RUSSIA ACTIONS

In Chelyabinsk, Russia, young members of IndustriALL affiliate the Mining and Metallurgical Workers’ Union (MMWU) took action in the park on 7 October. They called for decent work and social guarantees, affordable housing. Some activists wore stilts to show how high prices and housing bills get. Others wore red patches over their mouths to show that they lack voice in deciding their fate.

Earlier union activists held a massive motor rally over the whole Chelyabisnk area in support of their demands. They distributed union leaflets and other printed materials.

In the cities and towns of Chelyabisnk area, Russia, MMWU held pickets and distributed leaflets and printed media. On 5 October workers of Chelyabinsk Metal Plant took action in the city itself.

On 6 October MMWU members at Bakal Mining Administration held a city-wide conference in the mining town of Bakal, Chelyabinsk area. Over 200 participants adopted a resolution calling the authorities to support natioonal industry, include unions in law-making process, raise minimum wage to the subsistence minimum, prioritise modernization of the plants over restructuring and dismissals.

In general, Russian unions affiliated to the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR) didn’t take action on the streets. Rather, they discussed in union branches and locals the new project of the Decent Work Standard developed by the FNPR.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Trade Union of Autoworkers (ITUA), will take part in demonstrations in Moscow and Saint Petersburg on 7 October. ITUA is affiliated to the national center, the Confederation of Labour of Russia which will hold rallies in the two biggest Russian cities as part of the World Day for Decent Work. The goal is to protest against the proposed changes to labour legislation in Russia.

The Russian employers’ association mounted a new attack on workers’ rights, reintroducing its proposal for a 60-hour work week, but also suggesting to legalize agency work and greatly reduce guarantees provided by work contracts, thereby damaging permanent employment. That’s why the campaign to STOP precarious work will be one of the major themes in Moscow and Saint Petersburg rallies on 7 October.

BELARUS ACTIONS

REP, SPB and SPM

On 7 October Belarusian independent trade unions will conduct pickets for the World Day for Decent Work to demand a STOP to Precarious Work. Activists of Free Trade Union of Metalworkers (SPM), Free Trade Union of Belarus (SPB) and Belarus Trade Union of Workers of Radio and Electronic Industry (REP) filed their applications with local authorities to conduct pickets in Minsk, Polotsk, Gomel, Brest, Mogilev and Vitebsk.

Belkhimprofsouz

Within the framework of the Day of action to Stop precarious work IndustriALL affiliate Belkhimprofsouz will carry out regional youth oriented workshops where young union activists will discuss the role of trade union in fighting dispatched and subcontracted labour and learn more in detail about the work of IndustriALL Global Union. The union issued a statement posted on its website http://www.himprof.by/sitenews/stop-precarious-work.  On October 7, Belkhimprofsouz will participate in a Roundtable in Minsk with FEMCA Cisl Italy on the use of (sub) contractors and agency labor in Europe.

COLOMBIA ACTIONS

Colombian unions have circulated an invitation to their demonstration for decent work that will take place in Bogota on 4 October and the main cities in the country.

On 26 September, the left wing Senator, Mauricio Ospina, made a presentation to the Senate, with the support of IndustriALL Colombia, on the “Cooperativas de Trabajadores Asociados”.

On 9 October, the left wing senator Alexandro Lopez, will lead a debate in the senate with members of government on the topic of precarious work.

THAILAND ACTIONS

In Thailand on 7 October unions organized a rally that will began at the Public Square near the Parliament in Bangkok. The unions then marched to the United Nations Building. Outside the UN, the unions held a Street Symposium.  

On 10 October unions will arrange for a delegation to meet member of the Thai government to discuss the labour movement demands on Convention 87 and 98.

SPAIN ACTIONS

IndustriALL Affiliate FITEQA-CCOO are preparing assemblies and meetings in the various structures of their union on the issue of precarious work that will take place around 7 October.

GUINEA ACTIONS

Industriall affiliates in Guinea, intend to organize a major conference followed by an open debate on the growing issue of precarious work in Guinea, the Causes and the socioeconomic consequences.

KYRGYZSTAN ACTIONS

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Mining and Metallurgy Trade Union of Kyrgyzstan (MMTUK) took action on 5 October. The youth wing of the union held a flashmob in Bishkek. Young activists danced and sent balloons to the sky with workers’ rights’ violations written on them. They also gave ice cream to passers-by. MMTUK sent a press release to the media, announcing the action and explaining the purpose of the World Day for Decent Work.

CHILE ACTIONS

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate CONSTRAMET in Chile will be taking action on 8 October with a group of leaders to deliver a letter to the ministry of labor.

IndustriALL affiliates start mobilizing to STOP Precarious Work

Organized by the Indonesia Workers’ Council, comprising national centres KSPI, KSBSI and KSPSI, the demonstrations attracted nearly 3 million participants. They were staged on 3 October in 21 districts and municipalities and 80 industrial zones throughout the Greater Jakarta area, as well as at the offices of Regional Parliaments. The largest protest involved some 500,000 people in seven industrial zones in Bekasi.

Said Iqbal, president of the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPI), said that the protests were called to demand a halt to the widespread practice of outsourcing. This results in workers receiving lower pay and benefits than if they were hired directly. The unions called on the government to prohibit outsourcing beyond five allowable areas and to revoke the licenses of outsourcing companies.

The union demands also included increases to the minimum wage, which is currently below levels in China, Thailand and Malaysia, and rejection of government proposals for workers to pay health insurance contributions instead of employers.

Meanwhile in Germany, IG Metall has released the results of its works council survey on precarious work. The survey results make it very clear that precarious employment is increasing, both in the form of agency labour as well as outsourcing. Precarious work is not only increasing in new jobs, in 1 in every 5 workplaces, precarious work is replacing permanent jobs. Agency work has become the standard instrument of precarious work, present in three quarters of workplaces and increasing in every third workplace.

In other developments, California governor Jerry Brown this week signed two bills sponsored by the labour movement to protect agency workers. One bill requires that agency workers be given more information about their pay rates and working hours for each assignment. The second bill makes user enterprises liable when they should have known that contracts entered into with a subcontractor were financially insufficient to comply with labour laws.

CZECH REPUBLIC ACTIONS

In the past three years, OS KOVO has taken a very active part in the precarious work campaign to support the global fight against precarious. The Agency labour booklet “The Triangular Trap” has been translated into Czech and will be distributed as widely as possible together with the press release which will be published in OS KOVO’s weekly publication and on their website. The issue of precarious work will also be discussed shortly at the OS KOVO Council