Kimberly Clark workers in Turkey on strike

The members of Tümka-İş, belonging to the DISK national center, started their strike after midnight of 25 June in the plant located in Pendik, Istanbul. Members were pushed into striking since negotiations for a plant level collective agreement failed after local management of Kimberly Clark refused to meet demands of the workers.

Major demands of the striking workers are proper wage increases, particularly for those who earn just slightly higher than the national minimum, and sufficient notice payment in order to get job security. The latter is important since the company premises will be re-located to another city within the next couple of years.

All the union members fully participate in the strike. Some of the strikers have worked at the plant more than twenty years, and most of the workers complain about bad working conditions, long working hours, as much as 12 hours a day, making a work-life balance impossible.

“As Kimberly Clark has not been responsive to our legitimate demands, strike was the only option“ said Ergün Tavaşanoğlu, General President of Tümka-İş. “We need the support and solidarity of IndustriALL Global Union members around the world to overcome the challenge we have.“

The Turkish subsidiary of the American-based company produces diapers, sanitary napkins, toilet paper, paper towels in the plant in Pendik with the well-known brands Huggies and Kotex.

UK glass workers ready to strike

Unite regional officer Bob Bolam said: "Our members are taking strike action as a last resort over this paltry offer. They believe that this profitable company could well afford to be more generous.”

The strike at the Kingsway and 7th Avenue sites on the Team Valley Industrial Estate in Gateshead will start at 06.00 on Monday and will run until 05.59 on Monday 14 July. This follows a week-long strike earlier this month.

Unite has said that the company could improve the current pay deal, especially as it awarded the highest paid director a 14 per cent pay rise last year and shifted £750,000 from the company’s account to the owner’s trust fund.

The company has offered a three-year deal – three per cent in the first year, and then two per cent in the two subsequent years – but Unite said that this deal had strings attached to make the deal self-funding.

Bob Bolam said: “The Tyneside Safety Glass claim that it is cash-strapped has a very hollow ring as it had oodles of cash to give to one of its directors and also to generously top up the owner’s trust fund.

“The last strike was solid and was well-supported by the Tyne and Wear community, only too well acquainted with mean-spirited bosses.

“We urge the management to get around the table and negotiate a fair and equable settlement for their hard-working employees.”

IndustriALL affiliates show solidarity for Samsung workers

Unionists from IndustriALL’s affiliates at the global union's Executive Committee in Geneva, Switzerland, posed for photographs to show their solidarity for the Samsung workers.

Samsung has a 75-year no union policy but IndustriALL affiliate, the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU), has defied the diktat by forming the Samsung Electronics Service Workers’ Local. It is the first mass-membership union at Samsung in Korea.

The KMWU local has been in a labour dispute with the firm for several months, with rolling strikes demanding that Samsung end poverty wages, respect trade union rights and conclude a collective bargaining agreement for the 1600 unionized workers.

After months of avoiding collective bargaining, Samsung began retaliating against the workers by reassigning their jobs to the non-unionized and closing three of the unionized centers (Haeundae Center, Asan Center, Icheon Center) with mass dismissal of those workers in March.

Driven to despair by the company's behaviour, 33-year-old KMWU local union leader, Ho-seok Yeom, committed suicide on 17 May 2014. He left a note asking that his body be left in state and not be cremated until the struggle for union rights at Samsung succeeds. Despite this, police forces absconded with his body by force.

The disrespect towards the demised leader's dying wish and the increasing repressions towards trade unionists point that South Korea is sliding to its authoritarian past. International support is urgently needed. Support the campaign and sign the LabourStart petition. 

IndustriALL shares pain in Soma on one-month anniversary of industrial homicide

The mission delivered a message of international anger to Turkey’s political authorities and public opinion, calling for immediate action including ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 176 on safety and health in mines. Illegal and irresponsible outsourcing and subcontracting in the country must also be seriously tackled and reversed by the Turkish authorities.

The IndustriALL delegation met with the Parliamentary Commission which has been formed specifically for investigating the mining accident in Soma. The chair and members of the commission heard experiences in different countries on how improvement in mine safety has been managed through active workers’ involvement. The delegates also met with Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources as well as ILO representatives from Geneva and Ankara.

IndustriALL Global Union Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan stated at the Soma site:

Turkey’s mining industry must see a change of business model. In recent years the unbridled privatization, subcontracting, and cutting corners on health and safety have together transferred value from the Turkish people to private investors. Hundreds of workers have paid with life and limb for this unfair and unsustainable model. We reject this model and will campaign hard to replace it. Every mine accident is avoidable and the responsibility lies with government and the employer.

Today, 25 June, the Executive Committee of IndustriALL Global Union discussed the International’s action on mine safety in Turkey in the wake of Soma and committed to a concerted campaign for ratification of ILO Convention 176.

IndustriALL mine sector chair Andrew Vickers, of CFMEU Australia, supported the Executive Committee Emergency Resolution that was unanimously adopted: “The commentary of the prime minister that miners’ destiny is to die in mines disgusts us. The responsibility for the disaster lies with the employer and the government. If it wasn’t murder, it was certainly manslaughter. Let’s hope and campaign that this does not happen again.”

IndustriALL immediately called on the ILO, the day after the mine explosion, to take a leadership role in delivering change in Turkey:

The recent carnage in Soma, on the back of Turkey’s bleak safety record, should mobilize action across the world to deal holistically with the unacceptable rate of fatalities in the mining industries. Mine workers are counting on the ILO to honour its historic mission.

Instead of properly investigating the tragic incident and taking responsibility for the 301 deaths, the Turkish government has conducted a malicious campaign of misinformation shifting blame onto the local trade union in Soma. Turkish authorities violently put down popular demonstrations in Soma and around Turkey in the weeks following the disaster, maintaining order at the mine with water cannons and tear gas.

An equally strong message of condolence and solidarity was delivered to families of the killed mineworkers and to the IndustriALL affiliated Mineworkers’ Union of Turkey whose members were killed on 13 May.

A safe mine, where employers are sincere about monitoring and repairing hazards, will never trap and kill its workers. The responsibility for the lives of mineworkers lies with the government and the employer. Action and investment is needed to ensure this will never happen again and IndustriALL will campaign hard to make sure that action is taken.

Together with IndustriALL’s Kemal Ökan, and mining director Glen Mpufane, the mission participants were: IndustriALL mining sector chair Andrew Vickers from CFMEU of Australia, Ulrich Eckelmann, General Secretary of IndustriAll European Trade Union, USW’s Joe Drexler from North America, South African NUM’s Erick Gcilitshanavalve and Martha Lialda, Russian ROSUGLEPROF’s Ivan Mokhnachuk and Katerina Mizuna, and IG BCE’s Michael Mersmann.

“The presence of the IndustriALL Mission has given us courage and motivation for our struggle in the mining industry” said Nurettin Akcul, General President and Kenan Dikbiyik, International & Technical Advisor of Maden-Is.

HIV/AIDS workplace training in Zambia

According to UNAIDS there are over a million people in Zambia living with HIV, with around 13% of adults aged between 15 to 49 infected with HIV/AIDS (2012).

Participants at the workshops learnt the importance of unions in ensuring HIV/AIDS policies are implemented and in making sure that workers receive continuous training and awareness.

On the first day, an all women workshop brought together 20, mostly young, workers from IndustriALL’s four Zambian affiliates: MUZ, NESAWU, NUCIW and NUBEGW.

Day two involved 20 young trade union members, the majority of whom were attending their first ever workshop on HIV/AIDS, said project coordinator, Paule France Ndessomin.

All participants confirmed the existence of HIV/AIDS policies at their workplaces. Some policies were comprehensive, covering the worker’s families, but others were not.

Discussion topics included HIV/AIDS and collective bargaining, trade union involvement in workplace programs, stigma and discrimination against HIV infected workers, and gender-based violence.

Stigma and discrimination are significant barriers to the effective implementation of HIV/AIDS programmes at the workplace. This is partly because workers have not completely grasped the HIV mode of transmission. Women participants were also shy to discuss violence perpetrated against them but agreed it did exist and that cultural beliefs are to be blamed.

Moses Silwamba, a scientist and researcher from ZERPH (Zambia Emory HIV Research Project), discussed basic HIV/AIDS transmission, as well as sexually transmitted infections (STI’s). He urged women to encourage their partners to go for couple counselling, as many married couples are infected with the disease but are reluctant to seek medical help. He advised workers to visit ZERPH and make use of the free services they offer.

Participants were also encouraged to use the International Labour Organization’s Recommendation 200 (ILO R200) on HIV/AIDS as a benchmark for workplace policy. It was emphasized that an effective policy must also be accompanied by the appropriate administrative, human resource and monitoring mechanisms.

The General Secretary of NUCIW, Seth Paraza, urged women and young workers to continue seeking information stressing that HIV/AIDS is still killing workers and community members. Women and young workers have a responsibility, therefore, to be involved in the effective implementation of HIV/AIDS programmes and policies at work. 

Russian nickel plant workers are ready to strike

Miners' & Metallurgical Workers' Union of Russia (MMWU), one of IndustriALL Global Union’s largest Russian affiliates, represents the interests of BNP employees.

Repeating the pattern of previous years, BNP has refused to sign a collective agreement, increase wages or revise salaries in line with inflation. The Ministry of Labour and Employment in the Orenburg region, where the plant is based, has registered the collective labour dispute and a conciliatory commission has been created to deal with the conflict.

If the conciliatory commission fails to settle the labour dispute, union members will act through labour arbitration or will call a strike as has happened every year but one since the first collective agreement in 2009 when a local MMWU was created at BNP.

The first meeting of the conciliatory commission took place on 17 June, with another meeting planned on 2 July. In addition to employees, management, owner representatives and the local head of administration will take part in the work of the commission.

On 20 May workers at a general assembly of employees put forward their demands to BNP asking for a conclusion of the collective agreement for 2014-2016, a 50 per cent wage increase, and a full indexation of the salary for 2012-2013.

In three previous disputes, all workers’ demands were satisfied in full. However, in 2013, due to a downturn in the market for non-ferrous metals, workers agreed to freeze their wages and didn’t claim wage adjustment even though the average salary together with compensations for harmful working conditions did not reach even the minimum level stipulated in the newly concluded sector collective agreement. In the end, the 2013 collective agreement wasn’t signed, and the agreement of 2012 was automatically prolonged.

Should the union find there have been violations of labour law and workers’ rights at the Buruktal Nickel Plant, the company could become subject to supervision by the public prosecutor. 

Six workers killed at Indian steel plant

The 36 workers present inhaled carbon monoxide and had to be rushed to the hospital. Tragically, six of them died and two are still in critical condition.

Many slam the accident as a result of a lack of safety measures. Sanjay Kumar Singh, General Secretary of the INTUC led union, alleges that plant management has been neglecting safety measures and regular maintenance in the plant.

Union leaders have now successfully demanded the installment of gas indicators, buzzer alarm, safety aids, rest room, etc, which management has accepted.

Sudhershan Rao Sarde, IndustriALL regional secretary says:

“The number of industrial accidents is increasing in India. There is a lack of adequate safety inspectors to match the growing needs.

More and more contract and sub contract workers are hired. Often they don’t have the necessary qualifications to understand safety, and management is guilty of gross negligence when not providing safety training.

Mexican steel company dismisses striking workers

The workers’ main demand is for the company to comply with ILO Convention 87 and respect their decision to join IndustriALL Global Union affiliates Mexican Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (SNTMMSRM).

“We want to be members of the union that does most to guarantee and defend our rights. The miners’ union does defend workers’ rights and union dues start at 1.5 per cent of wages, less than the 4 per cent rate at the union that claims to represent us,” said the workers.

CB&I, which manufactures stainless and carbon steel pipes in a range of alloys and other metallic structures has refused to respect freedom of association and has imposed the Day Laborers and Industrial Workers’ Union of the Maquiladora Industry (Sindicato de Jornaleros y Obreros Industriales y de la Industria Maquiladora de H. Matamoros), affiliated to the CTM, whose general secretary is Juan Villafuerte Morales.  

The workers are also calling for an end to reprisals against workers who went on strike; payment of wages for days not worked while on strike; a weekly bonus equivalent to 100 per cent of wages for all workers;  and permanent contracts for all temporary workers.

We will continue our struggle and we want to stress that we will not go back to work until the company signs an agreement setting out the conditions for a return to work in all parts of the plant.

Workers have met company representatives at the Matamoros Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board, and are preparing a complaint for unfair dismissal for presentation to the Board. On 11 June, workers also made a formal request for the SNTMMSRM to be awarded representation rights for collective bargaining purposes.

The company has so far not responded to the commission’s demand for it to appoint representatives with the power to negotiate the list of workers’ demands and facilitate a return to work.

IndustriALL gives its support and solidarity to the miners’ union, calls on the labour authorities (Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board) and the state government to protect the workers and demands that the company opens negotiations in order to resolve the dispute. 

Bargaining strategies to combat precarious work

The continuing expansion of precarious work is one of the biggest threats that unions face, not only to workers’ job security, pay and working conditions but to their capacity to organise workers to fight collectively for their rights. The fight against precarious work is one of IndustriALL’s key strategic goals.

IndustriALL’s new publication, ‘Negotiating Security’: Trade union bargaining strategies against precarious work’, provides concrete examples of collective bargaining strategies developed by affiliates to confront precarious work and fight back against its expansion. Collective bargaining plays a crucial role in limiting precarious work and improving conditions for precarious workers.

Throughout the world precarious work is flourishing in countries where the legal framework is inadequate both for defining clear limits on precarious work, and for protecting the rights and working conditions of precarious workers. While many affiliates are pursuing legal reforms to address these gaps, collective bargaining is enabling targeted and enforceable responses to be developed.

IndustriALL affiliates have amassed a wealth of experience in using collective agreements to limit precarious work, to convert precarious work to regular employment, and to improve precarious workers’ working conditions and protect their rights. Many examples taken from actual agreements can be found in ‘Negotiating Security’.

Precarious workers who are employed through third party agencies and labour contractors face particular challenges because of the triangular employment relationship that is created. IndustriALL has previously exposed how this particular form of precarious work undermines worker rights in its publication ‘The Triangular Trap: unions take action against agency labour’. Now ‘Negotiating Security’ gives examples of how collective bargaining strategies can be used to overcome the obstacles to protecting the rights of workers in triangular employment relationships.

Jyrki Raina said, ‘We hope that through these examples, unions will be inspired by the work of others and will find ways to adapt the strategies to the challenges they face. The examples you will find in this publication are only a sample of the many, many creative and progressive agreements unions are pursuing to protect workers. More examples can be found on our website and new ones are being added all the time.’

Workers have the right to strike

Earlier in June, the employers’ group continued its attack against the right to strike at the annual conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva. After the employers demanded a disclaimer outruling the right to strike, the Committee on Applications remained without approved conclusions on 19 important cases.

The offensive started at the International Labour Conference in June 2012, when the spokesperson of the employers’ group unexpectedly announced that that the right to strike does not exist in international law. The employers refused to agree to a negotiated short list of countries that included any case where the right of strike was involved, provoking a deadlock.

This attack follows more than 50 years of consistent international jurisprudence that is contrary to the employers’ new line. Even though ILO Convention 87 on freedom of association and right to organize does not explicitly mention the right to strike, the Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA) and the Committee of Experts have since the 1950s regarded article 3 of the Convention as encompassing protection of a right to strike.

In the 1983 General Survey, the Committee of Experts reiterated a conclusion that the CFA had already reached: “The right to strike is one of the essential means available to workers and their organizations for the promotion of their social and economic interests”. This met with no opposition from employers at that time.

In 1997, even the employers’ group once again “acknowledged that the principle of industrial action, including the right to strike and lockouts, formed part of the principles of freedom of association as set out in Convention 87.”

No union goes on strike light-mindedly. But in our thinking the right to refrain from work is essentially linked to freedom of association and collective bargaining. As ITUC’s fresh brief points out, without the right to strike, a right to collective bargaining amounts to no more than a right to “collective begging”.

In 2009, the European Court of Human Rights recognized the existence of a right to strike as an essential corollary to the right of freedom of association protected by ILO Convention 87 in a case related to Turkey.

National governments worldwide have adopted a similar approach. ITUC’s brief identifies at least 90 nations which have confirmed the right to strike in their constitutions.

As the Greek constitution puts it: “Strike constitutes a right to be exercised by lawfully established trade unions in order to protect and promote the financial and the general labour interests of working people.“

And the South African constitution: “Every worker has the right to form and join a trade union, to participate in the activities and programmes of a trade union; and to strike.”

The hardened employer line can be seen as one part of the broader assault by anti-union companies and governments against workers’ rights. It is also an attempt to weaken the ILO whose Conventions are increasingly used as references around the world when defining the scope of rights.  

The global union movement remains determined to defend the fundamental right to strike all over the world, and ILO’s Conventions as the cornerstone of workers’ rights.

Jyrki Raina

General Secretary