turkish workers like garbage

The German-based brand has also increased pressure on two other leading union members, Fikri Mutlu and Murat Akgün. The objective is clear: frighten workers away from joining a union.

The Hugo Boss corporate management has told IndustriALL, its affiliate Teksif and multiple third parties that it will remain neutral in the Teksif organizing drive in Izmir. But at the same time intimidation, threats, harassment and dismissals continue against workers who support the union.

IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“IndustriALL Global Union condemns in the strongest possible terms the concerted union busting attack by the Hugo Boss management in Izmir, Turkey. The latest sacking of Meryem Bicakci, a well-known trade union supporter inside the factory, is yet further evidence that Izmir management’s union busting policy has not changed. Corporate Hugo Boss management in Metzingen is either supportive of, or at least unwilling to stop, the severe daily violations of labour rights at its largest production facility.”

As was the case with Suleyman Budak and Abdullah Satan who were sacked late 2015 for supporting the Teksif trade union, IndustriALL alerted Hugo Boss specifically about groundless allegations made by local management against Meryem Bicakci in face-to-face meetings in Metzingen, Geneva and in writing throughout 2015.

Izmir management was trying to scare these three union supporters into stopping their union activities. When this failed the three were sacked on baseless charges to send a message to the rest of the workforce that supporting the union will get you sacked.

The dismissals were made by Izmir management in the knowledge that Abdullah, Suleyman and Meryam would take their case of unfair dismissal due to union activities to court and ultimately win. Management prefers to be found guilty in the Turkish courts than to allow its workers to freely support a union of their choosing.

Local labour courts and the Court of Appeals, has in the recent past ruled that the twenty workers who were dismissed by Hugo Boss must be reinstated as their employment contracts were terminated because they had joined the union.

The highly critical FLA report published in January 2016 highlights a long list of serious violations of Turkish Law, the FLA code of conduct and Hugo Boss’s own code of conduct at the Hugo Boss plant in Izmir.

While the violations are serious relating to health and safety, contracts, hiring practices, disciplinary practices, working hours, and salaries, the findings regarding industrial relations reconfirm our complaints of union busting, intimidation, and sackings by the Izmir management.

As Hugo Boss is a paying member of the FLA, these public findings add considerable weight to the findings made over the past years by IndustriALL Global Union, Teksif, the local Turkish courts and the Appeals Court.  

Only Teksif is organizing the Hugo Boss workers in Izmir but Hugo Boss says it needs to remain neutral between multiple unions in an attempt to dilute Teksif’s demand for recognition and bargaining rights.

Another misinformation put out by Hugo Boss is that it is in dialogue with IndustriALL. Closed door talks on two occasions and email correspondence does not equate to dialogue. There has never been dialogue because Hugo Boss has refused to act upon any of IndustriALL’s demands:

  1. Stopping the intimidation and threats inside the factory against workers joining the union;
  2. Reinstating workers sacked for joining the union (remedy);
  3. Organizing a meeting inside the factory with IndustriALL, Teksif, and the sacked workers in order to plan reinstatements and roadmap to mature industrial relations;
  4. Agreeing on a joint memorandum between Hugo Boss and IndustriALL on freedom of association to be jointly communicated by IndustriALL and Hugo Boss through town hall meetings with the workforce;
  5. Providing IndustriALL with access to the workplace.

Demonstrations in Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil in defence of democracy

31 March was a day of action and struggle. In Uruguay, demonstrators, including members of IndustriALL Global Union affiliates, the PIT-CNT and other social movements, protested in front of the Brazilian embassy. In Argentina, demonstrators gathered in front of the Obelisk and marched to the Brazilian embassy. In both countries, protestors personally delivered letters of support for Dilma Rousseff and former president, Luiz Inácio da Silva.

The biggest protests were in Brazil. Demonstrations were held simultaneously in all of the country’s 27 states to express support for President Dilma Rousseff’s government and former president Lula da Silva.

Demonstrators protested at “the coup", alluding to threat to impeach the president. They emphasized their commitment to democracy and the rule of law and opposition to those who are planning to impeach the president without any legal basis.

The day on which action was organized was not chosen by chance. The 31 March was the 52nd anniversary of the military coup that established a 21-year dictatorship in Brazil. Many sectors of society in these countries went out on to the streets to demonstrate their opposition to the political procedure that aims to overturn a legitimately elected government. They declared their will to fight against the coup and defend democracy, rights and a better Brazil.

Marino Vani, IndustriALL Global Union’s assistant regional secretary, represented the organization at the demonstration in Uruguay and said:

The solidarity of workers in various parts of the world, especially in Uruguay and Argentina, strengthens the Latin America working class and hinders those promoting a “soft”, media-led, judicial, political and employer-led coup similar to the ones that took place in Honduras and Paraguay. Industriall supports the struggle for democracy. The Struggle Continues!"

Global unions demand social dialogue with LafargeHolcim

Some 70 workers die each year toiling for LafargeHolcim, 90 per cent of whom are employed indirectly. Unions want the cement giant to sign a global framework agreement before the end of the year help to improve workers’ rights and health and safety across the globe.

The agreement would have to cover all direct and indirect workers at all the company’s worksites worldwide and provide for fundamental international labour standards to be respected.

Unions are also demanding a global joint union-management body (such as a world union committee or world works council) to ensure fruitful social dialogue at a global level.

Take action and sign petition with workers’ demands, which will be delivered to LafargeHolcim management.

LafargeHolcim, respect workers’ rights!

Mine safety: It’s time to ratify ILO Convention 176

The world watched with bated breath in 2010 as 33 Chilean miners were rescued, having survived 69 days underground after the collapse of the San José mine. Now the subject of a major Hollywood film, the Chilean government successfully spun what should have been a story about mine safety failure into a gripping and heart warming rescue drama.

But three workers – two of them women – trapped underground at the Lily gold mine in South Africa have received less international attention: they remain trapped after a collapse on 5 February. Their families maintain a vigil at the site, but despite initial indications that they were still alive, hope is fading fast.

2016 has been another brutal year for mining deaths: in Kentucky, USA, a coal miner is crushed to death by a digging machine. In Komi, Russia, 36 people are killed in an explosion. In the Congo, seven workers die after the collapse of an open cast copper mine, owned by Glencore, one of the world’s biggest mining multinationals.

In April, a gas explosion in a Pakistani coal mine leaves five dead – the third such fatal accident in the same part of the country in as many weeks. There are many more deaths, all of them preventable: in Pakistan, China, Mexico and elsewhere.

But a solution has existed for more than 20 years: ILO Convention 176 on Safety in Health on Mines – backed by strong unions – can change safety culture. Adopted in 1995, C176 sets out a framework for countries to create a safe mining environment, with requirements for companies and rights for workers.

The Convention makes governments responsible for creating the implementation framework, and employers responsible for ensuring mine safety. But the most important aspect of C176 is the right of workers to participate in workplace safety via independent safety representation, and the right to refuse unsafe work. This gives unions space to organize.

And yet it has still only been ratified by 31 countries. Some of the countries with the worst safety records – including Pakistan, China and Chile – have not ratified the Convention.

Major multinational corporations like Glencore and RioTinto – which should be industry leaders in creating a safety culture – are doing far too little to prevent fatal accidents. And the situation won’t get better by itself: the global commodities crisis means mining profits are under threat, and safety is often the first casualty when costs are cut.

Mining is a dangerous job, and signing a piece of paper is not, on its own, enough to change things. The Convention needs to be implemented, which means creating a legislative and regulatory framework, including inspection and enforcement mechanisms at country level to ensure that mines are as safe as possible.

The stronger the union, the safer the mine: the key to implementing the Convention and changing safety culture in the mining industry is powerful unions and well-trained union safety representatives. Unions create a safety culture from the ground – and indeed underground – up.

We are already making a difference. In 2014, 301 miners were killed in the tragic industrial homicide at Soma, in Turkey. To highlight the disrespect the company felt towards its workforce, their colleagues were sacked by text message as the mine closed. But after a strong union campaign lead by IndustriALL, Turkey ratified the Convention.

This is the first step to ensuring that accidents like this – based on greed and negligence – never happen again. Turkey’s mine safety record is terrible, and our unions will need to work hard to ensure that the implementation changes things.

Mining will always be a dangerous job, but it can be made significantly safer.

April 28 is International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers. It is time to back the call to ratify ILO Convention 176. Pressure your legislatures into signing the convention, and employers into recognizing the importance of a worker-led safety culture.

There have been too many preventable deaths. It’s time we made mining safe.

IndustriALL keeping watch on Cambodia

IndustriALL, along with many other parties, has repeatedly voiced its concern to the Cambodian government that the law does not meet core international labour standards, including International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions 87 and 98.

Nonetheless, parliament adopted the law on 4 April with 67 deputies from the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) supporting the bill, and 31 opposition members of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) voting against. None of the requested alterations made by unions were incorporated into the trade union law, according to Ath Thorn, president of IndustriALL garment affiliate C.CAWDU.

IndustriALL’s general secretary, Jyrki Raina, said:

“The new trade union law must not be used to undermine workers, but to strengthen them. The fundamental right of workers to organize and bargain collectively is vital to achieving better wages and working conditions in Cambodia.”

Raina has since written to its ten garment union affiliates in the country, saying:

“I reiterate IndustriALL Global Union’s commitment to continue working with all of you, the ITUC, major brands, employers, and trade union rights NGOs, to ensure that the new trade union law will respect the core principles of freedom of association and collective bargaining.”

IndustriALL wrote to the Prime Minister Hun Sen on 17 March, listing a catalogue of concerns about the law which undermines unions’ right to strike, makes unreasonable and debilitating demands on the provision of financial information, and makes it easier to dissolve trade unions. Unions are also concerned that not enough workers are covered under the law.

Alarm bells began ringing when an original draft of the law was made public in October 2014.

The ILO in Cambodia, which helped the government to draft the trade union law between 2014 and 2015, released a statement on 4 April after the law was adopted by parliament, saying:

“While some meaningful improvements were noted in subsequent drafts during that time, on numerous occasions the ILO drew the government’s attention to several key concerns and gaps. These are mainly related to insufficient protection of the right of all workers and employers to freely set up organizations of their own choosing, and of the right of these organizations to decide on their internal matters without interference, as part of Cambodia’s obligations under ratified ILO Conventions.”