Landmark judgement against Rio Tinto in Mongolian court

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

The Ministry of Labor 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 Gantuya employmentwas 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 Gantuya. Rio Tinto took the matter on appeal to the Supreme Court and lost. 

IndustriALL Global Union 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.

Russia Actions

Affiliates in Russia took part in pickets, rallies, and conferences on 7 October. Unions affiliated to the Federation of Independent Unions of Russia (FNPR) took action in such cities as Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Volgograd, Vologda, Orel, and many others.

Russian Independent Coal Workers Union (Rosugleprof) stated that 30,000 union members participated in 7 October demonstrations and other events. 

Mining & Metallurgical Workers Union (MMWU) reported that in Magnitogorsk (Chelyabinsk Area) it showed an educational video on electronic billboards in the city. Lipetsk branch of the MMWU organized a flashmob. Precarious work and outsurcing were mentioned as serious issues by speakers at several rallies. 

Kosovo Actions

On 7 October, for the World Day for Decent Work, IndustriALL affiliate, the Independent Trade Union of Metalworkers of Kosovo (SPMK) and the Independent Trade Union of Energy of Kosovain (SPEK) in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation – Prishtina Office, organized a round table dedicated to International campaign to STOP Precarious Work, in the presence of the Kosovo press.

Topics on Kosovo legislation, implementation of existing laws, national, regional and individual contracts were discussed at the round table. This day reflects upon the role and influence of WDDW on the Kosovo workforce and the role of the Trade Unions in defending and advancing workers rights.

The round table was opened by Izet Mustafa – chair of SPEK, while Professor Izet Shehu, an expert in his field, spoke about the existing labor laws and labor conditions in Kosovo.

Hasan Abazi, chair of SPMK, spoke on “The Role and Impact of the WDDW on 7 October, on Kosovo workforce and the role of trade unions in defending their rights”.

After a thorough debate with representatives from all Trade Unions and others present, several conclusions and recommendations necessary for improving the conditions in Kosovo were extracted:

Colombia Actions

The Colombian National Centres CUT, CTC and CGT, called actions and rallies on 7 October to mark the World Day for Decent Work, workers from the Workers’ Trade Union attended with the IndustriALL flag and banners. In Bogotá, a protest took place in front of the Labour Ministry, carrera 14 No. 99-33 from 9:00 am.

The month of October, for us, has become the month for decent work and we advance days of struggle that must be extended throughout the year and every year, because in the world, by the greed of the multinationals especially in the last years, the employment has been becoming precarious in an outrageous way,

said the USO.

Zimbabwe Actions

Zimbabwean affiliate, Newu and the recently merged Numaiz commemorated the World Day for Decent Work with a clean-up of a public space in Harare on Saturday the 12th of October 2013.

Members of the National Engineering Workers Union (Newu) and the Nation Union of Metalworkers in Zimbabwe (Numaiz), joined in the event organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). Over the years the commemoration of WDDW has been through community service events in residential areas raising awareness of the decent work agenda with the communities.

An official of the ZCTU, Peter Mutasa, addressed those that took part in the event, many of whom were youth, on the need for social partners to address working conditions of precarious workers and ensure wages that allowed them to live above the poverty datum line. He said that decent work is important for achieveing quitable, inclusive and sustainable development and the eradication of poverty. 

Mutasa also took the opportunity to condemn police brutality on protesting wives of  coal mineworkers in Hwange on 7 October 2013. The women were demanding that their husband’s receive their wages, which have gone unpaid for five months. Police fired tear gas and assaulted the group of about a hundred women and children. 

Belgium Actions

In Belgium, on the occasion of the World Day for Decent Work, the Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique (FGTB) mobilized for the rights of workers in Qatar, who are experiencing countless rights abuses in the construction of infrastructure for the FIFA world Cup 2022.
 
To raise public awareness of the violations of workers' rights and to push the FIFA to reconsider its decision to grant the World Cup to a country where modern slavery is a reality, FGTB organized "decent football". The political representatives of trade unions and NGOs played a football match at the King Baudouin Stadium in Belgium.

Georgia Actions

The employees of the metallurgical plant of Zestafoni and Kutaisi, also Tkibuli coal miners express their solidarity to the metal workers of Argveta.

The above mentioned company management indecently and criminally violate workers' rights. In July 2013, the general director of the company Avtandil Kochadze violated the labor rights of the workers, He flew discrimination on the grounds of trade union, infringed the freedom of association, also committed a criminal offense.

These facts are contested as in the prosecution as well as in the court. The trial is scheduled for October 21, but the survey has not begun yet. If the prosecutor does not start survey in the shortest possible time, the next protest actions will be hold by Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia at Ministry of Justice in Tbilisi. The actions will be much larger-scale.  

Thousands protest against Crown Holdings

Members of USW Local 9176 have drawn a line in the sand and demand Crown Holdings to stop trying to build profits on the backs of workers. In Turkey the company has applied union-busting tactics against another IndustriALL affiliate Birlesik Metal-IS since 2012.

Crown Holding workers are not alone in their fight, at least seven thousands have supported the Take-Backs No More campaign launched by the IndustriALL affiliate United Steelworkers (USW) on the website LabourStart and sent their protest letters to Crown Holdings CEO John Convey.  More protests are coming.

In support of the campaign USW issued on 10 October a press-release Thousands Worldwide Condemn Crown Holdings' Attacks on Workers explaining the reasons of the campaign and exposing the company’s use of strike-breakers instead of proper negotiations with the union.

IndustriALL appeals to all affiliates asking to support the campaign against corporate greed of Crown Holdings Inc. and to send their protest letters the company at http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=1978.

New Zealand Actions

In New Zealand, IndustriALL affiliate, The Manufacturing & Construction Workers Union made it a point to stop the growth of precarious work through collective bargaining. Over the past few years Bostik, owned by French transnational Total, have had significant redundancies among factory workers represented by The Manufacturing & Construction Workers Union and the First Union, also and affiliate of IndustriALL.

There has been significant growth in the use of labour through labour hire companies in New Zealand. Over the past three collective agreement negotiations, the unions have attempted to restrict this growth. The recently settled collective agreement was the first where the employer accepted that there should be some restraint on the numbers of agency staff. The agreement says that where there are three or more agency staff for a continuous period of six months

the employer must consider whether or not it would be reasonable to offer permanent employment.

The agency employee with the longest period of unbroken work is to be offered the work first, after taking into account skill requirements and other relevant factors, all the agency workers are equal in this regard.

The collective agreement formerly had a requirement that if the company engaged a temporary worker for six months, if the work remained at the end of six months the temp must be made permanent. The company had been evading this by using labour hire agencies as the employer of temporary workers.

Under New Zealand law if the employer does not act in good faith with regard to the application of this new provision their actions can be reviewed in an employment court.

Philippines Actions

IndustriALL affiliate, the Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines (MWAP) joined the tens of millions of Filipino workers in observing the World Day for Decent Work on 7 October. Workers called on the Philippine government to provide a living wage, scrap its contractualization policy, and respect the Filipino workers’ right to unionize.

According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), only 7 per cent of workers in the formal and informal sectors are organized into unions. In the Philippines, less than 10 per cent of the workforce is unionized and a smaller number of workers have collective bargaining agreements.

The workers called for:

In the Philippines precarious work continues to exist and spread. It is most widespread in the metal and machine industry, which includes electronics, automotive, mining, shipbuilding and steel manufacturing. The number of contractual workers dwarfs that of regular workers, posing a very big challenge to organizing unions. Contractual employment is being used to crush unions. Even as contractuals are severely exploited – provided with lower wages, deprived of job security and not accorded with benefits – they are not allowed to organize nor join unions. They are treated like rags that can be disposed off anytime the employers want.

On the World Day for Decent Work, Filipino metal workers raised their voices in unison with the workers of the Philippines and the world. “Let us fight to end precarious work and to realize our dream of decent work. Let us raise our just demands and fight for our right to unionize. Let us fight for our right to life – for us, our families and the future of the world” they chanted.

4 October

In Makati, Philippines, hundreds of affiliates from the All Workers Alliance of Trade Unions (AWATU), Philippine Trade and General Workers Organization (PTGWO), Integrated Labour Organization (ILO-PHILS), and Pinag-isang Tinig at Lakas ng Anakpawis (PIGLAS) joined together with other trade union groups and non government organizations to call attention of the Philippine President and the Congress to fully abolish the roots of all corruption in the government, eliminate all precarious work, and promote living wage and decent work.

All the local and multinational employers take the situation that workers face in terms of unemployment as an opportunity to gain more capital through extensive use of contract and casual workers in their factories. The Filippino workers urge the government to make changes in legislation.