End to strike at Egypt’s Suez Steel – but struggle continues

The signing of a collective agreement at the Suez Steel plant in February 2012 set off a series of disputes with dismissals, arrests and violence. In August 12 workers were dismissed and had police reports filed against them. Management refused to answer workers’ demands, saying they must return to work before negotiations could begin. In the last few weeks’ the conflict further escalated with the arrests of additional three workers’ leaders and gunmen and military sent in to scare workers at the plant back to production. The employer held a meeting, putting pressure on workers to convince their twelve colleagues and few more to leave.

In an effort to ease the tense situation IndustriALL, together with Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress, EDLC, and the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions, EFITU, again pushed the Egyptian Minister of Manpower and Migration Kamal Abu Aita to take action to stop violence against the striking workers. The conflict was also raised with a number of ministers including the Minister of Industry.

Last week, after the release of the detained workers and a negotiation process at the company facility in which the Governor of Suez participated, six workers agreed to leave after getting adequate financial remuneration. The remaining nine workers still want to be reinstated.

"We thank IndustriALL for its effective support in solving this dispute and call for the continuous support to reinstate the nine workers,” says Mohamed Mabrouk, one of the dismissed, previously detained workers and a key strike leader. “We were not standing for personal interest so we could accept some financial remuneration and leave. We are standing for the interest of the company's workforce and will continue on the same basis.”

Jyrki Raina, Secretary General of IndustriALL Global Union states:

“Even though this strike is over, it is clear that there is still work to be done and the employer needs to respect the trade union and workers’ rights. IndustriALL Global Union urges the employer to continue these important discussions and to recognize the right to collective bargaining – that’s the only way forward to end the dispute.” 

Unions plan to take global action on 7 October

IndustriALL is calling on all affiliates to join the global action and put the full force of IndustriALL’s global strength behind the fight against precarious work.

In Europe, IndustriAll European Trade Union has sent a message to its affiliates urging them to mobilize their members as part of the global action, pointing out that precarious employment continues to spread both in Europe and throughout the globe and that campaigning jointly and in solidarity can only serve to increase the effect of our actions further.

IndustriALL campaign materials available online include:

Affiliates are urged to send information to [email protected] about their planned actions, as well as photos and report of the action once it has taken place. This information will be posted on the special campaign section of the IndustriALL website.

In 2012, more than 150 affiliates in 46 countries participated in the October 7 global action to STOP Precarious Work. The resulting photos, showing IndustriALL affiliates across the globe uniting under a common cause, sent a powerful message to MNCs, governments and the institutions of global governance that workers everywhere are prepared to fight against precarious work.

While looking forward to a major mobilisation of IndustriALL affiliates around the world on October 7, General Secretary Raina stated:

IndustriALL’s STOP Precarious Work campaign is not only about an annual action day, but about a mainstreamed strategic goal. The issue of precarious work continues to be a standing item on the agenda of all IndustriALL meetings. Many company networks are undertaking mapping of the incidence of precarious work in their companies and formulating joint strategies to reduce it. New improved language is being introduced to GFAs.

Furthermore, our major externally-funded project is supporting a large number of specific activities in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Regional and national activities are focusing on supporting affiliates to make demands on employers through collective bargaining to limit precarious employment, to push for legislative reform that restricts precarious work, and to resist legislation that expands it. 

Union under attack at GTM Group in Georgia

In July 2013 the Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining, and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia (TUMMCIWG), an IndustriALL affiliate, founded a new union local at the ferroalloy plant operated by GTM group near Zestafoni, Georgia.

45 out of 130 workers immediately joined the union. However, three key activists were fired on the same day. “The director did not even try to conceal the fact that he did not want any trade union at his plant and he would never allow doing this,” said Tamaz Dolaberidze, TUMMCIWG president.

In a couple of days the president of the union local at the plant was also fired. He was verbally abused by the general director and escorted off of the plant premises.

TUMMCIWG engaged in an intensive campaign to protect their own.

On 14 August IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina sent letters of protest to the general director of GTM group as well as the prime minister of Georgia.

GTM Group’s anti-union behavior is in clear violation of international labour standards, such as International Labour Organization’s Conventions 87 and 98, as well as Georgian trade union and labour law.

He asked the administration of the plant to withdraw from anti-union practices and the prime minister of Georgia – to investigate the situation and take appropriate measures to protect the workers and their union.

ITUC, IndustriALL meet with Mexican President

A joint delegation of the ITUC, TUCA and IndustriALL Global Union including the USW met on 23 August 2013 with President Enrique Peña Nieto and Labour Secretary Alfonso Navarrete Prida at the Los Pinos Presidential Palace in Mexico City.

With a newly elected Mexican President and Mexico's visible international role, the global unions had asked for a meeting to discuss the multiple labour rights problems including protection contracts, labour law reform, the non-functioning OECD National Contact Point issues, resolutions of specific conflicts, and G-20 issues.

The President and Labour Secretary affirmed that this government has no intention to persecute independent unions and there is a commitment to pursue resolution to existing conflicts. In particular they recognized the legitimate leadership of Napoleón Gómez Urrutia of the mine and metalworkers’ union Los Mineros.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina welcomed the recognition, but expressed concern about the continued legal actions against Napoleón Gómez, a member of the IndustriALL Executive Committee. He insisted:

Napoleón has been exonerated in all cases of the same trumped up charges by different Mexican courts. This judicial game has to stop.

Negotiations are continuing with the Mexican electrical workers’ union SME on finding solutions for the remaining 16.000 workers after the closure of the Luz y Fuerza del Centro company in 2009.

The government recognized that protection contracts exist, but it does not see them as a legitimate instrument within the law. There is a commitment to continue a dialogue to look for a solution, and take steps regarding the ratification of ILO Convention 98.

Global unions have been united in opposing protection contracts to guarantee freedom of association and collective bargaining. In many Mexican workplaces employers sign contracts with unions that the workers do not know about and have no ability to participate in.

The government said it would look at dialogue with the unions in line with the ILO’s recommendations in the complaint 2694.

The government agreed to consult with the ILO Director General regarding a technical review of last year’s labour law reform. The reform made some progress but fell short in the areas of union democracy and transparency. 

ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow urged President Peña Nieto to support the priorities of the Global Unions at the G-20 leaders meeting in St. Petersburg in September. Burrow said:

Facing massive unemployment, we urgently need to create jobs beginning with coordinated investment in infrastructure, the inclusion of young people through the scaling up of apprenticeships and formalizing the informal economy including with a social protection floor and a minimum wage on which workers can live with dignity.

The Mexican government gave a detailed understanding of the problem of the informal sector and the need to formalize work. They reiterated their commitment to implement universal social protection.

Members of the international delegation (for the full mission report, see here) will follow up with the Mexicans unions to ensure progress in the different areas on these issues.

Union rights abused in Belarus

On 5 August 2013 the trade union REP received a notice from the District Executive Committee of Borisov about revocation of registration granted to its local organization in Borisov. The notice was received one month after the union REP sent a request to the Committee asking to help them to find any kind of premise in the city of Borisov in order to place REP local office and perform their statutory activities. Unfortunately, for unclear reasons the owner of the building, where the office of the union used to be located previously, refused to provide the legal address to the organization and notified about this fact the Executive Committee. However, the owner failed to inform the trade union about this decision.

In accordance with the national legislation in Belarus every local union organization has to be registered by the local authorities. Such a registration is granted under condition of a legal address, which is given based on the location of the trade union organization.

The local organization of REP in Borisov city was registered by the Borisov District Executive Committee on February 2007. In fact the possibility to revoke registration is foreseen by the law, but the reasons listed by the Belarusian legislation do not contain any time frame for change of the legal address and can’t be the reason for revocation of registration of the local union.

In this particular case the illegal decision to revoke the registration of the local union is in violation of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise ratified by the Republic of Belarus. This is not the first case when Belarusian authorities interfere with the internal affairs of trade unions. As a matter of fact the violations of trade union rights in Belarus became subject to constant consideration by the ILO since 2000, when Belarusian trade unions submitted a joint complaint against violation of their rights. Several times Belarus was considered as a special case, but so far the practice to interfere in union affairs still preserves.

The IndustriALL Global Union addressed to the administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus, Ministry of Justice and Borisov District Executive Committee demanding to abolish the illegal decision revoking registration and stop repressions against the trade union REP and its structural units. Moreover, IndustriALL appealed to the authorities of Belarus to start fulfilling their country’s obligations in face of the ILO and respect workers’ rights to join trade unions and perform trade union work without interference of bodies of authority.

IndustriALL calls on to express solidarity with the trade union REP and to send letters of protest to Belarusian authorities. The protest can be sent through a special form published on this page.

A Rio Tinto Classic: Trade Union Rights violation and Dismissal of thousands in Mongolia

Since the Investment Agreement with the Government of Mongolia was signed in 2009, IndustriALL Global Union and its affiliates have been closely following Rio Tinto’s $ 6.6 billion Oyu Tolgoi mine investment.

According information received, Rio Tinto is reported to be violating human and trade union rights and damaging the environment in Mongolia. Inspection reports produced by the Ministry of Labour confirm that Rio Tinto is in breach of national and international laws related to the fundamental rights of its employees. Different verdicts issued by district and city level courts confirm that Rio Tinto is violating workers’ rights contrary to the provisions of the national Labour Law.

Recent information regarding Redpath Mongolia confirms the general picture that the company building the underground portion of the mine handed notices of termination to workers in execution of a decision by the Oyu Tolgoi LLC’s board of directors. The decision to dismiss 1700 workers is apparently over a disagreement about revenue sharing of the mine with the government of Mongolia. 

Turquoise Hill Resources, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, announced on August 12, 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.

When it comes to both Mongolia and Madagascar, IndustriALL Global Union finds Rio Tinto being very much in contravention of international conventions, guidelines and declarations on human rights which the company claims to  subscribe to,

says IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina. 

IndustriALL Global Union and its affiliates with a presence at Rio Tinto operations worldwide have created a Global Network with the main objective to highlight and combat these violations.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina concludes:

We urge Rio Tinto to enter into meaningful dialogue with the relevant stakeholders, trade unions, civil society organisations and government authorities to address these dreadful situations.

Mexican miners’ union victory in dispute with Minera Frisco

Negotiations on the union side were led by Napoleon Gómez Urrutia, the union’s leader and a member of IndustriALL’s executive committee, and were mediated by the Minister for Labour and Social Welfare (STPS).

The most important aspect of the agreement was that the company accepted the union’s right to represent the workers for collective bargaining purposes. All workers at the mine have joined the SNTMMSRM. The company also agreed to pay 100% of the wages unpaid during the two-month strike. It was also agreed that, within 45 days, the Minister for Labour and Social Welfare should assess the amount of the profit-sharing bonus due to workers, which was one of the other main reasons for the dispute.

Minera Frisco and the STPS said they would comply with International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 87 on the freedom of trade union organisation. The company also said it would respect the interests and rights of the workers.

Union members expressed their support for Napoleón Gómez Urrutia  and the other members of the national executive committee at a general meeting and the union welcomed the new members to the organisation.

According to the union, the company has absolved its members from any responsibility for the damage to mine installations caused by the CROC and the union led by “corrupt” Carlos Pavón on 29 May and has said it will carry out the relevant repairs. The company also withdrew all accusations against the striking workers who decided to join the SNTMMSRM and said it will make no claims against the union.

The union said it would implement the agreement reached with more than 50 mining companies in Vancouver last November to increase productivity and efficiency and promote decent work. It is hoped that this will enable Minera Frisco to improve its performance while advancing the interests of its workers. 

IndustriALL congratulates the union for this agreement, which benefits the workers and is relevant to IndustriALL’s trade union mission to the ITUC and TUCA due to take place in the next few days and which will seek to assess the current situation of the trade union movement and request practical measures to end violations of rights guaranteed by ILO conventions that Mexico has signed but does not comply with.

Egyptian Minister intervenes in Suez Steel workers strike

Disputes at Suez Steel, a private sector company employing 2,200 workers on contracts and another 2,000 day workers, date from the signing of a collective agreement in February 2012. The agreement includes provisions to pay workers a profit-sharing bonus, and agreed a pay structure, health care and bonuses. The present dispute is about the implementation of a number of provisions in the agreement, most importantly the profit-sharing bonus.

12 workers were stopped from working and the employers filed police reports against them. Management refused to answer workers’ demands, saying they must return to work before negotiations could begin. When the strike continued, police arrested two of the strike leaders and the army surrounded the factory. Following the arrests, the striking workers tried to block a key highway from Suez to Ain Al-Sokhna, but were prevented from doing so by the Egyptian army.

The workers have now been on strike at the factory in Al-Ataqa industrial zone in Suez for three weeks. Security Forces forcibly dispersed a sit in on factory premises by strikers on August 12 with a level of violence used that caused strong criticism of their actions.

Last week, the workers’ leaders and the recently appointed Minister of Manpower and Labour, former president of the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU), Kamal Abu Aita met in Cairo. IndustriALL Global Union Consultant Ahmed Kamel, in Cairo to hold a number of training courses for representatives of the new independent trade union structures, joined the discussions.

The discussions led to the release of the two arrested strike leaders and the minister further agreed to pay a month’s salary for the workforce of the factory from the Emergency Fund of the Ministry. However the dispute remains at deadlock as the employer continues to insist that workers must restart work before any negotiations take place. Workers' leaders argue that they cannot ask their colleagues to start work without having a written agreement and payment of the delayed wages. 

Strike season heats up in South Africa’s auto sector

More than 2,000 workers at a BMW plant in South Africa have gone on strike over a deadlock in plant level negotiations relating to shift allowances. The deadlock was not resolved in conciliation which led to the industrial action. 

Negotiations are also underway in the auto sector and BMW has portrayed in the media that they are perplexed by the strike given the sector level talks. 

"It must be very clear that BMW cannot say that they are confused by this strike. Negotiations with them at plant level preceded the industry level negotiations. In fact BMW tried to interdict the strike but the labour court allowed it to proceed;” said Alex Mashilo, negotiator for Numsa. “BMW’s claims are even more unfounded because at industry level we are discussing that shift allowance must be negotiated at plant level."

Meanwhile a wage deadlock has been reached in the industry level negotiations. More than 31,000 workers are expected to go on strike on 19 August, should the deadlock not be resolved. A strike notice has been served to employers in the auto sector including Toyota, Nissan, Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

Originally workers demanded a 20 per cent increase and are down to a demand of 14 per cent. Employers have officially offered 6 per cent plus R1.07 per hour.

Employers are indicating willingness to raise the offer to 10 per cent plus R1.07 per hour for the first year, and consumer price index (CPI) inflation plus 0.25 per cent and R1.07 per hour for each of the following two years.

Numsa wants a double digit wage increase and is not willing to accept lower wage increases after the first year in subsequent years covered by the three year agreement. 

12,000 Turkish textile workers on strike

The strike covers 12,000 workers in some thirty major textile and clothing producers, including Altinyildiz, Bahariye Mensucat, Vakko, Akın Tekstil, Kordsa, Karsu, Levi-Strauss, İşbir, Söktaş, Orta Anadolu, Yünsa ve Saray Halı. With the combination of members of other two unions, Oz Iplik-Is and Tekstil who are also members of IndustriALL Global Union, the strike relates to around 20,000 workers.

According to the information provided by Nazmi Irgat, President of Teksif, the union has taken strike decision because of intransigent attitudes of the employers’ organization on wage and wage related matters. “We began to negotiate with very good-will decent wages for our members, however because this process has been put by the employers in a way not leading to the solution, we have arrived at a point of end of the words,” said Irgat.

Average gross salary of Teksif members is reported to be around 1,165 Turkish Liras (€ 450), and 55 per cent of the workers in the sector earn legal minimum wage which is 978.60 Turkish Liras (€ 380). It is further reported that textile workers live under poverty line, and because of low wages and social payments qualified workers leave the sector. The staff turnover rate in Turkish textile sector reaches 37 per cent.

The main disagreement in the negotiations was that employers wanted to keep special arrangements for wages which were agreed to survive during the period of crisis. This is why Teksif demanded bonuses return to the previous level of 120-day salary instead of the current 72 while the employers’ last offer was 90-day salary. Likewise, employers just offered 3 per cent salary increase while Teksif’s latest demand was 15 per cent.

In his letter of solidarity message to Teksif, Jyrki Raina said, “Turkey is one of the most important and strategic countries for global textile and garment sectors. This is why success of Teksif in this strike is vital, not just for Turkish workers, but also for the rest of the world”. “IndustriALL Global Union will continue to give its full support to the striking Turkish textile workers”, Raina added.

You can demonstrate your support and solidarity by sending a message to Teksif. Copy your messages also to IndustriALL Global Union.