Alang ship recycling yards declared compliant with Hong Kong Convention

ClassNK, a large ship classification company based in Japan, awarded the Alang ship recycling sites with a Statement of Compliance (SoC) with the Hong Kong Convention.

Kan Matsuzaki, IndustriALL Director for the Shipbuilding and Shipbreaking industries says:

This is a concrete step towards protecting workers’ lives in the ship breaking yards.

IndustriALL welcomes all international efforts that improve shipbreaking and invites all stakeholders to think together, act together and together improve occupational health and safety. We are determined to make the jobs in this industry safe and sustainable, which is why we campaign for the ratification and implementation of the Hong Kong Convention.

Best practices should be shared by stakeholders, including from yards certified by ClassNK, to improve occupational health and safety at all yards globally.

The move has also been welcomed by the Asian Ship-owners’ Forum (ASF). The ASF is made up of eight national ship-owner associations, from Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei and the Federation of ASEAN Ship-owner Associations. Those ASF members are estimated to control about 50 per cent of the world's merchant fleet.

Dr Frank Lu, Chairman of the Ship Recycling Committee of the ASF, said, “I sincerely desire that ship recyclers all around the world demonstrate capable development and maintenance of safe and environmentally friendly recycling operations in compliance with the spirit and requirements of the Hong Kong Convention. Such action would give examples that can be followed by developing ship recyclers for their further improvement. The ASF members will, in the meantime, continue to urge their governments to ratify the Hong Kong Convention at the earliest opportunity.”

Report slams Apple’s business model

The report, “Rich corporations, poor societies: The financialisation of Apple” was released on 27 October, the same day that Apple published its results. It heavily criticizes the multinational for persistently seeking to maximize financial returns on its enormous profits without reinvesting in production.

The report notes that Apple minimizes costs through relentless offshoring of production into low wage countries and tax heavens. It also found that Apple increasingly operates as an institutional investor, putting a major part of its profits into financial markets.

Apple’s corporate strategy is not unique, according to the report. An increasing number of multinational companies are behaving according to the same model, which benefits hardly anyone except for a limited group of corporate managers and shareholders. This model reinforces the growth in unemployment, rising debts, inequality and fiscal austerity in Europe, while feeding precarious and badly paid jobs in the Global South.

“Whereas Apple has massively benefited from public investments, governments and tax-paying citizens and workers around the globe are seeing surprisingly poor returns in the form of public investments (financed by corporate income taxes) and wages from Apple’s riches,” says the report.

The report argues that a changed business model is possible if governments enact and enforce regulations that will ensure the multinational corporations:

The report concludes that, these changes will also benefit multinational corporations, such as Apple, and their shareholders by contributing to a strong and sustainable society that will supply Apple with workers to build and consumers to buy its products for years to come.

The report is available on GoodElectronics website http://goodelectronics.org/publications-en/Publication_4246/

There is also a short introducing  video available on https://vimeo.com/143721806

SOMO is a Dutch non-profit research and advisory bureau specialized in investigation of the policies of multinational enterprises. GoodElectronics brings together networks, organizations and individuals concerned about human rights, including labour rights. Both are IndustriALL Global Union’s partner organizations.

IndustriALL shipbuilding-shipbreaking Action Group meets in Chittagong and recommits to global campaign

Satoshi Kudoh, co-chair of the sector, opened the meeting by discussing the resolution adopted at last year’s World Conference whereby all unions in the sector committed to lobby their respective government to ratify the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. The convention would dramatically improve the lives of shipbreaking workers.

There are around 20,000 shipbreaking workers in Chittagong, the second largest ship breaking area in the world, after Alang in India. The Action Group visited the Four Star shipbreaking yard in Sitakunda, one of 194 in Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi ship breaking union leader Nazim Uddin told the meeting:

In our country the employers believe in 100 per cent profit, but they believe in zero per cent safety compliance.

Workers are brought to the shipyard by contractors from rural northern Bangladesh, and then sent back without even seeing Chittagong city.

The government often delays union registration.

Shipbreaking workers have miserable conditions. Workers are paid daily, no work no pay. They receive no paid leave at all, no bonus, no gratuity, no service guarantee. Eight workers have been killed here in the last two months. Employers pay no compensation to the killed workers’ family. The High Court rules that each killed worker’s family should be compensated 500,000 Taka (US$ 6,400), but employers do not respect this.

The meeting heard reports of lobbying efforts pushing for ratification of the Hong Kong Convention by unions in Japan, Australia, Germany, Denmark, Norway and India. See those reports on the campaign web page here. Strong shipbuilding unions stand with shipbreaking workers out of solidarity and also because sustainable shipbreaking is needed for a sustainable shipbuilding industry.

The overall statistics for shipbreaking in 2014:

India 29.8%
Bangladesh 24.2%
China 21.9%
Pakistan 18%

V. V. Rane, Vice-Chair of the sector and leader of the world's biggest shipbreaking union in Mumbai and Alang, India, said:

“It is important that we are here in Chittagong. With our visit to the shipyard we sent a message to Bangladeshi ship-breakers: We are with you.”

Shipbreaking is currently experiencing a downturn because China’s economic slowdown has put massive amounts of cheap Chinese steel on the market, pushing the price of steel so low that shipbreaking is not profitable. The downturn is forecast to continue for five years, however the industry will definitely grow after that point, as there are more ships on the sea now than ever before.

Australian AMWU’s assistant general secretary Glenn Thompson reported on his union’s campaign to keep the ship building industry strong in Australia. Subs = Jobs billboards are being crowd-funded for the city of Adelaide.

Kan Matsuzaki, IndustriALL’s Director for the Shipbuilding and Shipbreaking Industries:

We are committed to strong world-wide action to push the Hong Kong Convention. Putting that international standard in place in South Asia will change lives. IndustriALL is also working with our South Asian affiliates to organize stronger unions in the shipbreaking yards. The same unacceptable working conditions we saw here in Chittagong were present in the Indian yards before our affiliate organized the workers there.

The delegates of the Action Group meeting reaffirmed their commitment to world-wide action on the ratification of the Hong Kong Convention, to strengthen OHS activities and training, and to promote sustainable industrial policy, in line with the sector action plan 2015-2016.

The delegates also agreed to have the next Action Group meeting in Western Australia, in November 2016.

Call for nominations for the Arthur Svensson prize

The prize was established by IndustriALL Global Union’s Norwegian affiliate Industri Energi in honour of Arthur Svensson (1930-2008), one of the most prominent leaders of the Norwegian trade union movement, who had a profound effect on society by creating better conditions for Norwegian workers.

The winner will be awarded the prize in Oslo, Norway in June 2016.

Trade unions must submit their nominations by 31 December 2015. The organizers will consider a person or an organization that has specifically worked in the field of promoting trade union rights and/or strengthening trade union organization.

The submitters must define clearly who nominates the candidate and provide arguments supporting their nominations. There should be also an explanation of how the nominated candidate is linked to the submitting organization. The nominations can be done in Norwegian, English, French or Spanish.

Nominations should be sent to committee secretary Espen Løken (Industri Energi) via e-mail: [email protected], or via the online nomination form on the Arthur Svensson Prize website at http://www.svenssonprize.com/nomination/ .

Last year Arthur Svensson Prize was awarded to leaders of the Bahrain Teachers Association (BTA) Mahdi Abu Dheeb and deputy Jalila al-Salman, who were imprisoned in 2011, tortured and humiliated because they encouraged strikes among teachers.

Winners from previous years are Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, General Secretary of Los Mineros, the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (2014); Russian union leader Valentin Urusov (2013); Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (2012); Shaer Sae'd, leader of Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (2011); and Wellington Chibebe, leader of Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (2010).

For further information visit www.svenssonprize.com

IndustriALL Global Union and H&M sign global framework agreement

This innovative global framework agreement (GFA) marks a new level of commitment to fundamental rights of workers across H&M’s supply chain. It covers 1.6 million garment workers that are employed at the around 1,900 factories run by the manufacturers where H&M buys their products.

The agreement is based on a shared conviction that collaboration between the parties on the labour market is crucial for lasting improvements for the garment workers and the creation of well-functioning industrial relations.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina, one of the architects behind the groundbreaking Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh which was first signed by H&M, says on the GFA:

“This agreement opens an exciting new chapter in the relationship between IndustriALL Global Union and H&M. It cements the path towards a sustainable garment industry with unionized workforce, constructive labour-management relations, living wages through industry level collective agreements, and safe workplaces.”

H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson says:

“Well-functioning industrial relations including collective bargaining are keys to achieving fair living wages and improved working conditions in our supply chain. We believe that the collaboration with IndustriALL and IF Metall will contribute to our already ongoing work within this field as well as help to create stable sourcing markets.”

The agreement includes setting up national monitoring committees, initially planned for countries such as Cambodia, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Turkey to safeguard the implementation of the agreement from the factory floor upwards, and to facilitate a dialogue between the parties on the labour market.

The collaboration also aims to promote a well-functioning dialogue between employers and employees in order to solve conflicts peacefully, and primarily at the factory level where they arise.

IF Metall president Anders Ferbe says:

“The agreement creates a unique system for committees made up of the parties on the labour market, on national as well as international level. Implementing the agreement, primarily through communication and training of trade unions and their member, suppliers and employer associations, but also employers in factories where there are currently no unions, will be the most important task.”

The GFA establishes that

Global Framework Agreements

Global Framework Agreements (GFAs) protect the interests of workers employed in all operations of the multinational companies who sign them.

GFAs are negotiated at the global level between trade unions and companies. They establish the best possible standards on trade union rights, on health and safety, and on the labour relations principles adhered to by the company in its global operations, regardless of the standards existing in a particular country.

Indonesia – violence against union protestors

On 30 October, an estimated 35,000 people rallied in front of the presidential palace in Jakarta to voice their discontent with the new system, which leaves workers with no influence in setting the minimum wage.

Police used water canons and tear gas to try and disperse the crowds. Some of the workers who refused to abandon the peaceful demonstration were dragged into police cars and beaten.  

Out of the 25 people arrested, seven are members of IndustriALL Global Union affiliate FSPMI. After interrogation they were all released the following day on 31 October.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina says:

“This is a big step back for Indonesia and its democratic process. Denying workers the right to peacefully protest against the new system for a minimum wage, which effectively curtails the unions’ influence, is wholly unacceptable.

“We urge the government to withdraw the new regulation, which ends workers’ involvement in setting the minimum wage and violates ILO conventions 87 and 98.”

Indonesian trade union centres KSPI (FSPMI, Farkes, SPN,KEP, ISI), KSPSI (cemwu), KSBSI (Lomenik, FPE, Garteks) FSBI, KPKPBI, FBLP,SBSI 92, PGRI, are standing together to:
·      Refuse the government’s regulation (PP NO 78/2015) on setting the minimum wage without workers’ involvement
·      Refuse the formula of the new minimum wage based only on GDP and economic growth (less than 10 per cent)
·      Demand an increase to the 2016 minimum wage of 22 per cent or IDR 500.000 (US$36) 

Trade unions in Western Africa fight against precarious work

African affiliates have been reporting on concrete victories for years. Participants at a sub regional meeting in Togo in October underlined that one of the main achievements of this project has been raising awareness that precarious work is an issue against which it is fundamental to fight back.

Affiliates from Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal reported the conversion of about 950 fixed-term or daily workers into permanent workers in 2015. In Togo, affiliates organized days of action in targeted companies to force management to respect agreements bargained with the unions on the regularization of the workers. These achievements had been negotiated as a follow up of trainings to affiliates on strategies of collective bargaining to limit precarious work.

In parallel, affiliates have also led or participating in actions to improve their legislation in order to stop the expansion of precarious work. Affiliates in Burkina Faso are negotiating a new mining code.

In Senegal, affiliates are working towards a better respect of the legislation limiting precarious work. They have launched a campaign violation of legislation on the use of daily and seasonal work.

This later campaign is a joint action of the Syndicat National des Travailleurs des Industries Chimiques et Activités Rattachées du Sénégal (SYNTICS), the Syndicat National des Travailleurs des Industries de la Confection (SNTIC) and the Syndicat Unique des Travailleurs des Industries Diverses du Sénégal SUTIDS). Unions rally together with unions not affiliated to IndustriALL, as well as national confederation centers of Senegal.

In Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal there is an abusive illegal use of daily and fixed term contracts. In addition, even though outsourcing is prohibited in the production activities, agency or contract workers are working side by side with permanent and direct workers on production lines.

Before launching organizing and collective bargaining campaigns, affiliates in the three countries have conducted a detailed mapping of the situation of precarious work in targeted companies. It showed that in certain mining companies in Burkina Faso and chemicals companies in Senegal, the whole workforce was composed of daily workers or temporary agency workers.

Precarious workers performing dangerous work rarely get full overtime pay. Salaries are lower than for permanent workers, and they are not registered in any social benefits system.

Many workers in the mining industry in Burkina or Togo do not even have formal written contracts, no holidays, and are not paid for maintenance tasks as they are remunerated on the quantity they produce. Trade unions are denouncing a real exploitative system. 

“But the fight against precarious work is an uphill battle. Every victory is challenged by the employers,” says Fernando Lopes, IndustriALL assistant general secretary.

The Federation des Industries du Togo told of a mining company, where management in response to an organizing drive led by IndustriALL’s affiliate, fired all the organizers. The entire workforce was replaced by sub-contractors, performing the same jobs than before. The union is not giving up and has submitted this case to court.

The precarious work project in Sub-Saharan Africa, previously supported by SASK, is currently co-funded by IndustriALL affiliates FNV, CSC-BIE and CFDT-FCE.

First global network at Saint-Gobain is created

Saint-Gobain calls itself the “reference in sustainable housing”. Although the company commits to social dialogue and good employer-employees relations, a lot of conflicts remain unsolved. Today, the company states that they are always open for dialogue, but insist at the same time on the principle of “subsidiarity”. This is an excuse to not take action if local management does not abide by good practices as being conducted in Europe.

Especially in India, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, delegates report that local management does not respect ILO core conventions but rather harasses and dismisses trade union activists instead of entering into dialogue. Some country managers seem to govern by fear and harassment, which is unacceptable in a company that declares the respect for workers’ rights as one of their core principles.

The company’s labour relations director explained the company’s view on social dialogue. However, this system of regionalized dialogue which the company calls “subsidiarity”is not sufficient in the eyes of the delegates. Also the idea that the company “regionalizes” not only the social dialogue but also the application of labour rights is absolutely not enough, having in mind that in many countries legislation is far weaker than i.e. ILO core conventions.

One of the core demands of the global network is the setup of a global union committee and the establishment of a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) to establish conflict resolution mechanisms that really can help to solve open issues on global scale, when local social partners cannot come to a solution.

Although appreciating Saint-Gobain’s efforts to establish good worker-employer relations, this concept is not sufficient from a trade union point of view. Unilateral declarations of values and principles and principles of conduct will not do, and neither will corporate social responsibility activities without trade union involvement. Partnership needs agreements and involvement,

said Matthias Hartwich, IndustriALL director for materials industries.

After the discussion with the management representative, delegates discussed their own work plan for the following years.

The new network elected Dominique Bousquenaud, general secretary of IndustriALL’s French affiliate FCE-CFDT as global network coordinator, and also installed a steering group that will govern the network together with the coordinator and IndustriALL. The network adopted an ambitious agenda and work plan for the next years in order to bring forward workers’ rights and social dialog with real employees’ involvement within an MNC which says in its company statement: “The way we achieve the results is as important as the results are themselves.”

Saint-Gobain was created 350 years ago, as royal glass manufacturer who delivered glass and mirrors for the royal castle of Versailles. Today, Saint-Gobain employs more than 180,000 worldwide. The group is present in 66 countries and reaches an annual turnover of €41 billion per year.

Here you will find more photos on the meeting.

SME victory after a six-year campaign

"The campaign we have conducted through the courts and in the political arena ended in an agreement with the federal government on 7 October 2015. The agreement hands over control of electricity generating capacity to Fénix, a company formed by the SME and the Portuguese company Mota Engil”, explained the union’s general secretary, Martín Esparza Flores.

In 2009, more than 44,000 electrical industry workers lost their jobs after military and police forces violently removed them from their workplaces at the state-owned electricity company Luz y Fuerza del Centro following an illegal presidential decree. Since then, 16,599 SME members have been fighting for their rights.

Finally, after a six-year campaign, the SME has won an important victory after the federal government handed over control of 14 hydroelectric plants and the J. Luke thermal power plant in Necaxa, Puebla, and in Tepuxtepec, Michoacán.

"It was exciting to be back in Necaxa and put my overalls back on. The workers had mixed feelings on going back into the installations we have always operated”, said Flores.

As well as handing over the hydroelectric plants, the government will provide SME with 40 buildings, factories and workshops for maintenance of the electricity generating plants. The union has registered a national collective agreement at the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board (JFCA). Beginning operations at Necaxa is an important step but the SME will continue to press for jobs for all those who were involved in the union’s fight.

Fernando Lopes, assistant general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union commented on the SME victory:

The SME’s struggle is exemplary.  IndustriALL is proud to have supported the union from the start and so will also celebrate this major victory, which will mean thousands of jobs and the survival of an independent trade union. Long live Fénix, long live the SME, long live the struggle!

IndustriALL chemical workers in LAC stronger together

Workers organized by sector, with strong national unions and sector level or company-wide collective agreements and social dialogue are essential to promote good labour relations and sustainable development

said IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan at the opening of the event.  

The meeting took place in São Paulo, Brazil on 8 – 9 October at the offices of IndustriALL’s affiliate FEQUIMFAR. Delegates assessed the sustainability of the chemicals industry and the challenges and opportunities it faces in relation to the trade union movement in Latin America and the organization of the sector at the regional and global levels.

IndustriALL is aiming to establish regular communication between all affiliates in the sector to facilitate the sharing of information on common challenges, solidarity and sector level campaigns in different contexts. Workers face threats to their basic rights, including the right to collective bargaining and many are working in precarious jobs, so unions need to become stronger and negotiate national and global collective employment contracts on the basis of global framework agreements.

Delegates agreed to concentrate on strengthening the sector and creating networks at company level to bring together workers and their unions from the different countries. This will help them understand the diversity of the context in which the movement is operating and encourage them to work together. 

Delegates also discussed an Action Plan for the sector including strategies and activities to improve tripartite dialogue with companies, governments and the ILO. They also backed IndustriALL’s Action Plan, which aims to continue organizing the sector and includes a second regional LAC sector meeting in 2016.  It was agreed to work towards empowering workers and promoting decent work, justice and social dialogue in the societies in which they work.

We want to discuss the problems that affect us. The sector has very specific characteristics, is very dynamic and developing quickly. This meeting provides an opportunity to get to know each other, see what each other is planning and find out what is happening in each country. We can explain our problems and analyze together the difficulties that we face, exploring the differences as well as the similarities. The most important thing is to discuss what we are going to do about the problems we face

said Jorge Almeida, IndustriALL Regional Secretary.