Unity and solidarity with Colombian trade unions!

Jorge Almeida, IndustriALL Regional Secretary visited the El Cerrejón mine and was shown round the installations by SINTRACARBON representative, Igor Diaz. He talked with workers and met a representative of the company’s human resources department. Almeida expressed his concern about threats to workers in recent weeks, the effects of bad working conditions on workers and the community and the increase in outsourcing and subcontracting at the mine.

Fernando Lopes, IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary, visited Darío Cárdenas, vice president of the oil workers’ union, USO, in the department of Meta, who has been detained in Villavicencio prison since 2 November 2013 as part of a campaign of political persecution. Lopes told Cárdenas of IndustriALL’s total solidarity with him, other USO detainees and all those in prison as a result of the actions taken by government and employers to criminalise social protest.

Jyrki Raina, IndustriALL General Secretary, Jorge Almeida, IndustriALL Regional Secretary, Carlos Bustos, IndustriALL projects coordinator in Colombia and Igor Díaz of SINTRACARBON, met the Deputy Labour Minister, José Noé Ríos on 5 May, and the country’s Vice President, Angelino Garzón, on 6 May.

They expressed the union’s concern about the situation in Colombia, the persecution of trade union leaders and the violation of trade union and human rights. They raised the case of their young colleague, Campo Elias Ortiz, who is being prosecuted even though he was unjustly detained. They also asked the government representatives to secure the release of Darío Cárdenas.  

They expressed concern about the increase in outsourcing, precarious work and about the negative results of the Obama-Santos Plan. They called on the government to ratify International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 176 on health and safety at work and to take measures to end the hundreds of workplace deaths, especially in the mining industry.

The Vice President agreed to organise a Tripartite Forum this year, with the assistance of the ILO and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the theme of trade union rights as human rights. A priority at this meeting would be a discussion on the right to join a trade union, especially in the context of the state oil company, ECOPETROL’s, attitude towards its employees and union members. More than 200 conference delegates concentrated outside Ecopetrol offices to show their solidarity for the workers. They travelled there on chivas (typical Colombian buses), displaying IndustriALL and solidarity banners.

NLRB issues sweeping complaint against FirstEnergy

The complaint comes on the heels of another objection issued by the Board in February accusing the company with labour law violations at FE’s Harrison plant in West Virginia.

The complaint, issued by the NLRB regional office in Pittsburgh on April 25, charges the companies with illegally refusing to bargain with the union over the effects of recent plant closures and transfers of bargaining unit positions; repudiating the collective bargaining agreement with UWUA System Local 102; failing to provide crucial bargaining data to the union during negotiations; and engaging in other acts of bad faith bargaining.

“This complaint represents another milestone in our efforts to win justice for utility workers at FirstEnergy,” declared Bob Whalen, president of UWUA System Local 102.  “The wide-ranging scope and the serious nature of violations charged in the complaint demonstrate that something is severely wrong with this company’s labour relations policies.”

The complaint charges numerous illegal actions by FE, including:

The NLRB complaint seeks a Transmarine Navigation remedy, which would require the company to resume wage payments to the impacted employees from the time the company is ordered by the NLRB to negotiate over the effects of the unit closures until the parties reach an agreement or a good faith impasse in negotiations.

The complaint also charges FirstEnergy with the following additional unfair labour practices:

Additional UWUA charges against FE bad faith tactics against union workers at Penelec in central Pennsylvania are still being investigated by the NLRB.

Members of Branch 180 of Local 102 returned to work in April after resisting a twenty-week lockout imposed by management just before Thanksgiving. FE failed completely in its efforts to use the lockout as a hammer to coerce Penelec workers to accept management’s unfair concession demands.  

Despite the lockout, Penelec workers refused to accept management’s demands for concessions in employee benefits, working conditions, and customer service standards.  UWUA members at Penelec returned to work on April 14.

IndustriALL affiliates united in support for UWUA workers fighting back at FirstEnergy in April.

Workers strike over slave wages at Crabtree in Lesotho

About 100 workers downed tools on 22 April after securing the right to strike on their demands for higher wages. Currently workers earn about USD105 a month, in part due to the low minimum wage in Lesotho, which is far below a living wage.

Crabtree started its operations in the tiny landlocked nation, which is entirely surrounded by South Africa, in July 2007. The company, which makes electrical accessories such as plugs and extension cords for export to the SADC (Southern African Development Community) market, is based in South Africa where it has another manufacturing plant.

Workers have received no salary increase on demands dating back to 2010, despite promises from management that wages would be reviewed. Workers are demanding a 30 per cent increase and are resolved to remain firm on this given the number of years they have gone with no increment.

FAWU, an IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, has taken the matter up with the Directorate of Disputes Prevention and Resolution (DDPR) and the Labour Court. The legal processes took over a year to conclude with the right to strike on the matter finally secured. However, Crabtree has now approached the court for an order to lock out the workers.

“Despite having secured the right to strike, management is ignoring the union and refusing to negotiate with us,” says FAWU organiser Thapelo Bohloko.  “We are determined because workers cannot keep earning such low wages and will explore all avenues of support for this reasonable demand.”

The Sub Saharan African office of IndustriALL will focus efforts on the living wage campaign in Lesotho and hopes to engage employers and government to improve the situation, supporting calls from organized labour for a higher minimum wage and through company level negotiations to secure better wages.

Oil services giant Schlumberger abusing agency workers in Indonesia

Employing over 900 employees in Jakarta, PT Dowell Anadrill Schlumberger is engaged in oil field services including drilling and other related services for the oil and gas industry in Indonesia. The Company is a subsidiary of Schlumberger which is headquartered in Houston, Texas, United States and is the world’s largest oilfield services company, employing around 123,000 worldwide. Other major offices are in Paris and The Hague.

In Duri, Sumatra the company is carrying out extensive specialist work for the local Chevron Oil Company operation, including cementing services, Coil Tubing Services (CTU), and Well Fracturing & Stimulation Services. The total permanent workers in Duri at Cementing and Coil Tubing Services is estimated at 70 workers, with a further 116 “temporary” workers being provided through the labour agency PT Supraco. Most of the permanent workers and workers of PT Supraco are members of SP KEP-KSPI.

All workers were recruited by Dowell Anadrill Schlumberger, they are working under the order of the company, wear the company’s uniform, work with DAS equipment, and carry ID cards issued by DAS. However the agency provided workers collect their inferior salary and health care from the labour agency. Many of the workers from the labour agency have already worked for Schlumberger continuously for between 5 and 15 years.

After negotiations failed to provide a resolution the precarious workers struck for over a week from January 2-10, 2014 and blocking the company gates, prevented the movement of equipment and machinery. Despite hurriedly convened talks involving the union, local management, the labour agency, and Chevron as well as the local manpower office and local police the company is refusing point blank to hire the labour agency provided workers directly.

The union considers the case to be a clear example of discrimination and is reporting the case to the Minister of Manpower and demanding that the company reinstate, as full time permanent employees all the workers who participated in the strike. IndustriALL totally supports our affiliate in Indonesia and has protested to Schlumberger calling on them to meet all of the totally justified union demands.

Philippines: Entire union executive sacked for not working on national holiday

Join the LabourStart campaign and write to NXP management and Philippine government.

IndustriALL stands firmly in support of its affiliate to fight back for the reinstatement of all 24 sacked activists.

Full update from MWAP:

The Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines (MWAP) strongly condemns the management of the NXP Semiconductors Company in Cabuyao, Laguna for its illegal dismissal of 24 union officials effective May 5, 2014.

The dismissed officers, which include all members of the union Executive Board as well as the Shop Steward Council, were immediately put on a blacklist and were barred from entering the company premises.  All their benefits were blocked including the educational subsidy which is due to be released on May 15.

The move is obviously a malicious attack on the workers who are currently undergoing a struggle to conclude a new collective bargaining agreement package.  The dismissal of the officers is meant to weaken the bargaining power of the union.

In a memo dated May 5, 2014, the NXP management said the union officers “participated knowingly in illegal strike” and “are deemed to have lost their EMPLOYMENT status pursuant to law”.  It further said that “the officers were terminated for just cause … illegal strike on April 9, and other following holidays.”

The union clarified that the management was referring to the workers’ refusal to work overtime last April 9, 17, 19 and May 1, which are all public holidays.  April 9 was Araw ng Kagitingan (National Valor Day) while April 17 & 19 were Maundy Thursday and Good Friday which are widely-observed in this Catholic-dominated country.  As for May 1, which is International Labor Day, the union and the company has a standing agreement that all union members will be off from work and will participate in Labor Day activities.

Reden Alcantara, union president of the NXP Semiconductors Company Workers Union (NXPSCIWU) and concurrent national president of MWAP, said that the NXP management treated the absence of the workers on these particular holidays as concerted actions of the union in relation to their CBA fight.

“The termination of all union officials is yet another harassment of the NXP management to force us to give up on our just CBA demands to improve the lot of the workers,” said Alcantara.  “The management is trying hard to bust our union and the dismissal of the officers is meant to sow fear among the workers and threaten them against supporting the union,” he added.

Prior to the dismissal, Alcantara said that the management also harassed the peaceful concerted actions of the workers, such as the protest march in front of the gates of the industrial enclave.  Security guards were deployed in shuttle buses and the workers were barred from getting off from the buses to prevent them from participating in the union activity.  The workers were forced to jump from the windows of the buses so they can get out and join the protest-march.  In another incident, the workers’ peaceful concerted action was met by a heavy deployment of ERP personnel and a fire truck.

The CBA negotiation between the NXP management and union started in January this year and already had 23 negotiation sessions.  The union is demanding for an 8% increase in wages while the company stopped its offer at 3.5% increase, which is only half of the hike given to the workers in their last CBA. .  The management has twice declared a deadlock and decided to seek a 3rd-party negotiator.

Alcantara also hit the government for conspiring with the management.  He said that the Light Industry and Science Park (LISP) administration elevated the issue to the office of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz in an apparent bid to pressure the workers to stop fighting for their rights.  On April 16, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) called for an emergency meeting between the NXP management and the union to discuss the alleged April 9 concerted action.  The union used the meeting to also raise the issue of the delay in the payment of wages of 1,700 contractual workers in NXP.   The contractual workers have not received their wages for two months already and the management is using the CBA negotiation as a reason for the delay in the release of wages.  But instead of resolving the issue, the union noted that the DOLE undersecretaries who sat in the meeting warned them that the union officials will be dismissed from work.

“The management, in collusion with the government, is working hard to bust our union, as it is one of the few unions inside the export processing zones and industrial enclaves.  They are hitting us hard because we were able to establish and strengthen our union despite the “no-union, no-strike” policy inside the EPZs and enclaves,” said Alcantara. 

“We will not allow them to take back this hard-won victory of the NXP workers,” vowed Alcantara.  He said that they will counter the management’s harassment by further educating their members and consolidating their ranks.  The union has already conducted shifting meetings today and held a protest march towards the gate of the industrial enclave.  The union called on their fellow workers to support their fight.

Meanwhile, the MWAP called for the immediate reinstatement of the 24 dismissed union officers.  It called on the management to stop harassing the workers and respect their rights to conduct peaceful actions.  It also urged the company to immediately sit down with the workers and resume the CBA negotiations.  MWAP expressed its full support for the union and said that it is prepared to launch a campaign on the NXP fight both at the local and international arenas. 

Victory for Greek Shipbuilding Workers!

The Greek metalworkers’ union, POEM, is celebrating a well-earned victory after a verdict was finally handed down in the Skaramanga Shipyard court case on 5 May: 11 of 12 imprisoned trade unionists were set free immediately and one received a 6 month suspended sentence. The verdict came after a two-year struggle by the trade unions supported by a European-wide solidarity campaign. A delegation of representatives from sister organization industriAll European Trade Union and IndustriALL Global Union was in the Athens court on Monday to show our continued support.

The shipbuilding workers in Greece, members of IndustriALL Global Union’s affiliate Panhellenic Metal Workers’ Federation (POEM), have been suffering from the severe attacks by their Government. Victims of severely deteriorating and precarious working conditions for over a year, the workers at the Hellenic Shipyard in Skaramanga went on strike on 4 October 2012. Their jobs were being used as pawns in a dispute between the shipyard operators and the Greek Ministry of Defence for which the site exclusively builds submarines and navy vessels. The shipyard workers’ wages had not been paid for a whole year but the Ministry has remained indifferent to their plight. Clashes with police forces occurred during a subsequent protest action at the Ministry of Defence which led to the arrest of workers.

As a result of the attacks by the Police and the Ministry, charges against 12 trade unionists, including POEM’s President, were filed and their struggle has been carried into the courts. The court hearing took place on 1 October 2013, but the ruling was postponed to 5 May 2014.

In November 2013, the IndustriALL Global Union Action Group on Shipbuilding-shipbreaking adopted a resolution to call to a STOP to the attacks on the shipbuilding workers in Greece and also call for Solidarity with POEM. Led by IndustriAll European Trade Union, IndustriALL Global Union has been joining action to call on the government to drop the charges against Greek trade union activists and to find a fair and just solution for the Skaramanga workers.

Kan Matsuzaki, IndustriALL Global Union Director for the shipbuilding and shipbreaking sector, who joined the delegation says:

This is a symbolic victory for all Greek workers who has been suffering from the government’s austerity measures. The Greek government must learn from the case to take a new economic and social model that puts people first.

Please also see industriALL European Trade Union website here.

Napoleón Gómez awarded Arthur Svensson prize

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina congratulated Napoleón after having marched with Los Mineros on May Day and delivered solidarity greetings to the historic Zocalo Square in Mexico City together with Los Mineros and other independent unions.

IndustriALL Global Union congratulates Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, the leader of Los Mineros union in Mexico, for winning the Arthur Svensson International Prize for Trade Union Rights 2014! As the jury writes, "Gómez Urrutia plays a leading role in the struggle for democratic unions, free of government and employer control in Mexico. He is the target of a vicious anti-union campaign by the government and major mining companies, in response to his loud and persistent demands for workers' rights, decent wages and safe working conditions."

Napoleón was nominated for the prize by IndustriALL following an Executive Committee decision in December 2013. Napoleón was able to take his seat at that Executive Committee meeting, his first international travel since going into exile in 2006.

The International Prize for trade union rights was established in 2010 by Industri Energi (IE), IndustriALL’s energy affiliate in Norway, with the aim to promote and strengthen trade unions and trade union rights internationally. Arthur Svensson was one of the most prominent trade union leaders in Norway (1930-2008). The prize is granted annually based on proposals from trade unions around the world. The prize is worth NOK 500,000 (approximately US$87,000).

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.

The travel ban has been imposed by the Mexican authorities as part of a savage crackdown on Los Mineros. Sham court cases brought by the Mexican authorities have put Napoleón on the Interpol red alert list since 2006. Los Mineros repeatedly beats the sham cases just to see the authorities appeal and abuse the Interpol mechanism to maintain the exile.

See further details of Napoleón’s struggle on the website of his book Collapse of Dignity.

Support striking paper workers in Indonesia

In March, members of the Pindo Deli Paper Workers' Union at one of the APP – Sinar Mas factories in Karawang district of Indonesia, went on strike to demand that management return to negotiations, and to discuss the minimum wage rate established in the district by the Governor of West Java. Four rounds of negotiations failed, and management subsequently declared the strike illegal and used police force against the strikers. All union leaders' salaries were illegally deducted. In April the workers began a second strike. Show the striking workers at one of the world's largest paper mills need your support by joining the LabourStart campaign. 

FUP Women’s Network at Petrobras meets in Salvador

Women make up just under 16 per cent of the work force at Petrobras, and the number is rising. Five per cent of the workers on the oil rigs are women, and 10 per cent at the refineries. The rest of the women work in offices. The importance of Petrobras for the overall development of the country cannot be stressed enough. In addition, Petrobras is one of 80 companies in Brazil which received the seal of quality in racial and gender equality.

One of the aims of the meeting was to prepare for the forthcoming FUP Congress where the women are demanding a quota for women. Up to now there are no women in the FUP leadership. Still it is tougher for women in the FUP than for men – men are not as challenged as women are by the system requiring them to stay two weeks at the Petrobras headquarters in Rio de Janeiro and two weeks at their home base. The women expect the Congress to approve the establishment of a women’s section of the FUP.

One of the items on the agenda concerned women’s health, and the HPV virus in particular. It was decided to demand more research on the HPV virus, which affects many more women than men. Many of the women present at the conference started out as trade union activists in workplace health and safety committees. Women at the conference were urged to get elected to these committees in order to combat such practices as bullying which is rampant at Petrobras. The women need to create alliances with the contract workers at Petrobras who are bullied and humiliated even more than the permanent workers – FUP and the women contract workers need to speak with one voice.  Women also need to fight for the health systems to provide vaccinations for all against the HPV virus which is only given freely nowadays up to the age of 26.

The women are keen to involve men more in the debate on gender issues. One possibility is to do a flyer on sharing responsibilities at home. Since people who work at Petrobras earn more than average workers in Brazil, it is possible for one person out of the couple to stay home to look after the family chores. That is why the women would like to challenge the men to debate on men who stay at home.

The experience from this network will hopefully help get more networks going in other predominantly masculine enterprises.

Fatal accident at Holcim plant in India

Holcim claims to have very strict occupational health and safety standards, yet this is not the first fatal accident in one of their operations. The accident again highlights the plight of contract workers, who are routinely given dangerous jobs with minimal safety precautions. Last year five workers died under a collapsing silo in another nearby Holcim plant.

In 2010 two workers including one contract worker were killed and two contract workers injured by melted coal while repairing the coal hopper in the power plant of ACC-Jamul.

More than 50 per cent of all fatal workplace accidents happen in Asia, and most of them in India. The majority of the dead and injured are contract workers. IndustriALL Global Union affiliate PCSS represents contract workers in the Indian cement industry, and have lodged a complaint with the OECD over the treatment of contract workers in India.

In 2013, Holcim started talks with global union federations IndustriALL and the BWI on a global occupational health and safety agreement. These talks were never finalized

IndustriALL Director for Mechanical Engineering and Materials Industries Matthias Hartwich says:

“We appeal to Holcim to take their responsibility towards their workers, regardless whether they are permanent or contract workers. One killed worker is one too many, and Holcim’s track record shows that something is fundamentally wrong.”

IndustriALL demands that Holcim to not only start proper negotiations regarding health and safety, but also start negotiations on a global framework agreement in order to improve workers’ participation. The time is now!