Women’s dire working conditions brought to light at IndustriALL ICT conference

It is notable that women’s working conditions in the garment industry are very similar to those in electronics. A report called Mind the Gap analyzing women working conditions in the electronics and garment industries in India was discussed at the conference. For women, work can be empowering and provide independence, but too often it is accompanied by abuse.

The report concludes that the working conditions in both supply chains do not meet the standards set by the International Labour Organization, and that workers’ wages cannot be considered living wages. Low wages keep the workers perpetually in debt and do not allow them to leave the cycle of poverty. Moreover, women garment workers suffer from malnutrition and anemia causing health problems.

The study compares working conditions and wages in two different global supply chains that cater to the European market with links to South India – the garment industry in Bangalore that produces apparel for well-known European retailers including H&M, a Swedish multinational, and Norwegian Varner Group as well as the electronics industry in Sriperumbudur (near Chennai) where electronics companies Dell and Samsung (USA and Korea respectively) are manufacturing their products. 

In general, workers migrate from rural areas looking for better jobs than they had in agriculture. Technological change has brought about employment, but the jobs are characterized by low pay and lack of social security. In their private life workers face poor housing and living conditions, lack of access to hospitals, schools, water supply and sanitation. In Chennai women workers live in the areas, which are not policed sufficiently and are therefore unsafe.

Workers in Bangalore tell of the constant high production targets they are subject to. They have to work more than the legal working hours, they are harassed and intimidated by their supervisors, and are constantly threatened with termination of their contracts. They say that without overtime they are unable to make ends meet, but still overtime is a constraint because it upsets their personal lives and keeps them from looking after the children, cooking, washing and buying food.

Workers are not allowed sufficient toilet breaks. If they use the toilets more than three to five times over an eight-hour period, they are abused and humiliated by their supervisors. They can take just five minutes to go to the toilet each time and must rush back. In order to meet the targets, the workers drink less water in order to avoid having to go to the toilet. In general these workers are women, and their supervisors are men.

At Dell in India most of the workers are young unmarried women. Wages are low. They do voluntary overtime in order to make enough money to meet the families’ expenses. The women send more than half their salaries home to support their families in the villages, so they cannot afford anything for themselves, not even nutritious food. Dell workers do not expect any promotion. The majority only expects to work until they get married, because they go back to their villages for their arranged marriages.

While Nokia was still operating in India, it had a trade union and the working conditions were significantly better. That is why unionization is crucial for improving living and working conditions. Only with trade unions, will it be possible to overcome the abuse that is prevalent in factories the world over producing the goods that we consume every day.

Textile and garment industry director needed at IndustriALL

The garment and textile industry is IndustriALL's biggest sector, with 60 million workers in the world. Very few of them are organized, and the industry has been characterized by low wages, long working hours and hazardous workplaces. The Bangladesh Accord started a systemic change, and we are now focusing on organizing workers and securing bargaining structures with living wages. We need a director to lead our work in the sector. The position is based in Geneva and involves frequent travel.

 Principal tasks 

Requirements 

Applications by Wednesday 8 July 2015 

Please send your application including a CV and motivation letter by e-mail to Maita Wyss at [email protected] at the latest by Wednesday 8 July 2015. In line with IndustriALL’s gender policy and taking into account the nature of the sector, we encourage applications from woman candidates. We will interview short-listed candidates and complete the application process swiftly so that the new industry director can start work in Geneva as soon as possible, preferably in September-October 2015 

ILO is back to work

In February 2015, after a global action day called by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and supported by IndustriALL Global Union and other global unions, the employers group at the International Labour Organization (ILO) finally agreed to recognize the right to strike. A joint statement by the workers’ and employers’ group also ended a three-year blockage on addressing important cases of violations of workers’ rights.

Therefore this year’s International Labour Conference (ILC) of the ILO in Geneva to which 4500 government, employer and worker delegates gathered in June, was different from the past three years.  After the deadlock was broken in February, serious matters could be discussed and key conclusions reached.

I am especially happy about the conclusions on Mexico. The ILO Governing Body and the Committee on Application of Standards asked the Mexican government to take legislative reforms to prevent the registration of trade unions that cannot demonstrate the support of the majority of the workers they intend to represent, by means of a democratic election process.  

The Mexican government was quick to state in public that the law does not support this protection contract system upheld by yellow unions and corrupt employers. However, 90 per cent of collective agreements are made without consulting the workers. Now the ITUC and IndustriALL are discussing the next steps in our joint action towards democratic labour-management relations in Mexico. 

In Bangladesh, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety is making garment factories safer. We also managed to collect from global clothing brands the required US$ 30 million for paying compensation to the victims and families of the Rana Plaza industrial homicide in April 2013. Now the ILO Committee recommends sending a high level tripartite mission to examine legal problems, issues with export processing zones (EPZs), anti-union discrimination and violence, and trade union registration. The garment industry of four million workers has been practically a union-free zone. Now we need to get it organized.

The ILO Committee reiterated its criticism against Belarus where the government has failed to address most of the earlier recommendations. The workers cannot freely join a union of their choice. In its remarkable 2015 Global Rights Index, the ITUC lists Belarus as one of the world’s ten worst countries for workers. The report says Belarus is characterized by anti-union discrimination, forced labour and repression of protests.

In Swaziland, the Committee called for the registration of IndustriALL affiliate Atuswa and for the release of a jailed union leader.

The Committee on Social Protection concluded that although some advances have been made in minimum wage systems, working hours, health and safety, and maternity protection, too many workers lack adequate social protection. These shortcomings need to be addressed throughout the global supply chains, which will be a major topic on the ILO conference in 2016.

For IndustriALL, ILO norms are a cornerstone of workers’ rights. Organizing and mobilizing workers remain the best tools for putting them in practice.

Jyrki Raina

General Secretary

East African unions join forces to tackle common issues

The project aims to make trade unions in the manufacturing and mining industries in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda stronger through national and international cooperation. Stronger unions can better defend their members, improving working conditions and health and safety at the workplace.

A growing number of workers are left with no choice but to accept temporary, precarious and dangerous jobs in order to make ends meet and provide an income for their families. Precarious jobs are an enormous threat for workers, not only at the social and economic level – it also has negative impacts on the communities and on the economy at large.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliates in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda call on their governments, employers, workers and all other stakeholders to cooperate with trade unions in dealing with the explosion in precarious work, as well as to work towards minimizing diseases and accidents in the workplace. This should be done through legislation and collective bargaining.

The specific objectives of the East African union building project include:
·       Organizing and recruiting workers into trade unions, after which the employers also need to recognize the unions
·       Eliminating precarious work and short term contracts
·       Reducing health and safety related risks and incidences at work

The overriding goal is to ensure that IndustriALL affiliates in the three countries gain power, allowing them to become a strong counterforce and dialogue partner to the companies. When workers find ways to have better lives and more decent work, the three countries, as well as the entire East African region, will be better off.

Catherine Aneno, IndustriALL project coordinator, says:

We support unions gaining more power in East Africa. Within the next four-year period, we want to see an increased membership in the region, have less precarious work as well as safer and healthier jobs.

Let us organize, agitate and educate our members.

Goodyear treads on UK workers with plant closure

The planned closure jeopardizes hundreds more jobs in the supply chain and is part of a proposed Europe-wide reorganization at Goodyear.
 
IndustriALL Global Union’s UK affiliate Unite warned that the closure of the Goodyear factory in Wolverhampton would have severe ramifications on the local economy in addition to the damage to employees.
 
Goodyear’s Wolverhampton factory mixes the rubber compounds for tyres as well as re-treading tyres. The re-tread division is expected to close in October this year and the rubber compounds by January 2017.
 
Gerard Coyne, Unite regional secretary for the West Midlands, said:
“The closure of the factory and the loss of hundreds of skilled manufacturing jobs will be a devastating blow to the economy.
 
“It is disgraceful that Goodyear did not have the good grace to tell the workforce first and instead workers found out that they could be out of a job through the local media."
 
The historic site at Wolverhampton has been in production for nearly 90 years. IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan says:

I personally know the plant in Wolverhampton. Over the years, Goodyear has reduced the workforce little by little and are now making a final cut. Our sisters and brothers there have contributed to the success of Goodyear for decades, something which must be remembered.

We support our affiliate’s outrage over the plans and call on Goodyear to start respecting their workers whose efforts have helped build the company’s huge success.

The news about the plant closure in the UK follows announcements in April this year that Goodyear intends to build a new factory in Mexico.
 
IndustriALL US affiliate United Steel Workers (USW) said at the time that the decision was disappointing but not surprising.

USW International President Leo W. Gerard said:
 “USW members at Goodyear have been willing partners and have repeatedly shown their commitment to championing the success of the company. Together we worked hard to help turn the company around, and the USW has led the fight to stop a flood of unfairly priced tires from China.”
 
Goodyear employs about 75,000 people with factories in the US, South America, Europe and Asia.
 

Unions target Switzerland over Glencore

The Glencore Global Union Network’s week of action from 29 June to 3 July coincides with a new People’s Initiative in Switzerland, which is campaigning for a change in the law to make Swiss-based multinational companies, such as Glencore, responsible for their violations against human rights and the environment abroad.

If the People’s Initiative gets 100,000 signatures, Swiss citizens can vote on whether it should be made law under the Federal Constitution.

If the vote is successful, it means that victims of human rights or environmental violations by Swiss multinationals in foreign countries could take the company to court in Switzerland and claim compensation.

It would also make Swiss companies responsible for violations committed by their subsidiaries or the companies they control in the countries where they operate.   

During the global week of action, IndustriALL affiliates from Africa, Australia, Latin America and the USA, which form the Glencore Global Union Network, will be handing over a protest letter to Swiss Embassies and Consulates.

The letter implores the Swiss government to see that Glencore abides by international standards and stops the abuse of people and the environment abroad.

“Switzerland has a good reputation for respecting workers rights and collective bargaining. However, Glencore’s actions abroad are giving the country a bad name and its behaviour would not be tolerated in Switzerland,” says IndustriALL’s director of mining Glen Mpufane.

IndustriALL is taking Glencore to task over allegations of union-busting, health and safety violations, and tax evasion following grievances by affiliates, among other accusations.  

The Glencore Global Union Network has representatives from fourteen countries which are Argentina, Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico, Namibia, Peru, South Africa, United States and Zambia.

Find out more about the initiative here: http://konzern-initiative.ch/?lang=fr

FSPMI reaches agreement with Philips in Indonesia

Workers at PT. Philips Industries Batam, went on strike at the beginning of June, protesting against union busting and unfair dismissals by company management.

On 19 June, IndustriALL affiliated branch union FSPMI Batam and PT. Philips Industries Batam reached the agreement according to which local management will resume collective bargaining negotiations. The negotiations concern a restructuring plan of the company under the monitoring of the representatives of local authorities and/or government.

In return the union will stop the strike and all striking workers will go back to work. The strikers are to be paid their full salary for the time of the strike.

The agreement was reached just one week after the IndustriALL World Conference on ICT Electrical & Electronics held in Malaysia, adopted the resolution in support of unfairly dismissed workers at PT. Philips Industries Batam, Indonesia.

The resolution called on company management to reinstate the dismissed workers, stop harassing workers and resume the collective bargaining negotiations with FSPMI, aiming to achieve a fair and just resolution of the conflict, as well as create a constructive relationship between labour and management.

Judy Winarno, president for FSPMI Electrical & Electronics sector says:

On behalf of FSPMI electronics’ workers, we would like to thank everyone for the international solidarity and efforts of IndustriALL family.”

Sector-wide collective agreements to counter workers’ problems in the chemical industry

In Belgium, IndustriALL affiliates CSC BIE and CG-FGTB concluded a one-year agreement covering around 100,000 workers, bringing salary increases, early retirement schemes, training measures, as well as a demographic fund.

The demographic fund will play a role for workers with long seniorities. As some workers may need to retire at a later age than expected, the fund aims to deal with related difficulties. Details of the practical arrangement are yet to be decided, but both the employers and the unions will manage the fund.

Although still waiting for approval, IndustriALL’s Spanish affiliates Industria de CC.OO. and FITAG – UGT have recently finalized a three-year sectorial collective agreement covering 200,000 workers. Apart from setting wage increases, the collective bargaining agreement has a clause guaranteeing employee purchasing power, an updated equal opportunity clause, a declaration of principle promoting CSR, and a commitment that training will receive higher priority at work.

In the new agreement, IndustriALL’s two Spanish affiliates managed to make the employers withdraw plans to lengthen working hours, eliminate bonuses linked to career length, and apply a lower minimum salary rise.

The agreement has an updated equal opportunity clause with the reinforcement of a joint committee, and employee representation during crises is improved.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan says that the organization congratulates the two Spanish affiliates and welcomes both sector agreements:

Agreements covering an entire industry are rare, but something we hope will be more common in the future as it strengthens workers’ rights.

Fighting outsourcing law in Brazil

The proposed law opening up for using contract workers without any limitations has been discussed for more than a decade. After having been effectively blocked for several years, employers in the country have managed to get the bill adopted by the House of Representatives. The text is now in the Senate for a vote.

If the law is passed, as many as 34 million workers risk becoming precarious. Participants at the meeting voiced their fears over an increase in workplace accidents – already precarious workers represent 80 per cent of those accidents, lower salaries, and worsened working conditions. 

Georgia's growing union movement

The final workshop in a series of five within a union organizing project supported by IndustriALL Norwegian affiliate Industri Energi (IE) was held in Kobuleti on 31 May – 2 June 2015.

After a new labour code was adopted in 2006, the unions in Georgia experienced pressure from both employers and the state for several years. According to experts, the labour code is one of the worst examples of labor codes currently existing in the world. As a result of heavy business lobbying, Georgia has a tiny brochure of about 60 pages with no mention of trade unions instead of a detailed labour law corresponding to international norms and ILO standards.

The labour code has had serious consequences for workers in the country; labour inspections have been abolished, unions are under constant pressure, and as a consequence membership is declining.

It took more than seven years of union struggle to make the state authorities hear the voice of the unions, start a dialogue and make some changes to the labor legislation.

Tamaz Dolaberidze, president of IndustriALL affiliate Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia (TUMMCIWG), said:

As the state no longer sides with the employer during collective labor disputes and is more open to social dialogue, we now have greater possibilities to develop our trade unions."

Trade union leaders and activists of the Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia participated in the workshop and listened to Ole-Kristian Paulsen, international advisor at IE. He told participants about the activities of Norwegian unions and the subsequent recognition of the need of equal dialogue between the social partners which led to the country's prosperity.

On hearing about the efforts Georgian employers take to suppress unions at their enterprises, Ole-Kristian Paulsen said:

It is absolutely counterproductive, as eventually all the people will be organized in the union. If the employer would have taken these efforts to develop the production, the enterprise performance would have been much higher, and it would provide higher profits to business and higher wages to the employees".

Eduard Vokhmin, trade union trainer, facilitated the practical training. Participants practiced various organizing methods used in certain situations at their enterprises.