General Electric plans to cut 6,500 jobs in Europe

The job losses follow on GE’s recent acquisition of Alstom Energy. Trade unions in the affected countries, Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, the UK and Switzerland, firmly oppose the massive job cuts. Unions are demanding that the information and consultation rights are respected and that sustainable alternatives are taken into account.

"The acquisition has barely been completed and already General Electric (GE) is no longer keeping its promises", noted the representatives of GE (ex-Alstom) employees and other GE divisions, meeting under the umbrella of industriAll Europe in Brussels in January.

“At stake is the future of strategic industrial sectors for Europe’s energy production capacities and energy independence,” declared Luc Triangle, Deputy General Secretary of industriAll Europe. “Purely short-term financial management cannot meet the industrial challenges faced by GE in Europe. The Group’s management must keep its commitments to sustain industrial plants and skills.”

Unions will lobby European and national public authorities on the industrial and social risks associated with GE's integration plan regarding Alstom, and the will initiate mobilisation actions with GE employees at site, country and European levels in the coming weeks.

"Cutting a large number of jobs without looking for other solutions is unacceptable and not sustainable," says Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary. “Our trade union family will continue to challenge this decision."

Madagascar – Court decision shows Sherritt is not above the law

It means Barson Rakotomanga, an elected staff representative and a member of the work council at Ambatovy, should be reinstated at the mine. Barson was laid off seven months ago after he led a strike in reaction to the death of a fellow worker. Following intervention by the Ministry of Labour he was fired on 27 November.

The Supreme Court is the last instance for a legal fight in Madagascar. Barson, who has been without pay since he was laid off, told of his relief to hear that Madagascar’s highest court had ruled in his favour. He said the decision gave hope to the other 15 elected staff and union representatives who have been dismissed by Sherritt for economic reasons.

As an elected staff representative, Barson is protected by law and Sherritt’s request for his dismissal was subject to the approval of the labour inspector of the region. The labour inspector found the company’s actions violated freedom of association and, instead, asked Sherritt to keep Barson on.

Sherritt took the case to the Ministry of Labour who then cancelled the decision of the labour inspector allowing Sherritt to terminate Barson’s employment contract, under the allegation that he had damaged the reputation of the company, nationally and internationally. The Ministry of Labour also said the disturbances could have a direct impact on the country’s economy.

However, SVS, Barson’s trade union which is affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, took the case to the Supreme Court, which said that there was strong evidence to suspend the Ministry of Labour’s decision, which also infringed the right of trade unions to organize.

Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL’s director of mining, said:

“This is a very important ruling and we hope, a precedent, that will send a message to Sherritt that Madagascar is a constitutional state and that the separation of powers is meant to prevent the very abuses that Sherritt is renowned for in Madagascar. We hope the Supreme Court’s decision shows trade unions in Madagascar that Sherritt does not own the country. This ruling gives trade unions the political space and courage to organize and grow their union base. ”

Improving safety for oil and gas workers in the Arctic

The ‘tripartite sectoral meeting on occupational safety and health and skills in the oil and gas industry operating in polar and subarctic climate zones of the northern hemisphere’ took place from 26 – 29 January.

IndustriALL’s group has been led by Leif Sande, Co-Chair of IndustriALL's Energy Sector Union and composed by gelegates from UK (Unite the Union), USA (USW), Russia (ROGWU), Canada (Unifor), Denmark (CO-Sea/Danish Metal) and Norway (IndustriEnergi).

It was a challenging debate between employers, governments and workers. Discussions about the risks and challenges for workers’ health and well-being in the development and production of oil and gas in the Arctic initially seemed positive. However, the meeting nearly reached an impasse when it reached the point of trying to draft specific policies needed by governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations to improve workers’ health and well-being in the Arctic and identify which tools would best serve in initiating, implementing, monitoring and continuously improving occupational safety and health in Arctic operations.

In the end, conclusions were adopted that included some good points about the unique challenges of working in these extreme environments. Worker participation in risk assessment, protection of workers' rights in medical surveillance, and the need for strong apprenticeship and training programmes were all identified. Workers' rights to refuse or shut down unsafe work were re-affirmed. (A link to the full report and conclusions on the ILO website will be added as soon as they become available.)

Although an ILO Code of Practice (which is a stronger instrument) would have been preferable – a point the workers' group made repeatedly – the meeting report and conclusions should be a useful tool for affiliates in dealings with their employers on appropriate good practices for operations in these climates.

Union struggles for decent work building at Rio Tinto

In Namibia, Rio Tinto Rössing uranium mine management finally met with the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) on 28 January, nearly four months after workers rallied and demanded dialogue about ending exploitation of contractors. This includes paying some contractors only one-seventh as much as regular workers, forcing them to work longer hours with less job security and victimisation of union members.

“Rio Tinto says that freedom of association is one of its priority human rights issues,” stated IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan. “The company must take responsibility for its Namibian contract employees being denied this right.”

Although MUN’s continuing pressure forced Rio Tinto management to agree to a meeting, the company recently announced it intends to outsource all conveyor maintenance jobs. MUN plans to keep up pressure on the company and awaits a response to its demands.

In Iceland, unions have worked for over a year without a collective bargaining agreement. They are resisting Rio Tinto’s plan to outsource a large fraction of the aluminium smelter’s workforce to contractors paid significantly less than direct employees. The company has refused to agree that the outsourced jobs be paid the same as direct employees.

The unions in Iceland continue discussions with the company and have recently networked with the Rio Tinto Global Union Network to develop strategy.

In Australia, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) held a rally on 29 January to protest Rio Tinto replacing a vessel represented by MUA with one whose workers’ pay and conditions are far inferior. The workers transport alumina from a Rio Tinto refinery to a Rio Tinto aluminium smelter.

The vessel Rio Tinto plans to now charter is Greek owned, with a Liberian flag and a full Filipino crew.

“We are being replaced by the most exploited workers in the world. Workers who have no say, workers who can’t go to the boss and say, ‘No, I’m not going to do that job because it’s unsafe,’” said MUA assistant national secretary Warren Smith.

Unions representing workers at Rio Tinto in fourteen countries sent a letter to Rio Tinto’s CEO on 7 October requesting to work collaboratively with the company to address problems related to the company’s increasing use of precarious labour.

“The current disputes at Rio Tinto in Australia, Iceland and Namibia are part of a global problem,” said Kemal Özkan. “We’re ready to work together with the company to seek a global solution.”

Foundation stone laid for shipbreaking workers’ training centre in India

Around 800 delegates including workers, national trade union leaders, employer representatives and government officials attended a ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the new training centre on 17 January at the world’s biggest ship recycling centre.

The centre is being built for members of IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Alang Sosiya Shiprecycling General Workers Association (ASSRGWA). It marks another step forward towards increasing awareness among shipbreaking workers on health and safety issues and workers’ rights.

Speaking at the ceremony, which also marked the tenth anniversary of the union, ASSRGWA general secretary, Vidyadhar Rane, highlighted the importance of the training centre and hoped that this initiative will help improving working conditions. He also underlined IndustriALL and its affiliates’ consistent support to ASSRGWA initiatives since its formation.

Fahimuddin Pasha, education and programme officer, at IndustriALL’s South Asia Office, congratulated ASSRGWA and said "on the tenth anniversary of its founding, it is fitting that its leaders renew their pledge to build union power by combating precarious work and defending workers’ rights, in line with IndustriALL’s strategic goals and action plan of the sector.”

The training centre will be built with the support from Japan Federation of Basic Industry Workers' Unions – JBU.

The shipbreaking industry is one of the most hazardous jobs in the world. Most of the shipbreaking workers in South Asia are engaged in dismantling ships without any training on safety and health issues. Numerous accidents in shipbreaking yards lead to the death and serious injury of hundreds of workers every year. Providing basic training on health and safety issues will go a long way to improving working conditions.

Since its inception, ASSRGWA has been organizing shipbreaking workers with the focus on improving working conditions, wages and creating awareness on workers’ rights. Along with IndustriALL Global Union and its Dutch affiliate FNV, ASSRGWA has conducted a number of trainers’ workshops on specific aspects of shipbreaking including understanding how the yard is organized, composition of different ships, lines of communication, working safely with steel cables, piping, tanks and colour codes.

Many those who were trained in the workshops are already involved in teaching new workers.

Shipbreaking is predominantly carried out in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China and Turkey.

Reinstate Thai auto workers says IndustriALL

IndustriALL also calls on the Thai government to end the intimidation of trade unionists and activists, after they report being monitored by military forces.

The workers have been locked out without pay since 20 December after negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement broke down. Auto part manufacturer Sanko Gosei Technology in Thailand, which is a subsidiary of Sanko Gosei Ltd in Japan, has brought in contract workers on lower wages to replace them.

The Sanko Gosei Workers Union, affiliated to IndustriALL through its Thai affiliate TEAM, has agreed to accept the employer's demands on bonus (0.6 months) and wage increase (1 per cent). However, the workers are still locked out and the company is intransigent.

IndustriALL general secretary, Jyrki Raina, says:

“We demand that Sanko Gosei Technology immediately end the lockout, reinstate the workers, and enter into negotiations in good faith with the trade union. The union has clearly shown its willingness to help solve this conflict by accepting, inter alia, the company’s proposal concerning the bonus and salary increase. Therefore, we expect Sanko Gosei Technology to act accordingly, return to the negotiating table, and engage in a meaningful and fair fashion with your government and the union through the mediation process.”

IndustriALL affiliate, the Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Unions, has also approached Sanko Gosei Ltd in Japan, urging the company to take a lead in the situation so that Sanko Gosei Technology in Thailand reaches an amicable solution with the workers’ union.

In October 2015, IndustriALL filed a complaint against the government of Thailand to the International Labour Organization for breaching trade union rights.

“Barring an immediate and satisfactory resolution of the conflict, IndustriALL Global Union would have to consider adding the conflict at Sanko Gosei Technology as part of our complaint,” wrote Raina in the letter to the Minister of Labour, General Sirichai Distakul.

Earlier this month, the Public Assembly Act was used to disperse a gathering of 500 locked out workers outside the Ministry of Labour. Union leaders were taken away, escorted at all times, and had their phones confiscated by the authorities for a number of hours.

The deterioration in the situation is particularly disappointing as Jyrki Raina raised the Sanko Gosei case in a meeting with the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Labour in December, who said the government shared IndustriALL’s will to protect workers.

US Steelworkers rally against ArcelorMittal to demand fair contracts

Mittal and soon-to-depart ArcelorMittal Americas CEO Lou Schorsch were drawn to the USW rally from their offices, and invited a delegation of USW members inside for coffee and a brief discussion of the issues.

Once inside, the delegation told Mittal and Schorsch that tens of thousands of active and retired stand in solidarity against ArcelorMittal’s contract demands, that the USW cannot allow the company to take away the rights and benefits members have earned and will not allow management to triple the amount retirees contribute to health insurance premiums.

“The company’s demands would immediately lower the standards of living for our members and retirees,” said USW District 1 Director David McCall, who chairs the union’s negotiations with ArcelorMittal. “Further, these proposals are clearly designed to undermine our ability to defend our benefits in future negotiations.”

More than 13,000 workers at ArcelorMittal facilities in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Minnesota, South Carolina and Louisiana have continued to work under existing terms and conditions since contracts with the company expired on 1 September 2015, while negotiations for new contracts have been slowed by management’s demands for significant concessions.

Although the USW has reported some progress in contract talks, ArcelorMittal persists in demands for drastic changes to active and retiree benefits plans, among other unfair and unnecessary concessions.

“In order for us to fend off these demands and the company’s relentless and endless attempts to reverse decades of collective bargaining progress, we must continue to stand together,” McCall said.

The USW remains committed to negotiating in good faith for a fair contract with ArcelorMittal and the negotiating committee is confident that the union will achieve its goals.

IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary Fernando Lopes said:

IndustriALL Global Union supports our affiliate the United Steelworkers and we urge ArcelorMittal to listen to the just demands of its workers who have a right to the benefits they were promised.

South Korea trade unionists holed up in offices

Instead she eats, sleeps and lives there while her family must travel to the offices to see her, so tells IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary Monika Kemperle who met Youngjoo in the KCTU offices last week. Youngjoo’s fellow trade unionists are also holed up in the offices.

Kemperle also visited Han Sang-gyun in prison during the IndustriALL solidarity mission to South Korea. Sang-gyun is accused of organizing illegal rallies and has been indicted with eight charges of the Criminal Code and the law on assembly and demonstration.

Sang-gyun became a target after thousands of people took to the streets of Seoul on 14 November protesting against proposed labour reform that would make it easier to fire workers.

After the rally, Sang-gyun took refuge in the Jogye Temple until he finally surrendered to police on 10 December.

“Han remains strong,” said Kemperle, who told how ten minutes into their meeting, loud music was played over a speaker making it almost impossible to talk. “We were not left alone and our entire conversation was written down and recorded.”

The KCTU strongly refutes the charges against Sang-gyun:

"The police and prosecution jointly attempted to demonize the KCTU as a mob of rioters. Such malicious attempts will not succeed and the KCTU will continue its fight against the government to protect the nation's 20 million workers' basic right to live.”

The 14 November rally also prompted police to raid the offices of KCTU as well as those of IndustriALL affiliate, the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU), where they seized computers and other documents.

At least 16 trade unionists are being held in detention and more than 400 have been investigated by police in South Korea as the government intensifies its crackdown. Police have reportedly been investigating a total of over 1,000 unionists.

In another downward development, a Korean high court this month outlawed a teachers’ union affiliated to the KCTU for including dismissed workers as its members.

While in Korea, Monika Kemperle addressed a rally of 5,000 people in Seoul, organized by KCTU and other trade unions on Saturday 23 January.

“Desperate attempts by authorities to silence workers will not work. The brave trade unionists in South Korea refuse to be cowered by political persecution. The South Korean government must listen to its people and stop the suppression of democratic freedoms,” said Kemperle.

Philippines: union actions at Sanofi Aventis lead to collective bargaining agreement

Calling for renewed negotiations, more than 70 Sanofi union members, together with allied unions and IndustriALL Global Union’s representatives, picketed in front of the Sanofi Aventis office in Makati, Philippines on 20 January. Union actions also took place in Angeles, Pampanga, Cebu and Davao.

The actions led to resumed negotiations between the union and management, and a new collective bargaining agreement was signed on 25 January in the presence of Philippines’ Labour Secretary.

Workers at Sanofi Aventis will receive a nine per cent salary increase, a goodwill bonus, as well as guaranteed funds from the Labour Department for seminars and trainings.

“After several days of negotiations, we are pleased to see our demands met in what is a win-win situation for both employees and the company. The new collective bargaining agreement shows the power of unions,” says Leilani Lucido, president of Sanofi Aventis Employees Union (SAEU).

“IndustriALL Global Union congratulates Sanofi Aventis workers on their determination and good collective bargaining. IndustriALL's Sanofi trade union network has shown support and solidarity during this conflict, which has been very appreciated. When workers unite through networks, they are a powerful force,” said Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary.

Sanofi-Aventis is one of the leading pharmaceutical firm in the Philippines and fourth largest in the world in terms of sales.

Miners' union and companies want to improve industrial relations

Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, president of the Mexican union of miners and metalworkers (SNTMMSRM), affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, addressed the Annual Meeting for Cooperation and Co-responsibility for Labour and Management Activity in Mexico.

We need unions and companies but need to establish a fairer and more equitable attitude. Not everything can be reduced to production and profits. Business should not be based on exploitation and injustice. We want a more secure and sustainable future for all,

Gómez Urrutia said at the meeting.

Union leaders and senior management at mining, metalworking and steel companies met for the fourth consecutive year, in Vancouver, Canada. In a spirit of cooperation, commitment and a sense of responsibility on both sides, they were able to agree on strategies to continue improving industrial relations.

They discussed the importance of workers’ rights and company interests and covered issues such as the creation of decent jobs, productivity, gender, health and safety and pay. Wages in Mexico are the lowest in the Americas.

Gómez Urrutia said:

Our objective is to guarantee workers’ basic rights. Unions are not enemies of companies. We have shown that we can prosper by working shoulder to shoulder. The miners’ union is not an obstacle to productivity, equality and social peace.

Both parts agreed on the need to end labour disputes in the mining industry. Company representatives said they are ready to petition President Enrique Peña Nieto to allow Napoleón Gómez Urrutia to return to Mexico so he can continue to promote workers’ rights in his own country.

Fernando Lopes, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, said on the meeting:

With initiatives like this, the miners’ union in Mexico again shows that it is a modern union, able to promote the country’s development while defending workers’ rights.
IndustriALL Global Union welcomes and supports the agreements made at the Vancouver meeting and calls on the Mexican government to take practical steps to resolve the dispute with the union and its leader.