ARGENTINA ACTIONS
In Argentina IndustriALL Global Union affiliates plastered the walls of Buenos Aires with STOP Precarious Work "STOP Al Trabajo Precario" posters on 7 October.
In Argentina IndustriALL Global Union affiliates plastered the walls of Buenos Aires with STOP Precarious Work "STOP Al Trabajo Precario" posters on 7 October.
On 5 October 2012, Kan Matsuzaki, Director of ICT, Electrical and Electronics, and Suzanna Miller, Project Officer, both from IndustriALL Global Union, were warmly welcomed by the Siemens Workers’ Union (SWU) to participate in the founding ceremony of the newly established union branch at Siemens Motor Satellite Factory and the SWU General Assembly meeting in Thane, India.
The SWU organizes workers at the Kalwe plant, which has 3 manufacturing units, namely WMOT (motors, generators and traction motors), WSGR (switchgear products) and WSWB (panel boards and circuit breakers). The union is the largest of all unions in Siemens in India and currently fighting against de-unionization, increased contracting of precarious workers and the other labour issues that they have been facing over the years.
In May 2012, the local management introduced a new blue-collar category called Trainee Officer. Once the workers are promoted to Trainee Officer, they are treated as a management category while they perform the same jobs and duties as before, and many labour laws will not be applied to them such as overtime payment and working hours. Moreover, the Trainee Officer workers lose their membership status in any trade unions and will not be allowed to form/join any unions. Since the Trainee Officer category has been introduced, many workers were forced to accept the promotion even if they are not willing to do so. The management refuses to discuss/negotiate this issue with the SWU and the case has been deadlocked.
The above-mentioned Siemens Motor Satellite Factory, which is located 6km away from the Kalwe plant, manufactures motors, generators and traction motors. The workers in the factory are also facing the union-busting promotion issue, and the SWU has filed a complaint before the Industrial Court in Thane and also submitted a letter of intervention to the Deputy Commissioner of Labour in Thane to bring the workers back to the real blue-collar status as members of the union.
Following the founding ceremony of the union at the factory, the General Assembly of the SWU took place in a town hall where the union committee members and activists gathered. Union leaders from other plants in Thane were also invited. Kan Matsuzaki introduced the creation of IndustriALL Global Union and the contents of Siemens Global Framework Agreement (GFA), which was signed in July 2012, and expressed the importance of proper implementation and monitoring of the GFA throughout developing trade union networks of Siemens.
As the SWU is also facing an increase of agency workers at the plant, Suzanna Miller introduced the newly published IndustriALL report “The triangular trap – Unions take action against agency labour”, by giving examples of the myths and employers’ excuses for using agency workers and addressing the unequal treatment of precarious workers in Siemens, such as the recently introduced separate canteens for subcontracted workers. IndustriALL’s world wide Stop Precarious Work campaign was explained and the union was asked to actively participate and take action on 7 October.
Girish Ashtekar, SWU President, and Uday Mahale, SWU General Secretary, insisted that the union would extend its organizing effort to not just Siemens factories, but also to suppliers to fight against de-unionization and the increase of agency workers. The union expects the GFA and developing trade union network of Siemens will help in the struggle to defend the workers’ rights and interests.
The International Prize for trade union rights was established in 2010 by Industri Energi (IE), IndustriALL Global Union affiliate in Norway, with the aim to promote and strengthen trade unions and trade union rights internationally. The prize is granted annually based on proposals from trade unions around the world. The prize is worth NOK 500,000 (approximately US$87,000).
The deadline for nominations is 31 January 2013.
Nominations can be submitted in Norwegian, English, French or Spanish by completing the form on the webpage http://www.svenssonprize.com/nomination/ or by writing to Committee Secretary Espen Løken (IE) at [email protected] or via fax: +47 23 06 13 60.
Since its creation in 2010 there were three winners of the prize. In 2010, the award was given to Wellington Chibebe in expression of deep respect to his fearless commitment to labour rights and democracy in Zimbabwe.
In 2011, the winner was ShaherSae´d, Secretary General of Palestine General Federation of Trade Union (PGFTU) who made substantial input in the fight for trade union rights in Palestine.
The most recent award in 2012, was granted to the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) in respect to their persistent grass root struggle and mass mobilization for better pay and working conditions in the Cambodian clothing industry.
IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Mineworkers' Union of Zambia planned a meeting with all branch officials to discuss the issue of Precarious Work in the mining industry in Zambia, in order to raise awareness on the spreading issue.
In Zambia workers are intimidated to the extent that they work in fear of being fired at any time if seen talking about the formation a union or if they speak on the issue of precarious work, workers are in need of awareness on workers issues.
In Macedonia IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Trade Union of Industry, Energy and Mining (SIER) held an action in Struga dedicated to the campaign against precarious work. SIER organized a sport event weekend with the participation of 200 union locals. The Slogan for the sport event was “STOP Precarious Work”.
In Mali, IndustriALL Global Union affiliate La Fédération Syndical des Industries Alimentaires du Textile de l’habillement Cuirs et peaux (FSITTHCP) in partnership avec their national center la Confédérions Syndical des Travailleurs du Mali (CSTM) and it’s 14 national unions organized a mass mobilization on 9 October 2012 for the World Day for decent Work.
Over 5000 workers from sectors such as mining, food, textile, chemical and metal came together to say no to the spread of precarious work. The workers also came together in solidarity with 610 dismissed mineworkers from LTA-Mali, SA-SEMOS-SA, BCM loulou and Morila-SA.
In Hong Kong IndustriALL affiliate, the Committee of Metal Industry Unions (CMIU) joined the campaign to Stop Precarious Work and took action on 10 October in front of the Legislative Council Building. CMIU will dispatched petitions to Legislative Councilors, asking them to
On 10 October a delegation of the United Auto Workers (UAW) joined Korean Metal Workers’ Union (both affiliates of IndustriALL Global Union) and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) to deliver a strong demand of justice for workers who suffered during and after the Ssangyong violence.
In 2009 the South Korean government shocked the international community by its use of lethal force against the Ssangyong Motor workers. At the time, the workers were in a 77-day sit-down strike calling for negotiations on work-sharing measures to avoid mass dismissals.
Water, electricity and access to food and medicine were cut off as riot police and private security forces surrounded the plant. Riot police forces attacked the striking workers with electroshock weapons and police helicopters dropped corrosive chemical agents on the striking workers, while blocking access to water to clean chemical burns and to drink.
It appears now that the mass dismissals may have been illegal in the first place.
In a joint press release Korean trade unions, UAW and IndustriALL Global Union said, “Ssangyong Motor appears to have doctored its accounts to inflate its debt ratio of 187 percent into 561 percent. The company’s claims of urgent business exigencies to justify the mass dismissal of 2,646 workers were apparently based on dishonest claims, if not business fraud. Suspect grounds for the restructuring have been found to be true in the recent parliamentary hearing of the Korean government.”
Delivering a speech at a press conference in Seoul today, Bob King, UAW president and chairman of IndustriALL's Auto Department paid his respects to Mr. Han Gil-seok, former Ssangyong Motor Company worker who died two days before the international delegation arrived, the 23rd death victim of Ssangyong Motors.
King said, “The time is now for the South Korean government to act and take a critical step forward in showing the world that this country defends and upholds the most fundamental principles of human rights and human dignity.”
As an expression of solidarity with Ssangyong workers and their families the delegation brought postcards and petitions written by global union leaders from 81 countries and more than 2,000 UAW members in the United States and called for a parliamentary investigation to expose and correct the massive injustices carried out against Ssangyong workers and their families.
Today the delegation is meeting the National Assembly Environment and Labour Committee which is responsible for holding hearings on the Ssangyong Motor case. Postcards and petitions will be delivered by the delegation to the Committee.
The most urgent of the demands relate to the action of Platreef, a subsidiary of Ivanhoe Mines (Pty) Ltd, of which Rio Tinto is the majority shareholder. Communities on the land where Platreef intends to build a tailing dam, accuse the company of sidestepping community members, by engaging only with the traditional leaders, some of whom they allege have accepted bribes and another that holds a senior position at Platreef.
Platinum companies have been criticised for manipulating the system of communal land ownership, a legacy of South Arica’s past. These companies consult only with traditional leaders and avoid gaining the consent of the majority of community members, mostly rural subsistence farmers, who will be displaced or have their livelihoods threatened by the mining activities.
However protestors allege that the land where Platreef intends to construct its tailing dam, has been given directly to named community members through a post apartheid land claim and is not held in the trust of traditional leaders.
Platreef representatives were chased away by community members the week before the march when they attempted to hold a public hearing as part of the required environmental impact assessment process. Communities demand that before any mining takes place, their free prior informed consent is obtained so that they may participate in their development path.
Demands were also made to Anglo Platinum for their immediate engagement on the impact of their mining activity on those living adjacent to the mine and to address the needs and concerns of communities that have been resettled in poor quality housing, with service delivery problems and inadequate means to sustain their livelihoods.
Water, electricity and access to food and medicine were cut off as riot police and private security forces surrounded the plant. Riot police forces attacked the striking workers with electroshock weapons and police helicopters dropped corrosive chemical agents on the striking workers, while blocking access to water to clean chemical burns and to drink.
It is an outrage to discover the mass dismissals may have been illegal in the first place.
Ssangyong Motor appears to have doctored its accounts to inflate its debt ratio of 187 percent into 561 percent. The company’s claims of urgent business exigencies to justify the mass dismissal of 2,646 workers were apparently based on dishonest claims, if not business fraud. Suspect grounds for the restructuring have been found to be true in the recent parliamentary hearing of the Korean government.
It is scandalous that despite the passage of three years, not a single worker has been recalled, and yet, the death toll continues to rise.
The Ssangyong Motor workers and their families affected by the mass dismissals suffer extreme financial duress, provisional seizure of workers’ homes and bank accounts to pay the employer and its insurance company for strike “damages,” and blacklisting from future employment. This has led to 23 deaths by suicide and stress-related disorders.
The responsibility of the government is clear. Leaders from major unions in 81 countries around the world, under the banner of IndustriALL, including some 1850 union members of the United Auto Workers in the United States have signed petitions calling for an urgent resolution of the Ssangyong Motor case before a 23rd victim is taken.
However, before the voice of the international community could be conveyed, we were appalled and saddened to receive word that another, the 23rd person has died. South Korea may grow as an economic power; however, it is unlikely to earn global respect without demonstrating it can deal with human and labor rights issues in a fair and humane way.
We urge the South Korean government to:
IndustriALL Global Union
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU)
United Auto Workers (UAW)
Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU)
