REPORT: Union leaders against all odds

REPORT

REGION: Latin America

TEXT: Leonie Guguen

Despite this, women have still managed to rise to the top of male-dominated unions in Latin America. Four union leaders from Brazil, Chile, Colombia and the Dominican Republic are proof that women are capable of leading unions in the face of many challenges.

“I wanted to fight injustice and the lack of democracy in the workplace,” says Lucineide Varjão, president of Brazilian chemical workers’ union and IndustriALL Global Union affiliate CNQ-CUT, on her decision to be active in her union. “Companies write the rules, make demands and punish workers who they believe do not comply with the rules they impose.”

Originally trained as a social worker, Varjão started out as a domestic worker in an explosives factory in São Paulo. She got her first taste of union discrimination when she was dismissed after taking part in an eleven-day strike that won important victories for the workers. After moving to a plastics company in São Paulo, she became involved in CNQ-CUT, soon becoming a member of the union executive and holding several posts before becoming president last year.

However, Varjão’s success has not been without struggle.

“Unfortunately, I have always faced discrimination and prejudice both at work and in the trade union movement. If you are a woman, if you have children, you are the victim of prejudice in many ways. Some companies prefer men as employees because they don’t get pregnant and won’t need to go on maternity leave. There is no doubt that this greatly restricts the opportunities and professional development of working women.”

The sexism in unions is part of the gender discrimination that is entrenched in many Latin American countries.

“The deep-rooted sexist culture in Brazilian society imposes rules that form obstacles for women. Women constantly have to prove they are capable of taking on a leadership role in the unions or in any other institution. Breaking through this culture is a daily battle,” adds Varjão.

“We live in a patriarchal society that believes women are incapable of taking decisions about our own lives and of taking responsibility in public life. Day in, day out, this attitude imposes what men’s and women’s role in society should be. The major challenge we face is to change this mentality and these practices, so people realize that a woman’s place is everywhere!”

Standing up to sexism

Varjão says sexism in the trade union movement exists but is better disguised: “Women have to prove and prove again that they have the ability and training to take on political roles; there is a lot less pressure on men in this respect.”

Erica Hidalgo, vice-president of the Chilean workers’ union at Enap Magallanes, a state-owned energy company, tells of a similar experience:

“In general, men try to stop women standing for leadership positions in trade union elections. If women get elected the men close ranks to make sure that women do not get appointed to senior positions,” says Hidalgo who is also national secretary of IndustriALL affiliate, FENATRAPECH, representing workers in petroleum and related industries.

“I suffered a lot of discrimination from my peers when I first became leader. With time, patience and knowledge, I gradually asserted my position and they accepted me.”

Union leader Claudia Blanco is the only woman train driver at the Colombian coal mining operation run by Prodeco, a Glencore subsidiary. She is responsible for transporting coal, freight and passengers and reveals that discrimination initially came from her own colleagues:

“A lot of people did not believe that I would be able to do the job of train driver. But when they saw that I was working hard and was dedicated to the job, they realized that women are capable and that women could also play a role in the union, despite the prevalent sexism,” says Blanco.

Blanco was encouraged by her all-male colleagues to become president of the Ciénaga branch of SINTRACARBON, IndustriALL’s Colombian affiliate in the coal-mining sector.

“When I witnessed the injustices and abuses at Prodeco I realized the importance of the union,” explains Blanco. “It is a weapon that workers can use to confront the company and stop the abuses. Prodeco is very anti-union, it has strong anti-union policies, and blatantly violates workers’ rights. So our union branch faces the constant challenge of fending off these attacks by the company.”

Despite being harassed at work and intimidated by her bosses, Blanco has been able to make advances for her co-workers.

“We have achieved the reinstatement of several colleagues, without them facing sanctions. We also have more respect of workers’ rights. Our colleagues can speak to the management of the company without fear as they feel they have the support of the union,” says Blanco.

As general secretary of textile union Futurazona-CTU, Mayra Jiménez has been instrumental in leading a turnaround in working conditions for garment workers in the Dominican Republic, where the sector was once dominated by child labour.

Jiménez began working in a Korean-owned textile factory when she was 14 years old. The company employed 1,200 girls, all of whom were between 13 and 17 years old. At age 15, she was covertly organizing her fellow workers, by 16 she was director of an unofficial union that represented around 20,000 workers in the industrial area. Nearly all other union leaders were men.

“We created a trade union but it wasn’t recognized by the labour ministry. We couldn’t organize at the company, as was legally required, because we would have all been fired,” says Jiménez.

A turning point came in 1989 when a pregnant colleague and union activist, Rafaella Rodriguez, lost her baby when she was badly beaten after confronting management at another Korean-owned garment factory. “All workers were outraged,” reveals Jiménez. “We reported the incident internationally and with all the pressure we made, we got the working code modified.” The code had been established while the country was still in a dictatorship and was changed in 1992.

“I saw very positive results from the beginning. I saw how a fight to confront abuses could lead to a global improvement for workers around the world and we achieved a modification of the code that we never thought possible.”

Jiménez, who is now a trained lawyer, says that while there are no longer underage girls working in garment factories, many of the gains they made related to working hours and maternity rights are now under attack:

“After 22 years we are still fighting very hard because employers, supported by the government, are proposing a change in the working code where workers lose the rights they fought so hard for.”

“They are thinking of letting a woman get fired if she gets pregnant, which is a very big aggression in terms of reproductive and family rights,” reveals Jiménez who says that employers want to hire younger people with less rights and no social security or compensations.

Participation

Jiménez has clear advice for women seeking to get involved in unions. “The best way to learn how to be a leader is by participating. A union is a big school.”

Brazilian union leader Varjão agrees:

“Participate! Don’t wait for other people to do it for you. Unions are tools for building a more equal society. We cannot hang about waiting for things to happen. Every one of us has to play our part, in the union, in the neighbourhood where we live, in the school where we study or at the workplace, that is, in all the areas of life where we are active.

“Women must always try to help each other and show solidarity with each other, because we must act together as a group in the battle with this patriarchal society. We have a saying that one woman’s story is the story of all women and it is this similarity in our situation that unites and strengthens us.”

Union affiliates in Latin America are leading the drive for a 40 per cent quota for women’s representation at all levels of IndustriALL.

“Our region was the first to decide to promote this initiative. If there isn’t a clear and effective application of this policy it is going to be very hard,” says Jiménez who says that union structures and goals need to correspond with women’s visions and specific needs. “Women need to feel that the union is improving their quality of life as well as improving their salary and working conditions.”

Parity

Equal representation in union leadership should exist even if most members are men, argues Hidalgo: “Only women can know the needs of other women. There is a long way to go before men understand our real needs and see us as equals. We cannot change things unless we have equality at the leadership level.”

Equal participation by women and men cannot be expressed simply in terms of a number or a percentage says Varjão: “Parity is not only a number, it is a policy for strengthening and encouraging equal participation by women in the unions. In addition, it is the inalienable democratic right of women to participate in conditions of equality.

“It is not natural that men predominate at the leadership level, in decision making bodies and the centres of power. Parity is a way of changing this situation and ensuring the presence of a ‘critical mass’ of women in these structures. To enforce parity means changing the structures of power and democratizing political practices,” adds Varjão.

Practical steps

There are many practical steps to help women. Hidalgo advocates training alongside men, while Jiménez says that unions need to change attitude:

It seems that every union assumes family and childcare issues are the responsibility of women and that is a very big limitation for participation.

Varjão recommends unions change the times when meetings, including mass meetings, are held so that more women can take part.

She urges:

“Women should be assertive and not become discouraged or intimidated by discrimination and prejudice. It is important for women in union leadership positions to avoid repeating the actions and practices typical of men. They must establish another pattern of behaviour based on solidarity, fellowship and the decentralization of power, so as to promote greater participation by women in all areas of society, at the workplace and in the trade union movement.”

PROFILE: Trade unions paving the way to stability

PROFILE

COUNTRY: Tunisia

TEXT: Ahmed Kamel

A revolution in 2011 led Tunisia onto a bumpy road towards democracy. But despite a number of political crises, including assassinations of leading political figures, the country’s first democratic constitution was finally adopted on 26 January of this year.

Largely applauded for its modernity, the new constitution had been delayed by near political deadlock as different political parties argued over the role of Islam in one of the Arab world’s most secular countries.

Tunisia’s National Assembly approved the final articles of the country’s new constitution that enshrines freedom of association, unions’ right to organize, the right to strike, gender equality and women’s protection against violence.

With an overwhelming majority of 200 of the total 216 votes, it was finally passed in the National Constituent Assembly in January 2014.

The country’s largest trade union centre, Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail (UGTT) and its member unions, including IndustriALL Global Union’s affiliates in the country, have played a crucial role in the development of the new constitution. One significant contribution is the road map for national development, a platform where political parties can meet in order to achieve a democratic transition.

During the transition period and its various constitutional experiments, the UGTT remained the only true space for collective action. Having successfully asserted its distance from the dictatorship, it offered a harmonious basis to resolve political differences. The logic established by this process led to the formation of the “consensual constitution” that formed the foundation for an understanding between Islamists and modernists.

Founded in 1946, the UGTT is a national centre, counting its members among different regions, political orientation and social groups. This varied membership created a culture of making compromises rather than building positions based on ideological and partisan orientations.

The UGTT’s active intervention in the aftermath of the Arab Spring allowed workplaces and factories to remain open, contributing substantially to the stabilization of the country in the process.

It also brought an end to the practice of sub-contracting government employment, bringing back 60,000 workers into permanent jobs.

This successful union work since the revolution has seen the UGTT’s membership soar by more than 30 per cent, to 750,000 members.

Women in Tunisia

Tunisia’s new constitution could also mean a huge change for women in the country following the adoption of a clause guaranteeing gender equality in legislative assemblies and for steps to be taken to protect women against violence.

By law Tunisian men and women have been equal since the Personal Status Law was passed in 1956. However if put into practice, clauses such as Article 45, which requires the government to create parity for women in all legislative assemblies in the country, are bound to make history.

According to a poll on the situation of women in Arab countries by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Tunisia’s new constitution can be seen as a victory for gender equality. Together with civil society and political allies, the UGTT’s women’s committee played a significant role in drafting the Constitution and in lobbying for support around the articles promoting gender equality and women’s rights.

Unemployment and a lack of decent job opportunities were major causes of the revolution in 2011. Compared to men, women have a low employment rate; 22 per cent versus 61 per cent. Most women work in textiles, clothing, agriculture, administration, education, health services and the informal economy. The textile and clothing sector is particularly vulnerable due to global competition. This creates an insecure environment for women as they are usually the first to be dismissed in any restructuring in times of economic difficulties.

In Tunisia, informal employment accounts for 54 per cent of jobs. The unequal access to the formal labour market pushes women into informal jobs. Informal workers are all victims of discrimination in Tunisia, as they have no social protection. There is a lack of necessary protection for working women and a deterioration of working conditions in subcontracting and precarious work.

IndustriALL supports the recently founded Tunisian Women’s Network for its four affiliates in the country. The network is tasked with strengthening the position of working women at industry level, developing strategies to enhance women’s participation in the decision making process, combatting precarious work and campaigning on issues relevant to women nationwide.

Tunisian trade unions’ emphasis on improving rights for women workers has helped mobilize women workers in support of wage demands. The Tunisian focus is on collective bargaining to deliver wage outcomes rather than waiting for the government or the judiciary to raise wages.

“Developing collective bargaining strength and capacity at industry level is the best strategy for achieving higher wages,” says Tahar Berberi, general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union affiliate Fédération Générale de la Métallurgie et de l’Electronique – UGTT and member of IndustriALL’s Executive Committee.

INTERVIEW: Sharan Burrow – The world needs a pay rise

INTERVIEW

TEXT: Petra Bränmark

How will the ITUC achieve this?

There is an alarming increase of precarious work, with zero-hour contracts for example. Out of around 2.9 billion workers in the world, only 60 per cent have a formal contract. So the need to organize workers is ever increasing.

The informal sector is a sector of desperation, largely made up of women and young people. And we are seeing brilliant union work in organizing in the informal sector, like domestic workers, street vendors and home workers.

A worker is a worker is a worker. We need to organize workers, in order to ensure their livelihood is protected and advanced. To do that, we have to build capacity. In many parts of the developing world there is little or no capacity for organizing.

Earlier this year the ITUC decided to promote organizing and launched an organizing academy. Union organizers will learn more on strategic targeting, campaign strategy, and organizing skills including workplace strategies. If the ITUC can train 100 organizers we can start to build a global team working in their own context. The ITUC will gain strength and depth and we will enjoy more wins.

What power does a global trade union have?

The ITUC Congress in Berlin in May this year gave the organization the mandate to build workers’ power. And we’ll do that through old principles and new energy – the collective voice of workers is our power. We need to organize to use our mandate.

There is a common understanding that the corporate governance of today is not working. According to the ITUC global poll of the general public in 14 countries, 78 per cent of the respondents believe the current economic system favours the wealthy rather than being fair to most people.

So there is a solid foundation in terms of people’s understanding of what we do, and the way to achieve this is through the power of workers. We can continue with academic arguments, but to succeed we need to combine intellectual research with organizing on the ground and mobilizing. Voices need to be heard!

How can this power bring change to global supply chains?

Regardless of how far in the world a supply chain stretches, the company in question should be held responsible for every step of it. The world needs to know about the lack of responsibility and exploitation. A legal framework to hold companies to account needs to be developed; like the Bangladesh Accord which came into being after the tragedy at Rana Plaza. It covers garment factories and is signed by companies who source from them in Bangladesh.

We, the global unions, have the tools to do this together. As IndustriALL Global Union, you represent workers in electronics, garment and textiles, as well as mining, and through the sheer number of members you are critical for your sectors. Together with the International Transport Federation (ITF) whose members work in transport and logistics and UNI Global Union organizing retail employees, entire supply chains are often covered.

Major companies are making enormous profits while workers at the production base are earning wages on which they can’t live. This deepening inequality is not only a macroeconomic issue; it is a human tragedy. And it is not acceptable.

In this year’s global poll by ITUC, an overwhelming majority, 79 per cent, stated that they do not believe the minimum wage in their country is sufficient for leading a decent life. More than one in two working families in fourteen countries that constitute half the world’s population cannot keep up with the rising cost of living.

The world needs a pay rise! Workers in Cambodia have been shot, workers in Indonesia put in jail, and workers in Bangladesh had their lives threatened for striking for a living wage. They are fighting for their dignity and are attacked by their own governments.

As global unions we have to act. Organizing workers and collective bargaining are key to delivering living wages.

How long before we see any change in the global agenda?

We are already seeing a shift. Distributional tools are now being talked about and as global unions we have managed to get supply chains on the agenda. It is about safe work, but also about informal and formal work. This means that the informal economy is now being discussed, while three years ago governments didn’t acknowledge the existence of the informal economy.

But we are running out of time. The number of enslaved and impoverished workers is increasing; we see the democratic space closing as rights are attacked; and we need to fight climate change to secure jobs for the future.

The only thing that is going to change this is to reinvest in workers. The ITUC is here as part of the collective voice of workers and we need to organize workers everywhere.

In May this year you were re-elected as general secretary for another four years. What is the symbolic value of a woman at the helm?

Yes it matters that I am a woman leader, but the important part is to ensure more women have power in the workplace. It is time for women to be louder and women need to be counted in – into the workforce, unions, bargaining units and leadership.

I am a feminist warrior, and I can’t accept to live in a racist world with a gender unbalance. It is the union movement’s responsibility to put this right, so I am well placed to challenge the structures.

FEATURE: IndustriALL: Campaigning, organizing, and winning

FEATURE

TEXT: Tom Grinter

This article looks at some of the latest frontline battles waged by IndustriALL and its affiliates. America’s autoworkers’ union, the UAW, is using new tactics to organize in the union-hostile Southern US; Cambodian unions are fighting to win an increase to poverty-level minimum wages; Philippine affiliate MWAP resisted a vicious union-busting attack with international support; and the Rio Tinto campaign organized contract workers in Madagascar.

Global support for UAW’s organizing campaigns

The UAW has historically held strong sway with the ‘Big Three’ US auto companies, GM, Ford, and Chrysler, resulting in good employment conditions for members and strong economic performance for the companies. When the global crisis hit the industry in 2007-2008 a mature agreement with the UAW saved both GM and Chrysler. Now it is vital for the union to organize the non-American auto companies operating in the US.

The three major targets are Volkswagen (VW) in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Daimler in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and Nissan in Canton, Mississippi. Labour rights abuses have been rife in all three locations, and outside anti-union pressure is enormous. The Southern culture of exploiting workers and getting away with it is made possible by low union density and anti-worker politicians. This challenge is being tackled head on by the UAW with the full support of IndustriALL and key allies.

UAW Locals 42 and 112 were established on 10 July and 3 October by workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga and at Daimler in Tuscaloosa. At every single Volkswagen and Daimler plant in the world employees belong to a company-recognized union – apart from in Chattanooga and Tuscaloosa. The demand on these multinationals is simple: afford these workers the same rights as the rest of your employees, recognize their union and bargain collective agreements.

General Secretary Jyrki Raina led an IndustriALL solidarity trip to these three locations in October, including an international support mission to the Nissan organizing campaign in Canton. Organizers and workers shared their stories of shocking intimidation and of their inspiring fight-back. The IndustriALL affiliates representing Nissan workers, as well as employees of corporate partner Renault, set the plan for continued international campaign action and pledged to take the accounts of rights violations back to management in their home countries.

In UAW Local 42’s ‘War Room’ in Chattanooga, Jyrki Raina told members:

You are not alone. You are part of a big global family of 700 unions in 140 countries. The automobile industry is IndustriALL’s strongest sector, most unionized. IndustriALL members in the sector have good salaries and conditions, and functioning labour management relations. Every plant has problems, but the union and works council are there to solve them. Now you have a union and we eagerly await the next steps in getting recognition from VW.

International solidarity has been central to the organizing campaigns at VW and Daimler. German union IG Metall used its strength to ensure neutrality from both companies and a pathway to establishing UAW union locals. The Japanese JAW and JCM are working with UAW to win similar assurances from Nissan.

A work place election at VW in February was narrowly lost by the UAW by 712 votes to 626. The vote made clear to all involved that under current US labour legislation free and fair worker representation elections are impossible in the region. A vehemently aggressive anti-union campaign led by Republican politicians and anti-union lobby groups used threats and intimidation to highjack VW’s neutrality. Particularly shocking was Tennessee’s Republican Senator Bob Corker’s bare-faced lie that if workers voted in the UAW, a new SUV production line would not brought to the plant. The opposite was true.

With IG Metall’s strong support, UAW switched to plan B. Instead of an election, Local 42 has collected the support of a majority of the plant’s workforce and a consensus agreement was reached with global VW management to recognize the Local once a majority is confirmed through card check. Important developments are expected before the end of 2014.

Extending German co-determination to Alabama

Daimler’s global commitment to the German principle of ‘co-determination’ between management and employees will be put to the test in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The UAW already represents nearly 7,000 workers at Daimler plants in the US, with positive industrial relations bringing mutual benefits. An agreement between the UAW, the Daimler World Employee Committee and IG Metall aligns the joint commitment to extend the company’s practice in the rest of the world to Alabama.

World Employee Committees are established to create mutual trust and worker representation across borders in the spirit of solidarity. The meetings ensure equal information for all and discussion on an equal footing with the top management.

Dennis Williams, UAW president states: “It’s time for the committed and hard-working employees at MBUSI (Mercedes-Benz US International) to have the same representation that Daimler employees enjoy around the world. It’s the right thing to do. Plus, it will improve productivity and quality, ensuring success for both the company and the workforce.”

“We are asking Daimler to respect our right to representation and give the same opportunities to Alabama’s working families that have been extended to our counterparts elsewhere in the U.S. and around the world,” said Mercedes worker Rodney Bowens at the announcement of Local 112.

Leaders of the Daimler World Employee Committee and IG Metall also participated in the unveiling of the new local.

Gary Casteel, the UAW’s secretary-treasurer, and vice chairman of the Daimler World Employee Committee, called on the company to work with the new local union. “Daimler has a clear global commitment to employee representation.”

Once UAW Local 112 is recognized, first priorities of the union will be to bargain on improved plant safety and regularizing the more than 1,000 temporary workers at the plant.

Sweltering with the heat of injustice

Fifty years on from the height of the civil rights campaign for racial equality in Mississippi and throughout the US, Nissan workers are drawing parallels with their current treatment. The abuse of Nissan workers in Canton is extreme. Sexual harassment, threats, concerted bullying aimed at forcing permanent staff to quit and be replaced by contract workers, poverty wages of US$12 an hour, no say in shift timing, ban on pro-union t-shirts, bad safety standards, sackings, no pensions, and no dialogue with the UAW or IndustriALL – and that is only an introduction. This group of workers needs and deserves a union.

Union supporters are tailed by Nissan security officers as they drive home, or to the union office. One-on-one meetings are conducted where workers are intimidated about supporting the union, and every new hire is shown an anti-UAW video.

Under the banner ‘Union Rights are Civil Rights’ the UAW has been campaigning for four years to establish a company-recognized trade union in the Nissan plant.

The organizing drive has staunch community support from many groups, most notably the NAACP and MAFFAN. The NAACP is an organization that fights for racial equality with a rich and important history through the fight against racial segregation in the US. Daily support from NAACP has included a hard-hitting public report outlining the constant threat from Canton management that the plant will close if workers organize a union. MAFFAN brings together a large group of senior local church leaders who denounce the mistreatment of Nissan’s employees as un-Christian, together with elected officials, activists and students.

The 50th anniversary of the 1964 Freedom Summer march was marked by 1,000 people rallying at the Nissan plant. Civil rights veterans from the 1964 campaign marched side by side with Nissan workers, and other community activists. The message to Nissan was loud and clear: We fought to end these human rights abuses 50 years ago, workers’ rights are human and civil rights.

IndustriALL led a six-country trade union delegation to Canton in October representing over 150,000 Nissan workers, and workers at corporate partner Renault. These unions have reasonably good relations with the company elsewhere but have come up against harsh opposition when supporting the Canton workers.

Key members in the delegation were assistant general secretaries of the Japanese unions JAW and JCM. These senior trade unionists pledged continued solidarity with the Canton organizing drive, arguing that the Canton site should be organized and pledging to continue to lobby global management to ensure neutrality.

Nissan’s corporate partner Renault holds a 43.4 per cent stake in Nissan and the partnered companies have one CEO, Carlos Ghosn. The IndustriALL Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with Renault is a model agreement with strong language on decent wages, trade union rights, health and safety, and supply chain coverage. General Secretary Jyrki Raina argues that two sets of ethical principles cannot exist within one corporate group, therefore extension of the GFA to Nissan operations will be pushed.

A positive development is expected in the UAW-IndustriALL OECD complaint lodged in the US. Nissan’s blocking of their workers’ right to join a union is in breach of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Jyrki Raina states:

Our basic message to Nissan is that we will not go away until you treat your workers with respect and dignity. We will fight together and implement concrete international solidarity until the UAW has a recognized union at Nissan in Canton, Mississippi.

2014: Year of mass mobilizations for a living wage in Cambodia

Cambodian garment workers kick started this year’s campaign actions around the world with mass wage protests and strikes. The lines were drawn when Royal Police were deployed to arrest trade union leaders and violently attack demonstrators on 2 and 3 January. Four activists were shot dead and 37 seriously injured.

IndustriALL affiliates in Cambodia continued to mobilize throughout the year. An initial raise in the monthly minimum wage from US$80 to US$100 was nowhere near the demand of US$177. The government established a tripartite Labour Advisory Committee (LAC) for wage negotiations to take place, but repeated delays and postponed deadlines brought workers out to the streets of capital Phnom Penh again and again.

IndustriALL linked up with global allies ITUC and UNI Global Union, working together to mobilize international support and to lobby brands. An unprecedented move by major brands was achieved on 18 September when they jointly wrote to the government and the Garment Manufacturers Association (GMAC) to call for an increased minimum wage that they would pay for through increased purchasing prices. The brands also pledged to work with unions to develop workplace skills and efficiency.

The eight brands setting this example in Cambodia are H&M, Inditex (Zara), Primark, Next, New Look, C&A, Tchibo, and N Brown Group.

IndustriALL, UNI and ITUC organized two global days of action in support of the Cambodian workers’ campaign. The first global mobilization on 10 February saw loud actions in 12 countries, besieging Cambodian embassies to call for the immediate release of jailed wage activists. The second global action day, on 17 September, was held in conjunction with mass wage demonstrations in Cambodia. The international actions focused on the Cambodian government, demanding a living wage for the garment workers who create a US$5 billion industry. Both action days generated positive developments but the campaign continues to fight for better wages.

Philippine metalworkers defeat union-busting

From 5 May to 26 September this year IndustriALL unions around the world joined Philippine affiliate MWAP to refuse their employer’s attempt to bust the union. NXP, market leading microchip producer, sacked the entire 24-member executive committee of the union that had been in the plant for 33 years. The global campaign celebrated victory on 26 September with a labour agreement that brought significant gains and maintained the union.

The victory was important because it happened in the hostile Cabuyao special economic zone where companies’ no-union, no-strike policy is supported by a complicit government and judiciary. The result sent a clear message to other employers and workers in the industry and region.

We waged a strong battle resulting in a major victory,” said Reden Alcantara, MWAP National President. “We encountered many difficulties in this long and painstaking struggle but we never stopped searching for solutions. We have come this far because of the unity of our members and the all-out support of our global union IndustriALL and of our other supporters and friends from the local and international community. The NXP management failed to bust our union. That, to us, is our biggest victory.

Top management stood by the decision to sack all 24 elected union officials for taking time off on national holidays. Instead of taking the opportunity to bargain in good faith with the union, aggressive security measures meant to intimidate workers were taken. Police and NXP security guards were deployed in and around the plant and workers’ shuttle buses, and gated checkpoints were built.

Undeterred, hundreds of MWAP supporters repeatedly opened the checkpoints with wire cutters to conduct pickets and marches outside the facility. Negotiating venues were picketed and national mobilizations held. All 15 IndustriALL affiliates in the Philippines issued joint support.

Many pressure points were exploited by IndustriALL and MWAP’s campaign. Corporate customer action singled out Apple once it was discovered that NXP would supply important technology for the new iPhone 6. Apple received over 150,000 petitions and 14,000 official complaints through SumOfUs. A large and targeted social media campaign flagged the labour rights flaw in the new iPhone 6, and collaboration with the business and human rights community spread the news and built support for MWAP. LabourStart petitioning targeted NXP management.

Unions in other countries representing NXP workers and NXP’s top customers were mobilized to demand an end to the attack on MWAP. Sophisticated internal and external communications kept all supporters informed, facilitating public pressure on NXP and its customers.

A number of IndustriALL affiliates including AMWU, IF Metall, IG Metall, Metalliliitto, Unite and USW provided critical support in the campaign. IndustriALL’s sister global union UNI also provided support and had started preparations for the next stage in the campaign, targeting the retail operations of Apple and other corporate customers of NXP. Demonstrations at Apple Stores were conducted by United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) in Los Angeles and Chicago, with participation from USW activists and leaders, and these were to be repeated in other countries.

Although 12 of the dismissed 24 union officials were forced to accept a large separation payoff, the other 12 returned to work with a re-energized bargaining unit. The 26 September settlement included wage hikes of 12.25 per cent over three years and permanent employment for a number of contract workers. Some of the paid-off 12 will use the money to start their own businesses while others will become fulltime trade union activists focused on organizing neighbouring work places and ensuring full implementation of the new NXP agreement.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina concludes:

It is through campaigning and organizing that we build unity, power and respect. Every day is campaign day at IndustriALL Global Union and we will continue to build our capacity to win individual work place struggles, corporate and country campaigns, and wider thematic campaigns. We count on your support for the next call to action.

Rio Tinto campaign organizes 300 workers in Madagascar

A key goal of IndustriALL’s Rio Tinto campaign is to grow union density throughout the company’s operations for a more powerful demand for respect. This mining operation employs 662 workers directly and 1,232 through subcontractors.

Despite fear of repercussions, both directly-employed and outsourced workers are being successfully organized by IndustriALL’s Malagasy affiliate FISEMA at Rio Tinto’s QMM mineral sand mine in Fort Dauphin. This followed an IndustriALL organizing workshop held in Fort Dauphin in August.

Most contractor employees at the facility work full time and exclusively for Rio Tinto but their minimum wage is five times lower than direct employees, and with no social benefits. Other issues around which FISEMA is organizing include bad health and safety, sacked shop stewards, and non-compliance with the labour authorities rulings in favour of workers.

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, says:

“IndustriALL is committed to bringing FISEMA together with the global network of Rio Tinto workers to strengthen the fight for freedom of association and better safety and working conditions at Rio Tinto sites worldwide.”

The union used the 7 October global action day at Rio Tinto to denounce the excessive use of precarious labour, and took their concerns into a meeting with the CEO of Rio Tinto Madagascar.

PROFILE: Putting her life on the line for workers

PROFILE

COUNTRY : Mexico

TEXT: Leonie Guguen

As founder and executive director of human rights organization, ProDESC, (the Project of Economical, Social and Cultural Rights) Alejandra Ancheita has worked tirelessly to get justice for mine workers and rural communities whose rights are threatened by multinational companies.

In recognition of her bravery, Ancheita was granted the prestigious Martin Ennals Award in Geneva, Switzerland on 7 October. Dubbed the Nobel prize for human rights, it is presented to individuals who have shown deep commitment to their cause in the face of great personal risk. The international accolade is designed not only to highlight their work but also protect the winner through increased visibility.

It is a huge honour, not only for the recognition of my work and the work of my organization, but also in recognition of the dangerous conditions that human rights defenders are facing in Mexico,

she said on receiving the prize.

Ancheita and ProDESC have collaborated closely both with IndustriALL Global Union and affiliates in Mexico and the US, Los Mineros and the United Steelworkers (USW), on organizing campaigns. She has also worked with US affiliate AFL-CIO in defense of migrant workers.

But her commitment comes at a cost. While campaigning on behalf of mine workers against Canadian mining group Excellon Resources, and for communal landowners and indigenous communities against Spanish multinational, Renovalia Energy, she came under immense pressure and intimidation.

Over the past two years, Ancheita and her colleagues have been under surveillance outside their homes and offices, and watched while they visited communities and workers. ProDESC offices were broken into and Ancheita was subject to a personal smear campaign in the national media, with a leading newspaper calling her the Devil’s advocate.

“First they started defaming the work of ProDESC as a human rights organization, saying that we were just manipulating the workers and the communities. Then they attacked me on a personal level,” says Ancheita. “Of course that intimidation and defamation is trying to create a public opinion where if something happens to me the general feeling will be that I was looking for it.”

The situation for women human rights defenders in Mexico is particularly difficult, says Ancheita, as they challenge the traditional perceptions of the role of women in society.

Ancheita’s father was a lawyer equally dedicated to defending the vulnerable. After receiving numerous death threats, he died in mysterious circumstances on her eighth birthday.

“I come from a family committed to social justice,” says Ancheita. “I was raised with two very important principles. One was the principal to look for dignity, not just in myself but also in others around me. The other was the principal of equality. It sounds easy but exercising dignity and equality in a society like Mexico will always be a challenge.”

Ancheita also credits the Zapatista revolutionary movement in her decision to concentrate on becoming a human rights lawyer. The indigenous uprising coincided with the start of her university studies in 1994. She describes the student activism in support of the movement as an awakening in how to use the law to give power to the excluded sections of society.

Labour rights are human rights

As a lawyer, Ancheita believes fighting for workers’ rights is a key way to advance human rights.

“The possibility to improve labour rights is the chance to improve democratization of every single society in the world,” she asserts. “Traditionally, human rights defenders only work in the civil and political rights field but freedom of association and collective bargaining are part of the economic, social and cultural rights of every society.

“Organizing a union is the chance to have the collective power to demand, in a respectful and peaceful way, better conditions of work and life from government and industry,” she stresses.

However, Ancheita says the lack of independent unions in Mexico is a significant problem. She blames the so-called ‘official’ unions (employer protection contract unions), who work in alliance with the government and corporations, for making obstacles for the exercise of real freedom of association for workers in the country.

“Most workers don’t have a strong union defending their rights. So we decided to work for the freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining… For example, health and safety conditions are related directly to the ability to elect a union that will be fighting for their rights and bargaining for better conditions with the company.”

Success for mine workers

ProDESC has had particular success in helping to organize workers at the Canadian mining company Goldcorp in the state of Guerrero. After running workshops helping employees to identify their rights, the workers decided to organize and affiliate to the democratic national mining union, Los Mineros. ProDESC helped the workers to bargain their collective contract, which is now one of the most advanced in the Mexican mining industry.

Notably, ProDESC also organized women cleaning Goldcrop’s offices in Guerrero, who had not originally been considered as mining workers.

“We created this link so that when the miners went on strike they went on strike together. This way the miners consider the cleaning workers as part of the industry and they are also included in the collective bargaining contract. It is an important advancement.”

ProDESC was able to maximise pressure against Goldcorp by making alliances with the USW in Canada, where the company is headquartered, and where it employs USW members.

Corruption is endemic

While Mexico has advanced labour laws, with freedom of association a constitutional right, Ancheita blames the endemic corruption and impunity in the Mexican legal system for a breakdown in justice.

“The government has the obligation to protect human rights defenders. If it does nothing to prevent these kinds of defamation campaigns and also the intimidation we are facing, the government is responsible, not necessarily by action, but by omission.

“Democratic unionists are always under pressure,” she adds. “We have the example of leadership of the electricians union and national mining union leader – who are both under pressure from the government. On the local level, the workers that are trying to organize their colleagues are also under huge pressure from the local government and federal government.”

Ancheita explains that people bringing transnational corporations into account are frequently under attack. Intimidation is ‘regular’ in Mexico, she says.

SPECIAL REPORT: Unions putting a STOP to precarious work

SPECIAL REPORT

TEXT: Armelle Seby

As demands for flexible labour markets increase, companies are resorting to outsourcing and subcontracting, with precarious work exploding far beyond any legitimate needs.

Besides insecurity, precarious workers experience lower wages; limited training opportunities; lower occupational safety and health protection; fluctuations in hours of work; lower social security and social protection coverage; limited job mobility; and, critically, low or no trade union representation or collective bargaining coverage.

Collective bargaining is one of the most important tools trade unions have for regulating precarious work and the working conditions of precarious workers. But precarious work is often used as a way to undermine union organizing and collective bargaining. Trade unions universally face difficulties in organizing and representing precarious workers, whose association with a single workplace may be weak and short. Due to the insecure nature of their employment, precarious workers are often afraid to join or form a trade union.

In several countries, agency and outsourced jobs are reclassified in a way that legally prevents these workers from being eligible for membership in the union where they work.

For workers in triangular employment relationships, bargaining can be almost impossible. The user company where they work controls their working conditions, yet the agency or sub-contractor is their legally recognized employer, even though it has no actual control over their work.

Overcoming obstacles to collective bargaining

Outsourcing generates a real risk of fragmenting trade unions’ bargaining power, with single companies contracting multiple numbers of subcontracting firms or temporary agencies.

Organizing precarious workers in an existing union better protects precarious workers and builds stronger unions. This in turn protects permanent workers by preventing division of the workforce into separate, isolated bargaining units. Once the union can show that it is able to bargain collectively on behalf of precarious workers, they will be more likely to join the union when they see that it can do something for them.

In Germany, the major unions have established specific bargaining associations for temporary agency workers in order to recruit these workers and to enforce equal treatment arrangements in collective agreements. In 2012, IndustriALL affiliate IG Metall, gained 38,000 new members among temporary staff through a strong focus on improving conditions for agency workers.

Industry-level bargaining

Coverage of sectoral agreements is often high as a result of the number and size of the companies bound by them. Extension requirements under the law may further increase the reach of the agreement. If agreements cover ‘all workers’ engaged in an industry, as opposed to ‘employees’, coverage can be expanded to include workers in precarious employment relationships.

In Denmark, unions in the industrial production and construction sectors have negotiated sectoral agreements which include protocols on agency work. These protocols state that agency workers must be employed in accordance with the sector-specific agreement, covering all aspects of pay, working time and other important terms and conditions of employment.

In Argentina, the oil and gas federation FASPyGP succeeded in negotiating a clause in the gas industry collective agreement which stipulates that all provisions of the agreement apply equally to subcontracting firms.

In South Africa, NUMSA has reached several industry-level agreements in different sectors (automobile, tyre, metal) that aim at phasing out labour brokers and improving the working conditions of precarious workers.

Company-level bargaining

Collective bargaining at the level of an individual company is more likely to exclude precarious workers, such as agency and outsourced workers, as they are not direct employees of the user company. When industry-level bargaining is not achievable, bargaining directly with the user enterprise on behalf of both permanent and outsourced/agency workers is the best way to consolidate union strength and fight for equal conditions.

In Canada after a six month lockout at Rio Tinto in Alma in 2012, the United Steel Workers (USW) succeeded in negotiating a collective agreement limiting the use of outsourced workers to 10 per cent of the worked hours.

In the USA, USW also concluded an agreement with the tyre company Bridgestone that restricted the use of outsourced workers for maintenance. This clause has enabled the USW to limit the rate of outsourced workers in Bridgestone operations at five per cent. Bridgestone must also consult workplace union representatives on the necessity for, and scope of outsourcing.

Negotiating with agencies and contractors

Trade unions have also negotiated agreements with temporary work agencies or subcontracting firms that are recognized as the legal employers.

In the Chevron-Uni Thai plant (assembling offshore oil and gas platforms) in Laem Chabang, Thailand, two groups of workers supplied by different agencies managed to reach agreement with both agencies. Until then the workers had not been covered by a collective agreement and did not benefit from any rights.

A better alternative to negotiating with individual agencies or contractors is to conclude agreements covering the entire temporary staffing industry in a particular sector. While negotiating with agencies at national or sectoral level has delivered some important outcomes for agency workers, this has largely been restricted to unions in Western Europe. Such agreements are only possible where there is significant union strength among agency workers, where collective bargaining is well protected by the law and is well institutionalized.

Global bargaining

Global Framework Agreements (GFAs) provide an opportunity to set agreed limits on precarious employment through global level negotiations with companies.

The GFA between IndustriALL and GDF Suez holds great potential for limiting precarious work. In it GDF Suez “recognizes the importance of secure employment for both the individual and for society through a preference for permanent, open-ended and direct employment. GDF SUEZ and all sub-contractors shall take full responsibility for all work being performed under the appropriate legal framework and, in particular, shall not seek to avoid obligations of the employer to dependent workers by disguising what would otherwise be an employment relationship or through the excessive use of temporary or agency labour.”

Limiting precarious work

Setting limits on precarious work is crucial, since the more precarious work takes over, the smaller and weaker the bargaining unit becomes, making such agreements impossible in the future.

Some unions, including NUMSA in South Africa, are succeeding in concluding agreements that forbid or phase out the use of labour brokers in entire sectors.

Other agreements stipulate that unions will be consulted prior to changes that could affect the employment status of employees, and include tools and rights to monitor outsourcing processes.

In Canada, the agreement that settled the dispute at Rio Tinto Alma establishes a committee on outsourcing, comprising equal numbers of union and management representatives, which examines and makes recommendations on outsourcing proposals.

In Brazil, tyre union Sindicato da Borracha da São Paulo signed agreements with tyre companies (Bridgestone, Pirelli, Goodyear) which regulate the working conditions of direct fixed term workers. The agreements stipulate that temporary workers should not represent more than five per cent of the workforce involved in production.

In 2012, IndustriALL signed a global agreement limiting temporary work. The groundbreaking ‘Temporary Work Charter for the Volkswagen Group’ sets principles for use of temporary work in the entire Volkswagen Group worldwide (Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda, Rolls-Royce Bentley, Lamborghini, Auto-Europa). The agreement states that temporary work should not exceed five per cent and allows unions to monitor the proportion of temporary agency workers.

Converting precarious work to regular employment

Affiliates have launched several campaigns to regularize workers. In Senegal, SUTIDS bargained the regularization of 450 temporary workers, after negotiations with employers in six chemical and pharmaceutical companies: SATREC, SIPS, SIVOP, SPN, SYBEL and NDIAMBOURS.

Moving agency workers into direct and permanent employment is not always possible. Therefore unions try to convert agency work into direct temporary work as a first step. This often already allows the agency workers to join the unions and be covered by the collective agreement.

In Malaysia, trade unions in the manufacturing sector had applied to represent outsourced and agency workers, but the ministry of human resources rejected the application, arguing that the union was not competent to represent service workers. In response, the Paper Manufacturing Employees Union bargained the regularization of outsourced and temporary workers at Kimberly Clark Malaysia to direct fixed-term employment, so that these workers became entitled to the terms and conditions of the collective agreement.

Improving precarious workers’ working conditions and protecting their rights

Bargaining for equal pay and conditions between precarious and permanent workers has the dual benefit of eliminating discrimination and combatting social dumping. In many cases, affiliates have been able to bargain equal pay for equal jobs. The extension of the terms of a collective agreement in a particular sector or industry to all workers can also have a significant levelling effect.

Besides basic wages, pay includes allowances, seniority and other bonuses to which precarious workers may not have access. Equal treatment goes beyond pay to include access to social benefits, holidays, working hours, health and safety and training.

Measures aimed at controlling and limiting the use of precarious work must be well designed so that measures intended to benefit precarious workers do not result in them becoming more insecure. In the Netherlands, FNV Bondgenoten found that putting the right to a permanent job after a shorter period into a collective labour agreement can have the opposite effect, with employers firing agency workers earlier in order to avoid such provisions. It now also focuses on obtaining better wages, pension rights and training opportunities for agency workers.

Protecting health and safety of precarious workers

Studies since the 1990’s have shown that precarious workers experience greater health and safety risks than standard, permanent and direct workers.

Agreements that give trade unions access to the commercial contracts between the user company and the subcontracting company enable them to monitor the working conditions of outsourced and agency workers and to ensure a better protection of their health and safety.

Following the deaths of two contract workers from Romania in a fire that completely gutted the house provided by their employers, IG Metall signed a collective agreement in 2013 with the German Meyer Werft shipyard that extends co-determination to contract workers. The two victims were employed as contract workers by SDS, a recruitment agency for the shipyard that provided workers with deplorable living and working conditions. The agreement stipulates that worker accommodation must comply with the relevant standards. A ‘subcontractor agreement working group’, comprising equal numbers of management and worker representatives, was established to monitor compliance. Non-compliance is subject to penalties, including termination of the subcontractor agreement.

Protecting women precarious workers

Women workers are disproportionally affected by precarious work. Where employment rights are linked to length of service, precarious women workers may fail to qualify for maternity leave since they are likely to have shorter lengths of service. Sectoral agreements extended to temporary workers can enable women to access maternity leave rights.

In Senegal, SUTIDS has already achieved the regularization of hundreds of precarious workers, the majority of them men. The union is now bargaining for the regularization of women workers, and fighting to obtain maternity leave for women temporary workers who have no access to this right.

The struggle continues

Collective bargaining plays a vital role in limiting precarious work and protecting precarious workers’ rights and working conditions. However, the victories gained by unions continue to be challenged by employers.

Once agreements have been negotiated, they are not always respected and unions must continue to actively enforce them. When agreements close off access to precarious work in one area, employers find new ways to avoid secure employment.

And when agreements come up for renegotiation, unions have to fight again to keep the gains they have already won.

To be most effective, collective bargaining must be combined with other strategies to fight precarious work. This includes organizing precarious workers; building unity between precarious and other workers; raising awareness among workers and the general public of the dangers of precarious work; international action; and pushing for legislation that puts effective controls on the use of precarious work by employers.

PROFILE: CFMEU Fighting for Australian workers

PROFILE

COUNTRY: Australia

UNION: Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU)

TEXT: Alexander Ivanou

Next year CFMEU will celebrate its 100-year history in the fight for workers’ rights, both in and outside Australia. The union was the first to secure a 35-hour week for mineworkers at Broken Hill in New South Wales as far back as 1920. This was later expanded to the entire coal industry in 1970.

Another achievement is one of the first industry wide pension schemes (now known as superannuation) dating back to the 1940’s. And thanks to CFMEU, workers in the coal industry are entitled to a benefit of 13 weeks’ paid leave after eight years of service, even if they change employer.

However, the fight is far from over. CFMEU is going through a period of great challenge caused by the downturn in the world economy and the increasing power of multinational corporations.

Andrew Vickers is General Secretary of CFMEU’s Mining and Energy division, as well as Chairman of IndustriALL’s mining section and a member of the Executive Committee. He explains:

“The union in Australia is facing a series of very testing scenarios. We are seeing dramatic declines in commodity prices, particularly in iron ore and coal. As a consequence, major employers – BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Glencore, Peabody and Anglo – are dramatically reducing numbers of employees and in some cases closing mines.

“At the same time, the economic strategy of Rio Tinto and BHP, in iron ore, is to continuously increase production, even though prices are falling because of oversupply. The strategy here appears to be to put pressure on other producers to fold.

“In coal, BHP is also increasing production in an oversupplied market and reducing the number of permanent employees. They are unashamedly replacing permanent employees made redundant with labour hire and contractor workers. This is clearly contrary to the ‘national interest’ we hear politicians in Australia talk about so much. But our politicians are too frightened of these giant multinationals to pull them into line.”

Vickers argues,

CFMEU has been instrumental in ensuring some of, if not the world’s, best health and safety laws in the coal industry. Indeed, at a time that pneumoconiosis – also known as ‘black lung disease’ – is again on the rise, Australia has not had a reported case since the early 1970’s.

IndustriALL’s global campaign for better worker rights at mining giant Rio Tinto is heavily supported by the CFMEU. Fighting against rampant precarious working conditions is also high on the agenda.

Tony Maher, CFMEU National President and member of IndustriALL’s Executive Committee, highlights an ‘insidious trend’ in the Australian mining industry of putting contractors under intense pressure to slash workers’ wages in order to maintain or win new work. Major coal companies are demanding wage levels from their contractors that in most cases are 30 per cent or more below the levels paid two years ago.

Solving the issue of precarious work is a challenge in Australia where laws preclude pursuing limits on contract and labour hire work. Sham arrangements see workers classed as ‘casual’ when they are in fact full time and permanent.

The CFMEU is tackling the present-day challenges head on, supported by an army of workers and a past rich in victories.

First HIV and AIDS conference in Côte d'Ivoire

As part of World Aids Day, Côte d’Ivoire’s largest trade union federation, the UGTCI, will host an HIV and AIDS conference on 6 December, the first of its kind in the country. By bringing together trade unions and representatives from major industries to discuss the implications of HIV and AIDS organizers hope to bring about further change to the workplace.

Since 2004, IndustriALL has led an externally funded HIV and AIDS project addressing the pandemic at the workplace. The project which has targeted all kinds of workers – contract, temporary and precarious workers, as well as workers in the informal economy – and community members has had a visible impact on workers’ lives.

During this last year of the ten-year project, one of the main focuses has been on women and youth, as both groups are very important for an effective fight against HIV and AIDS.

Precarious work behind declining US manufacturing wages

Overall, real wages for manufacturing workers fell by 4.4 percent from 2003 to 2013, nearly three times faster than for workers as a whole, contradicting the still widespread belief in the US that manufacturing jobs are good jobs.

Manufacturing jobs are starting to increase, with more than 700,000 positions created since 2010, after more than six million such jobs being lost from 2000 to 2010. But these are not the secure jobs with decent wages that US unions have fought to achieve for manufacturing workers. According to the NELP study, one of the most important reasons for lower pay is the increased use of temporary workers. For the first half of 2014, temporary employment agencies supplied one in every seven auto parts manufacturing workers, and from 2003 to 2013 median wages for these workers fell from $18.35 to $15.83 an hour. Temp workers can earn as little as $7.50 an hour and typically don’t receive health care or other benefits, which impacts heavily on the wages of directly hired workers.

‘While the manufacturing sector has grown in recent years, wages are lower, the jobs are increasingly temporary, and promised benefits have yet to be realized,’ says the study.

The report cites an increase in onsourcing as contributing to the growth in manufacturing jobs. Companies including General Electric, Lenovo, Ford, GM and Caterpillar have moved operations back to the US as the gap between US labour costs and those in other supply chain countries narrows. The report notes that while more jobs is good news, the quality of those jobs is declining. In the auto sector, the jobs being created are worse than the ones that were lost.

‘Workers looking for a manufacturing job, and especially one in an auto plant today, increasingly find that the only open positions are placed by staffing agencies that pay lower wages and provide fewer benefits as compared with direct hires, and that offer limited opportunities to secure a permanent-employee position,’ the study concludes.

IndustriALL campaigns globally for a living wage

One of the most spectacular mobilizations has taken place in Cambodia where 500,000 garment workers toil very long hours to make ends meet.

In July this year a worker by the name of Vorn Tha died after working several days in a row, from 7 am to 10 pm. This has to stop! Cambodian unions together with IndustriALL and our global allies have mobilized to reach a considerable minimum wage increase.

A colorful global action day took place in September, and finally a 28 per cent increase was achieved. $US 128 per month is still far away from a living wage so the fight continues.