Ukraine needs a peaceful way-out

IndustriALL Global Union’s affiliates in Ukraine report that the situation changes from bad to worse. The country faced political instability, which resulted in the deaths of more than 100 and over 500 injured people at Kiev’s famous Maidan square. Now the mass media are drenched with reports and different views about continued escalation of the situation around Crimea bringing a potential danger for further division in this country.
 
In these difficult times IndustriALL Global Union expresses, together with its worldwide family, deep solidarity with its Ukrainian affiliated-trade union organizations, who by all means are trying to prevent further escalation of conflicts. IndustriALL supports all those who find solutions that aim at keeping peace and stability for ordinary workers and their families.
 
There is a high risk that in wrangles between different groupings both inside and outside the country the economic achievements of Ukrainian workers will be victimized. This is why, IndustriALL Global Union is supporting peace and integrity in Ukraine, however the price for it should not be the deterioration of working and living conditions of the people of labour.
 
IndustriALL Global Union appeals to the Ukrainian authorities demanding them to wage all their efforts in order to maintain and improve living standards, and not to allow the impoverishment of workers and their families in Ukraine.
 

Ansell continues to defy Supreme Court instruction

The 294 workers were fired in October last year when striking in support of 11 sacked colleagues and trade union representatives at Australian multinational Ansell, maker of surgical and industrial gloves. With lower courts ruling in favour of reinstating the dismissed workers, the Supreme Court ordered Ansell to negotiate a settlement with IndustriALL Global Union affiliate FTZGSEU.

But when the Supreme Court again took up the case on 3 March it was clear that Ansell had no intention of trying to find a viable solution. The Supreme Court had proposed the reinstatement of the 294 workers, but Ansell claims to have filled the vacancies.

The Chief Justice has now ordered that the Sri Lankan labour tribunal should hear all the cases, except for 35 workers who have received severance payment. If still unresolved, the Supreme Court will hear the case again.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina, recently travelled to Sri Lanka on a mission. As well as meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa to discuss the Ansell case, he also met and talked with some of the dismissed workers.

“Ansell were instructed by the labour ministry not to fill the vacancies until this industrial dispute was resolved. Claiming to have done so shows total contempt for the workers, the unions and the legal system.”

“It seems everyone but Ansell wants to see an end to this conflict. The people out of work are suffering, and we are now getting reliable information that the quality of the production has decreased, in the end resulting in surgical risks. Ansell needs to step up and take responsibility.”

International Asbestos Conference

Asbestos is the biggest industrial killer of all time, but it is still not banned worldwide. It kills thousands of people every week – every five minutes at least one person dies from asbestos diseases. Two million metric tons of asbestos are still being produced every year, and more than 90% of the production is used in cement products for the construction sector.

Even where asbestos has been banned, workers are still exposed to existing asbestos during maintenance, renovation and demolition work. Millions of tons of asbestos were used in the fireproofing, insulation, and structural components of buildings, machinery, and ships  in the past. Much of this asbestos is still there and it cannot be easily identified from its appearance. Workers and the community can be exposed to this asbestos and breathe it in without realising it.

The Building and Woodworkers International and IndustriALL Global Union are committed to promote the elimination of the use of all kinds of asbestos and asbestos containing materials, and the elimination of diseases caused by exposure to asbestos. 

This Conference aims to exchange experience and promote the objectives of the Global Asbestos Campaign:

  1. The need to stop using asbestos world -wide as soon as possible
  2. Alternatives to asbestos and transition of the asbestos cement industry to use alternative materials.
  3. Prevention of exposure to installed asbestos
  4. Supporting those affected by asbestos diseases

A range of trade unions are invited to participate: from producing and exporting countries, countries which still use a lot of asbestos, countries phasing out asbestos and countries who did use a lot of asbestos and have now banned all use.

Please, click on the link to download the registration form to register for the meeting.

We look forward to seeing you in Vienna.

Indonesian paper workers striking for fair wages and rights

FSP2KI’s branch level union the Pindo Deli Paper Workers Union SPKPD began a one-month strike on 27 February to protest the breakdown of collective bargaining due to company intransigence and the escalating tension caused by deployment of local army and police to the factory.

APP is a market leader worldwide with a history of anti worker tactics at its PT Pindo Deli’s twin mills in Karawang, West Java, one of the world’s largest paper mills. IndustriALL affiliate FSP2KI organizes well over half the 13,000 employees there, and had to strike to win the current collective agreement two years ago.

Management has rejected all union proposals during four failed bargaining rounds, with troops intimidating workers since before the first round in December 2013.

IndustriALL Global Union sent a protest letter to APP management urging them to sit down at the negotiating table and stop using military forces against the participants of the strike. The company was urged to fulfil the regulations concerning the principles of negotiations in the district of Karawang, and withdraw the troops from Pindo Deli territory. IndustriALL has also protested the use of scab replacement workers brought in to undermine the strike.

“IndustriALL will monitor the situation and continue to support our sisters and brothers in their fight for their just demands,” said Anatoly Surin, IndustriALL pulp and paper director.

The strike will continue until 28 March. Letters of protest can be sent to the APP Indonesian management, using the petition tool attached to this page. Join the international trade union support for striking FSP2KI workers and tell the company that these workers deserve fair wages and basic rights at work.

Georgian miners continue to struggle

The strikers are supported by the majority of the population of Kazreti town, in the district of Bolnisi, Georgia, where both enterprises are located. Teachers, doctors and even children participate in the street protests. Shops and canteens are closed; schools and kindergartens do not operate either.

On 28 February a demonstration in protection of labour rights took place in Tbilisi in front of the Chancellery of the Government of Georgia. Among the participants were the workers of RMG enterprises in Kazreti, the miners from Chiatura, as well as the workers of the nitric and metallurgical plants from Rustavi, firefighters and rescuers. The participants demanded the revision of the Labour Code as workers' rights are constantly violated, and promised that protests would become more large-scale if the Government of Georgia did not follow workers' requirements.

The workers of RMG Gold and RMG Copper, mining enterprises in Georgia, went on strike on 14 February after the management refused to fulfill their obligations according to the agreement signed back in November 2013 and fired more than 180 employees under the pretext of reorganization in January 2014.

In opinion of the Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia (TUMMCIWG), an affiliate of IndustriALL, the management was trying to undermine the strike and block collective bargaining. However, the only management achievement is that now on top of the earlier demands the workers also demand the reinstatement of all workers fired as part of the announced reorganization.

The strike paralyzed the life of Kazreti, where the income of the population largely depends on employment at the RMG Gold and RMG Copper enterprises. The strike developed into daily street protests, and the majority of Kazreti population participates – not only employees of the RMG Gold and RMG Copper enterprises, but also doctors, teachers, school students, members of strikers' families – in total about four thousand inhabitants of Kazreti. On 22 February six workers went on hunger strike; two days later one of them was taken to the hospital. On 25 February the employees of an office building – laboratory workers and the technical personnel – joined workers on strike. Strikebreakers continue to work at the enterprises.

Negotiations between the management and the strikers took place on 26 February, but they did not bring notable results. The management of the enterprises is ready to reinstate around 40 dismissed workers; however, other fired workers might be reinstated only after the operation of the enterprises will be increased. This doesn't conform to the requirements of the strikers; they state that the strike and the street protests will go on until all their demands are completely fulfilled, and all management's promises are confirmed by the relevant documents.

The key demands of the strikers include salary increase, better working conditions and better labour safety, improved health insurance conditions and reinstatement of 184 workers.

Back in November 2013 around 700 miners of RMG Gold and RMG Copper went on strike demanding better working conditions and a salary increase. As a result an agreement was signed between the parties on 23 November 2013; however, until now promises of the management were not kept.

Kemal Özkan, Assistant General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union says:

Georgian miners demonstrate an exemplary struggle over last couple of months, even under very hard anti-labor environment. IndustriALL Global Union will continue to give all support to this heroic fight”.

28 February is EUROPEAN EQUAL PAY DAY

28 February, on European Equal Pay Day, industriAll Europe issued a strong demand to put an end to the pay gap between men and women in Europe. The wage gap in Europe remains one of the main factors of discrimination against women. On average, women in the EU earn about 17% less per hour than men. In Belgium, Portugal, Slovenia, Poland, Malta and Italy, this figure falls to below 10% but in Estonia and Austria, the difference in pay exceeds 25%.

All of this serves to highlight the limited number of measures being implemented to eradicate these inequalities. For this reason, industriAll Europe and its Equal Opportunities Working Group is strengthening its call for the public authorities to make a greater commitment to eliminate these differences.

Greater equality between women and men would produce benefits for the economy and society in general, contributing to reductions in poverty and increasing women’s income. Businesses can benefit from using the talents and abilities of women more effectively by, for example, assessing the capacities of women and designing policies that reconcile work and family life as well as training and professional development.

There are many reasons for the gender pay gap in the European Union:

Women often work in professions which are not as highly valued as those professions in which men work. And even in male dominated professions, the work carried out by women is often given less recognition and is lower paid.

In addition to shouldering the burden of unpaid housework and childcare, women also make up the majority of part-time workers in Europe. This means that 31.5 % of women work part-time compared with just 8.3 % of men, having a negative impact on the development of their careers, their education, their right to a pension and unemployment benefits.

Women are less represented in managerial positions. Only 12% of women are board members, and just 3% hold positions in management.

The industriAll Europe Equal Opportunities Working Group is putting forward a series of measures and strategies to reduce this gender pay gap, which, far from disappearing, is unfortunately becoming more evident by the day.

Of the various measures and proposals to address the problem, we propose the following:

These measures should be looked at through the framework of Collective Bargaining and local Works Councils, the European Work Councils and Transnational Agreements, by the workers’ representation, so that it is they who monitor new hires, promotions, training, etc. and ensure compliance in all aspects and equality, in the broadest sense of the word.

IndustriALL joins union rally against xenophobia in Switzerland

On 9 February, Swiss people went to the polls to vote on imposing quotas on immigrants. The divisive policy was voted through by a narrow majority of just 50.3 per cent. On 1 March, a delegation from IndustriALL joined members from affiliate Unia and other Swiss unions in a rally in front of the Swiss parliament to fight discrimination.


Trade unions have condemned the segregationist initiative, which strikes at the core of Europe’s liberties and the freedom of workers to make a living everywhere in Europe. Although Switzerland is not part of the European Union (EU), the country is linked with the EU through numerous bilateral agreements, including pacts covering freedom of labour.

Fernando Lopes, IndustriALL assistant general secretary, participated in the demonstration and said:

“We support the Swiss trade unions in their struggle for an open and tolerant Switzerland. Not only are 20 per cent of all people in Switzerland foreigners, more than 30 per cent of all employees are from abroad. Take the IndustriALL office as an example; it is made up of 26 different nationalities."

“As creators of Swiss wealth immigrants have the right to be here and be treated in a non-discriminatory manner. Our support for the 49.7 per cent Swiss voters who said ‘no’ to this initiative, as well as the 20 per cent foreigners living in Switzerland, will continue.”

Together with Swiss Trade Union Confederation and other partners, Renzo Ambrosetti, Unia, and the Swiss trade union movement promises to campaign against all discriminatory legislation on residence permits.

Unia’s co-chairman and member of IndustriALL’s executive committee Renzo Ambrosetti states:

“This decision is a huge setback for immigrants to Switzerland, for trade unions and for all progressive forces. It will lead Switzerland up a blind alley.”

Jyrki Raina speaks about his tour to five Asian countries

All over Asia workers and their unions are mobilizing for living wages, for a better life, for limiting outsourcing and for organizing and growth. We have a great start for another year of struggles and victories in the IndustriALL Global Union family.

Fight against precarious work: a central demand in Rio Tinto Campaign

Fernando Lopes, IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary said: “Most of the time, in the mining industry the majority of the workforce is in precarious employment. In response to this, IndustriALL Global Union has identified three main areas of focus to combat this practice: organise; protect through collective bargaining; improve legislation.”

A Memorandum of Demands has been addressed to the Rio Tinto Chief  Executive Officer (CEO), which includes the need to minimise the incidence of precarious work.

Organising:

Workers in precarious jobs have little chance to join a union or to bargain collectively. Pay and conditions are being driven ever lower by companies, thereby dividing the workforce inside the plants.  Hence it is imperative for precarious workers to be represented together with their comrades. Only with a strong unionisation rate will workers become an unavoidable counterpart for Rio Tinto.

Protect:

One of the reliable ways to protect precarious workers is to include them into the collective bargaining agreement. At Rio Tinto’s operation in South Africa, most workers are contract workers and non-union members. However, during the 2013 collective bargaining round, NUM’s wage demands to the company included contract workers.

Legislation:

Policy protection through e.g. minimum wage or limiting the use of precarious work is one other element. SYNATE in Cameroon has been strategizing on how to deal with  legislation that allows for three categories of workers: permanent workers, subcontracted workers and temporary workers. This has allowed Rio Tinto Aluchem to create an intermediate company of subcontracted employees and these employees can spend all their working years until retirement in that category of employment. According to SYNATE, education and sensitisation of all workers is key in this fight.

After the global economic crisis in 2008, Rio Tinto announced the cut of 14,000 jobs around the world, of whom 8,500 were contract workers. Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL Mining director, stated: “Contract workers have been paying too long Rio Tinto’s race for profit and its liberal employment policy. It is now time for workers all around the world to come together and clearly say: Down Rio Tinto, Down!”

Not so sparkly conditions in Botswana diamond polishing

At a training seminar for shop stewards conducted last month by IndustriALL, in collaboration with Botswana Diamond Workers Union and Botswana Power Corporation Workers Union, participants revealed that companies in the diamond polishing industry are routinely flouting labour laws.

According to the shop stewards, workers are summarily dismissed for minor offences and untested allegations. Furthermore, safety at the workplace is often compromised as workers have to work behind locked doors for long periods. Participants also complained of discriminatory practices where the diamond companies provide more benefits and better treatment for expatriates than locals.

IndustriALL’s director of mining, Glen Mpufane said:

The experiences of our affiliate members in Botswana highlight the plight of thousands of vulnerable diamond workers across the globe who are subjected to dangerous working conditions, low pay and discrimination by employers. IndustriALL is working hard to support mining trade union affiliates across Africa and the world to increase their capacity to protect workers.

Diamonds are the lifeblood of the Botswana economy. They account for one third of the country's total gross domestic product as well as 76 percent of its export revenue and 45% of government revenue. The country is the highest producer of diamonds by value in the world.

And yet, workers in the diamond industry do not share in this wealth, with average salaries for people employed in the diamond polishing industry as low as US$225 per month.

A significant amount of diamond mining in Botswana is done through a partnership between Botswana government and De Beers Mining Company, the merger of which is a company called Debswana Diamond Company. Through a beneficiation policy, some 21 companies have been established and approximately 3200 people are employed in the diamond polishing industry in the country. 

Participants at the workshop on the 7 and 8 February 2014 resolved to strengthen representation in the sector through recruitment and to organize workers to better address their problems and fight for fairer wages.