Kenyan unions prioritize organizing

‘’This is good for our affiliates in Kenya and will support them to achieve their objectives,” said Isaac  COTU Public  Relation Officer.

A National Project Planning Meeting with Kenyan affiliates took place in Nairobi on 17 and 18 July 2015.  IndustriALL project coordinator Aneno Catherine shared the strategy developed with Ugandan affiliates and the same approach was adopted for Kenya by all participating unions.  The strategy focuses on three key approaches; a joint action strategy for organizing, education for action on precarious work and capacity development for occupational health and safety.

Mapping of new companies was discussed and participants adopted a mapping tool that was reviewed during the meeting. Individual unions also developed targets for recruitment and work plans to take forward the project.

Affiliates also formed a National Council to come together and plan joint work for unity and cooperation amongst themselves. Substructures were also formed on organizing and occupational health and safety for the effective implementation of project activities within the unions. 

Ugandan affiliates boost organizing

Four IndustriALL affiliates National Union of Clerical Commercial professional and Technical Employees (NUCCPTE), Uganda Textile, Garment, Leather and Allied Workers' Union (UTGLAWU), Uganda Chemical, Petroleum and Allied Workers Union (UCPAWU) and Uganda Hotel Food Tourism and Allied Workers Union (UHFTAWU) participated in the training, which is part of the IndustriALL East African Union Building Project.

Jan Toft Rasmussen, OHS consultant from Dansk Metal, Denmark facilitated the workshop. Rune Albertine, programs’ officer of the Danish trade union council for international development co-operation LO-FTF, was also present.

The participants received a comprehensive training on the ways to do organizing by dealing with health and safety issues and precarious work. The organizers shared their skills and experiences and discussed future strategies and cooperation among the unions.

Talking about the legal framework in Uganda, Moses Mauku, Director of the Planning and Development Hotels Union (UHFTAWU) stressed upon the importance of the industrial relations adamant for most employers, but bewailed the difficulties faced by the unions when it comes to implementation of their rights to organize.

Presenting the issue of precarious work Catherine Aneno, the Project Coordinator, Industriall East African Union Building Project said, ‘’Workers cannot save for their future, locked in the cage and the economy is robbed since this worker cannot pay taxes to build the economy’’. In her presentation Catherine Aneno touched upon the factors contributing to the spread of precarious work and disadvantages for workers and the economy. She also spoke about the ways to combat precarious work.

Moses Mauku, Director Planning and Research at UHFTAWU talked about the aspects of aspects of laws that regulate the OSH implementation in Uganda.

Jan Toft Rasmussen took the participants through the steps of developing trade union OHS strategy. Basing on the best practices in Denmark in his presentation he explained how to use OHS as an organizing tool targeting especially employers.

Catherine Aneno explained to the participants the various steps that need to be done in order to prevent accidents at workplaces and what to do if accidents happen.

At the end of the workshop it was decided that participants will write reports about the training and present them to their General Secretaries and copy project coordinator for IndustriALL East African Union Building Project, while their respected unions will:

IndustriALL trains women leaders in Myanmar

Pregnancy rights are a concern in Myanmar where maternity pay is only 70 percent of the salary. Participants told how they do not receive all benefits provided by law, which is the minimum standard.

IndustriALL assistant Monika Kemperle underlined the importance of strengthening women’s self-confidence:

Even though maternity leave may be regulated in law, legislation is not always enforced in practice and sometimes there is a difference in how men and women are treated.

Women from IndustriALL affiliates in Myanmar, the Mining Workers’ Federation of Myanmar and the Industrial Workers’ Federation of Myanmar, participated. Deputy Minister of Labor He Daw Win Maw Tun and Maung Maung, president of CTUM, opened the meeting.

The women worked in groups on body mapping, workplace mapping and leadership skills. All three groups found similar phenomena. Women’s eyes were sore because they had to focus in bad lighting. They were faced with loud noise and had often earache; some even went so far as to suffer from loss of hearing. Some women carry heavy loads, which results in arm and shoulder pain and sore neck and back. Sometimes they fall in the factory. Gynecological problems are not uncommon.

The extensive overtime and insufficient breaks result in a number of conditions. Sometimes the women have migraines, their eyes are worn out. They can have nosebleed, coughing. Not enough time to go to the toilet can cause renal problems. Sometimes women faint, probably from exhaustion. Necks hurt because of the intense concentration and bad posture.

Women in the mining sector perform welding, which is tough on the eyes. It is a noisy environment and accidents occur. Breathing in the particles sometimes result in respiratory diseases. Women want regular medical check-ups.

Women at the meeting committed to taking actions over the next six months:

IndustriALL in Myanmar

IndustriALL aims to strengthen affiliate actions to achieve a living wage in Myanmar, improve understanding of how unions can use the different wage-fixing mechanisms, explore how IndustriALL’s global living wage campaign can be used to improve wage outcomes in Myanmar, and further develop the affiliates’ campaign for implementation of the new minimum wage of US$3.2 per day.

On 22 – 24 July, IndustriALL held a workshop on living wage in Yangon, Myanmar. A worker’s take-home pay is made up of various bonuses and allowances, making the minimum wage issue complicated. At the workshop, the ILO discussed wage setting in Myanmar. People have to work 60 hours a week to meet their needs and often take out loans to survive until the next paycheck. The low salaries mean living conditions are poor, and workers jump from factory to factory looking for better pay.

The low wages forcing workers to seek a better deal elsewhere make the employers unwilling to invest in training, meaning that workers remain low skilled. It is a vicious circle as skilled workers are key to moving up the value-chain.

Wage-setting institutions in Myanmar need to be strengthened. Participants at the workshop discussed how to use wage-fixing mechanisms, how to combine a minimum wage strategy with collective bargaining, and how to extend collective bargaining agreements to sub-contractors and to cover contract and other precarious workers. The minimum wage issue was recognized a useful organizing tool.

There was agreement that the collective bargaining process should have some tripartite mechanism to monitor it, which may lead to reducing the number of strikes. Furthermore national unions can get help from the global trade union federations to apply pressure. National unions should get the government to agree to a contract for precarious workers. Contract workers should be covered by the factory’s collective bargaining agreement, as well as the minimum wage.

IndustriALL project coordinator Kenny Perkins explained the collective bargaining process that Myanmar unions should strive for:

1 – Unionize – collect data

2 – Form a collective bargaining committee – draft the proposal

3 – Final study of the proposal – prepare supporting documents

4 – Submit the proposal to EXCO – EXCO submits it to management

5 – Elect the negotiating team – make sure women are present

6 – Negotiations – sign the agreement

7 – Educate and organize – register the agreement to make it legal

He underlined the importance of trade unions acting in unity to gain more for the workers:

If unions do not agree among each other, it weakens the bargaining power and makes it easier for employers to take advantage of the situation.

From a minimum wage to a living wage

Wages should be enough to meet basic needs and to provide some discretionary income. Although the minimum wage in Myanmar is in many ways a landmark, it is still not a living wage. The living wage campaign is a priority for IndustriALL.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Monika Kemperle presented the key elements:

Owners in the garment industry are local while orders come from international brands. IndustriALL works with brands to target a living wage by jointly pushing for increases to the minimum wage, exploring possibilities to negotiate industry wage agreements, and promoting unionization and collective bargaining.

Participants were asked what they understood to be a living wage:

We want to have a decent salary where your family doesn’t have to support you.

With this minimum wage we don’t have to work overtime to achieve 100 dollars.

It means to have dignity as a woman and a worker.

We want to have an active and dynamic life in safety and security.

We want to have time for our hobbies.

IndustriALL in solidarity with SITRAMINA members in Peru

SITRAMINA, affiliated to FNTMMSRP and IndustriALL Global Union, represents workers employed by Glencore subsidiary Antapaccay. Both sides met on 24 July in Lima to discuss the company’s anti-trade union practices at a hearing convened by the Ministry of Labour’s Dispute Mediation and Collective Bargaining Department.

The meeting made no significant progress, but both sides agreed to continue talks with a view to signing a collective agreement by 17 August.

And although the company did not accept that it has violated trade union rights, it was an important and strategic meeting for the workers. The IndustriALL Glencore global network continues to express solidarity with colleagues at Antapaccay.

IndustriALL Global Union’s Assistant Regional Secretary Marino Vani attended the meeting and said that IndustriALL continues to firmly support the unions affiliated to the mining federation:

IndustriALL will closely follow the negotiations and, along with the global network of Glencore trade unions, we will be ready to take solidarity action in support of SITRAMINA members.

AFL-CIO awards TUCOSWA Human Rights Award

Swaziland has in the past had in place a basic legal platform for worker rights advocacy, a  labour relations system including a labour court, a mediation and conciliation body, and a system of tripartite dialogue between unions, employers, and government, existing alongside autocratic rule of the monarch. However in recent years Swaziland’s monarchical government has become increasingly repressive.

The Trade Union Confederation of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), formed in 2012 when the Swaziland Federation of Labour, the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions, and the Swaziland National Association for Teachers merged, was refused registration and legal standing for three years, during which time the political space for unions constricted. Tripartite dialogue was discontinued and freedom of association was curtailed by regular police actions against union meetings and protests.

Despite pressure from other countries and the International Labour Organization, Swaziland’s government refused to make promised policy reforms that would recognize freedom of assembly, speech, and organization and curtail the broad discretionary authority that police use to disrupt union activities and arrest civil society activists including union leaders, journalists, student leaders, and political dissidents. 

“The Swaziland government’s aggressive stance consistently violates its international commitment to core labour standards and endangers the country’s economic development. Because of its open violation of the worker rights eligibility criteria in the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), Swaziland lost preferential access to the U.S. market in 2015,” explains the AFL-CIO. “This resulted in the loss of thousands of garment sector jobs and risks thousands more over the course of the year.  The government’s inconsistent decision-making remains the biggest hurdle to job creation and poverty reduction in the country.”

As legal and physical attacks on Swaziland workers and their allies became more frequent, TUCOSWA remained resolute in its support for worker rights, standing up for its right to exist, and to support human rights activists illegally harassed and imprisoned. TUCOSWA has stood for democracy, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Through persistent efforts and support from unions worldwide, TUCOSWA won its recognition battle in May 2015, but continues to face hurdles in the way of making legal standing a reality. 

“Swaziland will not be able to address its major economic needs without a strong TUCOSWA supporting worker efforts to organize, bargain, and advocate for their basic human rights;” says the  AFL-CIO. “For its dedication to fighting for a more democratic country that recognizes and protects freedom of association and worker rights, the AFL-CIO is pleased to award TUCOSWA the George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award.”

Sri Lankan affiliates intensify coordinated organizing in Free Trade Zones

The three major affiliates of IndustriALL in Sri Lanka: Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees Union (FTZ&GSEU), National Union of Metal & Migrant Workers of Sri Lanka (NUMMS) and United Federation of Labour (UFL) have decided to coordinate to organize workers in the Free Trade Zones (FTZs) and Board of Investment (BOI) approved companies.

At the UNIFOR project planning meeting held in Colombo on 22-23 July, the senior leaders of these unions along with their activists and leaders got together to draw a roadmap to further organizing efforts. This is the first time these affiliates decide to take up the task of organizing jointly in the FTZs.

This initiative will follow the three golden principles of IndustriALL 1) build cooperation among affiliates and non-competition in organizing efforts 2) enforce solidarity and unity structures for the democratic functioning of unions, 3) build sustainability and accountability through membership dues collection.

The project activities will involve internally mapping the three unions and also mapping and identifying the companies in the three FTZs located at Katunayake, Biyagama & Panadura and the Board of Investment approved units located outside these FTZs.

Simultaneously, joint training workshops will be conducted for organizers from the three unions to plan out strategies and set targets for organizing. The individual unions will conduct capacity building workshops, awareness programmes and meetings with the workers near their boarding houses.

The workforce in the FTZs consists of more than 50 per cent female workers, which was reflected during the planning workshop, where more than half the participants were women.

The women workers employed in the FTZs are first generation industrial workers from rural areas and have to deal with many problems in their workplace such as sexual harassment, unfair wages, lack of implementation of ILO Conventions related to women workers, as well as many issues with their accommodation in boarding houses. It was therefore decided that one workshop would specifically address developing strategies to advance women workers' issues.

This was the first occasion for Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL’s new Regional Secretary for South Asia, to attend a meeting in Sri Lanka since taking over in July 2015. Suzanna Miller, Project & Rights Officer, along with Mr. Kuldeep Dhanai, Finance Officer and Mr. Praveen Rao, Coordinator, confirmed the project objectives and participated actively in working with the affiliates to draw up their work plans for the period August – December 2015. 

Works Councils discuss labour relations at German chemical companies in China

China is by far the largest chemical producer in the world, and many German chemical multinational companies have large investments in the country. A total of 189 subsidiaries of German chemical companies operate in China. Together they achieve a turnover of around 17.4 billion euros and employ 52,000 people. At the same time, Chinese companies are increasingly investing in companies in Germany and Europe.

Around 60 participants evaluated developments on labour relations in China and possible cooperation and partnership with their Chinese counterparts. The main expectation raised by the IG BCE’s Industry Forum was that worldwide workers need to stand together and competition by the companies must not be done at the expense of working conditions, safety and wages.

"Companies’ social responsibility is not limited to Germany. Good work needs respect, fairness and trust," said Michael Vassiliadis, President of IG BCE. "We need to build a Competence-Team to help our friends there."

Although the Chinese government has carried out reforms in the field of labour law and the establishment of the Employment Contracts Act, Employment Promotion Act and the labor dispute law, the way to a more efficient and fair labour market is still long and arduous.

The central government’s predetermined legal framework can be interpreted and applied flexibly to the respective region by the local administration, making it difficult to effectively enforce and demand the regulations and laws.

Another fundamental problem is the restriction of forming independent trade unions. Each localized and newly formed union has to join the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) to be considered legitimate.

The participants received reports that multinational companies such as Bayer and Evonik implement the German labour relations model at their plants located in China. This includes elections for workers' representatives and negotiated collective bargaining agreements. The reports showed that support given by German works council members helped creation of common understanding and a joint working culture at workplaces.

Oliver Zühlke, Chairperson of the General Works Council of Bayer AG, reported on the status of participation in Bayer’s factories in China. He said 96 per cent of employees were organized and workers representatives were elected at the Chinese factories of Bayer. However, labour relations are not only working for exchanging technical and organizational information, but also sharing concerns such as investment slowdown or economic migration.

"You can speak up to ensure that the same standards are applied to all employees of the same multinational company. Settling good labour relations in China also helps workers in Germany. Competition should not take place at the expense of labour costs. We want a system whereby all employees can exercise their fundamental rights," said Kemal Özkan, Assistant General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union in an interview at the Industry Forum.

Pakistani union NTUF condemns sacking of 24 textile workers

FKN is an offshoot company of Rashid Textile, located at SITE, an industrial zone of Karachi. It produces towels and yarn for export to the EU and other countries. For the company to recruit new workers on low paid wages, management blocked the 24 sacked workers from entering the factory to begin their shift on 18 July, just before the festival of Eid.

The sacked workers then contacted NTUF to take up their issue with the concerned authority and fight against the repressive behaviour of the company.

One of the sacked workers Muhammad Nadeem reports that the working conditions inside the factory are extremely poor and the 900 workers are vulnerable. Many of the employees are forced to work up to 20 hours a day.

The FKN factory workers are mostly employed via illegal contractors and have no rights to form a union. They are paid no social protection benefits often do not receive their pay.

A complaint to the Labour authorities on behalf of the 24 sacked workers was submitted through NTUF’s lawyer on 27 July. The department then summoned the management and one representative of the management appeared without any record or reply. Again, the authorities have ordered the management to appear on 2 August with all records.

NTUF leaderhip states that they will fight for the cause of FKN Workers, until all the workers get reinstated.

Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL South Asia Regional Secretary:

IndustriALL stands with the workers of FKN textile and condemns the inhuman behaviour of the management for sacking 24 workers before the day of Eid.

Supplier for multinationals Enpay sacks 65 for joining union in Turkey

The Turkish company manufactures electric power transformers and transformer components used in circuitry with exports to over 50 countries. Having factories in both Slovakia and in India, Enpay employs around 900 workers at its factory located in Kullar, Izmit, one of the industrial zones in Turkey.

Over the last month, local management has reacted aggressively to its employees after they started to join IndustriALL’s affiliate Birlesik Metal-Is, United Metalworkers’ Union.

IndustriALL Global Union, with its namesake sister organization in Europe, twice urged Enpay management to stop anti-union aggression and reinstate dismissed workers. However, despite a reply from the company on 1 July stating that Enpay is acting in compliance with national law and international labour norms, the sackings have continued.

We note your letter to us on 1 July. We very much wish that your stated compliance with national and international labour norms were true. However sacking all of the worker representatives elected by Birlesik Metal-İs along with other union supporters clearly amounts to punitive action and your management’s “intervention in the unionization of workers” to quote your letter.

Reacting to a large proportion of the workforce joining Birlesik and electing their own worker representatives, Enpay dismissed 11 union members on 13 July, a further 12 on 20 July for joining demonstrations calling for reinstatement, and now a total of 65. All of the elected worker representatives were sacked.

The number of dismissals has ridden steadily as for each employer violation, workers reacted with actions that were then vindictively punished by management. And the escalating cycle is continuing.

Worker action in demonstration against management violations has included work stoppages, pickets, and sit-in demonstrations.

The company applied to the public prosecutor claiming that the work stoppage was illegal, but the claim was rejected and opening a court case was refused.

On Sunday, 26 July, police arrested workers and the local president of Birlesik Metal-Is in Kocaeli for simply assembling peacefully in front of the factory. They were released in the evening of the same day.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan stated:

“IndustriALL Global Union expects from Enpay’s customer multinationals to use their influence to halt the nonsense engaged by Enpay. Unfortunately there are currently a number of similar cases in Turkey. Employers and their corporate clients must know that a policy of outright aggression will never drive democratic unions out of Turkish workplaces. Taking corrective measures through due-diligence is their responsibility.”