ILO concerned about violation of Belarusian workers' and trade union rights

The session of the Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS) reviewed ongoing violations of workers' and trade union rights in Belarus. Alexander Yaroshuk, Chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP) which consists largely of IndustriALL Global Union affiliates, said the Belarusian government repeatedly challenges ILO principles and values by ignoring its recommendations and prosecuting members of independent trade unions. He called on the ILO to be clear in urging the Belarusian government to return the rights stolen from workers and put an end to repression, discrimination and the legalized practice of forced labour.

Yaroshuk told the CAS:

Over the last 10 years Belarus has become one of the worst countries in the world for workers and independent trade unions. Prosecutions, repressions and punishments, as well as dismissals of workers for being members of independent unions, are wide-scale.
The 1999 President's Decree No. 2 made it impossible to build independent unions. However, any attempts by workers to create a union are being suppressed. Leaders and activists of newly created unions get dismissed immediately, and members are being forced to return to official unions controlled by the state.

In 2012, Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko issued Decree No.9 stating that during the modernization and reconstruction of woodworking enterprises, employees can only terminate their labour contracts with the consent of the employer. In fact, this decree brought serfdom to Belarus.

The BKDP leader commented on the practice of forced labour in Belarus:

Now almost all workers are on short-term labour contracts, a form of forced labour in the totalitarian regime. A medieval practice of serfdom, or modern slavery, is now back in Belarus after the President's decree effectively banned workers from leaving jobs in the woodworking industries. According to the latest statements by the President, this practice will soon be extended to the agricultural sector.

Despite government proclamations and the monitoring of workers' rights in Belarus by the ILO since 2003, there have been no positive changes, as reported by an ILO mission to the country in January 2014.

On commenting on the ILO's decision to put Belarus on the blacklist once again, Gennady Fedynich, Chairman of IndustriALL affiliate the Belarusian Radio and Electronic Industry Workers' Union, said:

Short-term labour contracts are widespread in Belarus, and persecution of members of independent trade unions continue. We cannot register new local unions because the authorities refuse to do so under various pretexts. Moreover, there is a pressure on businessmen not to provide an address for a union, and without an address it is not possible to create a local union."

The union leader is skeptical about the ILO capability to influence the government of Belarus:

Over the last ten years the rights of workers and unions in Belarus have become even worse. The Belarusian government ignores both the ILO Recommendations and the ILO Conventions it has ratified. The rules of the game must be changed in relation to such governments."

Patience running out on promised reforms in Swaziland

Such protest action by all the worker representatives is unheard of in case hearings at the International Labour Conference (ILC), which is the highest decision-making body of the International Labour Organization (ILO). As a signatory to ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, Swaziland was on the list of cases being examined by the ILO’s Committee on the Applications of Standards (CAS). For the past decade the Swazi government has flouted trade union and human rights and evaded interventions by the ILO on the application of Convention 87.

At the tripartite plenary discussion on 6 June 2014, the Swaziland government refused to acknowledge the lack of progress on registration of two labour federations, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) and the Amalgamated Trade Unions of Swaziland (ATUSWA). The government also denied violations of organizing rights and the harassment of trade union leaders.

Trade union struggles in Swaziland, where IndustriALL Global Union has three affiliates, are linked to those for political democracy. The small southern African country is governed by a monarch that instituted a state of emergency in 1973 and is still in place 41 years later. The abuse of power extends to the police and judiciary, where arrests and trials are used to deal with dissent. Most recently, Thulani Maseko, a well-respected human rights and trade union lawyer, and Nation magazine editor, Bheki Makhubu, were jailed and are being tried for contempt of court for publishing articles raising issue with the judiciary.

With clear cases of repression in Swaziland and blatant violations of trade union and human rights, efforts by the Swazi government to downplay violations during the ILC Committee hearing and claim that sufficient progress had been made sounded absurd. Predictably, a number of African government representatives at the hearing gave their support to the Swazi government and stated, in what appeared to be well-rehearsed lines, that the government had sufficiently demonstrated its full commitment to making the necessary amendments and should be given more time to put legislative measures in place.

The government member of the United States however stated that the failure to address the violations of Convention 87 in Swaziland was a “matter of grave concern”, especially as the country enjoys preferential trade with the US under the US African Growth and Opportunity Act. This was also pressed by the worker member of the US, Ms. Fisher who said that that the May 2014 deadline to amend legislation in Swaziland for continued eligibility for trade benefits had not been respected. The worker member of the UK said that trade agreements with the EU also required that international commitments, including freedom of association, freedom of assembly and free speech, were met and that in recent months the number of arrests of those criticizing the regime had actually increased.

In a rare moment of support at the ILC, several Employer delegates joined the Swaziland employer members to call for urgent compliance with C87 and the immediate registration of TUCOSWA. Employer associations are also affected by government’s decision that there is insufficient legislation in place to register federations.

(Swaziland worker members made very clear the ongoing systematic attacks on workers’ rights and the suppression of trade union activities. These include the repressive tactics of the government against union leaders and those that support the unions, like Maseko, that risk arrest, criminal records and prison in their struggle for rights.)

Three countries, Algeria, Cambodia and Swaziland were on the list of the CAS for discussion on C87. Unfortunately the Committee could not come to Conclusions on 19 cases, including these three, because the Employers group once more refused to recognise that the right to strike forms part of Convention 87.

This impasse means that no firm stand has been taken on Swaziland at the ILC this year, however the draft conclusions indicate all parties are tiring of being strung along by promises for reform by the Swaziland government that remain unfulfilled.

Standing up for safe working conditions

The letter they presented to Huhtamaki’s plant managers also urged those managers to refrain from retaliating against the workers for their actions.

Said one worker:

"We knew that when we tried to talk to management about these issues individually, nothing changed. When we all got together we realized that if we all asked for changes together, there was no way they could ignore us. All we want is for them to treat us the same way they treat their union employees."

While the Huhtamaki workers in Commerce do not have a union voice, they do have union support from the workers at the six Huhtamaki facilities where workers enjoy the protection of a union contract. Five are IndustriALL Global Union affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) bargaining units and the other is represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Workers/UFCW (RWDSU/UFCW).

Many of the company’s other plants around the globe in the United Kingdom, Brazil, New Zealand and elsewhere are also unionized. Those union workers have been sending messages and photos of support to their nonunion Huhtamaki brothers and sisters in California.

The USW Huhtamaki Council also sent a letter supporting the workers.

Another worker said:

"It's really great knowing that other Huhtamaki workers around the country are supporting us today. I feel like the company will have to listen to us now."

More than 3,500 people work in one of the 21 plants of the global Finnish packaging and paper products corporation in the United States.

Huhtamaki is expanding its U.S. operations and a new report from the USW and the AFL-CIO reveals how the company’s expansion strategy in the United States is creating low-wage, precarious employment while threatening the job security and living standards of unionized employees.

The report details how Huhtamaki is leveraging local and state subsidies and tax breaks and instead of providing good jobs for the communities it expands into, the company is using an increasingly low-wage, minimal benefits temporary workforce. It also outlines cutbacks in occupational safety and health spending that are impacting workers in the plants, Huhtamaki’s use of a union-busting law firm to combat workers’ initiatives to organize and its moving of product lines to its nonunion plants.

Capacity building to increase women participation

Participating in the protest movement placed women at the front line of the struggle in the MENA region. However, women involvement on an institutional and representation level after the Arab Spring is still low. In line with a policy to enhance women participation in the global decision making process, IndustriALL recently conducted two seminars on promoting the capacity of female trade unionists in Tunisia and Morocco.

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On 6 June, 18 women from IndustriALL Moroccan affiliates, together with counterparts from potential affiliates, participated in the national seminar on Promoting Women Participation in Trade unions in Casablanca. Participants identified key challenges, such as violence against women and the non-implementation of the women-related article of the Labor Law.

Women leaders from the six Moroccan unions affiliated to Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT) and Confédération Démocratique du Travail (CDT) formed the Moroccan Women Network, to serve as a platform for advancing women national cooperation, addressing challenges and planning activities.

‪On 9 June, 22 women trade unionists, representing IndustriALL affiliates from the Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail (UGTT) attended the National Seminar on Women Involvement in Trade Union Work. Participants emphasized the need for more involvement at the institutional level of union work, as well as contributing to the UGTT current discussions on enhancing women position at union decision making process nationwide. Discussions were dominated by issues such as the lack of necessary protection for working women, and the deterioration of working conditions in subcontracting and precarious work.

The Tunisian Women Network was founded, calling for organizing a national conference on obstacles that face women union work, as well as discussions on the conditions of voluntarily retirement of women at the age of 50.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Monika Kemperle said on the seminars:

The commitment of our sisters in Tunisia and Morocco puts IndustriALL in a better position to further enhance our ongoing support for working women in the MENA region.

Prestigious Norwegian award for Mexican trade union struggle

Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, the heroic head of the Mexican mineworkers union, Los Mineros, won this year’s Arthur Svensson International Prize for trade union rights. The prize is awarded by IndustriALL Global Union affiliate Industri Energi.

Following the advice from his lawyers after a new arrest order and death threats, Napoleón Gómez Urrutia stayed in Canada. Industri Energi president Leif Sande presented the prize to Napoleón’s wife Oralia Casso.

Since 2006 and Napoleon’s strong condemnation of the industrial homicide at Pasta de Conchos, the mineworker leader has been persecuted by the corporate-government alliance and forced to lead the union from exile in Vancouver, Canada.

As the jury writes, "Gómez Urrutia plays a leading role in the struggle for democratic unions, free of government and employer control in Mexico.”

In her acceptance speech on behalf of her husband, Oralia Casso said:

Napoleon has always been a fighter for social causes and trade union freedom. His strategies are based on peace, justice, respect, and dignity.”

IndustriALL Global Union general secretary Jyrki Raina said at the prize ceremony in Oslo:

This is a great acknowledgement of the on-going struggle by Napoleón Gómez and the brave members of Los Mineros for dignity and social justice. And it shows that the trade union world will continue to support free and independent unionism in Mexico. La lucha continua!”

Following the prize ceremony there was a panel discussion on Dirty Investment.

The Government Pension Fund of Norway is the largest pension fund and one of the biggest investors in the world. Industri Energi president Leif Sande pointed out that the Fund had invested one billion Norwegian crowns in anti-union mining group Grupo Mexico, which has refused the rescue the bodies of 65 miners who died in an explosion in 2006 and fights against independent unions with violence.

Sande said:

This is a company that gambles with people's lives and principles of freedom and justice that we in Norway takes as an obvious right. It is our obligation as union colleagues and as fellow human beings to speak out loud and clear: the Government Pension Fund of Norway must get out of Grupo Mexico. We will not be involved in dirty business.”

IndustriALL and IUF join BWI and demand a “Red Card” for FIFA

IndustriALL and the food, farm and hotel workers' union, IUF, joined the Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI) to take advantage of the ILC and organize a side event dedicated to decent work and sport, giving a red card to FIFA for workers’ rights abuses during the World Cup.

The cases of Poland-Ukraine (UEFA Euro 2012), South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Qatar (FIFA World Cup 2010 – 2014 – 2018 – 2022) were analysed from the point of respect of workers’ rights.

Ambet Yuson, BWI General Secretary, said “How is it possible that FIFA, which is registered as a non-profit organization, had a net income of US$3 billion from the South-Africa World Cup?"

Commenting on the action Fernando Lopes, Assistant General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, said, “We all love football, it is a great game that unites people of different nationalities across the globe, but no mater how good the game is we can’t accept the violation of workers’ rights linked to it. No World Cup without workers’ rights!”

World-sporting events generate billions in revenue for corporations, while the working conditions of building and construction workers behind the scenes remain dire. Workers, especially migrant workers, make a huge contribution to large events and yet receive extremely low wages and are vulnerable to sub-contracted employment and dangerous workplaces. In these cases, trade unions remain the only goalkeepers preventing a violation of workers’ rights.

It appears that the preparations for the Brazilian World Cup, despite all the negative stories in the media, have the least bad record in comparison to others. The only explanation is a strong trade union presence in Brazil. Since the announcement of Brazil hosting the FIFA World Cup, trade unions have made an agreement with the Government to ensure workers’ rights have to be respected. Many improvements in working conditions happened through collective bargaining e.g. the first ever national sector based tariff agreement for construction workers, a minimum wage increas and compensation for night shifts.

Nevertheless, global capital power is so strong that investors and employers still exerted a strong influence, undermining the achieved agreements in some cases.

The consequent violations provoked a number of strikes in Brazil from 2011. As many as 128,750 workers participated in 26 strikes. On average some 5,000 workers participated in each strike.

It should not be forgotten that nine workers died during construction works for the World Cup in Brazil. However, in comparison to Qatar, where according to the recent report of the International Trade Union Confederation the death toll among the workers has already passed 1,000 lives, Brazilian workers clearly enjoy much higher protection because they are organized.

The population of Qatar, which is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022, has the highest migration workforce in the world at 88 per cent of workers. Qatar, with its Kafala system demanding all unskilled workers to have an in-country sponsor which creates an evil system of potential abuse and manipulation of workers’ rights, has been denounced for being a slave state. The country has no union presence, which is why it is of utmost importance to start organizing all those migrant workers and promote respect through global campaigning.

IndustriALL President honoured by UAW

Outgoing UAW president, Bob King, presented the prize to Berthold Huber at the annual UAW convention in Detroit, USA, on 2 June for his role in helping to build global alliances between worldwide labour organizations.

Huber told delegates the fight for workers’ rights is never over and continues for every generation: “People are still working in deplorable conditions around the world,” said Huber, reminding delegates about the mass deaths of workers in the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh and the Soma coal mine in Turkey. “In both situations owners knew about safety problems for a long time, and so did governments. All are responsible for the deaths of those workers,” said Huber.

“It is our duty to protect workers against these conditions and support each other in our fight for people and employee rights. Capitalism and financial markets have dragged the world into a financial crisis and now the middle class is eroding, the poor are getting poorer and precarious work is on the rise,” he said. “Globalization means unions have to be concerned with conditions in other countries. It will affect all of us eventually,” said Huber.

The 36th UAW Constitutional Convention also saw president Bob King step down. Dennis Williams was elected in his place with an overwhelming 3,215 votes out of a total of 3,270 cast. Williams previously served as the secretary-treasurer of the UAW, and has been a member of the union since 1977. Following his election, Williams told reporters: “It’s humbling. I’m excited for our union. I feel the energy, the power of our unity, I’m looking forward to the challenges we have.”

Also elected were Gary Casteel as secretary-treasurer and Cindy Estrada, Norwood Jewell and Jimmy Settles as vice presidents.

The struggle for union representation by workers at the Chattanooga Volkswagen assembly plant in Tennessee was a hot topic at the convention, while delegates also made a strong commitment to international solidarity.

Garment industry sourcing model fundamentally flawed

The report, ‘Stitched Up’, released 11 June, surveyed garment workers in Turkey and Eastern Europe producing clothes for labels such as Hugo Boss, Adidas, Zara and H&M in 10 different countries.

It found that garment workers in the area were subject to poverty wages, poor working conditions and long working hours, mirroring the experiences of workers in other parts of the world.

Some three million people are employed in the garment industry in Turkey, Georgia, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Moldova, Ukraine, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovakia.

Jenny Holdcroft, policy director at IndustriALL Global Union, which represents garment unions in the surveyed countries, said:

It comes as no surprise that workers in Turkey and Eastern Europe are subjected to similar poor wages and working conditions as those in countries such as Bangladesh or Cambodia. The sourcing model for the garment industry is based on paying the lowest possible wages and so is fundamentally flawed. Made in Europe is not a guarantee of better rights or wages for garment workers.

The survey found a considerable gap between the legal minimum wage and the estimated minimum living wage in all the countries. The report said:

Jobs with such a tremendously low wage create poverty rather than fighting it.

A seamstress in Belarus spoke of working 0.45 Euro per hour embroidering blouses for Zara for a contract that had been outsourced by a Greek agent. In some cases, workers told of growing their own vegetables and doing a second job in order to survive. Others complained of damage to their eyesight after sewing for long days without breaks.

The report also found that garment workers, the majority of whom are women, suffer sexual harassment, discrimination in pay and treatment, and limited union representation.

A Croatian unionist stated that “unions do not have the opportunity to bargain for higher wages since they have to constantly fight illegal practices such as long-term unpaid overtime and unpaid social contributions or long-term unpaid wages.”

Holdcroft said:

“The report’s findings are a reflection of the endemic practices throughout the global garment industry. Wages are squeezed through brand purchasing practices and furthermore the absence of collective bargaining leads to a reliance on the legal minimum wage, which is in many cases a poverty wage."

Read the report.

Intensified strike in South Africa’s footwear sector

Last week 70 per cent of workers gave their support for a strike through a ballot. This allowed SACTWU to join another trade union in the sector, the National Union off Leather and Allied Workers, that had already commenced strike action. SACTWU’s members joining takes the the total number of workers on strike to about 8,000.

Workers from the 40 companies that are covered by the bargaining council and some companies outside of the council are demanding a 10 per cent wage increase. Employers are offering 7.75 per cent. Wage increases are due on 1 July 2014.

Unions are due to sit down with employers on 12 June 2014. “Hopefully employers will review their stance tomorrow because there are no winners if it takes too long to resolve, says SACTWU’s National Footwear Sector Co-ordinator, Nazier Armoed. “Both parties are losing, employers and workers but it is also important for workers to win a decent wage increase”.

NXP workers fight for illegally dismissed colleagues

A number of organisations expressed support for the workers’ fight to reinstate the 24 union officials, illegally dismissed in May. Barbed wires, padlocked gates and the presence of police and emergency response teams met protesters. Undaunted, the workers and their supporters determinedly asserted their right to protest.

Children of illegally dismissed workers joined their parents in calling on the DOLE to act decisively on the labor dispute. They urged the NXP management to reinstate the 24 union officials and get back to the negotiating table.

In the afternoon, protesters rallied in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ), where the NXP plant is located. At the same time as this protest took place outside, workers inside the plant conducted successive noise barrage during lunch and snacks break.

Reden Alcantara, president of the NXP Semiconductor Inc. Workers Union (NXPSCIWU) and National President of IndustriALL Global Union affiliate Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines (MWAP), condemned the NXP management for continuously refusing to settle the dispute and consistently harassing the workers.

In a bid to win public opinion, NXP had published an open letter in one of the country’s leading newspaper, claiming to be prepared to settle the issue.

Alcantara says:

“On the contrary, the NXP management has already suspended the CBA talks despite the union’s willingness to resolve the dispute. Management is campaigning for individual ratification of the CBA in an effort to break the unity of the workers.”

He vowed that the union would continue to fight until they win.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina says:

“We strongly support of our affiliate in fighting back against NXP’s illegal dismissal of 24 union officials. It’s time for NXP to reinstate the union officials and enter into good faith negotiations with MWAP.”

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