Thousands of miners lose their jobs in Ukraine

The Donets Basin, also known as the Donbas, was until recently the important coal-mining area in the Ukraine and a major contributor to the economy, providing for around 40 per cent of gold and foreign currency inflow.

However, the Donbas is at the heart of the military conflict with pro-Russian separatists, which began in April this year. A reported 64 out of 104 mines in the region have stopped operations due to the fighting or damage from military fire, leaving almost 100,000 miners out of work.  

Up to a third of workers have quit their jobs at some mines, most of whom are under the age of 40, leading to concerns over who will operate the mines once peace returns.

Wage arrears for June and July amount to 347 million hryvnia, or US$ 26.8 million, and wages for August also remain unpaid.   

Neither are workers and retired miners receiving free domestic fuel to which they are entitled to by law. As a result, around 100,000 coal-mining workers and thousands of retirees in the Donbas area have virtually no money and no domestic fuel at the beginning of the cold season.

According to the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry, Ukraine has already lost 3.4 million tons of coal that could have been produced at the idle enterprises.

Consequently, for the first time in 15 years, Ukraine is importing coal. "If today we bring coal from abroad, tomorrow we will destroy our mines," said Mikhail Volynets, the Chairman of the Independent Trade Union of Coal Miners of Ukraine.

The situation in Ukraine was a major topic for discussion at the ITUC World Congress in Berlin, Germany in May 2014. In her Congress Plenary Statement on Ukraine, ITUC’s general secretary, Sharan Burrow, said: "The main repercussions (of the conflict) are primarily and directly affecting the ordinary people – the continuing disruption of their lives on a daily basis; dysfunctional communities and civil structures; and the mounting uncertainty for their future in the years to come."

"Our affiliates’ reports about the desperate state of the mining industry in the Ukraine are a major concern to us," said Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union. "IndustriALL offers its utmost solidarity to the miners in the Ukraine, and demands an immediate restoration of peace for the benefit of all people.”

RUSSIA

This year Russian unions held their actions under the banner; “For decent work in the world without wars, nor sanctions!” Unions organized pickets at the entries of subway stations and distributed materials with trade union demands.

The all-Russian union action finished with a mass meeting at Pushkin Square in Moscow. People held banners “Peace, work, decent life!”, “Respect to the men of labour!”, “Minimum wage to the level of living wage!”, “Wages must grow faster than prices!”, “Decent wages – decent pensions!”, “Life without war and sanctions!”

Actions, pickets and meetings took place in Saint Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Bratsk, Orsk, Vologda, Kemerovo, Yekaterinburg, Belgorod, Novosibirsk, and others.

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Striking workers at Schneider Electric USA

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate IAM’s members voted to reject Schneider Electric’s final offer, which would have taken away a long-standing defined benefit pension plan. The rejected proposal had minimal wage increases to both tiers of the company's wage scale and included only minor adjustments to safety equipment and accident and sickness benefits.

IAM Director of Collective Bargaining Tom O’Heron says:

“Schneider Electric is trying to bully our members into giving up their defined benefit pension plan and a respectable retirement.”

Despite Schneider’s claims of continuing to work with the union to get a fair contract, IAM maintains that the company has not made any attempts to return to negotiations.

“Schneider Electric has made no attempt to contact this union or return to the bargaining table,” said O’Heron. “Instead they’ve taken steps to move the work out of Indiana, which is a direct threat in our opinion.”

IndustriALL General Secretary Jyrki Raina says:

“We are outraged to learn that Schneider Electric is threatening and intimidating. It is important to note that Schneider Electric recorded a profit of over $2.4 billion in 2013, which makes the behaviour of the company even more unconscionable.

We call on Schneider Electric to return to the negotiating table immediately and address the legitimate concerns and demands of Local 2069 members to achieve a fair contract.

Workers mobilize to put a STOP to Precarious Work

More than 90 IndustriALL Global Union affiliates from over 40 countries took action through mass rallies, seminars and awareness campaigns to mark the WDDW. This year IndustriALL used social media to reach even more activists – a total of 1,592 supporters signed up to Thunderclap, reaching a massive 1,194,792 people on twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.

In Japan, Slovakia, Trinidad and Tobago, Congo DRC, and Boznia Herzegovina affiliates took to the streets and held seminars on how precarious work threatens secure employment, pay and working conditions.

In the Dominican Republic, Indonesia and Congo DRC unions are fighting laws that expand precarious work. Dominican affiliates marched first to the offices of the employers' association, then to the Ministry of Labour, and finally to the Congress, where they submitted a draft bill.

In India and Pakistan workers held meetings and demonstrations all over both countries at a variety of work sites. In Pakistan there are more than 20 million workers in informal sector, out of which 12 million are women workers. The Home Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF) also organized demonstrations of home based glass bangle and garment women workers in Hyderabad and Karachi to put forward their legal demands and demand a STOP to precarious work.

Actions continue to pour in, take a look at IndustriALL’s STOP Precarious Work page to see who took action on the World Day for Decent Work.

If your union has taken action around 7 October, but your actions don’t appear on IndustriALL’s STOP Precarious Work campaign page, send them to: [email protected].

You can also tweet using the hashtag #STOPrecariousWork or share your actions with us on facebook.

UGANDA

SKF trade union committee adopts resolution on precarious work

Within SKF precarious work is something that the World Union Committee (WUC) monitors and ensures to follow-up on regular basis in order to take action and reduce unnecessary use of precarious work wherever it might occur in the company.

Therefore, on 7 October the SKF WUC undertakes to join the global union fight against the spread of precarious work and demands:

Mexican lawyer wins top human rights award

Ancheita is the founder and executive director of Mexican organisation Proyecto de Derechos Economicos, Sociales y Culturales (ProDESC), helping local communities to stand up for their rights. She has spent the past 15 years working to protect land and labour rights from the ruthless greed of transnational mining and energy companies, often putting her her own life at risk in the process.

“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. “It is also a great responsibility,” she added.

The individuals and communities she helps often face violent attacks. Ancheita has been a pioneer in seeking justice in Mexican courts when companies failed to take local communities’ rights into account.

“Alejandra Ancheita’s selection by the jury highlights the array of forces facing human rights defenders,” says Micheline Calmy-Rey, the former Swiss foreign minister who chairs the Martin Ennals foundation.

“In Mexico, there is a clear pattern of attacks, threats, criminalization, and murder of human rights defenders. Ms. Ancheita and ProDESC have been subjected to surveillance, a defamation campaign in the national media, and a break in at their offices.”

IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary Fernando Lopes says:

We are happy and proud to continue working with ProDESC, to strengthen the democratic unions in Mexico. Alejandra Ancheita’s commitment to human rights is remarkable and we warmly congratulate her for the award. Her work is very important in a country where trade union and people’s rights are often blatantly disregarded at the expense of big corporations.

The Martin Ennals Award, named after the former secretary general of Amnesty International, is given to human rights defenders who show deep commitment to their cause despite huge personal risk.

The award was created in 1993, two years after Ennals died. The jury is composed of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists and seven other international campaign organisations.

The laureate receives a prize of 20,000 Swiss francs (USD 20,700).

The December issue of the Global Worker will contain an in-depth article on Alejandra Ancheita. 

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

The Seminar brought together unionists from several unions in Trinidad and Tobago to discuss precarious work, with a key focus on contract work and its implication on the working class.

Contract work is the enemy of permanent labour

said Ancel Roget, OWTU President General, at the STOP Precarious Work Seminar commemorating World Day of Decent Work.

BULGARIA

The unions together sent an alarming message to the IndustriALL European Trade Union, concerning an incorrect transposition of EU Parliament and Council Directive 2003/88/EC, dated from 4 November 2003 in the Bulgarian legislation.

Particularly the unions are worried by the fact of application of the above-mentioned Directive to the organization of working time, since in its present form it would lead to limitation of the social and labour rights of the Bulgarian workers.

The necessity of some immediate amendments in the legislation concerning working time, night work, etc was also discussed.

Legal advisors of the different Federations participated in the PODKREPA campaign and distributed vouchers for free legal services in the field of industrial matters, labour market, education and training, youth activities,  health  and safety at work.

Information about the events was transmitted in the websites of the organizations as well as by the Bulgarian media.