IndustriALL Women’s Committee reviews women’s participation at sectoral meetings

The committee arrived at the conclusion that more drastic measures need to be taken in order to redress the situation of poor women attendance in IndustriALL meetings. This conclusion was echoed by the General Secretary, Jyrki Raina, as well as the Executive Committee which met the following two days.

The meeting took place against the backdrop of the 16 days to combat violence against women and children. This fight should be conducted 365 days a year. In the mining sector women who work underground are particularly vulnerable. “We must develop good practices to take action against violence. Moreover we must organize women around their priorities, one of which is violence,” said  Carol Bruce, IndustriALL Director for Women Workers and Non-Manual Workers.

Jyrki Raina reported on trends within IndustriALL, many of which affect women, in particular workers in Bangladesh. Women’s structures were successfully put into place in the regions in 2013. The General Secretary read out the political agreement that was reached at the Founding Congress in 2012, where it is a question of improving women’s representation at all levels for the next Congress.

One of the stumbling blocks in the way of women’s representation is the issue of the sector chairs. In the meantime it has been agreed that each sector conference must elect two co-chairs of the sector, one woman and one man. This will be a small step toward improving women’s representation at sectoral meetings. IndustriALL Head office must also control registrations and reject delegations that do not have women present. Also gender balance will be taken into account when granting financial support. One possibility is to apply the language in the statutes, which applies to Congress, to other meetings, a 30 percent quota should be applicable to all, even to developed countries.

Statistics on women’s representation at sector meetings, conferences and networks were presented. The women deplored this report. At many meetings in 2013 one woman was present, and at many more women’s presence was less than 10 percent. The women called for an audit to be done of the whole organization to find out where women leaders are present at all levels. A working group will also be called to examine the question of women’s representation. The ITUC will be invited to make a presentation at the next meeting about how their regulations are working on gender parity.

For 2014 regional conferences will be held in the different IndustriALL regions. The theme of the conferences is “Women Workers: Safe Work with Dignity”. Other suggestion for the theme should be sent by 15 February 2014. The proposal for taking action in support of women is to offer solidarity to women in Egypt. More information will be provided about the women in Egypt and their struggles by 1 February 2014 so that messages can be sent for 8 March.

The women were invited to Vienna, Austria for the women’s world conference in 2015. The suitable date will be explored, either May or October. The proposed motto for the conference is “Transforming Structures through Women’s Leadership”. Other suggestions should also be submitted by 1 March 2014.

Reports were presented on the ongoing work in connection with living wage, precarious work, maternity protection and violence. In light of the lengthy discussions that took place at the meeting, it was questioned whether a half-day was sufficient to do justice to the women’s concerns.

With all of this work the goal to have more women present at Congress and in all other IndustriALL activities has moved closer to being met.

Locked-out United Steelworkers rally at Neville Chemical

The USW members have been locked-out by the company since 12 August 2013. The Neville Chemical Plant is on Neville Island, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

On 11 December around 250 people from all over the local region noisily assembled at the plant gate, together with USW president Leo Gerard. The message of the plant gate rally was to tell Neville Chemical to end the lockout and bargain fairly with its workers.

In an effort to reach a fair settlement, members of USW Local 5032 worked for more than eight months under the terms of their expired contract but in August, the company initiated a lockout by unilaterally freezing the workers’ pensions and imposing other cuts.

In recent rounds of contract negotiations, members of USW Local 5032 have agreed to significant concessions in order to keep the company profitable. Now the company is turning a profit and managers are still demanding that workers submit to further cuts.

Workers are standing up for their right to retire with dignity as the company demands a freeze to their pensions.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina’s solidarity message to the 11 December mobilization read:

We fully support the rally, which will bring together members of USW Local 5032, their families and the community of Pittsburgh at the gates of the Neville Chemical plant later today, to end the lockout and send a clear message to the company to bargain fairly with the workers.

The members of USW Local 5032 have an average of 30 years of service at the facility. They see the lockout as a betrayal because, for years, they have sacrificed to make the company profitable, most recently agreeing to steep concessions in 2006 and 2008 to help the company survive.

See more information on the website of Fight Back Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Chapter of the USW Associate Member Programme. Fight Back Pittsburgh has supported the struggle of Local 5032 and ensured sustained support from the local community.

International labour movement campaigns for oil workers in Kazakhstan

After the struggle of oil workers started in 2011 with the Kazakh oil company KazMunaiGas (formerly Kazakhoil) when a labour dispute due to inactiveness of authorities bordering with complicity escalated into bloody riots at the end of 2011 in Zhanaozen resulting in 17 dead and many wounded, a real crackdown on oil workers rose serious concerns of the international union and human rights protection organizations.

The trial orchestrated by the Kazakh authorities in March 2012 sentenced 37 people to imprisonment or other punishment. Seven of them still remain in custody. Time and again national and international observers called the attention of the country’s leadership to numerous abuses of both the defendants and witnesses who testified the facts of being tortured.

One of the witnesses, Alexander Bozhenko, 20, testified in court that he was tortured for several days and forced to bear evidence against oil workers in Zhanaozen. After he publicly renounced from his previous testimony claiming he gave it through torture, the young man was severely beaten by some unidentified individuals and later died. The authorities declared his death was not related to the trial however serious doubts were raised around that.

Seven people, Tanatar Kaliev, Shabdal Utkilov, Talgat Saktaganov, Naryn Dzharilgasinov, Kanat Zhusipbaev, Maksat Dosmagambetov and Roza Tuletaeva are those remaining in custody up to now.

To send your message of protest to the president of Kazakhstan and to prevent further crackdown on workers’ rights and freedoms in Kazakhstan support the LabourStart campaign on the link http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=2092

"Trade union rights are human rights. IndustriALL continues the global struggle to ensure that every worker has the right to freely join a trade union, get the protection of a collective agreement, as well as a safe and healthy workplace," said Jyrki Raina, IndustriALL General Secretary.

Three trade union leaders detained in Colombia

The harassment, attacks, threats and detentions are part of a policy of persecution and interference with the work of USO, an IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, to promote trade union rights and freedoms for oil industry workers, especially those employed by Pacific Rubiales. The power of the oil companies in Colombia is strong. The companies’ private security groups, together with the armed forces, restrict the right of free trade union activity in the oil producing areas, prevent the free movement of trade union leaders, and deny them access to workers employed by these companies.

In November, IndustriALL Global Union wrote to the Colombian government denouncing the detention of the USO Meta vice president, Darío Cárdenas. Cárdenas was accused of obstruction of the public highway, damage to natural resources and aggravated damage to private property.

The court cases of the union leaders are proceeding, USO fears further detentions of its members and regional and national leaders and calls for urgent international and national solidarity to prevent the persecution and harassment of oil workers in Columbia and to send a strong message that the obstruction of trade union freedoms and penalization of union activity by companies like Pacific Rubiales will not be tolerated.

USO calls on other unions to denounce the anti-trade union regime fostered by the Colombian government on behalf of multinational companies, looting the country’s natural resources. The USO’s national executive denounces the detentions of union activists in the area of Rubiales, Meta, on the eastern plains.

Jyrki Raina, general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, has written to President Santos urging him to intervene. IndustriALL demands the immediate release of Dario Cardenas, Campo Elias Ortiz, Jose Dilio Naranjo and Hector Sanchez; a guarantee of right to a fair trial; and a stop of the state persecution of oil workers and the country’s trade union and social movement.

Jyrki Raina says:

We call on the government to repeal the Citizen Security Law and other arbitrary legislation that criminalizes the freedom of association and social protest, and that rides roughshod over workers’ rights.

IndustriALL tribute to Nelson Mandela 1918 – 2013

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the greatest statesman that ever lived, is a world icon and yet he symbolised different things to different people. He is a symbol of triumph, where a village herd boy can grow up to challenge a repressive government and change the course of history. A symbol of struggle; organising for political change through the formation and leadership of structures of the African National Congress, including its military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. A symbol of courage; having spent his early life enduring harassment and incarceration, yet even whilst in prison on a life sentence his name rallied people to fight for freedom. A symbol of reconciliation; when after spending 27 years in prison he delivered a nation out of an oppressive bloody regime on the power of forgiveness. A symbol of hope; using his powerful voice to speak out against injustice, human suffering, and to promote peace and wellbeing.

Mandela was not always universally respected. There was a time when the Tories in Britain publicly called for his hanging; he remained on the US terrorist watchlist until 2008; he was scorned for speaking out on the war in Iraq; for embracing Fidel Castro and acknowledging Cuba’s role in the struggle against apartheid; and for speaking out in defence of Palestine, saying that freedom in South Africa was incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.

A political giant, Mandela remained a man of the people. He acknowledged the role that organised labour palyed in ending apartheid, not only in South Africa but throughout the world. He understood that it was ordinary workers that stood up, stood together and stood in solidarity that created the masses to defeat apartheid.

Compromise for a new South Africa came at a price. Whilst Mandela believed in the rights of workers to prosper and lived dignified lives, the unstable macroeconomics left behind by apartheid required sacrificing the aspirations of the working class for economic stability. The newly democratic South Africa embraced neoliberalism and grounded its tenents in the economic framework adopted in 1996, the Growth, Employment and Redistribution policy, widely acknowledged to have entrenched inequality, unemployment and poverty that plagues South Africa today.

Yet he remains loved and honoured by the working class because he was a man of humility and principle. He acknowledged that the struggle of the working class was not over with the dawn of a new South Africa, and encouraged workers to hold the state accountable and fight for a more just South Africa.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) bestowed on Mandela in 1980 the title of Lifetime Honorary President of the NUM. Today the NUM mourns “Mandela who has throughout sacrificed and dedicated his life for the good of the people of South Africa and the world will be solely missed as a global icon, a peace maker and a freedom fighter of note.” On his passing the NUM stated “he has been an inspiration through and through and has on many occasions motivated mineworkers to take education seriously as he believed that it is through it that their children will head mines.”

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) says “President Mandela will forever be admired and adored by the militant and fighting metalworkers of our country… President Mandela’s life touched many South Africans, young and old, black and white, because his life shone through our shared aspirations of a life of full human equality enshrined in the Freedom Charter. His outstanding contribution to our struggle for liberation, freedom, democracy and people’s power will be celebrated by many generations to come.”

Mandela’s death comes at a time when there is more than grief in the dark clouds that have gathered in the South African skies. There are divisions and disillusionment in many quarters, yet the country remains deeply democratic. Mandela’s legacy is the legacy of millions of South Africans that contributed to its making.

Numsa calls for renewed struggle to honour him; “The passing on of President Mandela marks the end of a political era in our journey towards full freedom. To truthfully and fully honour Mandela and his Comrades, President Mandela’s passing on must herald the birth of our renewal to intensify the struggle for full economic sovereignty, for complete economic freedom of the working class and the rural poor.”

The future is where we need to look to, says Frans Baleni, the NUM General Secretary; "As we dip our banners and celebrate the life and times of this stalwart, it is time that as South Africans we reflect on the legacy he left behind and the future we have to craft for generations to come".

As IndustriALL pays tribute to this great man and joins the world in mourning his death, we give Mandela the final word.  “I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk has not ended.”

Rest in peace our great struggle hero

“Time to consign old Iraqi labour laws to the dustbin of history”

In the meeting at the Iraqi Embassy this morning, 9 December, constructive discussions were conducted to support the legislative process of new labour and trade union laws to replace the Saddam Hussein era repression of workers’ rights to organise.

General secretary Jyrki Raina explained to Ambassador Mohammad Ismail that IndustriALL Executive Committee member Hashmeya Muhsin al-Saadawi and other affiliate leaders are unable to freely organise workers or exercise their basic rights while an ILO-compliant labour law remains pending.

While Iraq’s Constitution sets out protections of workers’ right to organise into a trade union of their choosing, the Saddam era laws 150 and 151 have removed that legal protection since 1987. The IndustriALL Iraqi National Council has campaigned together with their national centres and others in a unified effort to repeal the draconian laws. 

See the report on November discussions on the labour law in Iraq which included the ITUC and the US Solidarity Center, as well as IndustriALL and ITF here.

A clear bottom line for the unions is that such a trade union law must apply to workers and employees throughout what is classified in Iraq as the public sector (over 80% of the economy) and it must also recognise the present day reality of trade union pluralism.

IndustriALL today also urged the importance of ending legal attacks such as the continual ones on Hassan Juma’a and other union leaders. Presently, although Hassan has again been acquitted the vice president of the Iraq Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU) appealed the fine levied against him that came to almost US$30,000 and succeeded in getting it dismissed only to have the Ministry appeal and ultimately succeed in re-imposing the draconian levy. He has now exhausted his administrative appeals and faces the possibility that the Ministry will demand a lump sum payment. Failure to pay could lead to loss of his job, seizure of his private property and even prison. Sixteen other workers face fines totaling more than US$600,000. Workers are being held personally responsible for the value of all lost production resulting from work stoppages. The Ambassador today denied that these charges were persecution for trade union activities but promised to investigate.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina told the Ambassador:

Iraq is described by many as the cradle of civilisation. It is time you took the high ground. Iraq could be a beacon of change in the Middle East & North Africa, and we would very much like to see that.

Ambassador Ismail told IndustriALL:

There is no doubt that Freedom of Association legislation will be enacted in Iraq. People in Iraq have the right to protect themselves. We are ready to cooperate with everybody. But there are many important decisions pending in the parliament. The process takes time, and the security situation is very serious.

IndustriALL and its six Iraqi affiliates will continue to publicise the present appalling situation and press for ILO-compliant legislation to be passed in this parliamentary period in Iraq.

Symbolic Napoleón Gómez victory moves IndustriALL

Napoleón has been unable to take his seat as a titular member of the executive since sham charges against him from the Mexican authorities have kept him on the Interpol red alert list.

The emotive victory of achieving Napoleón’s participation in the meeting follows constant international solidarity and support. The role of the United Steelworkers (USW) and IndustriALL Global were particularly commended. Now focus continues to ensure Napoleón’s safe return to Mexico to lead his union Los Mineros from the headquarters in Mexico City.

To ensure Napoleón’s safe return to Canada earlier today, news of his presence was not publicised during the meeting.

The IndustriALL Executive Committee unanimously resolved to:

Reiterate its unequivocal support for the National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel and Related Workers of the Mexican Republic and its President and General Secretary, Napoleón Gómez Urrutia.  We thank the ILO and the Government of Switzerland for their assistance in making it possible for Napoleón to participate in our meeting in Geneva on 4-5 December 2013.

We demand that the Government of Mexico immediately cease its political persecution of Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, cancel the false charges against him that have already been repeatedly nullified by Mexican appellate courts, and guarantee the safe return of Napoleón and his family to Mexico.

We call on the Mexican Government to honor its commitment to allow the workers at the El Coronel mine in the State of Zacatecas, owned by Grupo Frisco, to have a free and fair vote on union representation, and we demand that the Federal and State governments refrain from any attacks or intimidation of the workers and their families.

IndustriALL and the entire global trade union movement will continue to monitor and denounce violations of freedom of association and trade union autonomy in Mexico.

The IndustriALL Executive Committee also resolved to nominate Napoleon to receive the annual Arthur Svensson award in 2014, named after a famous Norwegian trade unionist.

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

Napoleón said:

This is an historic moment, for me to be present after eight years since I participated in the Executive Committee of the IMF, here in Geneva. It has been possible in spite of all the threats and attacks against our union to be here thanks to the international solidarity that we have received from all over the world and especially from IndustriALL Global Union.

IndustriALL ExCo commits to front line union struggles

See photos, updates and quotes from the two days on Twitter here.

Meeting at the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, the ExCo was an historic occasion due to the participation of one very important delegate, details of which can only be published tomorrow.

Permanent action continues to fight precarious work, as a key flagship IndustriALL campaign. President Huber described precarious work as the “Modern form of slavery, especially affecting young people”.

IndustriALL President Berthold Huber said:

We should be helping our affiliates as much as possible so that they can operate in their regions.

IndustriALL must prioritise organising. Only from a strong base can unions defend workers.

IndustriALL must use its strength and power to confront companies and governments who trample upon workers’ rights.

In Colombia, Mexico and Iraq we must continue our fight for workers’ fundamental rights.

Structural unemployment remains high, there is growing economic and social inequality in all regions.

It is up to us to help shape a sustainable industrial policy, integrated with a sustainable employment programme.”

The IndustriALL Executive Committee assessed work conducted in Bangladesh since the Rana Plaza tragedy, following the report from the general secretary Jyrki Raina and assistant general secretary Monika Kemperle. The Accord for Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh driven by IndustriALL and UNI was commended as a breakthrough. Now signed by 118 companies, covering 1,800 factories and 2 million workers. Negotiations continue towards a compensation agreement for Rana Plaza victims.

IndustriALL’s action in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) was outlined by assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan, announcing a new target project for Iraq, Egypt and other countries in the region.

The MENA region continues as a priority hotbed for IndustriALL. Challenges continue in Egypt where there are now two independent trade union structures, but lacking operational activities and a culture of dialogue with the government needs to be built. The situation is better in Tunisia; trade union UGTT has played a central role throughout the country’s transformational process. In Iraq the international campaign for a fair labour legislation continues.

Assistant general secretary Fernando Lopes updated the ExCo on the ongoing campaign for trade union rights in Mexico.

Delegates rallied behind the urgent “No to Dirty Ansell Gloves” campaign, following an update from ExCo member Anton Marcus, the head of the Sri Lankan union fighting for its members locked out by the intransigent Ansell. See the Ansell resolution here. 

ExCo equally pledged full support behind a resolution condemning union busting by Korean-based Samsung Electronics. See the full article here.

ExCo also discussed the Rio Tinto corporate campaign that will focus on increasing union density, organising workers, and getting recognition of IndustriALL as the company’s formal negotiating counterpart.

Four major spotlights of the campaign immediately are Mongolia, Indonesia, Madagascar, and Australia.

The International’s Executive adopted newly structured central goals and key strategies for the period until the 2016 Congress. ExCo endorsed a new process to move IndustriALL from the set-up phase to an action–oriented consolidation phase that builds union power around the world focusing on organising and growth.

ExCo also adopted a new charter of principles in confronting corporate violations of fundamental rights.

IndustriALL Executives condemn Samsung for union busting

Samsung Electronics, one of the biggest IT corporations of the world has a long history of disrespect towards labour and human rights. The Korean Metal Workers’ Union, an IndustriALL affiliate, raised the issue citing numerous cases of violations of workers’ rights ranging from kidnapping and battening of union leaders up to a special training delivered by the company to its management with the specific aim of implementation of an effective “union-free” policy not only in Korea itself but also in other countries of the region.

The well-known global IT producer is also notorious for poor working conditions including long-working hours and largely using a precariously employed workforce. At the same time the company tries to prevent workers from joining trade unions disabling them from fighting for better conditions. Not only does Samsung do everything to prevent workers from joining trade unions, the company also makes pressure on unionized precariously employed workers forcing them to withdraw from their representative organizations. The pressure including discrimination in payment based on union membership as well as continuous targeted auditing of union members is very high.

The resolution reveals the case of Jong-Beom Choi, Samsung Electronics Service Local union member, who was pushed into extreme hardship through such targeted auditing and committed suicide on 31 October 2013 in protest of Samsung union repression.

At the end of the resolution the IndustriALL Executives said, “Samsung cannot become a truly world-class company without giving up its “union-free” policy. Representing 50 million industrial workers of the world we call on transnational corporation Samsung Electronics to give up its “union-free” policy, recognize trade unions and stop trade union repression. We call on Samsung Electronics to apologize for the death of Samsung Electronics Service Local union member Jong-Beom Choi and immediately take measures to solve the issues.”

Tomorrow, on 6 December 2013, KMWU representatives are submitting a complaint against Samsung with the Committee on Freedom of Association of the International Labour Organization. 

Fire kills seven and injures three in Italy

The fire happened on Sunday morning in a warehouse of a textile factory, on top of which according to local mass media reports there was an improvised dormitory made of small cardboard compartments where 11 workers slept.

The victims were reportedly Chinese immigrants.

Over recent years once one of the biggest textile dominated the industrial zone of Macrolotto where the tragedy happened has seen the biggest decline since World War Two. Likewise in many other industrialized countries in the search for bigger profit many textile companies moved from Italy to countries with less protected and lower paid workforce.

However, that was not the end of textile industry in Macrolotto zone. In fact the zone saw a new development, and for some years many Chinese companies come there. Producing in Italy makes part of the branding and is an added value to the final product. Currently there are more than 4,500 companies leading commercial activities in the zone. These companies employ some 30,000 legal migrants of Chinese origin and an unclear number of illegal migrants working and living in precarious conditions similar to the ones resulted in death of the workers.

According to the IndustriALL Italian affiliate FEMCA-CISL, the union representing textile and garment workers, these companies are characterized by a high turnover, non-respect of national norms, in addition they often close down their operations in a very short period of time, thus preventing any possible trace down of their operations. Their final market also remains oblique. Recently the union noticed that these companies started to appear also in other sectors.

FEMCA is working in two directions, by representing the interests of workers independently of their origin and stimulating a rising of culture of legality and integration. However the closures blocking legal denunciations and blackmailing against workers bring all efforts to nought. The union believes a more comprehensive approach is needed including setting up a special institutional body able to do better monitoring and coordination of enforcement actions including through strengthened public bodies. In addition the union believes the authorities should support the companies operating legally with respect to the rules of work and dignity. If measures are not taken now the union considers the new tragedy will be just a question of time.