Obituary: Thamrin Mosii

Bro. Thamrin Mosii, the founder and former president of FSPMI, and also former chairman of KSPI, passed away on 19 August, 2012 at Fatmawati hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Thamrin Mosii was renowned as a very strong organizer and for his contribution to the building of a strong trade union movement in Indonesia. He was committed to defending and protecting workers. He was employed in PT Panasonic Manufacturing Indonesia from 1971 to 2002 and founded the local union in Panasonic and later became chairman of the Panasonic plant union in 1978.

“Thamrin Mosii was founding father of KSPI and FSPMI. After the International Metalworkers’ Federation decided to exclude LEM SPSI on the basis that it was a yellow union, Mossii bravely resigned from the union and helped to establish the new independent union KSPI and FSPMI. This was politically very difficult and brave work,” said Said Iqbal, President of FSPMI and KSPI.

“Bro. Mosii was a wise leader, always clear in every struggle and committed to the trade union movement. He created strong grassroots and managed the trade union with membership and dues. His philosophy was that trade unions must be democratic, independent and representative,” said Roni Febrianto, Vice President of FSPMI.

Goldminers in Fiji call for union rights

The former Vatukoula goldminers have not received any resolution of their grievances despite promises given by the current Fijian Government when it took power in 2007.

The union lodged its submission to the commission as it was unable to pursue its case in Fiji when the 1997 Constitution was thrown out in 2009 rendering the Human Rights Commission and Ombudsman's Office defunct. Instead the union sent its complaint directly to the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva.

According to local news reports, FMWU leader Josefa Sadreu told the commission Fiji's new constitution should protect and promote labour rights as Fiji is a signatory to the ILO Conventions.

One of the most important aspects of any constitution in Fiji is that it should respect the rights Fiji has undertaken to protect under the ILO. This international law, namely the ILO Convention, should be protected by constitution,

said Mr Sadreu.

The union also stated that the constitution should have a robust and independent human rights commission and ombudsman’s office. It wants to see an independent judiciary, and the protection of the employment relations free from interference. The union believes the Bill of Rights provision in the 1997 constitution should be left intact.

Numerous trade union leaders have been detained and prevented from exercising their rights since Commodore Frank Bainimarama took power of Fiji in a military coup in 2006, installing Ratu Josefa Iloilo as President on 4 January 2007.

IndustriALL Global Union joins with many unions from around the world in their concerns about the persecution by the Fijian Government of workers and their representatives.

Another fatal accident at Toquepala – Southern Peru

On Saturday, 25 August, another accident left the workers at Toquepala, Peru, in mourning for a dead colleague. A worker employed in the workshops at the plant, which is owned by Southern Peru – Grupo Mexico,  died after a metal sheet fell on him.

There have now been four fatal accidents at Toquepala in just over two years. A contract worker was crushed by a train, a miner was buried by a rock fall, a company employee died from a fall during the construction of a road and now Mario Méndez has been killed in the Toquepala concentrator, said the Toquepala workers’ union.

The union says the company is responsible for safety and that, some time ago, the three Toquepala trade unions suggested to Southern Peru’s Chief Executive Officer that union and management representatives should meet to discuss safety issues. These meetings were to be held every three months but only one was held.

The union is calling on the company to resume safety meetings and demanding that it appoints a new maintenance and safety coordinator to replace the previous post holder, who was dismissed in the middle of negotiations with the union over their collective agreement. It also wants the immediate dismissal of the safety manager and the maintenance superintendent at the concentrator.

The union rejects the safety manager’s attempts to blame a supervisor for the accident. The unions says that the dead worker and the supervisor were both employed in the workshops and not in the area where the accident occurred. “There were not enough mechanics available so management  brought in workers from other departments to work as ‘support staff’ in violation of our collective agreement. The company cannot therefore blame the foreman”, said the union.

IndustriALL Global Union regrets the death of another worker at Toquepala, a tragedy that again highlights the negligent attitude that some companies have towards the safety of their workers.

GM Colmotores workers suspend hunger strike

The hunger strike by workers dismissed by General Motors, Colombia, lasted more than 20 days. The workers sewed their mouths shut in an effort to get the company, government and the United States embassy to listen to their demands.

The workers decided to end their hunger strike on 24 August after the company agreed to mediation. However, they will remain camped outside the United States embassy until the dispute is resolved, said the union.

The workers, who are all members of the Association of Injured Workers and Ex-Workers of General Motors Columbia (ASOTRECOL), have been protesting for one year against General Motors’ practice of systematically dismissing without compensation any employees whose physical health deteriorates because of occupational diseases.

The United States Federal Mediation Service has agreed to mediate. The workers were asked to suspend the hunger strike while mediation takes place.

Jorge Parra, president of ASOTRECOL, told the national and international press that the workers had suspended their hunger strike because of the new dialogue, but that they will resume the hunger strike if mediation fails.

Zimbabwean electricity utility continues to deny workers rights

Add your voice to the IndustriALL-Labourstart campaign to support ZESA workers.

135 electricity workers were suspended on 17 July without pay and benefits on charges of a threatened strike when the state-owned utility, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), claimed that it could not afford to pay workers the wage increase.

ZESA is pressurising the Zimbabwean Electricity Union (ZEWU) to set aside the arbitration award and start up a new arbitration process for wage increases. For the abandonment of the award, the company is offering to reinstate workers without back pay for lost wages and benefits. ZESA also proposes 12 month final warning for the President of ZEWU, Angeline Chitambo, who also an executive member of IndustriALL, and two other office bearers that have also been suspended by the company, amounting to a gag order on elected officials of ZEWU.

At the company hearing for Chitambo on 28 August, the union requested that her case also be heard outside of ZESA, as management seems determined to use her reinstatement as a bargaining chip to force ZEWU to relinquish the wage award, and on terms that will undermine her ability to carry out her leadership duties in ZEWU.  

Meanwhile, the regional offices of ZESA have begun holding hearings on the suspensions and 45 workers have been found not guilty and reinstated with pay and benefits.

Of the workers that remain suspended, about 70 are in the northern region, where the hearings for 3 workers have taken place and resulted in their dismissal. The union is challenging the dismissals and is asking that the hearings for suspended workers this region be shifted to the labour court based on claims that management in the region is not following the law.

South African affiliates, the National Union of Mineworkers and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, have each sent an experienced shop steward from South Africa’s utility, Eskom, to Zimbabwe on a mission to provide solidarity support to ZEWU. They have been assisting the union with developing strategies to engage with ZESA and also carrying messages of solidarity to suspended workers.

ZEWU is very grateful for all the support that they have received from affiliates of IndustriALL. “Thank you for coming our way with assistance, you are strengthening us to take on ZESA, which is not easy as they are putting demand after demand,” says Chitambo.

“But with your solidarity, we have proved to ZESA that workers all over the world are behind us and we can win what is rightfully ours.”

Union victory at MAS-DAF

In April 2011, 110 members of Birlesik Metal-Is at the MAS-DAF Makina Sanayi factory were fired (link to previous story: http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=26566&l=2) just months after he company attempted to undermine union organizing efforts in 2010.
 
The judgment in response to Birlesik Metal-Is’ petition to the court, nullifies the employer’s decision to terminate contracts without any compensation, and instructs the management to reinstate the dismissed workers and pay extra compensation.
 
Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL Global Union’s Assistant General Secretary, said: “These exemplary struggles by Birlesik Metal-Is show that even though labour legislation is not in favour of workers and trade unions, genuine union fights, coupled with international solidarity, creates victories which we cordially salute.”

Peace talks hoped to turn page on Lonmin troubles

The widely reported worst violence in South Africa in the post-apartheid era saw police shoot 34 miners at the Marikana mining complex on 16 August after 10 people died in fighting during the strike. This week fewer than 8 per cent of the 28,000 workers at the mine are working, with union leadership’s call for a return to work ignored. Peace talks will continue and hopefully reach agreement tomorrow, 31 August.

Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant met with striking workers on 24 August and facilitated the 28 August peace talks meeting between Lonmin, organized labour, representatives of the striking workers, and churches. The major obstacle to negotiations was the management’s refusal to discuss wage demands before peace was restored to the mine and production restarted, while workers remain insistent that production would not be allowed to restart before their demand for a 300 per cent wage increase was met. The success of the peace talks hinges on the resolution of this question.

The return to work call is also hampered by the demand of the arrested mineworkers that they be granted bail without delay, and whether Lonmin will allow for these workers to return to work.

Advocate Lesego Mmusi representing the arrested mineworkers argued in court against further delay in the bail application for the detained miners, stating that if the government was willing to wait for the commission of inquiry before charging police, detained miners should be awarded the same privilege. It is unclear whether Lonmin will allow the detained miners to return to work. It has since emerged that an autopsy has revealed that many of the murdered workers were shot in the back and hence the call for an independent inquiry.

Calls for an independent inquiry are gaining momentum as many feel that the judicial inquiry does not have a broad enough scope to address root causes of the conflict and does not adequately address socio economic concerns of miners and affected communities. Amongst the issues that these proponents are seeking to address is the issue of contract labour.

In line with a demand from NUM, the Minister of Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu, has announced that centralized bargaining will be established for the platinum sector. This will address wage disparities for workers doing the same job in different mining companies, and the question of contract labour. About a third of the workforce in the platinum sector are contractor workers who earn by some estimates, about 60 per cent less than permanent workers. 

CAW and CEP on path to create new union

If created, the new union would be the country’s largest private sector union representing about 325,000 workers across 20 sectors, including manufacturing, energy, communications and transport.

CAW and CEP, both affiliates of IndustriALL Global Union, say the project to create the new union comes in response to multiple attacks on the country's labour force. CEP members will vote on the creation of the new union at their convention in 14-17 October.

"This new union has the potential to change the way workers are represented in this country, bringing about stronger democracy in the workplace and greater community involvement," said Ken Lewenza, CAW National President, after the vote.

"Bigger is not necessarily better. But a bigger and better union is better, and that's what we're going to build," said Dave Coles, President of CEP.

Unions file OECD complaint against PKC

The unions accuse PKC of violating the rights of its workers in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico who produce wire harnesses for North American car and truck manufacturers including Ford, GM and Chrysler.

The National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (SNTMMSSRM) has been calling for fair union elections and the right to bargain collective (http://www.industriall-union.org/industriall-calls-for-legal-and-fair-elections-at-pkc-mexico  ) at the plant, but is facing continued and escalating opposition from the company.

PKC has openly and systematically violated the rights of its workers to democratically choose their union representative and bargain with their employer,

said IndustriALL General Secretary Jyrki Raina.

According to the complaint, rather than negotiate with SNTMMSSRM, the company signed a secret contract with a corrupt union affiliated to the CTM (Confederación de Trabajadores de México), a national organization tied to the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

“Workers were never consulted, given the chance to vote or even given a copy of their union contract,” said Raina.  “These are flagrant violations of international labor standards.”

Mexican labour authorities have scheduled a hearing 31 August to set a date for an election in the plants, which employ about 6,000 workers. However, workers have reported widespread intimidation from the company, including threats to cut benefits, lay off workers and even close the plant. “Unfortunately, at this point there is no guarantee that there can be a fair election,” Raina said.

The complaints, alleging violations of the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, were filed with the OECD National Contact Points in Finland and Mexico.  The Finnish unions filing the complaint are the Metalworkers, Union of Professional Engineers, and the white-collar union Pro. The Mexican complaint was filed by SNTMMSSRM.

The text of the complaint is available in English, Spanish and Finnish on the IndustriALL website:

English: http://www.industriall-union.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/PKC-Mexico/pkc_oecd_queja_final_-_en.pdf

Spanish: http://www.industriall-union.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/PKC-Mexico/pkc_oecd_queja_final_-_es.pdf

Finish: http://www.industriall-union.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/PKC-Mexico/pkc_oecd_queja_final_-_fi.pdf 

 

Mexican armed forces used against peaceful protest at Excellon mine

The community (the Ejido) and Local 309 of the National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (SNTMMSSRM) began the peaceful camp of 100 men, women and children in front of the mine on 8 July 2012 demanding that the company comply with the land rental agreement signed between the two parties in 2008. The workers are also demanding that Excellon and the government guarantee their right to freedom of association.

The local community has made several attempts to negotiate with the company with the support of federal and state government representatives through mediation.

The last meeting took place on 13 August in the offices of the Federal Secretary of Government in Mexico City. In that meeting, Excellon walked away from the table in the first five minutes claiming that it would not negotiate until the blockade was lifted.

In this same roundtable, the federal representative, Jorge Triana, stated that he was “as outraged as the Ejido members by Excellon’s failure to negotiate”. In the same meeting, the Durango state representative, Jaime Fernández Saracho, recognized the Ejido’s open willingness to resolve the conflict.

The federal and state governments reversed their position on 29 August. Along with federal prosecutors, more than 100 soldiers and police forces pressured and intimidated the landowners and workers to let company representatives enter the mine.

For more background see: http://www.prodesc.org.mx/2012/08/press-release-august-29th-2012/