Chevron sacks Bangladeshi workers by text message as part of union-busting

President of the union formed by Chevron workers in Bangladesh, Saiful Islam, was sacked by the company in May 2015 for organizing his workplace. He reports that 50 workers have now been sacked by text message, including eight of the 12 elected worker representatives. Instead of being issued with formal termination letters, workers received messages telling them that they had been fired. 

IndustriALL affiliate the Bangladesh Chemical, Energy and Allied Workers’ Federation (BCEF), which is supporting the formation of a union at Chevron, demands that the company reinstates the workers, makes their job permanent and allows them to form a trade union, in line with Bangladeshi labour law.

Chevron has operated in Bangladesh for 10 years, after taking over operations from Unocal. The company is the largest natural gas producer in the country, as well as the largest foreign investor, and its activities set an important precedent.

Chevron has kept its staff on precarious contracts, sometimes for as long as 20 years. Of 463 directly employed staff, only 37 have been given permanent contracts.

Keeping workers on temporary contracts for more than three months is against Bangladeshi labour law. Last year, Chevron workers stood up for themselves, called a general assembly at work and formed a union.

The union filed for registration, and about half the workforce joined.

A group of workers took their case to the Labour Court to demand permanent status. The union is also petitioning the court for legal recognition.

The company reacted aggressively, sacking 17 worker representatives and calling the police and security forces, who blockaded the union offices.

IndustriALL wrote to Chevron in September last year, protesting against this grave violation of workers’ rights.

The company ignored the letter, and continues its campaign of bullying, intimidation and harassment against workers. IndustriALL wrote to the company again today, 16 March 2016, expressing its growing anger at Chevron’s continued violation of workers’ rights and labour law.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina said:

“The way Chevron has behaved is shameful, and betrays a grave disrespect of its workers and their right to trade union representation. We stand with the BCEF and demand that Chevron reinstate the workers, make their jobs permanent and allow them to form a trade union, in line with Bangladeshi labour law.

Women at work: The gender gap isn’t closing fast enough

International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate, because the struggle by generations of women for rights and equality has resulted in real progress. But according to the ILO report, progress for women has stalled, and in some areas gone backwards.

The report is an authoritative survey of working conditions for women across the world.

Comprehensively analyzing large data sets, the report looks at different dimensions of the gender gap at work, including the number of women in employment, women in skilled jobs, women’s wages compared to men’s, the number of hours worked, pension provision and caring responsibilities.

The picture is complex, and diverges according to geography, education, skill level, and a number of other factors. Overall, however, the picture is a disturbing one.

In the past 20 years, the overall gender gap has only closed by 0.6%. At this rate, it will take more than 70 years to close the gap. Women’s labour market participation is a stark indicator of the problem: only 50% of women have paid employment, compared to 77% of men.

Despite decades of equal pay legislation, and campaigns and legal action by unions, women still earn only 77% of what men earn. The pay gap has only closed by 3% in 20 years. Women also work longer hours, and do more unpaid work outside the workplace.

Worryingly, although there has been a tremendous growth in women’s educational achievement over the past few years, this hasn’t translated into new skilled jobs for women. Many women remain under employed, with their skills not being valued and rewarded.

This is bad not just for women, but for society and the economy, because they lose out on the contributions that women could be making.

The growth in austerity policies around the world has had a disproportionate impact on women. Women have been forced further into precarious work, and had more caring responsibility placed on them as governments cut back on social spending.

Speaking at the launch of the report in Geneva on International Women’s Day, Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), said:

“Today, instead of purple, I am wearing trade union red. Because today marks the start of a trade union fight for the care economy, for decent jobs and for the freedoms for women that this will generate."

She explained that the lack of progress in closing the gender gap was “tragic”, but that the trade union movement had a solution.
 
Referring to a Women's Day report on the care economy released by the ITUC, she said that if just seven countries invested 2% of GDP in the care economy, it would create 21 million formal jobs, help the economy return to growth, and reduce the gender gap.
 
IndustriALL assistant general secretary Monika Kemperle said:

“The lack of progress shown in the ILO report is disturbing. With the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate agreement, the world is working towards very ambitious targets of zero poverty and zero carbon. We won’t get there without women. We need equality, and we also need women’s views and values to be part of the solution."

IndustriALL denounces attacks in Turkey and Ivory Coast

In Turkey 37 people were killed in a suicide bomb in the capital, Ankara, on 13 March. Only last month 28 people were murdered in a car bomb targeting military personnel in the city. It follows the death in October last year of more than 100 people in a suicide bombing on a peace march organized by trade unions and civil society organizations in the city.

Now, Ivory Coast is in shock after 15 civilians and three security personnel were killed by Al Qaeda Islamist militants at the beach resort of Grand Bassam. The attackers stopped at a bar for a beer before embarking on their coldblooded rampage. Security forces killed three of the attackers.

“IndustriALL Global Union and our 50 million members strongly condemn these callous, cowardly attacks on defenseless people going about their daily lives. We offer our deepest condolences to families of the victims and stand shoulder to shoulder with our affiliates in Turkey and Ivory Coast,” said Kemal Ôzkan, assistant general secretary of IndustriALL. "These attacks will never frighten us away from our historic mission and struggle for democracy and fundamental human rights, of which trade union liberties are an essential part."

Great victory for Los Mineros at ArcelorMittal

Workers at the ArcelorMittal plant in Michoacán went on strike for one week in response to violations of their collective agreement and unfair dismissals. The company finally agreed to negotiate with the union and an agreement was reached on ending the strike, renewing the employment contracts of contract workers and restructuring the plant to ensure the permanence of 125 jobs.

“Congratulations to all of you. Once again, unity, courage and discipline have managed to ensure respect for your rights,” said Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, union president, to the workers involved in the dispute.

The agreement represents a great success for the 3,500 workers that marched through the streets in defence of their right to strike, after the company and the Labour and Social Welfare Department (STPS) said the strike was illegal.

“One of the most problematic issues is when the labour authorities refuse to recognize the right to strike, which is a universally recognized right enshrined in International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 87 on freedom of association, which the Mexican government signed more than 60 years ago,” said Gómez Urrutia.

The company also agreed a redundancy package for 81 employees, including a 100,000 peso (US$5,600) tax-free lump sum. It also agreed to review violations of the collective agreement within the next two weeks and pay wages owed for the period from 4 March.

Jyrki Raina, IndustriALL general secretary, who is currently visiting affiliates in Chile, said:

“We congratulate the workers at our affiliate, Los Mineros in Mexico, who have again showed that through struggle, dialogue and solidarity, it is possible to win major victories that benefit all workers.”

Georgia: Union victory after month-long glass strike

The employer agreed to increase salaries by 7.5 per cent as of 1 January 2016, to launch collective bargaining negotiations in April 2016 with a goal to make the collective agreement binding as of 1 January 2017, and to provide premises for the local union of the Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia (TUMMCIWG), a Georgian affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union.

An international solidarity campaign also contributed to the union victory. Tamaz Dolaberidze, the President of TUMMCIWG thanked IndustriALL and all trade unions, including IndustriALL's affiliates in the CIS, that had sent their protest letters to the factory management and to the Turkish company Şişecam Group that owns the glass container factory in Ksani (JSC MINA).

"This international solidarity support once again showed us its great importance, as every union letter inspired striking workers to continue their struggle, made them stronger, that altogether resulted in the victory,” said Dolaberidze.

Workers at the Ksani glass container factory launched the strike on 5 February, after the management continued to neglect TUMMCIWG demands to sign a collective agreement and increase wages.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary, Kemal Ôzkan, said: “We congratulate our Georgian affiliate on this excellent victory for the Ksani glass workers. We now expect the company to fulfill its obligations and meet the agreed deadlines.”

Europe: Unions raise their voice against General Electric through an action day on 8 April

GE became a major player in the European energy industry after its takeover of Alstom Power in November 2015, and the company’s presence in Europe is now as significant as its presence in the US. Just three months after closing the deal, GE intends to save €3 billion by cutting 6,500 jobs across Europe.
 
The trade union coordinating group on GE of IndustriAll European Trade Union is mobilizing for a day of action to take place simultaneously at the company headquarters in Paris, and at company sites all over Europe.
 
Unions are calling for GE management to halt the restructuring plan and instead, to adopt a coherent and sustainable industrial strategy to ensure the future of jobs and of Europe’s energy sector.
 
The mobilization is the next stage of a series of actions which have already taken place in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
 
In addition to the job cuts, GE workers are confronted with a management team which refuses to disclose its business strategy, especially in terms of investment, innovation, funding, the launch of new technology projects as well as new production and research capacities which are necessary to meet the growing need for renewable energy.
 
The unions demand that GE management:

 
GE’s profits have fallen in the oil and gas sector, and the company is aggressively cutting costs across its operations. It intends to use software to automate energy delivery as it becomes what it calls a “digital industrial company”.
 
In addition to the US, in the wake of the Alstom takeover, GE is consolidating its position around the world, including in India, and across Africa. The company is also exploring investment in oil and gas in Iran.
 
The European unions are calling for solidarity action from GE workers in other countries, with the objective of building an international response to the company.
 
“IndustriALL Global Union is supporting our European affiliates on this action day against GE” said Kemal Özkan, assistant general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union. “General Electric must listen to this important voice, receive the message and do what is necessary.”
 
If you are participating in the day of action, please use the hashtag #EUActionDay_GE.

IndustriALL backs Lula against right wing attacks

On Friday 4 March 2016, Lula was forcibly taken from his home after being smeared in the mass media with allegations of corruption, in a right wing campaign to undermine his legacy of social justice.
 
This is a campaign by his political opponents on the Right to use the legal system, and media outlets controlled by a rich elite, to turn back the clock on Brazil’s progress.
 
Born into poverty, Lula is a former metalworker who rose to prominence in the Workers’ Party and became president of Brazil. As a trade unionist, he lead a wave of strikes that shook the foundations of the military dictatorship. Lula went on to lead Brazil into an era of democracy. He is a symbol of the struggle of ordinary people for justice, dignity and social inclusion.
 
Lula is dearly loved by working class people in Brazil. When he left office in 2011, he was the world’s most popular politician, with an approval rating of 80%. This is because of the dramatic and concrete changes he made to the lives of the great majority of people.
 
During his presidency, Lula’s government brought 30 million people out of poverty, reduced child labour, empowered women, raised the minimum wage, reduced unemployment, and provided social security – the Bolsa Familia. He achieved all of this while growing Brazil’s economy, and ensuring that the proceeds of this new wealth were fairly distributed.
 
Lula’s leadership has inspired unions across the world, particularly in other developing countries, where his model of state investment to improve the lives of ordinary people has underlined union demands to government.
 
Reactionary forces in Brazil cannot accept the shift of the country towards democracy, and have intensified their campaigns against him.
 
IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:
 
“Neoliberal attacks have no limits. Conservative forces intensify their attacks against labour everywhere. Their recent target is Comrade Lula, who together with his family, is now victim of an intensified campaign.
 
“It is obvious to us that Lula is a symbolic target, because he brought huge social and economic progress to Brazil.
 
“He has shown that another Brazil, and another world, is possible. Conservative forces in Brazil and across the world want to turn the clock back. They want to take revenge for the social and democratic progress which Comrade Lula has made.
 
We will never allow them to do this”.

Unions unite for all India protest against anti-worker policies

The unions called an all India protest day on 10 March 2016, as the government of India appears indifferent to union demands, and has failed to present concrete resolutions.

Since 2009, India’s central trade unions (CTUs) have worked across ideological differences and party lines, and have taken many joint initiatives to defend workers’ rights and to protest anti-labour policies.

The March 10 day of action is part of a series of joint national level actions, including massive national strikes and protests on 2 September 2015, 5 December 2014, 12 December 2013,  28 February 2012 and historic march to parliament on 23 February 2011.

Despite this, the Indian government is going ahead with business friendly, anti-labour policies, including proposed labour law amendments, disinvestment and privatization of public sector undertakings, and allowing foreign direct investment in strategic sectors, directly affecting workers’ welfare.

Indian central trade unions expressed deep concerns that even without legislating, many anti-worker labour laws amendments are pushed through by executive orders and by directing state governments to carry out pro-corporate amendments.

In stark contrast to workers’ demands, in the budget for 2016-17 the government broke with the tradition of exempting Employees’ Provident Funds (EPF) from tax, and proposed a tax on EPF withdrawal on 60% of contributions made after April 1 2016, to EPF and other such schemes. The government was forced to withdraw the tax proposal due to widespread protests.

The CTUs extended support to the proposed strike call given by central government employees in railways, defence and the postal service from 11 July 2016, and also to coal workers’ joint agitation, including the one day strike on 29th March, 2016.

CTUs joining the protest action include BMS, INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, UTUC and LPF. It is important to note that the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), trade union wing of the ruling party also joined the action.

IndustriALL affiliates, including Hind Khadan Mazdoor Federation, Indian National Metal and Mine Workers' Federations, and Steel, Metal & Engineering Workers' Federation of India held demonstrations.

The central trade unions’ 12 demands:

  1. No casualization of permanent or perennial work to contractors. The nature of employment, payment of wages and benefits to contract workers must be at the same rate as regular workers in the industry or establishment.
  2. Amendment of the Minimum Wages Act to ensure universal coverage, irrespective of schedules. The statutory minimum wage to be not less than Rs 15,000/-.
  3. Removal of all ceilings on payment and eligibility for bonuses and provident fund. Increase the quantum of gratuity.
  4. An assured pension for all.
  5. Concrete measures for creating jobs.
  6. Strict enforcement of labour laws.
  7. Universal social security cover for unorganized workers, and the creation of a National Social Security Fund.
  8. Compulsory registration of trade unions within a period of 45 days, and immediate ratification of ILO Conventions Nos. 87 and 98.
  9. Concrete measures to contain price rises.
  10. Ending disinvestment in central and state public sector undertakings
  11. No to foreign direct investment in railways, defence and other strategic sectors
  12. No unilateral amendments to labour laws.

The central trade unions will hold a National Convention of Workers in New Delhi on 30th March, 2016 to decide on next phase of the action programme against the anti-labour policies of the government.

The unions on the frontline of the feminist struggle

On 8 March this year, people around the world celebrated International Women’s Day, demanding decent work, equality, safety and respect. Originally celebrated more than a hundred years ago, Women’s Day has its roots in the labour movement, and in the struggles of working class women.

The profile of the day has risen in recent years, as people come together to demand an end to violence against women, and discrimination in the workplace and across society.

The focus of Women’s Day in 2016 is equality, with the aim of achieving parity by 2030:  in the past 20 years, very little progress has been made in closing gender gaps in the work place. We are not doing enough, and urgent action needs to be taken.

According to an ILO report launched on Women’s Day, women are 27% less likely to be in paid employment than men, and when they do work, they earn less and work longer hours. On top of this, women also have caring responsibilities and the expectation that they will perform the emotional labour – providing tea and sympathy – necessary to keep society flowing smoothly.

This is particularly the case in the global South, where women are entering the workforce at an unprecedented rate, but find themselves subject to traditional expectations of women’s roles. Globally, we are seeing a dramatic feminization of the workforce, with employers using women’s subservient position to drive down wages. Much of this work is precarious, and performed at home.

IndustriALL’s biggest sector is textiles. Most textile workers are women, mostly in the global South. They are some of the most marginalized and precarious workers in the world, and our affiliates in these countries are on the front lines of fighting for better conditions.

Women’s Day is more than just a quest for equal pay: it is a life and death struggle, a fact brought brutally home by the rape and murder of a young girl in India on the day before Women’s Day this year. In addition to low pay, terrible conditions and caring responsibilities, women – like miner Pinky Mosiane, raped and murdered at work in South Africa – face horrific levels of violence in the workplace.

Unions organizing women in these conditions are on the frontline of feminist struggle. They are fighting not just exploitative employers, but deeply sexist societies. That is why it is so important when an Indonesian union votes for a 40% gender quota, or a woman is elected leader of an Iraqi electricians’ and technicians’ union.

Women marched in Guatemala, Brazil, Chile and across Latin America. In Thailand, South Korea and Cambodia, women workers and their unions made their voices heard, and stood up against discrimination and for maternity pay.

In Bangladesh, textile unions held vibrant rallies, but also women’s empowerment workshops. In India and Sri Lanka, women came together to fight for their rights.

In Pakistan, rallies were held in in Karachi, Multan and Hyderabad, and the IndustriALL Pakistan Council and All Pakistan Labour Federation celebrated Women’s Day with a conference at Quetta. The meeting heard that women face discrimination in every sphere of life – including the union movement. This holds the movement back, as employers exploit the low status of women to extract as much profit as possible and divide workers.

At the rally in Hyderabad, speakers told of how in feudal areas, women are treated as livestock, and traded to settle disputes. Others are imprisoned and subject to sexual torture.

Home–based workers turn their homes into factories for employers, and work 12-14 hours a day for low pay and no rights. IndustriALL affiliate the National Trade Union Federation supports the efforts of the Home Based Women Workers’ Federation to organize women working precariously at home.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary and director for women, Monika Kemperle, said:

“We salute the work done by our affiliates, who are setting new precedents for women’s rights in their societies.

“Women perform some of the most poorly paid and precarious work in the world. They also face severe repression outside the workplace, in deeply sexist societies. To challenge this, we need a powerful labour movement organizing women workers. Our unions need women in leadership positions, who are able to take the decisions necessary to transform our workplaces and society.”

These unions are changing the lives of women, giving them a voice, and bringing them together to fight for their rights. In many instances, they are fighting the accumulated weight of centuries of tradition, as well as the economic power of multinational corporations engaged in a race to the bottom.

Court recognizes illegal dismissal of union leader in Kyrgyzstan

In the 9 March ruling, the court also ordered Ahmetov be compensated for loss of wages while he was off work. At the same time, the court rejected the earlier accusations of defamation and damage to business reputation filed by the company against Ahmetov.

Late in August 2015 Zhongda management dismissed Ahmetov without any specific reason. At the same time, management also challenged the registration of the local branch, put pressure on workers and blocked the union leader’s access to the enterprise.

In response to the company pressure, IndustriALL and its affiliate MMTUK ran a solidarity campaign on LabourStart, which received support from almost 8,000 activists around the globe. Earlier IndustriALL addressed a letter of protest to the company management demanding reinstatement of Zhanaidar Ahmetov.

Zhanaidar Ahmetov praises MMTUK and their experienced lawyers who helped to win. He said, “My special gratitude to Eldar Tadzhibayev [MMTUK chairman], thanks to his team efforts we achieved this victory”.

“In fact Ahmetov was dismissed for forming a trade union and trying to protect the rights of Kyrgyz workers at the factory,” explained Tadzhibayev. He recalled another case at the same company when trade union leader Almazbek Nurayev was also fired for flimsy reasons. In October 2015 Nurayev was reinstated following a court decision in his favour. Unfortunately the company is not keen to abide by court’s decision and has already appealed it in a higher instance court.

IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary Kemal Ozkan said, “We congratulate our affiliate the Mining and Metallurgy Trade Union of Kyrgyzstan and Zhanaidar Ahmetov. We also hope that this time Zhongda leadership will abide by the court decision as the final one and will not try to appeal it as in Nuraev’s case. We know that MMTUK is prepared to fight for their cause even in the supreme court and we pledge our continued support for their struggle for workers’ rights in Kyrgyzstan.”