INTERVIEW: Marcio Pochmann

INTERVIEW

Text: Valeska Solis
Translation: Chris Whitehouse
Main Photo: IndustriALL
 

Coordinated industrial policies are essential for Latin America and the Caribbean. 

In a world of precarious work and increased outsourcing, industrial policies are a way of protecting workers and their rights. According to Marcio Pochmann, economist, researcher and professor at UNICAMP (Campinas University) and president of the Instituto de Investigación Económica Aplicada from 2007 to 2012, South American countries need to have a common strategy in order to face the increasing global competition.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Brazil has the biggest economy in Latin America and is the seventh biggest in the world. Marcio Pochmann sees several reasons why Brazil is in this position. One is democratization, the country has enjoyed 30 years of representative government, and another is economic growth.


The redistribution of income and increased employment between 2004 and 2005 encouraged economic expansion and got the economy moving,

says Marcio Pochmann.


After the crisis in 2008, economic recovery began in developing countries such as China, India and Brazil. According to Pochmann, Brazil is the engine of the Latin American economy and its economy has the potential to be among the five biggest in the world. In recent years, Brazil has been one of the major beneficiaries of world economic growth. The nation has accumulated wealth
by exporting minerals, oil, coal, beef and soya to Europe and Asia.

What is the current situation in Brazil and Latin America?

Latin America lived through a long period of neoliberal policies, which were applied in different ways. This was detrimental to society and the economy and severely limited Latin America’s development prospects. However, post-neoliberal alternatives, applying different models, have emerged in the 21st century. The Bolivarian tendency in countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador has provided timely and interesting options for countries with a large agricultural sector. The situation is different in Uruguay and Argentina because these countries have a much more complex society that gives scope for constructing post-neoliberal alternatives. This is, for example, different to Venezuela, which has a large oil production and export capacity. There is also the Brazilian experience, which is different to that of Venezuela or Argentina. This is because Brazil has a very large industrial sector, and its recent investment in the oil industry has put the country into an excellent position.

The new government fund will mean increased investment in health and education. This was an important outcome of the wave of social protest in June this year when large demonstrations were held across Brazil. These post-neoliberal models are anti-neoliberal but there are also important differences between them.

What was the significance of these demonstrations for the development in Brazil?

The demonstrations were very important for breathing new life into the democracy in Brazil. It was good for the country that people went out on the streets to call for change. They were calling for improvements to public services, to the quality of education and health, something that the markets cannot offer. So this protest from the streets has been essential for the development of Brazil.

Speaking of the demonstrations, what is your opinion of the proposed Law 4330?

Outsourcing is a fact, not only in Brazil. Outsourcing is related to precarious work and I think it is essential to legislate or regulate on this matter. However, the majority proposal does not deal with the central issue of outsourcing. So there is a serious risk that the proposal will do nothing to improve the quality of employment and could mean more precarious work, including in sectors where precarious work is not yet common.

What is your opinion of the industrial sector in Latin America?

Industrial production is very important and I think South American countries need to coordinate industrial policy. There is a lot of competition, with an increase of manufacturing in Asia, especially China. At the same time, the new energy matrix may help the United States to recover, all of which could make it more difficult for South American industry to develop. It could even lead to an industrial decline in Latin America. So it is essential for our region to develop a co-ordinated industrial policy.

Industrial development depends on having a global strategy, so policies should have a coordinated international, and not just a national, perspective. For example, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay could coordinate their oil, shipbuilding and other industries. They could coordinate their entire productive system.

Could such coordination help to combat precarious employment?

Yes. One example of this is Mercosur, in which there is still competition but which is also becoming a forum for cooperation. Competition often leads to the disappearance of productive sectors in some countries. China has managed to organize a productive system that benefits its population and that has strong links with neighbouring countries. It imports many products and exports many products. I don’t think it is appropriate for Brazil, for example, to have a trade surplus with neighbouring countries. It should diversify and develop its relations with its neighbours. Precarious and informal work would be less widespread if there was less concern about competing. Competition can be harmful because it is all about low costs, which means keeping wages down. However, precarious employment continues to be a way of competing and is a practice also widely used in Latin American countries.

What role can trade unions play in coordinating industrial policy?

The trade unions are very important, not only for the consolidation of democracy, but also as standard bearers for the future. The unions cannot just look in the rear mirror when driving their car, because that would mean looking backwards. The unions must look forwards. On the one hand, there is a change in the working class, the importance of new information and communication technologies is increasing and this means new workers. Another issue is that workers don’t join unions, they do not have contact with unions. So the unions need to attract new workers to strengthen their position, their reform agenda and their demands in order to promote economic and social progress in their countries.

Do you think Brazil is consolidating its position? Is it comparable to Argentina?

Brazil is a bit different to Argentina. If Argentina were an animal, it would be one that can build political majorities more quickly and change direction more quickly. Brazil is more like an elephant, which moves more slowly and takes longer to build political majorities, but which can achieve more solid results. Despite all the difficulties, Brazil is now going in the right direction, and should not return to its previous policies. There is a feeling that change and the fight against inequality and precarious work are essential elements for the consolidation of democracy.
 

Observer mission highlights irregularities in Honduran elections

As strategies go, it was fairly straightforward: First, bar alternative parties from the electoral tribunal so that you can impose the system that best suits your purposes. Second, organize an election with all the trappings of a reasonably democratic process. Third, within hours brazenly declare yourself the winner and manipulate the poll returns as needed to support your claim.
 
IndustriALL GLobal Union participated in a trade union observer mission, made up of regional representatives of three global unions, of IndustriAll’s Danish affiliate 3F and of unions from Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Through the observer mission, IndustriAll Global Union witnessed how preliminary results based on selective returns from only 20 per cent of polling stations were described as ‘decisive and unlikely to change’. This was the cue National Party candidate Juan Orlando Hernández needed to launch his victory, speech which was widely covered in the official media.
 
Worse was yet to come. By Monday evening, the electoral tribunal had posted on its obscure website images of the tally sheets from the largest voting center in the country’s industrial capital, where an IndustriAll representative had been present to witness the vote count. Oddly enough, officials also posted a chart listing the breakdown of the center’s 47 polling booths which contradicted the data from the tally sheets in surprising ways:  the votes obtained by the Liberal Party were mistakenly attributed to a small party which had not obtained a single vote, while the National Party’s own results were reduced to only 0.17 per cent of votes cast. Clearly efficiency is not a pre-requisite here.
 
These are high-stakes elections for the traditional political parties and the business elites that support them. The ruling party is keen to hang on to the controversial laws it has pushed through since the 2009 coup, including the law on autonomous ‘charter cities’, which has been widely decried as ‘free-market colonialism’, as well as the ‘hourly employment law’ allowing employers to hire up to 40 per cent of their permanent workforce by the hour.
 
Unions in Honduras have been actively involved in the movement of popular resistance to the coup, out of which the Libre party was born. IndustriAll affiliates, the Federación de Trabajadores Mineros y Metalúrgicos de Honduras (FETRAMIMH) and the Federación Independiente de Trabajadores de Honduras (FITH) describe the current state of mind of their members as one of ‘controlled anger’ and are closely following the situation.

FEATURE: In the wake of the Arab Spring

FEATURE

TEXT & PHOTOS: Kemal özkan, Ahmed Kamel, Jim Catterson, Carol Bruce
Location: Middle East and North Africa

Main photo: Protests across Egypt calling for the resignation of President Mohammed Morsi on 30 June, 2013. IndustriALL
photos Opposite: Workers of Bahayra Company for Land Reclamation, demand their salaries at the picket line in Egypt. IndustriALL

Workers have been given promises about democracy, human and trade union rights, but too often there is little to show in reality. Cases from Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria clearly show that peaceful freedom of association is under heavy pressure. A new Law on Associations adopted in Algeria in 2012, for example, fails to protect the freedom of association by limiting access to foreign funding and complicates the registration of new and existing organizations.
IndustriALL, together with its affiliates, continue the struggle for democracy in the MENA, fighting for the respect of human and trade union rights.

Organizing and campaigning in Egypt

The dawn of the Arab Spring paved the way for a new trade unionism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The region witnessed the emergence of new independent unions, not least in Egypt.

A wave of privatization in the late nineties marginalized a large portion of the labour force and resulted in severe layoffs. In 2004, Egyptian workers started an unprecedented phase of struggle for freedom of association and better living and working conditions. Between 2006 and 2008, hundreds of wildcat strikes were conducted outside of the formal union structures. Workers of Misr Mahalla Textile and Spinning Company, the largest factory in the MENA region employing around 22,000 workers, led the struggle. A series of strikes by workers in other sectors followed, opening for the foundation of the first-ever independent union in Egypt, the Real Estate Tax Authority Union in 2008. On 30 January 2011, independent unions gathered in Tahrir Square declaring the foundation of the Egyptian Federation of Independent Unions (EFITU). The EFITU immediately called for a general strike to increase the pressure on Mubarak’s regime to resign.

Since the beginning of the revolution on 25 January 2011, IndustriALL has closely followed the political developments in Egypt, as well as the implications for trade unions and workers. IndustriALL supports independent unions in Egypt through education, organizing and campaigning in order to build
stronger unions.

With the support of the solidarity center of AFL-CIO (the American Confederation of Labour) and the ITUC, IndustriALL has held four seminars with independent unions since the beginning of 2013. The first planning and assessment seminar took place in Cairo with 50 participants from IndustriALL’s industrial sectors. The seminar welcomed leaders of the Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress (EDLC) and EFITU, as well as representatives of ILO, ITUC and FES. The participants discussed key challenges facing their unions, such as non-recognition, state intervention and barriers over collection of union dues.

The project continued with three more seminars on capacity building of the new unions. In Alexandria, the 25 participants of the second seminar focused on the energy sector. During the two-day seminar, participants were able to express their challenges as independent unions in oil, electricity and mining industries in Egypt. This included subcontracting, employers’ resistance of non-recognition for independent unions, companies’ approaches on employing agency workers and refusing to make decent work contracts.

Mahalla El Kobra city, the home of Egypt’s textile and garment industry, hosted the national seminar focused on the challenges of textile workers. Participants from various branches of the industry bore witness to the large number of layoffs and early retirement experienced by the textile and garment industry in Egypt since the 1990s. This is due to economic restructuring, privatization and widespread corruption as many factories stopped work due to poor management. There is a need to establish national mechanisms to face privatization and to restart the inactive factories, as well as applying modern and efficient management in state-owned factories. The lack of organizing capacity in the private sector and absence of collective bargaining need to be countered.

Sadat city is one of the fastest growing industrial cities in Egypt. The city hosts foreign and national private enterprises, a number of which benefit from the “Qualified Industrial Zones agreement between Egypt, Israel and the USA”. This is where IndustriALL held the fourth seminar; supporting youth-dominated independent union movement. Workers received training on collective bargaining skills, as well as raising their knowledge on recent developments on labour and trade union laws.
Within the framework of the IndustriALL special

program several groups of workers have been inspired to found unions, and then joined larger regional and national structures. IndustriALL has recently affiliated the General Trade Union of Electricity and Energy as the first independent union affiliated from Egypt.
The revolution managed to change the regime, but has not been able to eliminate inherited policies and their repercussions. Recently, Egyptian workers from IndustriALL affiliates have faced several violations of their rights. IndustriALL has campaigned on their behalf and brought the cases to the attention of the Egyptian authorities and public.

Since the foundation of the first Egyptian trade union structure in the late 1950s, Egyptian workers have been deprived of the right to freely organize outside of the official unions recognized by the government. A long struggle has resulted in the current discussions on the adoption of a new trade union law guaranteeing freedom of association. For the past two years, a number of drafts have been discussed and submitted to government and parliament. Due to conflicting interests of some of the groups that came to power following the overturn of the Mubarak regime, the law is still waiting to be adopted.

Egyptian workers, the ILO, IndustriALL and other Global Union Federations are urging the Egyptian government to issue the law as soon as possible. IndustriALL will continue to support Egyptian workers until they win the demands of their revolution: bread, freedom and social justice.

New unity in Iraq as IndustriALL campaigns for fair labour law

Iraq still lacks legislation protecting workers’ rights, guaranteeing freedom of association and governing industrial relations. In an effort to coordinate and consolidate forces, the new IndustriALL National Council was established in Baghdad on 10 July.

The current legislation, inherited from Saddam Hussein’s regime, rules out the existence of labour unions carrying out free and independent labour union activity. It prohibits independent organizing and collective bargaining in both the public and private sectors, as well as prohibiting unions from holding funds, collecting dues, and maintaining assets. There are no provisions for the right to strike, and workers in essential services are explicitly prohibited from striking. In addition, harsh anti-union practices at workplaces through threats, intimidations, kidnappings, torture and murders are not uncommon.

In spite of this adversity, Iraqi workers have managed to form their own unions. In the last few years, six Iraqi affiliates representing workers in oil, petrochemical and electricity sectors have joined IndustriALL, and there is a large interest for further affiliation.
Establishing the IndustriALL Global Union National Council by six Iraqi affiliates is a great step towards joining forces in fighting for trade union legislation.

While visiting Baghdad, IndustriALL met with Mr Osama Al-Nujaifi, Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Mr Nassar Al-Rubuiee, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, and Mr Kanna Yonadam, Chair of Labor and Social Affairs Committee at the Parliament, discussing the current legislation. Under local and international pressure, the Iraqi government has drafted a new labour law, far below the trade unions’ ambitions.

IndustriALL made it clear that the law must cover the public sector. Legislation should also make it easier to form a union by ensuring that requirements follow ILO norms and standards – trade unions must be allowed to determine and establish their own democratic structures, and the law must provide effective guarantees against interference in trade union movement by government and employers.
IndustriALL, in cooperation with International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Iraqi affiliated trade unions and national centres, campaigns for enactment of trade union legislation. For this purpose, IndustriALL and ITUC have sent a joint letter to the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament.

Somalia

Offshore East Africa is one of the newest areas for oil and gas, and Somalia is one of the latest countries to attract the attention of large multinational companies. IndustriALL has been in interaction with the ITUC-affiliated National Centre in Somalia, Federation of Somali Trade Unions, FESTU, lending cooperation and assistance in organizing workers and defending workers’ rights. FESTU is the first independent and democratic trade union centre in the country and has now ten affiliated trade unions.

Libya

In 2011 Muammar Gadhafi’s autocratic government ended after a six-month uprising and civil war. The main opposition group, the National Transitional Council, NTC, declared the country liberated and pledged to create a pluralist, democratic state. Following Libya’s first free election in six decades the NTC handed over power to a newly elected parliament, the General National Congress, in August 2012. The country now faces many challenges including a plethora of armed groups who refuse to disarm. Libya is plagued by instability and is almost entirely dependent on oil and gas that account for over 95 per cent of its exports.

Armed guards, including rebels who participated in the civil war, were formed by the defence ministry to protect the oil industry. A tug-of-war with the former militiamen has ensued, with the guards responsible for recent strikes leaving only two of the country’s oil terminals functioning and oil exports at just 160,000 barrels of oil per day (p/d). Production has fallen from 1.5 million to 500,000 barrels p/d. Oil sector workers, members of the Oil and Gas Sector Workers Union OGSWU, are reported to have protested outside Congress demanding that the government reopen the country’s oil fields and export terminals.

IndustriALL makes strenuous efforts to be in support of the new unions in Libya, particularly in the oil industry.
A number of multinational oil companies are active in the country, including the ones with which there are Global Framework Agreements (GFA).

Tunisia

The Arab Spring began in Tunisia and the trade unions of the General Union of Workers of Tunisia, UGTT, were at the forefront of the struggle. UGTT emerged as the key mediator of the revolution, winning trust from divergent political forces.
It was within the union that the committee which regulated the transition to the elections of 23 October 2011 was formed. The unions have also secured victories for their members and for workers in general, including permanent contracts for over 350,000 formerly temporary workers.

Tunisia is now in a political and economic crisis with growing terrorism, rising unemployment and a collapsing economy. Tunisia’s ruling three-party coalition has turned to the UGTT to help break the political stalemate. UGTT has remained decidedly outside the control of the Islamist government, which has had to come to terms with the union’s role and status. Recent discussions have seen the coalition agree to a one month timeline to finish the constitution and organize new elections, after which the government will step down.

With over 500,000 members and a strong support-base in the rural areas where the revolution started, the UGTT is a powerful force. After the revolution it became a target yet again. On 4 December 2012, as the union prepared to commemorate the 60th anniversary of a former leader’s assassination, its headquarters were attacked, wounding ten people. In response UGTT called a one-day national strike.
IndustriALL now has three affiliated trade unions, all members of the UGTT, in Tunisia. Tahar Berberi, leader of Fédération Générale de la Métallurgie et de l’Electronique is a member of IndustriALL’s Executive and Finance Committees. With his assistance a joint affiliates’ meeting and seminar is to be held in Tunis to discuss how the international movement can support the unions in the present situation.

Palestine

IndustriALL has three affiliates in Palestine. All are industry federations of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, PGFTU, led by Shaher Sae’d. Shaher Sae’d is the 2011 winner of the prestigious Arthur Svensson International Award for Union Rights, an annual award from Industri Energi, IndustriALL Norwegian affiliate, commemorating a leader of the Norwegian labour movement.
The PGFTU and its member unions fight for trade union rights in Palestine, as well as for Palestinian self-determination. Many of IndustriALL’s affiliates, particularly Belgian La Centrale Generale of FGTB, continues an extensive partnership with the petrochemicals union to support their struggle for social justice.

Arab Women organize

The Arab Women’s Network runs under the auspices of the ITUC, bringing together women trade unionists. The aim of the network is to strengthen women’s standing in the labour market and in trade unions across the region.
In May and June training was done in Egypt to discuss the deterioration of women’s rights. The agenda also included the constitution and its impact on women, women and the labor market in Egypt, promotion and discrimination at work, child care needs at work and male domination in unions. Training has also been conducted for women in Morocco and Algeria.
IndustriALL has taken the first steps to create its own women’s network in the MENA region.

Democratic Arab Union League of ITUC – on the road to an Arab region trade union organization

Within the framework of the ITUC, a new trade union organization for the Arab region is being created. Two meetings in Amman, Jordan, brought together Arab trade union organizations affiliated to or associated with the ITUC, the Global Union Federations, Solidarity Support Organizations, and the ILO-ACTRAV.

Participants welcomed the proposed structure aimed at strengthening democratic trade unions and agreed to provide support during this critical time. A new, independent structure is regarded as essential for trade unions to be able respond effectively to the legitimate political and social aspirations expressed by the revolutions in the Arab region. A charter setting out the fundamental principles for action is being developed, emphasizing the struggle for freedom, social justice and equality.

Vedanta Resources KCM retrenchment plans rejected

The union had successfully opposed similar plans by KCM to lay off over 2,000 employees in June 2013. KCM cited the falling metal price, an increase in labour, power, input commodities costs and royalty taxes as the reason for wanting to retrench but on 1st November 2013, KCM gave new reasons for intending to retrench 1,529. KCM CEO Kishore Kumar said the move was in a bid to move towards mechanization and automation in view of decreased copper grades at some of its mines.

The Zambian President, Michael Sata has threatened to revoke KCMs mining license if it proceeds to lay off 1,529 employees. President Sata said he would not allow mining companies to blackmail government by threatening to lay off workers every time government introduced legislation meant to collect correct revenues from the mines. He said 49 years after independence; Zambia had survived on mineworkers’ Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax and not what came from the mines.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilbur Simuusa says courageous decisions will have to be made by the government to protect jobs and end mismanagement of KCM by Vedanta that has resulted in high operational costs. He said a 10 man technical team that has been appointed by the government would highlight the wrongs in the operations of KCM and make recommendations on how to protect jobs, as well as make the company viable again. He further said KCM had the most demotivated workforce because of announcements of retrenchments and irregularities in the payroll system that had persistently rocked the mining company.

The MUZ General Secretary Joseph Chewe said the union would oppose the mining giant’s plans. He said KCM is similar to Mopani Copper Mines plc (MCM) which is run by Glencore Xtrata. MCM also inherited old mines but is sinking new shafts to extend the lifespan of the mines. KCM could not do the same.

The MUZ President Chishimba Nkole said Vedanta Resource had failed to run the mine and called on the Zambian government to bring in new investors. “KCM will never announce that it has failed. Our duty is to look at the signs and symptoms…are they taking us in the right direction? The writing is on the wall that KCM is no more. It is up to the Zambian government because as a union, we have done our best to bring to the attention of the government the activities of KCM management. KCM has shown all signs that they are unable to move the company forward,” he said.

KCM has over 7,000 permanent employees and a further 12,000 are employed in companies contracted by the Vedanta Resources owned mining giant. 

PROFILE: Angeline Chitambo, Still Fighting On

PROFILE

COUNTRY: Zimbabwe

UNION: Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union (ZEWU)

Text: Aisha Bahadur
Photo: IndustriALL

It all started when ZESA refused to comply with an arbitration ruling to implement the collective bargaining agreement signed off by the company on wage increases for 2012. ZESA suspended 135 workers, including Angeline and other union leaders for allegedly threatening strike action. ZESA then tried to use the reinstatement of the suspended workers as leverage to have the union agree to abandon the collective bargaining agreement, but ZEWU remained resolute.

After a long battle all of the suspended workers were reinstated except for Angeline, who was dismissed.

From the start of this we were not alone and now when it is just me left out in the cold, IndustriALL continues to stand by me,

says Angeline.

I never expected that I would get such support. The initiative taken by IndustriALL to help me and my union during this time has given me strength and courage to keep fighting.

ZEWU took the matter to labour court, which ruled that the charges against Angeline were unfounded and ordered her reinstatement. ZESA refuses to comply with the ruling, seeking to settle the matter by paying her to leave voluntarily.

Angeline, who has worked at ZESA for more than 26 years and served as Vice President of ZEWU from 2000 and then as its President from 2006, interprets the attempt to remove her as a move to undermine the union that has grown into a vibrant worker driven organization under her leadership.

They see me as a threat because I have been pushing forward workers’ issues but I can’t leave like this.

She adds with a laugh,

I have said that I will accept being pushed out if they honour the 2012 collective bargaining agreement.

Angeline points out that in 2006 ZESA tried to violate the collective bargaining agreement but the difference was the response from workers.

We had the biggest strike that Zesa has ever faced, it was considered illegal because we are categorised as essential services workers and denied the right to strike, but everybody participated and nobody could be victimised.

So what has changed? Angeline speaks of the demobilization of workers through state repression. A particular problem is the restrictions on gatherings that require police clearance. Employers use victimization to manipulate workers, resulting in a decline of worker ideology.

Workers have an ‘each man for himself and God for all’ attitude. Without unity amongst workers, the labour movement is as good as dead in Zimbabwe,

Angeline says.

This has severely undermined the power balance in industrial relations, leaving unions without the ability to mobilize workers on their demands.

Again in 2013, ZEWU and ZESA are unable to reach an agreement in the collective bargaining. ZEWU wants a wage increase in 2013 to be applied to wages that include the gains won in 2012. With limited options available to the union to exert pressure, once again a legal route through arbitration must be pursued.

Through the challenges I have faced in the last year, I have come to appreciate the importance of unity and solidarity. We have come together as unions from diverse sectors at a global level, but we can achieve so much more if we build unity amongst ourselves as affiliates at a country level. This is what I pledge to champion in IndustriALL, this will be my thanks for the support I have received,

concludes Angeline.

SPECIAL REPORT: Rio Tinto unsustainable business practice

SPECIAL REPORT

Text: Glen Mpufane, Armelle Seby

Main photo: IndustriALL Global Union joined a diverse group of civil society activists, NGOs and community-based organizations in London to protest against Rio Tinto and Anglo American unsustainable business practices on the occasion of their Annual General Meetings on 18 and 19 April 2013. Amy Scaife/London Mining Network

In the midst of the worst global recession ever to hit the world in 2008, the mining industry experienced a commodity boom. This boom, driven largely by the growth of India and China, created unprecedented demand for coal, mineral resources and precious stones. Against the background of the financial crisis, mining companies continued to outperform the overall market, as consumer sector dependent on demand from developed economies struggled to recover. Most mining companies came through the crisis with robust balance sheets. However, the mining boom has not delivered for workers – mining is the most unsafe industry in the world, and it is tough work.

The Way we Work, Rio Tinto’s global code of conduct, is promoted as an expression of good corporate citizenry and an expression of the company’s values. Rio Tinto is considered by many ethical business rankings as leading in the mining sector, and it continues to enjoy high accolades by ethical indices such as the FTSE4good ethical share index. Yet Swiss-based REPRISK, a firm specializing in assessing the possible environmental, social, governance and reputational risks of companies, listed Rio Tinto as the sixth most controversial mining company of 2011.

Before being accepted as provider of the metals for the 2012 Olympic medals, Rio Tinto went through an audit and certification process. The company was subsequently the first to be certified as a responsible mining company by the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), an organization of companies in the industry and which includes Rio Tinto as a founding member.
However, the certification attesting to the company’s highest ethical, social, and environmental standards, raises questions about Rio Tinto’s influence over the RJC. The London Olympics organizers were subjected to criticism for choosing Rio Tinto without following service provider protocols for auditing and certification. It also appears to have been a rushed-through process which conveniently made Rio Tinto the first mining company to receive this recognition.

The award was widely condemned by human rights NGOs, as well as by IndustriALL Global Union and its affiliates. IndustriALL joined thousands of activists around the world to vote for Rio Tinto as the worst company linked to the London Olympics in the Greenwash awards.

Direct engagement cuts out trade unions

Rio Tinto prefers to avoid negotiations with mineworkers’ unions and find solutions with the workers themselves instead of having a third party involved. They call the practice direct engagement. As articulated by David Peever, a senior company executive in 2012, legislation must take account of the need for ‘direct engagement between management and the work force’. It is best to limit ‘the influence of third parties in areas of the business in particular that are more properly the province of management.’

Since trade unions fall in the category of third parties, they have no place in Rio Tinto’s world and are perceived as an obstacle and a threat to flexibility and the need for improved productivity. Rio Tinto successfully de-unionised its workforce in Australia in the 1990s, becoming the first major mining company to place its workforce on individual contracts and refuse to deal with unions. At the time, Bell Bay was the first significant plant in Australia to stand without a recognised trade union.

But Industriall affiliate the Australian Workers’ Union, AWU, scored a historic victory by winning back the collective bargaining rights at the Bell Bay plant in 2013. This was the result of two years of strategic and systematic trade union work.

In 2012 events along the same lines unfolded in Alma, Québec, where 780 workers were locked out at an aluminium smelter. Workers were effectively being punished for rejecting management attempts to halve salaries and outsource the workforce. The lock-out lasted for six months, but after taking on the mining giant the United Steelworkers, USW, won the fight and saw a new collective agreement ratified.

In August 2013, Redpath Mongolia, a contractor that employs workers at the Rio Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine owned jointly by Rio Tinto and the Mongolian government, fired about 1,700 workers. The reason for firing the workers was never disclosed but was apparently linked to revenue sharing of the mine with the government of Mongolia. Turquoise Hill Resources, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, announced on 12 August 2013 that until “matters can be resolved with the Mongolian government and a new timetable has been agreed”, the funding and development of the mine’s underground expansion would be delayed. Redpath Mongolia was involved in the building of the underground portion of the mine.

In Australia, Rio Tinto has been involved in a run in with authorities over the future of the Gove alumina refinery in Australia, which employs about 1400 workers. In the midst of negotiations with authorities over the security of energy (gas) supply to the refinery and an apparent rejection of the government’s offer, Rio Tinto subsidiary Pacific Aluminium went ahead and warned Gove workers of an uncertain future. Chief Minister, Adam Giles said, while the Government had been conducting negotiations in good faith with Rio Tinto, “the Northern Territory Government is disappointed Rio Tinto has chosen to scare its employees by discussing curtailment of its Gove refinery before all its options have been exhausted and a final decision has been made”.

In New Zealand, IndustriALL affiliate the New Zealand Engineering, Printing & Manufacturing Union Incorporated (EPMU), brought a case to the courts that involved New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Limited, a Rio Tinto Alcan majority owned smelter. The company was ordered to pay back workers owed annual leave that they were legally entitled to but never received.

IndustriALL affiliate, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), endured a bitter dispute with Rio Tinto in 2010 at an exclusively owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto, the Borax mine in southern California. Rio Tinto attempted to impose new precarious contracts on workers that would have increased overtime, scrapped the seniority system in place at the time, given managers discretion to cut jobs and hours, and with little benefits for the workers. After the ILWU put the issue to a vote that unanimously rejected the new conditions, workers who turned up for work the next day found they were locked out by the company. The ILWU mounted a successful global campaign that forced Rio Tinto to withdraw.

Solidarity actions in Indonesia and Mongolia

In May 2013 the roof on a non-operational underground tunnel collapsed during a training session at the Freeport-McMoran’s Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia killing 28 miners. The accident, which can only be described as an industrial homicide, killed 28 members of CEMWU FSPKEP-SPSI. On 15-18 September, Andrew Vickers, chairperson of the mining sector at IndustriALL and General Secretary of CFMEU in Australia, led a high-level global solidarity mission to Indonesia to lend international support to CEMWU
FSPKEP-SPSI.

The mission included delegates from the United Steelworkers of America and the National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa. During the three days, the mission delegates met with the management of PT Freeport Indonesia, as well as government representatives from the Ministry of Energy, Natural Resources and Minerals, and the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration.

We learned with horror that the cause of the accident was that the roof collapsed due to faulty lines along the rooftop and deterioration of ground support bolts. As such no one could be held accountable,

Andrew Vickers says.

The mission’s conclusion, supported by the CEMWU FSPKEP-SPSI, was that the cause of the accident was management negligence. No evidence of inspections or risk assessment performed before the accident could be provided.

Last year Sukhgerel Dugersuren of the Mongolian NGO Oyu Tolgoi Watch, addressed the Rio Tinto AGM on behalf of herders who live around the Oyu Tolgoi mine, saying that Rio Tinto was diverting the Undai River – the sole river that supports life in this Gobi desert region – without local community consent and the necessary government permits. It is on this site that Rio Tinto has chosen to dump its waste rock.

IndustriALL’s recent mission to Mongolia to investigate claims of unethical conduct on the part of Rio Tinto discovered that as a result of a flawed investment agreement signed by a former government, Mongolia will not reap the benefits from the Oyu Tolgoi mine for another 20 to 30 years. The current government is involved in a fierce battle with Rio Tinto to review the terms of that investment agreement.
As described earlier, it is a battle that has resulted in the termination of 1,700 workers.

Rio Tinto and IndustriALL Global Union

IndustriALL finds Rio Tinto being in contravention of both national labour laws and international labour standards, which it claims to subscribe to. In order to address this untenable situation, IndustriALL and its affiliates have created a Global Network composed of its affiliates with a presence at Rio Tinto operations worldwide. The main objective and purpose of the Rio Tinto Global Network is to highlight and combat these violations.

Rio Tinto must be held accountable for its conduct and behaviour. Rio Tinto has enormous resources to drag out disputes with individual trade unions in collective bargaining negotiations. It has resources to lobby for its interests with legislative process that are aimed at addressing some of the excesses of its practices. Rio Tinto succeeds in portraying a practice of good corporate governance and sustainable development.

Workers organized by IndustriALL affiliates have been subject to Rio Tinto’s worsts form of abuse. IndustriALL affiliates have on many occasions, separately and individually, responded to these attacks with the might of organized labour and global solidarity. Organized workers cannot be defeated. In 2014, IndustriALL and its affiliates are coordinating a comprehensive response to Rio Tinto’s unsustainable behaviour. This corporate campaign involves a broad alliance of civil society actors such as NGOs, communities and other global union federations. The objective is to force a seismic shift in Rio Tinto’s relationship and attitude towards trade unions, and to recognize trade unions as formal counterparts.

Rio Tinto and precarious work in Madagascar: a way to avoid responsibilities

Rio Tinto’s actions in Madagascar illustrate the company’s strategy to use outsourcing to reduce operation costs and to escape from its responsibilities as an employer. Communities and workers pay the cost. Rio Tinto’s voluntary commitment to the OECD Guidelines on Multinationals and the UN Guiding principles on Business and Human Rights appears to be a facade. Rio Tinto claims no responsibilities, while this policy generates clear adverse impact in its supply chain.

QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM) is a joint venture between Rio Tinto (who owns an 80 per cent stake) and the Government of Madagascar. Since the end of 2008, the joint venture has been producing limonite near Fort Dauphin, in southern Madagascar.
In July 2013, QMM ended its contract with the security company OMEGA Risk Solutions. Instead, they opted for two cheaper security companies, Protech Service and G4S, naming cuts in operation costs as the reason for terminating the contract.

300 workers were collectively dismissed with merely one month’s notice. When IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Fédération des Syndicats des Travailleurs de l’Energie et des Mines (FISEMA), tried to engage in social dialogue with QMM regarding the breach of duties concerning social planning for the dismissed workers, the company’s response was flat – it refused to enter into a dispute as the matter concerned human resource management of a subcontractor.

In August 2013, a regional tripartite labour committee was established to facilitate the dialogue between the workers and OMEGA. As a result of this committee, mediation agreements on the collective labour dispute of former employees of the company OMEGA were concluded. However, representatives of the FISEMA expressed their reservations in relation to the agreement because of procedural irregularities in the process. Regional tripartite labour committees are not allowed to conclude such agreements. In this kind of negotiations workers are allowed to be represented by their elected staff reps. In this case only two reps were participating in the negotiations. The workers’ representatives were not provided with all the relevant contracts and information prior to the process. But maybe more astoundingly, the QMM was not represented as an employer but acted as one of the mediators.

A proposal was made to 85 per cent of the dismissed workers to be hired by the new security companies. It was also proposed that the remaining workers would have access to relevant training. The dismissed workers who are hired by the new security companies are earning 20 per cent less than they were earning when employed by OMEGA. By October 2013, no training had yet been provided to the remaining workers, and these workers are today unemployed with no social planning. There is no longer an on-going social dialogue and OMEGA is no longer present in Fort Dauphin. FISEMA has tried to make an appeal to the Labour Inspectorate and the Labour Court, only to be given the answer that as the employer, OMEGA, is absent there is no possibility of appeal.

The case in Madagascar is a far cry from Rio Tinto’s public commitment to conduct its activities in compliance with environmental, health, safety and the well-being of its employees and the community. A commitment repeated in the establishment convention of QMM: QMM SA undertakes to carry out its various activities in the environmental, health, safety and well-being of its employees and the community.

The case in Madagascar is not an isolated case; Rio Tinto is increasingly resorting to outsourcing, leading to the casualization of labour in many of its operations.

Landmark judgement against Rio Tinto in Mongolian court

A Rio Tinto worker was dismissed for protesting against discrimination over the remuneration paid to Mongolian employees. The unequal remuneration pay between Mongolian nationals and expatriates employed by Rio Tinto translate into a disparity of MNT 3 million for local Mongolian, to MNT 30 million for expatriates a month on average.

The Ministry of Labour has confirmed that Oyu tolgoi and Rio Tinto were in violation of Clause #8.1 of the OT IA “in the most blatant, wanton manner and never made a single step towards enforcing this obligation”. The Supreme Court ruled that the termination of the employment was unjust and unlawful.

The ruling of the Supreme Court was the final arbiter over Rio Tinto’s intransigence and arrogance to refuse two lower court judgements in favour of the employee. Rio Tinto took the matter on appeal to the Supreme Court and lost.

IndustriALL applauds this important victory, and Assistant Secretary General Kemal Özkan says:

This is a huge victory not only for Sainkhuu Gantuya, but for all workers in Mongolia, especially at Oyu Tolgo. This is a significant and important pushback against Rio Tinto, particularly in the context of IndustriALL Global Union’s global corporate campaign against Rio Tinto.

GEORGIA: successful organizing in difficult conditions

PROFILE

Country: Georgia
Union: Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia (TUMMCIWG)

TEXT: Ilya Matveev
Photo: TUMMCIWG

Believe it or not, I spend only two nights a week at home. The rest of the time I travel around the country and talk to workers,

says Tamaz Dolaberidze, TUMMCIWG president.

In 2010, when Tamaz was elected president, the union had merely 1,500 members – today it counts 5,000 in its ranks.

In the last three years, TUMMCIWG has been organizing workers at large mining and chemical plants. Local unions have been created at the Zestafoni Ferroalloy Plant, the Chiatura processing plant, the Hercules metallurgical plant in Kutaisi, and several others.

The labour market in Georgia is extremely deregulated and employers have very few obligations to abide by. This situation gives collective agreements a crucial importance, although it’s very difficult to get to the point when they are signed,

Tamaz explains.

Organizing a plant starts with a careful study of its workforce. The union then tries to establish contacts, holding meetings at the entrance of the plant. Union activists visit workers at home and try to get them to join the union. When around 20-25 new contacts are established, the TUMMCIWG invites these workers to a workshop. Within two or three months it begins to show who are the potential leaders, who then start building the new union.

Both internal and external organizing is important”,

says Tamaz.

Not all organizing efforts are successful, but this is the only way forward.

However, there is a widespread resistance to organizing. At the moment, the union is struggling with the employers at four plants. At Georgian Manganese, a metallurgical company, collective bargaining begun in January 2013. The union prepared a draft collective agreement, and both sides were ready to sign it. But at the last moment the management rejected the agreement, which prompted a workers’ strike.

At another company, the GTM Group, several union activists were fired the same day as the union was created. The union president was verbally abused by the general director and escorted off the plant premises. The union filed a court complaint in response to the treatment endured.

But despite these difficulties, the TUMMCIWG is steadily growing and signing new collective agreements.

Tamaz Dolaberidze, the man behind TUMMCIWG’s success, started his career as a worker at a chemical plant in 1992, while simultaneously studying in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. He joined the labour movement in 2003, and after becoming the Georgian Trade Union Confederation’s representative in one of country’s regions, Tamaz moved on to become the assistant president of TUMMCIWG. In 2010 he was elected president of the TUMMCIWG.

Now Tamaz looks to the future.

The most important thing is that there are 10,000 unorganized workers in the industry, most of which are Chiatura miners

he says.

The union will strengthen its communications work and fight for collective agreements at all the plants. Another important goal is to change the whole ideology of union work; to talk more about rights and less about material aid to workers.

TUMMCIWG and IndustriALL Global Union

In Georgia’s difficult circumstances IndustriALL lends as much support as possible to TUMMCIWG. IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina has sent several letters to Georgian companies, condemning their anti-union practices. Tamaz plans to sign a Global Framework Agreement with Georgian Manganese, and IndustriALL’s role in this is also crucial.

Our union advances day by day, and IndustriALL’s help in this is very important,

says Tamaz.

IndustriALL Sri Lanka Council demands immediate Ansell reinstatements and withdrawal of charges

On 25 November, representatives of IndustriALL Global Union’s Sri Lanka affiliates, along with IndustriALL’s Regional Secretary Sudhershan Rao Sarde and project coordinator, Shahnaz Rafique, addressed the striking workers of Ansell Lanka, near the gate of Ansell Lanka, Biyagama EPZ.

Anton Marcus, president of the FTZ&GSEU and member of IndustriALL’s Executive Committee, reiterated the demands of the union to immediately reinstate eleven branch union office bearers and the withdrawal of all fabricated charges against them.

Sudhershan Rao Sarde, the regional secretary delivered a solidarity message stating that IndustriALL supports the just and legitimate struggle of the Ansell Lanka Workers union.

Shahnaz Rafique said the the many women at the forefront of the struggle was impressive, and she appealed to them to sustain the strike.

IndustriALL strongly supports the strike and has among other initiatives created a strike fund. The strike will be on the agenda at the meeting of IndustriALL’s Executive Committee in Geneva on 4-5 December.

Jyrki Raina, general secretary of IndustriALL, says:

 “Our 50 million members stand behind the struggle of the Ansell Lanka workers. We want to see them succeed; management at Ansell needs to resolve this issue immediately.”

One-year anniversary – injured workers and family members of dead workers of Tazreen form human chain

On 23 November, IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC) organized a human chain and a workers rally to mark the anniversary of the Tazreen Tragedy. Four organizations of the IBC (TG) group took part with their members in the Human Chain in front of the National Press Club. The Bangladesh Textile & Garment Workers League (BTGWL), led by Brother Kamrul Anam, the United Federation of Garment Workers (UFGW), led by Brother Roy Ramesh, the National Federation of Garment Workers (NGWF), led by Brother. Amirul Haque Amin, and the Bangladesh Garments, Textile and Leather Workers Federation (BGTLWF) led by Brother. Kutub Uddin, participated.

The human chain and workers rally was presided over by the General Secretary of the IBC, Roy Ramesh Chandra, who, along with Brother. Anam, Brother. Amin, Brother Kutub Uddin, Brother. Nurul Islam, spoke of the outrage that victims are still waiting for compensation. Twelve months after the fire, brands have yet to take responsibility for the plight of survivors and families of the deceased. 

The IBC demands that:

Leaders of the IBC also requested IndustriALL Global Union Leaders to raise their voice internationally, along with brands and buyers to ensure compensation according to a ‘loss of earnings’ principle.

Monika Kemperle, assistant secretary general at IndustriALL Global Union, says it is time brands take full responsibility of their production:

We want to make the lable of Bangladesh a lable of pride. Brands need to own up and pay compensation to the victims who have dearly paid with their own health and even lives.
 

IndustriALL remembers comrades killed at work

On 12 November 2013 protesters clashed with police in Phnom Penh as hundreds of workers from the Singaporean owned SL Garment Processing Factory marched toward the home of the Prime Minister to demand better working conditions. SL Garment supplies brands such as Gap and H&M. This was the latest in a series of outbreaks of worker unrest at factories that produce for European and North American brands. The union, the Coalition of Cambodia Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union, organized the march and said that violence broke out when police tried to stop over a thousand workers from protesting.

Hundreds of riot police were armed with batons and shields and roamed the streets which were littered with rocks and tear gas canisters after the protesters were dispersed. Police rounded up more than a dozen people, including several monks. Officers beat protesters up and left several bleeding.

SL workers have been demonstrating for weeks in a dispute with employers that includes claims of intimidation over the use of military police in factory inspections. Two women have died in two months in violent protests in Cambodia.

Violence against workers is a threat to democracy while they are fighting for their rights. The Second World Women’s Conference organized by the ITUC in Dakar from 19 to 21 November 2013 called for a new ILO Convention to combat violence at work. Unions everywhere are called upon to join together to achieve a new convention to prevent the continuing scourge of violence that women and men suffer at work.