Korean union leader Kim Jungwoo is free

Kim Jungwoo is a former leader of the Ssangyong Motor branch of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union, an IndustriALL Global Union affiliate. Since June 2013 he was under arrest after participation in the protests actions in favor of workers dismissed by Ssangyoung Motor in 2009, and in memory of the 24 workers and family members who either killed themselves or died of stress-related disorders during the campaign. There was a serious threat of a heavier sentence for Jungwoo by the Supreme Court of Seoul.

Under the South Korean criminal law Penal Code 314, employers can impose large fines on unions and their leaders up to the seizure of union officials’ assets for "Obstruction of Business". For instance the total amount of claims to the national center KCTU is about USD 122 million. According to the district court ruling Ssangyoung workers are obliged to pay some USD 1.28 million in compensation to the police and USD 3.1 million to the company for damages during workers incurred while they were on strike.

Back in 2009 International Metalworkers’ Federation, one of the three founding organizations of IndustriALL Global Union, reported about brutal response of the Korean government towards legitimate industrial dispute, when Ssangyoung Motor members started a strike in protest of company’s order of mass dismissals without notifying trade union in violation of the existing collective agreement.

Then the sit-in 77-day strike started in May 2009 has been brutally broken up with use of corrosive chemicals dropped on strikers from helicopters, violent attacks from taser guns endangering people’s life and causing serious injuries. As this was not enough the strikers were denied access to basic needs like food, water and even basic medical treatment for the injured.

The promise to carry out a Parliamentary inspection of the mass layoffs at Ssangyoung Motors was given by current President of the Republic of South Korea more than a year ago, unfortunately this promise so far is not fulfilled.

Unite workers at Babcock approve new agreement

Unite announced the results of the vote on 3 April, the day after the vote. The vast majority of workers of Faslane and Coulport at Babcock Marine on the Clyde approved the considerably improved pay offer of 2.7 per cent rise.

The dispute involving over 800 Unite members employed in different jobs from hotel and catering staff to those handling nuclear weapons, started after the Babcock management failed to offer a fair deal to the workers.

Babcock made an initial offer of 1 per cent increase, and referred to impossibility of further increase because of the contracts signed with the Ministry of Defence.

The offer was not good enough for the members and the first action for 42 years erupted. 

The action consisted of a two-hour strike of the whole workforce and then a rolling programme of one hour strikes across the sites every 24 hours, plus an overtime ban and a work to rule.

Unite Convenor at Backcock Marine Derek Torrie said, “As well as paying tribute to the magnificent solidarity of our members at Faslane and Coulport which led to Babcock making an improved offer which has now been accepted I also have to say a massive thanks for all the messages of support and offers of assistance from Unite branches, workplaces and from individual members.

In addition to the support from within the UK the international messages from the USA, Brazil, South Africa and Finland were inspiring and uplifting in terms of maintaining and raising the morale of the workforce.

Together we have succeeded and this has been a true demonstration that unity is truly our strength.”

Hard-hitting CCC report names and shames brands for inaction on wages

Research compiled over nine months was used to profile 50 leading European brands. The report could not award the “green” grade to any of the brands, meaning no company was found to be doing sufficient work to ensure that those workers making their clothes receive a wage large enough to live in dignity.

The four brands identified as having started innovative work toward making a living wage a reality were Inditex, Marks & Spencer, Switcher and Tchibo. 

Download the Tailored Wages report in full here.

Report coordinator Anna McMullen said:

A colour-coded assessment was developed to show the progress of each company towards a living wage. This assessment takes into account a variety of work areas which we feel are significant for achievement of the living wage goal: worker empowerment, commitment and practice, collaborative approach and strategy towards a living wage.

The CCC says:

"In a handful of cases we were pleased to notice some interesting work initiated by brands that was actually increasing real wages in workers' pockets.

However, overall, we were disappointed that progress is really still only at the trial stage, and work that is actually putting wages up is still rare. There are very few retailers who have tried to truly ingrain throughout their business work towards a living wage."

ITUWA prepares to fight for every job

The company did not hold preliminary consultations with the trade union and specified the serious changes in the economic situation in Russia as the reason for the announced redundancies. The Russian Interregional Trade Union "Workers Association" – ITUWA, an affiliate of IndustriALL, intends to take counter measures.

In addition to cutting down one third of the workforce at the Ford Sollers Joint Venture in Vsevolozhsk the company announced plans of a complete stoppage of production during two months after 7 April and then after September the work would be organized only in one shift.  

The company claims these tough measures are imposed by serious changes in the Russian economy due to the devaluation of Russian rouble and a considerable decline of the demand for middle class cars. According to the company the reduction of the staff is necessary for an active evolvement of the company under present conditions.

The company has already declared about the launch of a ‘Program of voluntary dismissals’, which would offer workers the possibility to resign on the basis of a mutual agreement. Workers who resign under the Program would receive 5-month salary as compensation.

Igor Temchenko, ITUWA leader at the Ford plant, said there was no preliminary meeting organized with ITUWA representatives. The board of directors informed the workers about the planned redundancies through a news release appearing in the mass media. Workers were notified about these plans only the following day. “The trade union ITUWA will certainly take counter measures. We believe the leadership of our factory tries to shift on workers the burden of their own responsibility for miscalculations in marketing and the planning department. We will fight to safeguard jobs or for a decent compensation for those who are cut down”, declared Temchenko.

The chairman of the ITUWA union Alexey Etmanov expressed support to the workers claims and demanded from the company, “In order to understand what workers can do is enough to look at Belgium and Brazil, where attempts were made to close down the Ford plants. In result, namely through the strikes and demonstrations workers managed to fight back a rather good financial compensation in Belgium, while in Brazil they have even managed to keep their factory. We will not give it up and will fight for every working place. We will demand good compensatory payments, which in Russia are good enough to be able to have the ends met while in search for another job. Some 10-20 salaries, this is what we want to talk about”.

Other automakers are also decreasing their production in Russia. Recent reports say Nissan is moving its plant in Saint Petersburg to a two-shift replacing three-shift day schedule as of 1 April.

Volkswagen is planning to decrease in 2014 the production at its plant in Kaluga by 15 thousand cars, down to annual 135 thousand, informed chairman of the ITUWA territorial organization Dmitri Trudovoi. 

Georg Fischer consistently spurns union rights in Turkey

Lastik-Is, the Petroleum, Chemical and Rubber Industry Workers’ Union of Turkey, member of DISK national center and of IndustriALL, launched an organizing campaign at the operations of the company called Georg Fischer Hakan Plastik in Turkey a few months ago.

Join the LabourStart campaign here.

Founded in 1802 in Switzerland, the multinational corporation operates in 32 countries, with 124 companies, 48 of them production facilities in the business segments of piping systems, automotive and machining solutions.

Georg Fischer’s reaction against union organizing was harsh, and so far 37 members of Lastik-Is have been dismissed by the local management. The simple reason is that workers exercised their legitimate fundamental rights of freedom of association guaranteed by international labour conventions of the ILO as well as Turkey’s Constitution and national trade union legislation.

Along with this, instead of settling peaceful labor relations at the plants, Georg Fischer management continues to use intimidation and pressure over the union members to rescind their affiliation with Lastik-Is. This particularly happens in one-to-one meetings conducted by the middle level-managers with all union members.

In the meantime, the Turkish Ministry of Labor and Social Security has sent an official certification to all the relevant parties confirming that Lastik-Is has a sufficient majority of the workforce to be a bargaining party. However Georg Fischer maintains its anti-union behavior refusing any meeting at national and international level.

Even though IndustriALL Global Union and its Swiss affiliate UNIA have several times initiated dialogue with central and local management of the company, the response is always negative.

Georg Fischer violates relevant provisions of Turkish Collective Labor Relations and Penal Codes with its acts in Turkey. The company also breaches OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises that explicitly recognize the right of all employees to be or become members of a trade union and to participate in collective negotiations.

“What Georg Fischer does in Turkey is completely unacceptable,” said Kemal Özkan, Assistant General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union. “If the situation in Turkey remains unresolved as is, we, together with our Swiss affiliate UNIA and all other member organizations, will carry out our campaign to escalate our support for Lastik-Is and union members at Hakan Plastik.”

“Put Industry Back to Work”, demand European Trade Unions

The selection of the venue was a clear solidarity message to the union movement in Spain against the government’s austerity policies of the last couple of years.

The crisis in Europe has aggressively destroyed the social and economic conditions of working people resulting in the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs, particularly among the youth. As a response to this worrying trend, European trade unions seek a joint industrial policy approach to be able to overcome all challenges throughout the continent by building up genuine union solidarity.

The Madrid meeting entitled “The future of industrial employment in Europe’ adopted a manifesto with eleven major policy lines: 1) Restart the economy 2) Make economic governance socially and democratically responsible 3) Foster the social dimension of industrial policy 4) Put the finance sector back in its place 5) Create new qualitative jobs 6) Support Innovation 7) Reinvent the traditional industrial sectors 8) Maximize the social and economic benefits of ICT 9) Address the demand side of industrial policy 10) Strive for sustainable, affordable and secure energy 11) Make global trade work for workers and get the institutional framework right.

The Manifesto of IndustriAll European Trade Union sets out trade union demands towards national parliaments, the European Parliament and the European Commission for the legislative term of 2014 – 2019. It further demands maintaining and developing a strong manufacturing base in Europe as a necessary condition for economic growth, creating quality jobs, supporting the transition to an environmentally sustainable industry and finding solutions to the grand societal challenges that European economies are confronted with.

The meeting welcomed important political figures, including Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament and some other European and national parliamentarians. An intensive political debate was made over the role the European Union can play in formulating an industrial policy strategy applicable in all its Member States and how more jobs can be created and safeguarded in an age of rapid technological change and increased global competition. The participants also discussed how the EU’s ‘Industrial Renaissance’ can be ensured.

A special attention was given to the current economic situation and outlook for the Southwest Region of Europe and the role of trade Unions. European Trade unions exchanged their ideas on how they can achieve the best balance between the social dimension and need for competitiveness with employee involvement.

Michael Vasiliadis, President of IndustriAll European Trade Union and IG BCE of Germany, said: “We want to give a clear signal with the manifesto that includes our legitimate demands for economic and social matters in Europe”. Ulrich Eckelmann, General Secretary, mentioned that “IndustriAll Europe discusses ways to properly address the crisis, and change a wrong economic policy."

“IndustriALL Global and European Trade Unions are the strong voices of workers for keeping industry and manufacturing jobs at the center of national economies,” said Kemal Özkan, Assistant General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union who attended the meeting in Madrid. “We are now much stronger as our worldwide Sustainable Industrial Policy campaign and the adopted European manifesto of Put Industry Back to Work perfectly complement each other”.

“Hyundai violates fundamental rights”, reports the Company Union Network

The report entitled “Unfair Play” is an initiative of the international Hyundai/Kia trade union network. For IndustriALL affiliates in the network representing Hyundai workers local complaints and problems had become a common trend throughout the company.

Over recent years it had become clear that Hyundai’s company policy was to restrict trade union activities in the company’s operations everywhere, from Germany to Korea to the US. Regardless of the legal protection workers had from national labour law in their country, Hyundai management consistently used a range of tactics to impede its employees from exercising their right to freely organise and bargain collectively.

Today’s report authored by Carsten Hübner, jointly edited by IndustriALL and IG Metall, explains in depth the union response to Hyundai exporting its anti-democratic management culture throughout the world.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina states in the report’s foreword:

Cooperation in a spirit of trust, to the benefit of the company and the employees, will never come about on this basis of blatantly disregarding workers’ rights. It is time for a paradigm shift at Hyundai! Launching negotiations on a global framework agreement at Hyundai and Kia could be the start of such a process.

All the unions in the network are fighting back to protect their members rights and working conditions at Hyundai. The trade union network jointly calls on Hyundai to negotiate in good faith with its social bargaining partners and begin a process of building constructive industrial relations together with the unions.

IG Metall will tomorrow lodge an OECD complaint with the German OECD National Contact Point. The complaint will be filed in defence of its members at Hyundai’s Rüsselsheim operation, HMETC, who have been targeted by a company smear campaign, intimidation and outright pressure to operate without a trade union or Works Council. The treatment is a clear breach of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Darmstadt Local IG Metall president Jochen Homburg explains the name of the report “Unfair Play”:

As an official partner of FIFA’s football World Cup 2010 Hyundai became very well known in Germany. And Hyundai will once again be a prominent sponsor of the World Cup 2014 in Brazil. However, a positive link between the brand image and such a sporting event can be created only if alongside the willingness to compete, the idea of fair play can also be put over convincingly.

Metalworkers of Kazakhstan prepare to fight for their 13th salary in court

“The company ArcelorMittal  everywhere positions itself as socially oriented , however the reality is totally different – nowadays the owners are increasingly trying to economize on workers’ backs. The trade union and the workers are close to losing their patience, but the hope to receive the well earned money only gets stronger”, says the union appeal to the workers of ArcelorMittal Temirtau.

It is emphasized that recently the question of payment of the 13th salary has become one of the most important for workers. «As long as the desire of the people to receive their well-earned money is growing, the more persistent is the employer in his denial», notes the trade union committee. The trade union leaders say the recent negotiations did not bring any result.
The representatives of the management were not even ashamed of resorting to an open blackmail. At the beginning of the year they suggested to the trade union to make a choice between the thirteenth salary or layoff of 2.5 thousand people! When these threats did not work, they simply reverted to delaying tactics.

The board of directors insists that the company has no financial possibilities to pay the 13th salary. The management of the company say that employees did not earn this money. The trade union of metalworkers «ZHAKTAU» offered three solutions to the problem, but the company did not accept any of them.

The JSC ArcelorMittal Temirtau is a part of the multinational company ArcelorMittal and is the largest enterprise in the mining and metallurgical sector in Kazakhstan. It consists of the iron and steel works in Temirtau, eight coalmines in the Karaganda region, and four mines extracting iron ore in Karaganda, Akmolin and Kostanay areas.

Recently the Trade Union of Mining & Metallurgy Workers of Republic of Kazakhstan and the trade union of miners of Korgau signed the Agreement on consolidation of efforts. The large trade union of miners , which affiliates more than 17 thousand members and has a 13-year history of independent activities, declared about their free will to join the sector trade union. This consolidation will give the chance to negotiate with the employer and to solve problems of workers at a higher level of mining industry.

Ethiopian Unions Form Women’s Committee

Women representing IndustriALL affiliates in Ethiopia, the Industrial Federation of Textile, Leather and Garment Workers' Trade Unions IFTLGWTU and the National Industrial Federation of Energy, Chemical Petroleum and Mine Trade Union decided to create a national women’s committee at a meeting held on 19 and 20 March 2014. Women from the textile, garment, shoe, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, glass and paint sectors attended the meeting.

The women were trained in easy to use methods for working with women, such as body mapping, workplace mapping and life mapping. They understood that such methods can be used anywhere without any sophisticated technology to talk to women and explain to them why a trade union is important. Women’s health concepts and sexuality were introduced briefly. These issues are important particularly in working on self-esteem in women. Two concerns were highlighted in particular – most women have limited access to toilets during working time,  and secondly, many women faint at work either due to overwork and/or overheated workplaces. These two problems need to be taken up as trade union issues as a matter of urgency.

Themes involved in trade union democracy were discussed. The women understood that they have to make trade unions listen to women and take their demands seriously. This is more easily achievable if the women form a committee; women by themselves just represent themselves, and there is strength in numbers.

The women contemplated their dreams. One of the common points that came out of their dreams was that the women wanted to help other women grow.  And finally women’s leadership qualities were strengthened.

The women gave some thought to why they needed a women’s committee. They decided that the committee should do the following:

The women felt that they needed activities focused on women. This would also strengthen the union. They asked for more training on gender issues and a forum for women to exchange experiences.

The committee’s work program should include the following:

3,600-strong oil worker strike in Jordan averted with remarkable agreement

The agreement was signed by Khaleed Elzyood, president the General Union of Petroleum & Chemical Workers, and the management of the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company, in the presence of IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina, following international trade union support for the strike, mobilised by IndustriALL.

The new two-year collective agreement brings, on top of the 30 per cent pay increase for all workers, improvement to the retirement benefits, health and medical services for all workers and their families including pensioners.

The ministers of labour and energy, together with relevant parliamentarians, also observed the signing of the new agreement. Clearly the Jordanian government had intervened to ensure the positive settlement to the labour conflict.

The General Union of Petroleum & Chemical Workers in Jordan had spent several weeks trying to get the government to respond to the demands raised by workers representing the total workforce of Jordan's only oil refinery.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina, speaking from the signing ceremony stated:

Once again genuine social dialogue, supported with international solidarity, delivers a positive solution to all concerned. We celebrate this trade union victory of our Jordanian affiliate, and look forward to many more in this priority region for IndustriALL.