Big Six in Denmark sign Bangladesh Safety Deal

Bestseller, IC Companys, DK Company, PWT Group, COOP Denmark, and Danish Supermarket all agreed to back the Bangladesh Safety Deal following a meeting organised by the Danish Ethical Trading Initiative (DIEH) bringing together, NGOs, unions and government officials. The Danish Trade Minister Pia Olsen Dyhr urged the companies to add their names to the agreement which aims to improve safety conditions in Bangladesh’s garment factories in the wake of the Rana Plaza factory collapse that claimed 1,129 lives.

The Accord brokered by IndustriALL and UNI Global Union in a strong alliance with leading NGOs, the Clean Clothes Campaign and the Workers Right Consortium, now covers around 2000 of Bangladesh’s 4000 garment factories.

Andy York from N Brown Group, one of the companies which has already signed the Accord and who is part of the Implementation Secretariat spoke to the Danish companies and explained why signing the agreement was the right thing to do.

IndustriALL Global Union General Secretary Jyrki Raina welcomed the new signatories, "The Danish trade unions, including IndustriALL affiliate 3F, have worked well in convincing the Danish market leaders into joining the Accord. The momentum continues building the Accord and continues to further alienate those brands remaining outside."

UNI Global Union General Secretary, Philip Jennings observed, “We had a lively and informal exchange with the retailers present. We welcome the decision by these six “Great Dane” retailers to sign the agreement. This is another important day for the Accord which continues to grow in scope. The retail sector is answering the call for a socially responsible supply chain.

We know that lives depend on it, with the will to succeed shown by the Danish companies and the 60 plus brands who have signed the Accord we will achieve the goal of making Bangladeshi garment factories safer places to work. Trade Minister Pia Olsen Dyhr and the Danish government should be applauded for driving the Accord forward in Denmark. During discussions with the Trade Minister I was impressed with her determination to get all Danish retailers on board. Other European governments should take note and get behind the Accord as should politicians elsewhere, notably in the United States.”

Jennings said that the global brands, unions and NGOs were making rapid and constructive progress to implement the Accord. He concluded, “There can be no excuses in terms of cost or process to not join the Accord. The Danish companies took their time and have made the right decision. The decision by certain U.S. brands, led by Walmart, to refuse to sign, is looking more and more like a serious error of judgement.”

The Accord provides for a binding programme of fire and building safety reforms based on independent inspections, worker-led health and safety committees and union access to factories, signatories commit to underwrite improvements in dangerous factories and properly confront fire safety and structural problems. The Accord grants workers the right to refuse dangerous work, in line with ILO Convention 155.

Peruvian clothing company ignores court ruling

When 129 workers were dismissed four years ago for joining a union, it appeared to be an open and shut case: The manager had openly warned workers not to join a union, and when they did they were barred from returning to work, and this just one day after the company had advertised job vacancies for the very positions the dismissed workers had occupied.

Yet four years later, following countless appeals, rulings and resolutions, the company still stubbornly refuses to uphold the decision of the courts and reinstate the 129 workers who were dismissed in blatant violation of the right of freedom of association.

Unfortunately, the behaviour of the Texpop Corporation is not uncommon in Peru, where over 80,000 textile and garment workers producing fashionable apparel mainly for the US market are employed on unlimited short-term contracts under the country’s notorious legislation governing ‘non-traditional exports’.

IndustriALL Global Union has written to the company demanding that it comply with the latest court ruling and immediately reinstate the dismissed workers with the payment of lost wages. The employers’ associations Adex and SNI have been urged to do what they can to bring the Texpop into line.

CEP marches for equality

The march came as the conclusion to the 10^th CEP Women’s Conference whose theme was A Feminist’s Recipe for Democracy. One of the discussed documents was Cookbook for Women’s Equality, out of the kitchen, cooking up equality.

The conference went from 20 to 22 June 2013. It was organized mainly in the form of world café sessions where the women learned skills to enable them to take back what they have lost through the conservative government. It was a question of learning tools of activism and acquiring hands-on skills to enable women to mobilize members and fight for equality and democracy. Keynote speakers introduced discussions on aboriginal rights, reproductive rights and childcare.

The conference was marked by the presence of many young women who were participating for the first time. Alas it is also the last time they will participate in a CEP women’s conference because CEP and the Canadian Auto Workers CAW are creating a new union which will be inaugurated in September and be called Unifor. The new union, Unifor, will represent more than 80,000 women in several key sectors of the Canadian economy.

Global unions put PWCS on notice

PWCS coal export operations at the port are among the largest in the world, and have significantly increased in tonnage and profitability over the last five years. Workers are represented by a five union strong single bargaining unit (SBU) – which includes two ITF affiliates, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Transport Workers Union of Australia (TWU), and three IndustriALL affiliates, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) and the Electrical Trades Union (ETU, part of CEPU). Since negotiations for a new enterprise agreement began in August last year there have been over 50 meetings with management.

The bargaining has been marred by management intransigence and aggressive anti-union tactics including a removal from the agreement of any mention of trade unions and a serious weakening of workers’ rights. Equally unacceptable and disruptive has been management’s attempts to input into the agreement more outsourcing of the workforce and weaken the permanent employment relationship of workers.

ITF president and MUA national secretary Paddy Crumlin explained: “Workers at PWCS have consistently delivered increased productivity. However the company has now been ideologically driven to demand more flexibility without negotiation with the unions. At the same time it has attempted to remove all mention of unions and rights to fair dispute resolution from its agreement in an attempt to break the unions at the site.

“Workers at PWCS have voted to take protected industrial action. Meanwhile the SBU is committed to pursuing a negotiated outcome that provides job security and the necessary protections to employees. We therefore call on PWCS, Rio Tinto and the coal companies who use the port to demonstrate their commitment to negotiating a collective agreement that provides for job security and rights to union protection.”

He concluded: “We will not stand by and let PWCS attack union members and their families. The ITF and its affiliates are closely watching the progress of this dispute and are ready to mobilise ourworldwide resources to achieve a fair resolution of this dispute.”

Writing to the members of the single bargaining unit at PWCS, IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina commented: “The behaviour of PWCS is totally unacceptable and borders on an ideological obsession to eliminate trade unions at the workplace. Their brazen and open anti-union position is evident by seeking to remove from the enterprise agreement all references to unions, the rights to fair dispute resolution, the undermining of permanent jobs via relaxing the contractor’s clause and the demand for more individual flexibility.”

He added: “These union busting tactics have become a Rio Tinto trade mark and only international solidarity has managed to push back these anti-union behaviour and tactics.”

Press contacts:
IndustriALL. Glen Mpufane, Director of Mining and DGOJP. Tel: +41 22 304 1845. Email: [email protected]
ITF. Sam Dawson, press and editorial manager. Tel: +44 (0)20 7940 9260. Email: [email protected]

Call for nominations for evil company 2014

The annual award has been organized since 2000 by Berne Declaration and Friends of the Earth (in 2009 replaced by Greenpeace) and serves to remind the corporate world that social and environmental misbehaviour has consequences not only for the affected people and territories, but also for the reputation of the offender.

Public Eye is inviting to send nominations for the worst corporate sinners by the end of August 2013! The guidelines for submission are published on www.publiceye.ch website and can be directly accessed on the link http://newsletter.publiceye.evb.ch/c/11206746/00f6da74ad31.

The Public Eye People's Award 2013 went to the Royal Dutch Shell, which is heavily criticized for oil exploration in the Arctic off-shore causing serious ecological problems and posing huge risks to the four million people and amazing animals who live there.

The Public Eye Jury Award 2013 went to Goldman Sachs blamed for pocketing horrendous fees to hide half of Greece’s public debt which eventually ruined Greece.

Other “winners” of the Public Eye Award are published in the “Hall of shame” http://www.publiceye.ch/en/hall-of-shame/.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon backs Bangladesh Safety Deal

IndustriALL, UNI Global Union and leading NGOs, the Clean Clothes Campaign and the Worker Rights Consortium are working with the global retailers to make Bangladeshi garment factories safe in the wake of the Rana Plaza tragedy. Over 1,100 workers, mainly women, were killed in the recent factory collapse.

In letters to the General Secretaries of IndustriALL and UNI, Jyrki Raina and Philip Jennings, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said, “The building collapse in Dhaka reminds us all that ensuring that workers’ human rights are protected and respected within value chains involves a wide range of societal actors, including governments, employers, buyers and workers’ representatives.”

IndustriALL General Secretary, Jyrki Raina, “New companies are joining the Accord every day. Global figures from Pope Francis to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría, as well as millions of consumers, can see that the only viable way to improve conditions for Bangladeshi garment workers is to work with trade unions nationally and internationally. We welcome Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s support for this collective approach and urge any remaining brands that source from Bangladesh to join us in this critically important endeavour.”

UNI Global Union Secretary General, Philip Jennings, said, “We welcome the UN Secretary General’s wholehearted support for the Accord. He recognises the urgent need to bring working conditions in line with international labour standards. Companies who source in Bangladesh must sign up and commit to improving safety standards. There should be no exceptions. Not GAP and not Walmart. This is about accountability all along the supply- chain, there can be no weak links in matters of life and death.”

Jennings added, “I will be meeting with Nordic retailers in Denmark next week under the Ethical Trading Initiative. We will continue to push for more companies to join the Accord because only if all companies work together can we make the Bangladeshi factories safe.”

Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon indicated that companies who are members of the UN Global Compact should sign up to the Accord.

Today in Geneva, IndustriALL, UNI and companies involved in implementing the Accord are taking part in an open panel discussion hosted by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, mandated by the United Nations to promote the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles. The discussion will focus on the lessons learned from the Rana Plaza disaster in addressing working conditions in the garment supply chain and how to apply these more globally. IndustriALL and UNI are looking forward to cooperating with both the Working Group on Business and Human Rights as well as the Global Compact to improve working conditions in global supply chains.

The Heads of the OECD and the ILO have already shown their total commitment to the Bangladesh safety deal driven by IndustriALL and UNI. OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria has called on the international textile industry, governments, and other stakeholders to address the risks to prevent more tragedies in the Bangladeshi garment industry. The Rana Plaza tragedy and the response including the Accord will top the agenda at the OECD’s Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct in Paris next week.

Ford workers in Russia ready for strike

The IndustriALL Global Union affiliated ITUA reports that Ford management in Vsevolozhsk, 25km east of St. Petersburg, has been informed of the planned strike on 24 June. The strike will begin at 8:30am.

Earlier during the collective bargaining round workers rejected an 8.6 per cent wage raise proposed by the administration. Out of this figure, 6.6 per cent accounts for inflation leaving only a 2 per cent increase in real terms.

The average monthly wage at the plant is roughly 940 euros. Workers demand a hike to 1150 euros (50,000 roubles).

“We understand that the real inflation level in Russia is higher than the official figure. Labour productivity at our plant is very high. However, our wages are not enough to provide decent education for our children, ensure quality healthcare and a normal retirement, have good vacations and comfortable housing,” says Alexander Kashitizin, president of the ITUA local at Ford in Vsevolozhsk.

Kashitzin notes that company profits are constantly rising, and the share of labour costs in overall expenses is low.

Other issues at the plant include poor working conditions, inadequate health and safety training, lack of breaks due to high temperature in the summer required by Russian labour laws. In November-December 2012 Ford workers conducted a work-to-rule protest over working conditions.

The Ford plant in Vsevolozhsk, Russia, is well-known for its militant union local which held eight strikes since 2006.

IndustriALL and PSI reach global agreement with Enel

The new GFA defines a set of guidelines aimed to establish global level social dialogue, which is regarded as the pre-eminent approach in dealing with issues affecting the interests of the business and employees.

According to the new GFA, the Group undertakes responsibility to respect a series of fundamental principles contained in the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN guiding principles on Business and Human Rights, the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy and the UN Global Compact, as well as the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Companies -.

The parties agreed that the principles contained in all of the listed instruments are considered to be part of this agreement. With the GFA, “Enel will remain neutral (refrain from interfering in any way) and allow trade union access to workplaces during organizing campaigns for the purposes of communicating with employees pursuant to the legislation and the Industrial Relations systems in each country”. Recognizing the importance of permanent and secure employment, Enel adopts and promotes the ILO definition of “Decent Work”.

Among other instruments, the agreement foresees creation of a Global Works Council and three Multilateral Committees on health and safety, training and equal opportunities which will contribute to a proper social dialogue system representing all countries where the Group operates.

The new GFA argues that, “an industrial relations’ policy based on social dialogue offers a robust foundation for building and implementing a system that incorporates the Group's values and international culture which allows all employees to feel they are citizens in the countries where it operates, accepted and integrated into local communities, while retaining full respect for the specific conditions in each country.”

Rosa Pavanelli, PSI General Secretary, appreciated the value of the agreement, has underlined the importance of its founding principles and the objectives of the new participatory system, declaring that the coherent application of these principles will be now the real challenge.

Commenting on the agreement Jyrki Raina, IndustriALL Global Union’s General Secretary said, “IndustriALL welcomes Enel’s strong commitment to develop global level dialogue with workers and their unions, with focus on workers’ rights, health and safety, training and equality.”

Enel Group has nearly 74,000 employees across the globe and operates a wide range of hydroelectric, thermoelectric, nuclear, geothermal, wind, solar and other renewable power plants operating mainly in Europe and Latin America. The Group holds 92 percent of the shares of Spanish Group Endesa with which IndustriALL’s founder organization ICEM had signed a global agreement.

Hard-hitting WRC report uncovers abuses at PKC Mexico

The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), an independent labour monitoring group supported by U.S. universities, yesterday released its detailed investigation of violations committed by PKC at its plant in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico. PKC is a global auto parts company whose clients include Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen and Volvo.

Reacting to the report, USW International President Leo Gerard stated:

The WRC report shows how multinational companies use Mexico’s weak labour laws to undermine workers’ human rights. PKC must immediately reinstate the fired union leaders and follow the report’s other recommendations.
The Mexican government must demonstrate that it can protect the rights of its workers before it is allowed greater access to U.S. markets.

The report found that PKC imposed a company union without the knowledge of its workers, harassed and threatened workers who attempted to join the independent Mexican Mine and Metalworkers’ union, manipulated an election to defeat the Mineworkers, and fired independent union supporters. The WRC also documented sexual harassment at PKC facilities.

Following the joint IndustriALL Global Union and LabourStart Campaign during the Global Days of action for Mexico in February 2013, which posted almost 10’000 letters to PKC’s CEO Matti Hyytiäinen, demanding respect for workers’ right to choose their own union and demanding reinstatement of the unfairly sacked workers, General Secretary Jyrki Raina calls on all IndustriALL affiliates to continue to put pressure on PKC Management to respect International Standards and ILO C87 for Freedom of Association:

PKC cannot continue to ignore the corrupt practices in Mexico by incentivizing the protection contract system which goes against all principles of Social Responsibility. The Auto companies who buy from PKC must be aware that they are undermining the GFA’s signed which commit them to protect workers’ rights worldwide. We will widely circulate the International Worker Rights Consortium, (WRC) Report and we strongly support their recommendations.

The WRC report is available at Workersrights.org.

Sappi union network launched

The two-day meeting of unions from Great Britain, USA, Belgium and South Africa was full of discussions, debates, comparisons and unanimity. Each country representative spoke about the relationship between local unions and Sappi management.

Differences in the attitude towards the trade unions in South Africa, the decline of production in Europe as a whole, the company's exit from the markets of the UK, consistently difficult relationship with U.S. trade unions – these are the main points of discussions during the meeting. As a result of the discussions a comparative table was set up reflecting the main points of the situation of workers of the company in four countries.

On the second day, participants had the opportunity to meet with representatives of the management of Sappi. An open exchange of views took place. Representatives of South African trade unions accused the company's administration of secrecy and reluctance to engage in direct and open dialogue with the unions. They suggested that the company should pay more attention to the experience of European practices of relationship between unions and company administration.

On the third day, participants visited one of the company's installations in Johannesburg and met its senior management.

Based on results of the three-day discussions all participants unanimously approved the proposal to create the union network of Sappi company. Among other proposals the delegates suggested to continue exchange of views of the network via internet based tools, to conduct video conferences and to have annual meetings in the countries where Sappi operates. Simon Mofokeng – General Secretary of Chemical Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) was elected as a Chairman of the network until the next meeting.

The participants decided to inform about the results of the meeting their colleagues from Germany, Austria, Holland and Finland who couldn’t attend the meeting, as well as to invite them to next sessions.

Founded in 1936 the global pulp and paper company group Sappi is one of the leaders in production of coated fine paper and chemical cellulose. The company employs 15,100 employees worldwide.