Strike victory at Volkswagen and Mercedes Benz – 1,550 jobs saved

Workers at two major automotive companies in Brazil went on strike after the dismissal of 50 workers at Taubaté and 1,500 at São Bernardo do Campo. In response to the large strike, the companies decided to cancel the dismissals and reinstate those that had already left their posts.

The strike at Volkswagen began on 17 August and received the support and solidarity of metalworkers in Brazil and throughout the world. The company finally backtracked on 28 August, opened a voluntary redundancy programme and amended the collective agreement accordingly. It also agreed to negotiate alternatives to dismissals should it wish to cut the workforce in future. The Taubaté Metalworkers’ Union is affiliated to the CNM-CUT and IndustriALL Global Union.

The strike at Mercedes Benz began on 24 August and also received support from dozens of unions in Brazil and abroad and from the Daimler World Works Council. On 31 August, the company cancelled the 1,500 dismissals and the workers agreed to an Employment Protection Plan, which guarantees job security for one year. The company amended the collective agreement accordingly. The São Bernardo Metalworkers’ Union is affiliated to the CNM/CUT and IndustriALL

Fernando Lopes, IndustriALL’s assistant general secretary said:

These struggles and victories prove that we need strong workplace organization and solidarity networks at both the national and international levels in order to confront the multinationals. They force the companies to negotiate and respect workers’ rights.

Georgian workers demand justice

The visit follows discussions on Georgia at IndustriALL’s Executive Committee meeting in May 2015. General secretary Jyrki Raina and assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan visited the country at the end of August to deliver a strong message of solidarity and support to the vibrant union movement.

The new labour code from 2013 includes a chapter on freedom of association and provisions prohibiting discrimination based on trade union affiliation. However participants in an organizing project in partnership with Norwegian IndustriALL affiliate IndustriEnergi told of numerous employers who actively intimidate workers, trying to persuade them not to join a union.

One of the most outrageous recent examples comes from the town of Kazreti, where 1,000 workers employed by RMG Mining Company were coerced in one-on-one interviews to leave the union. IndustriALL is demanding urgent measures from the Georgian government to guarantee true freedom of association.

The new law promotes collective bargaining in good faith, as well as mediation as a mandatory part of dispute resolution. However signing collective agreements still proves to be tough.

The right to strike has been limited in sectors such as electric power, oil and gas.

Health and safety conditions require urgent improvement. According to official statistics, on the average 39 employees died and 70 workers were seriously injured every year during the past eight years.

Speaking to Georgian media, IndustriALL’s general secretary Jyrki Raina said:

IndustriALL joins the Georgian union campaign to ratify ILO Conventions 155 on Occupational Safety and Health and 176 on Safety and Health in Mines, and to take urgent measures to guarantee the health and safety of workers.

Despite some improvements in the law, 48-hour working weeks have become the new normal instead of the 40 hours which were supposed to be the regular working time. The GTUC has appealed to the Constitutional Court to annul this provision. The code also enables precarious work in the form of renewed temporary contracts up to 30 months.

Georgia is one of a few countries without labour inspection. IndustriALL supports the demand of the unions to ratify ILO Convention 81 on Labour Inspections and to set up a proper enforcement mechanism of labour legislation.

IndustriALL’s mission, including regional secretary Vadim Borisov, visited the bottling factory JSC,,MINA”, a subsidiary of Turkish glass giant Sisecam. The majority of MINA workers have joined IndustriALL affiliate Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia.

“Most Sisecam plants in different countries are organized by IndustriALL affiliates with constructive labour relations. We look forward to the signing of a first-ever collective agreement between MINA and our affiliate in the near future. This will become an example of well-functioning industrial relations”, concluded Jyrki Raina.

Kyrgyzstan: Unions defended Labour Code at the first stage

The working group is composed of representatives from governmental agencies, the business community and trade unions suggested the following amendments to the final text of the bill:

Restrictions on the use of fixed-term employment contracts with workers employed by businesses. A fixed-term employment contract can be signed on mutual agreement of the parties and only with trade union consent and for at least one-year period, but no more than three times in succession. The initial text of the bill allowed employers to sign temporary employment contracts without any restrictions currently provided by the Labour Code.
The final bill proposes that the employee can submit a claim for collection of unpaid salary within three years from the date the employee found out or was supposed to find out about the fact of unpaid salary. According to the initially proposed amendments, the term to submit a claim for collection of unpaid salary was limited to one year.
The bill contains definitions of vocational training, traineeships, internships, as well as the terms and procedure for conclusions of a continued vocational training contract and an apprenticeship agreement.

On 18 June 2015, the government of Kyrgyzstan presented a bill introducing amendments to the Labour Code for a public debate. The government initiated the amendments to the labour legislation under the pretext of ensuring balance between the rights of employers and workers, as well as creating favourable conditions for business. However, the initial draft dramatically worsened workers’ rights and social guarantees for more than 90 per cent of the workers in Kyrgyzstan.

The trade unions of Kyrgyzstan made a stand against these amendments as they contradicted the International Labour Organization’s Convention No. 158 and Recommendation No. 166 on termination of employment. A mass union protest and a flash mob against the Slave Labour Code were held in front the Ministry of Economy and the Government of Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek. The international protest campaign in the form of solidarity letters against such amendments to the Labour Code was launched.

Now the agreed bill will be submitted to the government and later to parliament for consideration and approval.

IndustriALL congratulates its affiliate, the Mining and Metallurgy Trade Union of Kyrgyzstan (MMTUK), with this victory and a significant step forward in strengthening workers’ legal rights in Kyrgyzstan.

Greece needs investment and respect of social rights

The leaders of IndustriALL Global Union and IndustriAll European Trade Union visited Athens on a solidarity mission on 28 August 2015. General secretaries Jyrki Raina and Ulrich Eckelmann together with assistant general secretaries Kemal Özkan and Luc Triangle met with Greek affiliates Panhellenic Metalworkers’ Federation, Panhellenic Energy Federation, Greek Electrotechnicians’ Federation and the Greek Federation of Workers in Cement Industry, as well as the Greek trade union confederation GSEE.

Greek workers have gone through extremely difficult times since the financial and economic crisis hit the country in 2008. High public deficit and debt levels brought the Greek economy to the verge of collapse. Financial assistance was needed, but was provided with strict conditions attached.

The result was a 25 per cent fall of Greece’s GDP and a deep humanitarian crisis. Some weeks ago, the Greek government was forced to agree on a new programme of financial support for the third time with severe conditions imposed.

The enforced cuts in wages, pensions and welfare spending are putting massive pressure on economic output, jobs and tax revenues. More than 50 per cent of young people are out of work, and families are unable to pay rents and mortgages, or struggling to feed their children.

The troika of the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund badly miscalculated the extent of the negative impacts of the imposed reforms and severe austerity. This created a fatal vicious circle where more lending based on unsustainable conditions is leading to even more debt. There is now a broad consensus that the increase in debt levels can only be held off by an injection of financial support.

IndustriAll European Trade Union general secretary Ulrich Eckelmann said:

We firmly believe that Greece must be part of Europe’s future. Saving Greece is also about saving Europe in this very difficult economic and political period.

To ensure a successful recovery of growth and employment, urgent measures are required:

A return to a healthy economy based on a national reconstruction plan including manufacturing, agriculture and tourism
An ambitious plan for growth and jobs as counterpart to the economic reforms
An investment offensive to modernise the economy, to support innovation, to develop social infrastructure and to improve energy infrastructure and efficiency
A sustainable solution to the Greek debt problem as a necessary condition for the Greek economy to grow and recover
Respect for fundamental trade union rights, the right to collective bargaining at all levels, and strengthened social dialogue

The reform package must include combatting corruption, undeclared labour and tax evasion. Greece is in no way helped by the liberalization of mass dismissals, privatizations, further cuts on pensions, deregulation of labour law and the dismantling of collective bargaining. Such measures are destroying social security, the income of employees and purchasing power, and they will have an adverse effect on domestic demand and thus on the economic recovery.

IndustriALL Global Union’s general secretary Jyrki Raina concluded:

We need to break the vicious circle of increasing debt and declining GDP, and re-create a positive investment climate to bring down unemployment and poverty. We will work together with the Greek unions to put together a plan for industrial growth.

Sherritt – show us the evidence for lay-offs

Only 20 of the 900 laid off workers at the Canadian’ multinational’s Ambatovy operation have been re-instated. The remaining 880 workers are still uncertain about their future and whether they will ever be allowed to return to their jobs.

Sherritt unilaterally announced the lay-off of the 900 workers for a period of six months citing economic reasons, a claim totally rejected by the Comité d’Entreprise (workers' committee) at the mine and processing plant.

Sherrit Ambatovy’s performance was rated as excellent for 2014 and the company reported an 11 per cent increase in revenue from Ambatovy for the first quarter of 2015, just a few months before the lay-offs. Production targets were met in March 2015 ahead of schedule.

To further confound Sherrit’s claim that economic factors are the reason for the lay-offs, the company donated US$ 1 million to the country’s national defence force in October 2014, a move IndustriALL considers unethical and against good governance. This amount of money would have paid for an average salary of 600’000MGA (US$ 181) per month for six months for the 900 retrenched workers.

At the same time, Sherritt Ambatovy continues to recruit abroad. In a move that violates Madagascar’s laws and regulations, Sherritt Ambatovy is looking for workers with qualifications that can be filled by Malagasy nationals. The Madagascar mining code for large investments stipulate that priority for work should be given to nationals.

Sherritt Ambatovy continues to ignore IndustriALL Global Union’s offer to resolve the dispute. Consequently, IndustriALL is now in discussion with its Canadian affiliate union, Unifor, to mobilize solidarity support for Ambatovy workers amongst Unifor members it organizes at Sherritt’s operations in Canada.

IndustriALL is also in discussion with Unifor to hold Sherritt accountable to Canada’s corporate social responsibility strategy for the international extraction sector, which expects Canadian mining companies operating abroad to promote Canadian values and act with the highest ethical standards.

While IndustriALL is mobilizing direct global solidarity action amongst its mining affiliates, it continues to make the following demands on Sherritt Ambatovy:

Financial and other necessary documents from Sherritt to verify whether the retrenchment of 900 workers was necessary.
The reintegration of 15 staff representatives wrongfully laid off at the Ambatovy plant noting that in Malagasy labour law, Recommendation No. 143 offers "recognition of a priority to be given to the continued employment of workers' representatives in the case of reduction of staff.”

Akzo Nobel must end flagrant violations of trade union rights at South Korea plant

Akzo Nobel management at the South Korean plant have consistently refused to engage directly with the unions, instead hiring a labour attorney against the union's protests.

After mediation by the ministry of employment and labour, the employer committed to engage in “collective bargaining in sincerity and faith”, but relations have since deteriorated.

In July, wage negotiations were halted. And, in total disregard of the collective agreement, the employer is hiring more and more contract workers, undermining the working conditions of permanent workers and weakening the ability of the union to achieve the implementation of the legitimate demands of workers.

On 22 July a partial strike was launched. A local union leader was injured and hospitalized for more than a week as a result of physical attack when management tried to remove union posters.

The KCTF is asking management to resume wage negotiations and to stop the systematic violation of basic occupational safety and health standards at the plant. The union has also sent a letter to the Dutch ambassador to Korea, asking for a constructive solution to the conflict.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina is also calling for immediate remedial measures:

We strongly urge Akzo Nobel to intervene immediately at its Ansan plant in South Korea to ensure that Akzo Nobel Korea’s management act in strict accordance with national and international labour laws, and in consequence engage in genuine collective bargaining and wage negotiations while stopping from attacking workers and union members.

IndustriALL signs an open letter to Samsung

According to one of the recommendations Samsung will have to fund an independent non-profit foundation and resolve all outstanding issues arising from the cluster of occupational diseases such as leukaemia and lymphoma among Samsung workers.

Initial signatories include a wide range of trade unions and civil society organizations including IndustriALL Global Union, Good Electronics, Asia Monitor Resource Centre.

According to the signatories of the open letter, Samsung should agree to the Mediation Committee’s recommendation and establish a body of outside experts to resolve the following key issues of compensation and prevention:

How to fairly determine which workers are entitled to how much compensation, based on their diseases and seniority;
How much transparency about hazardous chemicals is necessary, and how to define legitimate trade secrets;
How much and what quality of chemical and health monitoring needs to be done (and made public);
How to develop an effective strategy for assessing and incorporating safer chemicals into production in order to prevent future diseases.

The letter states:

“The key to assuring effective prevention strategies in the future is through the proposed foundation, made up of a wide range of independent experts who can help you become a respected leader in occupational and environmental health, matching your leadership in global technology.”

“If Samsung insists on controlling all of these key decisions by yourselves, you will fail to achieve the acceptance and labour peace that you profess to desire.”

To support and endorse the open letter follow the link http://bit.ly/1La7vy8

Determined struggle brings Iraqi workers new labour law

On 17 August the Iraqi parliament passed a new labour law allowing the right to strike and collective bargaining, prohibiting child labour, discrimination and sexual harassment. It also includes improvements on maternity and pregnancy leave, and addresses rights of sub-contractors and migrant workers without discrimination.

Iraq’s new law covers workers in the private, mixed and cooperative sectors, but excludes workers covered by civil service law and the armed forces.

Workers in Iraq have suffered severe violations and hard working conditions due to the lack of fair labour and union laws in line with international standards. For the last decade, IndustriALL Global Union has relentlessly campaigned for the fundamental rights of Iraqi workers to enjoy fair and modern labour, as well as trade union laws in line with ILO standards and conventions.

Hassan Juma, president of IndustriALL affiliate Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions says:

Unions contributions were valuable during the drafting process. Over the time unions were able to elaborate and come up with substantial amendments to the final drafts of the law.

Hashmeya Al-Sadawe, president of Basra Electricity Workers’ Union and member of IndustriALL’s Executive Committee says:

IndustriALL and global union solidarity was crucial for the adoption of a modern labour law corresponding to ILO conventions.
However, the ban on unions in the public sector will continue until the enactment of the trade union law. We urge the Iraqi government to sign and ratify ILO Convention 87, which is now in the Iraqi parliament for ratification. This will in turn pave the way for the adoption of the trade union law.

Final voting on the law was preceded by a two-day session where Iraqi union leaders, Ministry of Labour, the Labour Committee of the Iraqi Parliament, AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center, IndustriALL Global Union and leaders of its Iraqi affiliates discussed the latest version and amendments of the draft.

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, congratulates the Iraqi workers, unions and their leaders for their determination and insistence, which was crucial to win the long struggle:

We look forward to see real improvements of the new law on the ground with concrete results contributing to better working and living conditions for Iraqi workers. We strongly urge the authorities to take similar measures and accelerate a trade union law recognizing union pluralism and applicable for all Iraqi workers, including the public sector.

The international campaign has received support from the International Labor Organization (ILO), International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and sister global unions, AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center, as well as a number of national trade union centres and national and international non-governmental organizations.

We need more women leaders!

IndustriALL Global Union represents 50 million workers in a number of industrial, energy and mining sectors. According to ILO statistics, 75 per cent of garment workers are women. Our most male sector is shipbuilding and shipbreaking, with only 8 per cent women workers. The average in IndustriALL’s sectors is 30 per cent.

This figure contributed to a decision of IndustriALL’s founding congress in Copenhagen in 2012 to adopt the statutes, according to which at least 30 per cent of executive committee members will be women.

But the Copenhagen congress also unanimously adopted a Political Agreement, which says:

"The founding congress of IndustriALL recognizes the need to continue to increase the representation of women at all levels of leadership, decision-making bodies and sectoral structures, and directs the executive committee to establish immediate administrative arrangements to increase women's representation and to take all necessary measures to enable the amending of the statutes at the second congress of IndustriALL in 2016.”

In 2014, our regional conferences in Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa proposed to increase to 40 per cent the representation of women in IndustriALL’s leadership.

Even though these decisions are about IndustriALL’s global structures, our aim is to raise discussion about necessary changes in our affiliated unions both at the national and local level.

We need to develop a culture of equality between men and women in unions. We need to empower women and give them space in the decision-making structures.

The future of unions depends to a great extent on their ability to attract women and young workers. Today they have difficulty in identifying with grey and bald men who occupy the leadership of so many unions. Or believe that the older male generation understands and takes care of matters that are important for women and youth. Diversity in leadership is important in governments, companies and unions.

I acknowledge there is a bit of a chicken and egg problem. It would be nice if more pressure came from the factory level. But today industry is not doing enough to attract women, even though the changing image should be more attractive than in the past. Automation and new technology require less muscle power, and white-collar jobs are increasing.

IndustriALL will continue to organize leadership training for women and actions to defend women’s rights, combat violence against women and to guarantee the right to maternity. These are not women’s issues; they are union issues for us all.

On 14-16 September, I am joining almost 300 union sisters from all five continents at IndustriALL’s women world conference in Vienna where all these questions will be on the agenda. I am looking forward to lively debates on how we will build global union power, women and men together.

Jyrki Raina

General Secretary

Ansell faces Aussie protests against treatment of Sri Lankan workers

Ansell is fighting a war of attrition against 300 poor and mainly female Sri Lankan workers who they sacked for going on strike at one of its factories.

Sri Lankan unionist Anton Marcus from IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union, addressed the rally in defence of the sacked workers.

Mr Marcus, who had his visa denied by Australian authorities last year, said the workers had wanted nothing more than the right to negotiate through their union.

“These women have very little, so when this Australian company cuts their pay, while raising production quotas, they tried to exercise their right to collectively negotiate through the local union,” Mr Marcus said.

“The company made almost US$200 million in profits last year, but it wanted to take a few cents an hour off these poor women.”

IndustriALL’s assistant general secretary, Fernando Lopes, said:

“Ansell cannot expect its inhumane treatment of Sri Lankan workers to go unnoticed. This issue is not going to go away and support for the sacked workers is growing worldwide.”

IndustriALL has garnered international solidarity support for the campaign to reinstate the 300 Sri Lankan workers and address similar abuses of Malaysian workers by Ansell, including from affiliates in Australia, the USA and Brazil.

Facts:

Ansell made $US187 million profit last financial year – four times the previous year.

Ansell is the biggest condom manufacturer in the Australian market with popular brands including Lifestyle and their ‘next generation’ SKYN.

Ansell workers who were sacked were paid less than 80c per hour to work in conditions so bad that they are forced to relieve themselves at their workstations because they otherwise won’t meet impossible production targets.

The sacked Ansell workers in Sri Lanka were forced to work every day of the week including weekends without overtime payments.