British government must act to save UK steel industry

It follows the announcement from Tata Steel on 20 October that it will cut 1,200 jobs in Scunthorpe and Scotland.

Last month one of the UK’s biggest steel production sites, situated in Redcar, announced that it would stop production after nearly 100 years leading to the loss of 2,200 jobs. The plant’s Thai owner, SSI, blames falling steel prices as the reason to close Europe’s second largest blast furnace.

Meanwhile, Caparo Industries, a steel products company based in the West Midlands, has also announced that it will go into administration, affecting 1,700 employees.

IndustriALL has three UK trade union affiliates whose members are affected by the mammoth job losses: Unite the Union, Community and GMB.

Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke said: 

“Time is ticking on the UK’s steel industry. The news of job losses over the last few days should jolt the government out of its laissez-faire approach to this vital part of the UK economy. Failure to act urgently could lead to a domino effect taking hold across the industry, leading to the loss of yet more skilled jobs as firms buckle under a combination of steel dumping and high energy costs.”

Fernando Lopes, IndustriALL’s assistant general secretary said:

“Whole communities will be destroyed by these job losses. We urge the government do everything in its power to defend the British steel industry as it struggles to compete with cheap Chinese steel being dumped in Europe. The British government must support the steel industry during this time of difficulty rather than stand by and let it die.”

In May this year, IndustriALL passed a resolution at its Executive Committee meeting in Stockholm supporting Tata workers in their battle to stop pension cuts. Tata had threatened to close the British Steel Pension Scheme in April 2016. However, facing the biggest nationwide strike in 35 years, Tata Steel returned to the negotiating table. In July, members of all three unions voted in favour of new terms, which kept the pension scheme open.

Guard strike points to global problem at Rio Tinto

Over 100 workers who provide security at Rio Tinto’s QMM ilmenite mine in Madagascar went on strike on Sunday. They are protesting the firing of two guards who are leaders of IndustriALL affiliate FISEMA. They are also demanding that a manager who is said to routinely verbally abuse workers and their families be terminated.

The guards, employed by Rio Tinto subcontractor Pro’Tech Security, are treated poorly as are other Rio Tinto indirect, precarious employees at the mine.

“Rio Tinto’s subcontracted security guards, catering employees, cleaners and drivers at its mine in Madagascar suffer from poverty wages and a lack of employment security,” stated Eugène Chretien, FISEMA General Secretary for Anosy Region.

“While Rio Tinto’s direct employees have a decent canteen and clinic, the subcontracted employees must eat in the open air in dusty conditions and be treated in an inferior clinic. Also, their personal protective equipment is not always replaced according to the security norms. This is especially troubling in light of the January fatality at the mine,” added Chretien.

FISEMA recently requested a meeting with Rio Tinto to discuss how to improve the treatment of Rio Tinto’s indirect employees in Madagascar, however the company refused.

Rio Tinto’s excessive use of indirect, precarious employees around the world generated a global protest earlier this month.

Unions at Rio Tinto organized a global day of action on 7 October demanding good, safe jobs instead of precarious work.

In Iceland, the VM union held a rally in front of Rio Tinto’s aluminium smelter protesting against the company’s threat to close the smelter if the union doesn’t allow a massive increase in contracting out to lower paid workers.

In Namibia, the MUN union rallied and delivered Rio Tinto’s Rossing uranium mine management a petition demanding an end to 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.

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 these problems.

“The security guard strike at Rio Tinto in Madagascar is a symptom of a global problem that requires a global solution,” said IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan. “We hope Rio Tinto will respond positively to the unions’ offer to work toward that solution.”

Defending democracy in Brazil and in the region: Declaration of the Regional Council of Global Unions and the CSA

In Brazil and in other countries in the region democracy is at stake, debated by the interests of international financial markets and multinational companies. In Latin America and the Caribbean, democratically elected governments are constantly harassed, and sometimes violently attacked by the elites and powerful minorities that control the economy and who have chosen to cause separations, even by using legislative and judicial mechanisms to overthrow the governments.

The media, oligopolistically concentrated at national and international levels, are the main instigators of these undemocratic and reactionary agendas against the interests of the majority.

A "civil society" built in the image and likeness of a racist and reactionary minority, occupies the streets and public spaces to preach hate against the peoples' conquests.

Coups have been and will always be linked to the interests of those who want to impose reactionary and anti-popular political and economic agendas, using all possible means, from the persecution and murder of political and union leaders to the destruction of their representative organizations. There is no justification for ultra reactionary groups defeated at the polls, to want to make in Brazil and the rest of Latin America what we have seen happen in countries like Honduras and Paraguay in recent years.

Our organizations are strongly committed to defend these democracies that we managed to win by dint of enormous sacrifices. Democracy and freedom of expression, as well as more labour rights and income distribution, are basic requirements for the construction of a fairer Brazil and a fairer continent.

We will continue to fight for additional rights and more inclusion. Inclusion, which is being attacked and debated by the prophets of hate.

Sao Paulo, 13th of October, 2015

CSA, Víctor Báez, Secretario General

ICM-BWI, Nilton Freitas, Representante Regional

IndustriALL, Jorge Almeida, Secretario Regional ALC

ISP, Jocelio Drummond, Secretario Regional

UNI Américas, Adriana Rosenzvaig, Secretaria Regional

Global unions welcome Australian union merger

IndustriALL affiliated union the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) and ITF affiliated union the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) have announced merger talks (see http://goo.gl/kncWni).

Jyrki Raina, IndustriALL general secretary, commented: “Strength in unity is our central conviction. I applaud the members and leaders of these two great Australian trade unions, CFMEU and MUA in their bold merger. IndustriALL and the ITF are working together on the global level to build union power through strategic supply chains. The new union in Australia will advance that work.”

Steve Cotton, ITF general secretary, added: “This is exciting news. It means Australia’s biggest union is on its way, backed by its friends and colleagues in the international union movement. This merger is potentially historic and will help guarantee a better working future for those working in Australia.”

News of the proposed merger was also applauded by the ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation), whose general secretary, Sharan Burrow, stated: “This is great news for Australian workers, especially the members of the CFMEU and the MUA. Organizing maritime workers together with those in the CFMEU's sectors is a major step forward, at a time when workers' rights to union representation are under sustained attack."

World’s auto unions meet in Toronto

The meeting was hosted by UNIFOR union, which organizes the auto sector in Canada.

The Automotive Working Group is the global network of unions and work councils in the industry. Each company-based union network reported their concrete work plan, which is mostly focused on organizing non-organized plants and strengthening unions by including them into the particular networks. 

Participants also heard compelling reports about the future of production and mobility.

The Industry 4.0 report addressed the challenges to trade unions posed by connected cars, autonomous driving and next generation manufacturing. It provoked a lively discussion and participants stressed the need for preparing all unions to play an active role in this development.

IndustriALL director, Brian Kohler, also spoke about sustainability and climate change, which is an important issue for the automotive industry.

At the meeting, unionists passed a resolution supporting their Mexican colleagues working at Finish auto parts company, PKC, in their organizing efforts. They also made a declaration of solidarity to colleagues at Volkswagen condemning the emissions scandal and demanding that workers do not suffer as a consequence.

Finally, participants decided to hold the Automotive World Conference in Munich, Germany in November 2016. 

Maternity protection and decent work

Maternity protection is fundamental to protect the health of the woman and the child. Women need the cash benefit to enable them to meet their needs during maternity leave. Otherwise they return to work too early, risking their own health and that of their baby.

It is estimated by UN Women that only 28 per cent of employed women worldwide enjoy any paid maternity leave in practice. As a rule precarious workers have no maternity rights and do not benefit from maternity leave. Only permanent workers benefit from maternity protection.

Still women are often forced to sign pledges saying that they will not become pregnant within two years, five years, and so on. It is also not unheard of that women go through abortions to keep their jobs or to become permanent workers – as was told in India. Women are still subject to pregnancy tests for hiring, although this is almost always illegal.

Maternity leave is often regulated by law, but the law is not always enforced. In Morocco, as soon as the employer finds out the woman is pregnant, she is very often dismissed. Pregnant migrant workers in the Jordanian garment industry are sent home. In Cambodia women return to work too early because they need the money, risking their own health and that of the baby. Even where laws are in place, practical obstacles prevent women from claiming their rights.

Collective bargaining is a good tool to improve maternity rights over and above legislation. IndustriALL affiliate, SEM, in India for example managed to improve maternity leave over the legal provision at L’Oreal. Nevertheless more women have to be trained and involved as negotiators in order to avoid women’s demands being scrapped in negotiations. Women’s concerns need to be higher up on the collective bargaining agenda. And in addition trade unions, which are still dominated by men in most cases, have to start bargaining for other issues than just pay.

Extending paternity or parental leave to fathers is important to achieving substantive equality. Otherwise employers will continue to discriminate against women of childbearing age.

Maternity benefits should be financed from social security or other public funds. Maternity leave should be at least 14 weeks, and paternity leave and parental leave should be arranged in such a way that it can be shared between the parents. Informal, contract and precarious workers must be covered. All in all we need to fight for public policies for maternity protection and to ensure that society takes responsibility for maternity. Guaranteeing maternity protection was high on the agenda of the equality charter, which was adopted in September at IndustriALL’s Women World Conference.

Mexican Honda union loses hard-fought election

Victory would have made it one of only a handful of independent unions with bargaining rights in the country’s booming auto industry.

On 15 October, five years after the company dismissed 12 union leaders for forming an independent union, 2,500 workers were finally able to choose between the STUHM and the incumbent yellow union, the CTM’s SETEAMI.

A team of a dozen national and international observers, including IndustriALL Global Union and its affiliates from Unifor in Canada, the United Auto Workers Union in the US and Los Mineros in Mexico, were denied access to the polling and to workers. Also present were over fifty enthusiastic supporters from Mexico’s independent labour movement and civil society.

It had been clear from the outset that this was not going to be a fair contest, with the company, the elections board and the yellow unions colluding to deprive workers of their right to a genuine union in what is a well-worn pattern in Mexico’s dysfunctional labour system.

In the days and weeks leading up to the poll, the election board failed to provide a reliable voter’s list and called the election with only a few days’ notice. It also allowed the vote to take place inside the factory without proper guarantees for a fair process, putting STUHM at a considerable disadvantage.

On the day of the election, management delayed access to the union’s three appointed representatives, ignored the election board’s decision to allow three observers to be present and let the incumbent union intimidate workers.  The deployment of riot police inside the compound – at the company’s request – also helped to create a chilling atmosphere.

In the end, the STUHM lost by a slim margin gaining 44 per cent of the valid vote. The union plans to appeal the election.

IndustriALL’s Assistant General Secretary Fernando Lopes applauded the union and the workers for putting up a good fight and the union’s many allies for their tireless support.  He pledged IndustriALL’s ongoing support to the STUHM and to the rest of Mexico’s independent labour movement.

Organizing helps us reach our key goals

In these months IndustriALL prepares its strategic plans, activities and budget for 2016. Industry sector chairs and Executive Committee members are consulted, so that our decision making body can take final decisions when it meets in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in December.

Checking the plans, I am glad to see how the idea of organizing as a part of just about everything we do is going through.

Building global union power through organizing can help us to achieve our other goals such as defend union rights against violations, achieve a living wage for all workers in our industries, limit precarious work through better laws and collective agreements, and guarantee healthier and safer workplaces.

Organizing means recruiting new members, retaining existing ones and increasing the number of active members who are more likely to take action when needed. We want to build unions that are able to formulate their demands on wages and collective bargaining, and mobilize their members to reach their goals.

Today, only 7 per cent of the world’s workforce is organized in free and independent unions. And yet, IndustriALL has 600 affiliates in 140 countries. It is way too many. Divided we remain weak. More unity is better for our workers – and it is possible if union leaders show true leadership.

Therefore our union building programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America focus on organizing and building unity and joint action among our affiliated unions. We especially focus on organizing precarious workers, women and youth.

In 2014, IndustriALL’s programs directly helped our unions organize 100.000 new members. But even more importantly, they helped to reinforce an organizing culture within the unions. This contributed to hundreds of thousands of new members through unions’ own programs.

Some of our global union networks in major multinational companies have already mobilized solidarity support during organizing drives in non-union operations. More concrete action through mapping and targeting will be on the agenda.

IndustriALL has negotiated 46 global framework agreements with big corporations, putting in place a high level of labour standards for already more than 10 million workers. Now we want to use the GFAs in a more systematic way to create opportunities for affiliates to organize at the companies and their suppliers.

In the textile and garments sector, our biggest sector with 60 million workers but low union density, IndustriALL works with brands to ensure that the organizing rights of workers at supplier factories where brands buy their garments are respected. This will be a major focus for the years to come with brands such as the ACT group, where the key objective is to reach living wages through industry level collective bargaining and freedom of association.

Organizing is the base of our legitimacy as the voice of the working people. It is the job of all of us to make that voice loud and clear.

Jyrki Raina

General Secretary

Wage deal reached in South African coal sector

30,000 members of IndustriALL affiliate National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) went on strike on 4 October after negotiations deadlocked and a dispute was declared. Coal production in all major mines including multinationals Anglo American Coal, Exxaro, and Glencore was affected.

The agreement deal, which the NUM has in principle agreed to, will see entry-level underground workers receive increases of US$60 to US$80 a month in the first year and a guaranteed increase of 7.5 per cent in the second year. Higher paid workers will get increases of between 5 per cent and 7.5 per cent.

“This agreement should assist in bringing stability to the sector as NUM members face the challenges that are to come”, says Glen Mpufane,  IndustriALL mining director.

Organizing non-manual workers in a digital world

The Office in your Pocket agenda covers issues including the increasing digitalization in industry, organizing and campaigning in social media, stress and connectivity, new ways of working such as crowdworking, and self-employment.

Borders are more and more blurred between manual and non-manual work because of new industrial structures.  Where industry used to employ a majority of manual workers and a minority of non-manual workers, in many workplaces the situation is now just the opposite. This new type of worker also includes more women.  Nevertheless all of these people are workers, and all workers need a union.

The challenge for trade unions is to be able to organize white-collar workers and highly skilled people who are not always available in the office or the workplace at all times. Nowadays people work more and more outside working hours on their laptops or their smartphones and are always reachable. This new set of realities creates different questions for trade unions when it comes to organizing members and protecting the members they have.

IndustriALL welcomes the election of Martin Linder as president of the Swedish union Unionen, Sweden’s largest private sector union. Martin is co-chair of IndustriALL’s non-manual section together with Anne-Catherine Cudennec from CFE-CGC Métallurgie, France.

For more information about this workshop please contact Rubén Ortiz Pamplin, Administrative Assistant, IndustriALL Global Union. Tel: +41 22 308 5015 Email:  [email protected]