Trumped-up charges and restrictions against Cambodian union leader must be dropped at once

The garment union boss is facing criminal charges, filed by SL Garment Processing Ltd., for incitement to commit a felony. He has now been placed under a court order that prohibits him from meeting SL Garment workers and people in a public gathering that could “damage public order”.

The court is also demanding that Ath Thorn pay bail of US$ 25,000 by the beginning of May.

IndustriALL general secretary, Jyrki Raina, said:

Not only are the charges against Ath Thorn groundless, but the restrictions placed upon him are a blatant violation of his right to freedom of association, and the demand for bail unjust. We urge the Cambodian authorities to drop the charges and restrictions immediately.

Ath Thorn, who is appealing the bail conditions, has been charged with inciting violence at a protest at the SL Garment factory in September last year, despite no evidence against him.

Moreover, in a settlement witnessed and signed by Sat Sakmut, Deputy Secretary of State of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training in December 2013, C.CAWDU and SL Garment factory agreed that no further legal charges would be filed between either party.

Ath Thorn is one of the most influential non-government union leaders in the country and a prominent trade union campaigner for a raise in the minimum wage and the release of 21 prisoners detained since demonstrations in January.

IndustriALL has written to the Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen, calling on his government to end all legal cases connected with the SL Garment conflict and expressing concern that the case against Ath Thorn may be aimed at frustrating the unions’ legitimate efforts to advocate for a higher minimum wage and for the release of the 21 prisoners.

The C.CAWDU President reveals he is now facing claims that he violated the new restrictions and that authorities are threatening to arrest him, saying:

This is clearly yet another attempt to repress our struggle and deny our basic rights.

In the meantime, garment manufacturers failed to turn up at an intended tripartite workshop with unions and government officials to reform the minimum wage-setting system, with only one member of the garment manufacturers’ association, GMAC, in attendance at the ILO brokered gathering on 24 April.

Last month, IndustriALL Global Union, Uni Global Union and the ITUC together with 30 major brands, including H&M, Inditex, Gap, Adidas and Nike, signed a joint letter to the Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia reiterating the need for an urgent resolution to the minimum wage and to respect the human rights of the 21 wage protestors.

Ends

Contact:

Leonie Guguen, Communications Officer, IndustriALL Global Union.

Tel: +41 22 308 50 23 I [email protected] 

www.industriALL-union.org Switchboard: +41 22 308 50 50

Los Mineros victory at Teksid

The settlement ended the work stoppage that was started last Friday and signifies the second significant organizing victory for Los Mineros within a month, after winning a legal battle for union recognition at Excellon’s mine at “La Sierrita”, Durango two weeks ago.

An assembly of Teksid workers applauded the announcement from their spokeswoman, Imelda Jimenez, and counsel of the Los Mineros National Executive Committee, Oscar Alzaga Sánchez, as they read out the signed and legally recognized agreement with the employer.

The yellow CTM union had held the collective bargaining agreement since the Teksid operations began in 1996.

The agreement commits the company to reinstate the three dismissed workers Marisol Ruiz Moreno, Orlando Montoya and Oscar Rodríguez Ponce.

The agreement also meets the workers’ profit-sharing demand and these payments will be made to workers by the end of this week.

The agreement also commits the employer to respect the right of its employees to join the union of their choice; to not take any reprisals against workers involved in the strike; to drop the lawsuit it filed in response to the work stoppage; to respect and engage in collective bargaining.

As reported by IndustriALL earlier on 22 April, 11 Los Mineros-supporting workers were savagely and cowardly assaulted by 80-100 hired thugs, while coming out of a meeting with management and labour authorities on 21 April. This victory was hard-fought.

IndustriALL Global Union salutes these two great organizing victories of its Mexican affiliate Los Mineros.

IndustriALL demands justice for South African miners at Anglo American

Silicosis is a deadly respiratory disease that has a latency period of between 15 and 20 years. Anglo American refuses to pay compensation to these affected miners, denying that it is responsible for their suffering. It is fighting a litigation lawsuit brought against it by Leigh Day, a British based law firm, on behalf of affected mine workers. 

The result of Anglo American challenging the lawsuit is that the affected mine workers continue to die without the compensation due to them and their families. For the National Union of Mineworkers and IndustriALL Global Union, this is not a legal battle against Anglo American, but a moral battle whereby the multinational must change its behaviour regarding the health and safety of its employees worldwide. 

The National Union of Mineworkers’ President, Senzeni Zokwana, the National Chairperson for Health and Safety, Peter Bailey, and Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL Global Union’s Mining Director will once again raise the demand for compensation at the company’s AGM as they did in the forum last year.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina stated:

It is unconscionable for Anglo American plc and its shareholders to continue to deny compensation for these mine workers and their families.

Senzeni Zokwana castigated the behaviour of Anglo American as running contrary to its publicly stated values of safety, care and respect, integrity and accountability when he said:

Thousands of ex gold miners have already died from lung disease and thousands more have had their lives destroyed. Unless Anglo American acts now, thousands more will die without the healthcare, compensation and support they deserve.

Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) and the London Mining Network (LMN) who are coordinating solidarity actions and support for this cause, have organized a series of actions in support of the demand. These actions include a public meeting for South African Miners, a protest action for justice to be held outside the AGM and an Early Day Motion 1260 in parliament in support of decent compensation, testing and healthcare for ex gold miners with silicosis.

I was forced to go up – Rana Plaza victim

The 21-year-old garment worker, was petrified as she started her day at New Wave Style on the sixth floor of the Rana Plaza factory complex. She was pulled out of the rubble unconscious after it collapsed soon after her shift began on 24 April 2013. While she survived, she mourns the loss of her two best friends who died in the industrial homicide. Watch her tell her story. 

Rana Plaza – survivor stories – Rehana Khartun

Brands’ commitment to Rana Plaza compensation fund woefully inadequate

More than 1,100 people were killed and a further 2,000 were injured when the eight-storey Rana Plaza garment factory building in the capital Dhaka collapsed on 24 April 2013.

Brand contributions to the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund remain woefully inadequate; so far only around US$15 million has been paid into the fund, established to give financial and medical support to the victims and their families consistent with guidelines set by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

IndustriALL Global Union’s general secretary, Jyrki Raina said: 

We urge all the brands that have been working in Bangladesh to contribute to the fund with a considerable sum. They share a collective responsibility for this profoundly unsustainable production model and its hazards. This model that we are now about to change.

The Donors Trust Fund was established by the Rana Plaza Arrangement, a neutral and independent body of stakeholders, chaired by the ILO, to which IndustriALL is a signatory.

The Arrangement has already begun the process of registering claimants. Executive Commissioner, Rana Plaza Arrangement Coordination Committee, Dr. Mojtaba Kazazi said:

“If funds are available, everything will be done within six months and it’ll be over with. If funds will not be available then in fact we haven’t made a service to these people because that means we have already raised even more expectations and if we are not able to meet that, it will not be a good situation.”

Ineke Zeldenrust from the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) said:

"The lack of action is shocking; brands such as Benetton, Adler Modermarkte, Carrefour and Matalan have so far failed to make any contributions to the Trust Fund, and they must pay up now.  Current levels of contributions are clearly inadequate – Mango, KIK, Inditex and C&A are all brands that need to increase their payments.  So far only Loblaw has agreed to pay an extra US$1.54million, bringing their total contribution to US$3.63million. The victims have suffered long enough, as the first anniversary approaches there can be no more excuses."

“The Rana Plaza disaster was a devastating wake up call for brands sourcing from garment factories in Bangladesh. One year on, IndustriALL, together with UNI Global Union and our partner NGOs, is fighting harder than ever to improve safety in the Bangladeshi garment industry, which has taken the lives of more than 1,800 workers in the last seven years,” added Raina.

More than 160 brands have signed up to Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, a legally-binding agreement brokered by IndustriALL and UNI to improve safety conditions at 1600 factories, covering around 2 million workers.

By the end of September 2014, all factories producing garments for the Accord’s signatories will have been inspected and recommendations made for the repairs of dangerous factories.

UNI Global Union’s General Secretary, Philip Jennings said, “The Accord team on the ground are taking tough decisions. When work at a factory is suspended it can cause hardship to workers but there is no choice when we have another potential Rana Plaza on our hands.”  

“This project is not only about safety, it’s also about getting rid of the poverty wages in Bangladesh. Last year, after a long campaign and mobilization, the Bangladeshi government finally agreed in November to raise the minimum wage from 38 to 67 US dollars a month. But this is only the first step towards a living wage to which every worker, man and woman, is entitled. We have to continue with annual revisions and the brands and the retailers have to pay a fair price to the factory owners to guarantee a living wage.”

Ends

Contact:

Leonie Guguen, Communications Officer, IndustriALL Global Union. Tel: +41 22 308 50 23 I [email protected] I www.industriALL-union.org Switchboard: +41 22 308 50 50

Historic victory for CUT metalworkers in Brazil

The Confederación Nacional de los Metalúrgicos (CNM), the metalworkers’ confederation affiliated to the CUT, has fought for the introduction of profit sharing plans since it was founded 22 years ago. The agreement will apply to 49% of Thyssen employees and will be valid for two years. The remaining 51% of the company’s employees are members of other trade union centrals.

Paulo Cayres, president of the CNM/CUT, said it was a major reason to celebrate: “Since the confederation was founded, we have fought for benefits for all workers and against regional variations. If workers are doing the same job, they should have the same rights”.

The agreement demonstrates the scope for improving the relations between labour and capital at company and sector levels and shows that a national agreement is both advantageous and possible.

Previously, only bank and oil industry workers had national collective agreements. The agreement shows the importance of making workers the main reference point in the world of work and of guaranteeing equal rights to all workers employed by the same company at all its units. The agreement strengthens the industry and promotes decent work.

Q&A with Jyrki Raina one year after Rana Plaza

Q&A with Mojtaba Kazazi

Mojtaba Kazazi is the Executive Commissioner of the Rana Plaza Arrangement Coordination Committee which is administering the claims process for 3,600 victims, survivors and families struck by the Rana Plaza tragedy on 24 April 2013. 

Protests against Crown Holdings scheduled across the globe

The protests scheduled in the U.S., Canada, France, Italy, Switzerland and Turkey are taking place in conjunction with the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Philadelphia, U.S. on 24 April. IndustriALL joins its affiliates across the globe in demanding that Crown Holdings stops building profits through violations of fundamental workers’ rights at company sites in Canada and Turkey.

In September last year, Crown Holdings forced their workers, who are members of IndustriALL affliate United Steelworkers Local 9176, to go on strike at the plant in Toronto, Canada by imposing drastic wages and other benefits cuts while forcing new employees into a two-tier system. After seven months of industrial action, Crown used local legislation to further abuse the striking workers by obliging them to vote on an even worse contract proposal. The company’s miserable offer was rejected and the workers are now eager to continue their struggle.

In Turkey, Crown's behaviour is no better. IndustriALL affiliate Birlesik Metal Is is facing continuous union busting from the company. Using all possible legal loopholes in Turkish legislation, the company persistently tries to avoid collective bargaining and recently, under false allegations, has even fired four trade union leaders who were leading trade union organizing at Crown Bevkan plant in Izmit.

By staging protests, workers of the world stand shoulder to shoulder to address Crown Holdings and demand that they:

IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary, Kemal Özkan, attending the Crown shareholders meeting in Philadelphia said, “Respect towards workers’ rights is a precondition of a loyal workforce building any company welfare. Crown is trying right now to build their profits on workers’ backs, showing no respect towards their own employees and we will not tolerate this. Be it in North America or Europe, we will fight for respect of workers’ rights by Crown Holdings and we will not stop until justice is restored.”