Olympic hosts sign communiqué to promote respect for human rights

Representatives from the UK, and future Olympic and Paralympic host nations, Russia, Brazil and the Republic of Korea, signed the Communiqué pledging to harness the potential of their Games to promote human rights, before an audience of athletes, members of the Olympic family, human rights organizations and international media.

Future hosts pledged to use their Games to promote awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the values of respect, diversity, tolerance and fairness, and the need to combat all forms of discrimination.

Play Fair, a campaign coordinated by the International Trades Union Confederation, IndustriALL Global Union, the Building and Woodworkers International and the Clean Clothes Campaign, has long demanded that the International Olympic Committee commit to supporting fundamental workers’ rights in the Olympic Charter and to require that all companies which have Olympic licenses respect these rights. Today’s communique adds to the pressure on the International Olympics Committee to fulfil these demands.

Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of IndustriALL said:

“Article 23 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to just and favourable conditions of work, remuneration and to form and join trade unions. In light of the communiqué signed today we will be calling on host countries to explain how they intend to protect these rights in Olympic supply chains.”

ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said:

"By endorsing so strongly the UN Declaration of Human Rights, these four governments have committed themselves to protecting the rights of workers building the facilities, staffing the Games and making the sports equipment and memorabilia to decent wages, equal pay and safety.

"The IOC and governments in Olympic host countries are now on notice. Make the next three Games sweatshop free, healthy for all, and better than ever!"

Siemens GFA put to early test in the US

Siemens became the 40th multinational corporation to sign a GFA with IndustriALL Global Union on 25 July 2012, together with the company’s General Works Council and IG Metall of Germany. Through the joint agreement, German-based Siemens commits to uphold fundamental rights of all its workers throughout the world.

At the same time that global management were making these commitments, local management in Maryland, USA hired a pair of notorious union-busting specialists to aggressively combat a drive by the United Steelworkers (USW) to organize the non-union North East plant of the company. Director of Operations for Siemens, Joe Didwall breached a number of the commitments made in the GFA, making his position perfectly clear in writing to one of his employees, “We must tell you that we do not believe that bringing a third party union into our workplace is in your best interests for many reasons. Nor is it in the best interests of the company or our customers”.

The company’s hired union busters Ken Cannon and Joe Brock, together with management, have threatened workers against joining the union, amounting to clear interference and restriction of the employees’ right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Ken Cannon has worked with Siemens before and proudly describes himself as having “40 years’ experience supporting managements’ efforts to remain union free”.

The spirit and actions of the Siemens management at the North East plant totally breach the commitments made in the Global Framework Agreement and IndustriALL calls for swift intervention from the company. In a letter to Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher, IndustriALL General Secretary Jyrki Raina stated:

“I call on you to immediately terminate the company’s relationship with union-busters Ken Cannon and Joe Brock, and cease the anti-union activities referenced above. Senior management should call a meeting of all North East employees with USW representatives present, provide them with a copy of the GFA, and inform them that the company will take a neutral position, cease all anti-union activities, take no reprisals against employees on the basis of their union advocacy, and afford the USW reasonable access to the plant to communicate with employees.”

The workplace election will be conducted on 6 September. Let us rally support behind our US affiliate, send a message of solidarity and support to the Siemens workers at North East through the USW-LabourStart campaign.

Bridgestone workers in Bahia remain mobilized

The 51-day strike by Bridgestone workers in the Brazilian state of Bahia, thought to be one of the longest in the history of Brazilian manufacturing industry, ended on Monday August 20, but the workers remain mobilised.

In this new stage of the dispute, representatives of the company and Sindborracha, the union that represents the workers, will meet to discuss the workers’ demands on August 27, with mediation by the Ministry of Labour.

Workers have resisted pressure from the company since the strike began. The company has consistently tried to end the strike by using such anti-trade union practices as recruiting security personnel to attack the striking workers, trying to criminalize the movement and using untrained workers from São Paulo at the Bahia plant. The multinational also failed to make progress in the negotiations, even after a court ruled that the strike was legal.

On several occasions, Sindborracha has explained that the Bridgestone workers are fighting for decent working conditions and an end to bullying as well as a pay rise. “Bridgestone pays higher wages to its São Paulo workers and this difference in pay levels between states, combined with the fact that it pays less than other companies in the same sector, means that the company is making a profit by exploiting its workforce and practising social dumping.”

 

Indian trade unions urge Odisha Government to ban asbestos

Intensifying the efforts to Ban Asbestos in India, IndustriALL Global Union and Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) organized a seminar on 11 August 2012 at Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Further, trade union representatives submitted a memorandum to the State Labour Minister, Mr. Bijayashree Routray and the Health Minister, Mr. Damodar Rout, urging the Government of Odisha to impose state-wide ban on all use of asbestos. 

Welcoming participants at the seminar, Rajendra Prasad Singha, State President of the trade union centre Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), emphasized that trade unions need to accord priority to health and safety issues, including the deadly impact of asbestos and expressed that the deliberations during the seminar would help to shape the trade union strategy in the state.

Inaugurating the seminar, the State Labour MinisterRoutray stated, that asbestos has its hazards but at the same time stressed that alternate materials should be developed on large scale, which could replace asbestos. Similar sentiments were echoed by the Government Chief Whip Mr Prabhat Kumar Tripathy.

In his address, Sudhershan Rao Sarde, IndustriALL Regional Secretary for South Asia, called for a joint approach by the trade unions to impress upon the state governments to ban asbestos at the earliest.      

Anup Srivastava, Education Officer of BWI-South Asia, made a presentation on the global asbestos trade and explained the position of United Nations agencies on the issue. 

The seminar concluded with the formation of a committee for follow-up work to ban asbestos in the state, including preparation of materials in simple language for wider distribution among the general public. 

Participants at the seminar include the affiliates of IndustriALL Global Union, BWI in the state and state leadership of Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) and civil society activists. 

 

Join the online campaign for suspended Zimbabwe trade unionists

Hearings began on 16 August for the 135 trade unionists to have been suspended without pay by ZESA management on 17 July. Although all workers face the same charges, there has been no consistency in the court judgements so far, with some dismissals confirmed and others acquitted, along a regional divide. IndustriALL has strongly condemned this union-busting treatment of its affiliate the Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union (ZEWU).

As previously reported, the ZEWU leadership has also been suspended, and ZEWU President Angeline Chitambo, who is a titular member of IndustriALL’s Executive Committee, is facing suspension on different charges, together with a possible gagging order. At this difficult time for ZEWU, the union’s General Secretary is sick. IndustriALL member unions in Southern Africa are rallying support for ZEWU, through financial and practical assistance to fight the case.

As time passes, suspended workers face increasing hardship without their salary and conditions, which were at poverty levels to begin with. The company hopes that ZEWU will accept to drop their claim to a hard-won arbitration award for increased salary. Workers on the lowest pay grade were ruled to be entitled to salary increases of US$190 to US$275, a level still well below a living wage.

When management ignored ZEWU’s demand for their members’ entitlements through the arbitration award, they threatened strike action. For that they are now facing this strong persecution.

Pressure is now building on ZESA to drop the cases against its workers and to fully implement the improvements of salary in line with the arbitration award. Workers from around the world are responding through the Labourstart campaign, and trade union affiliates of IndustriALL are writing on behalf of their members to Chief Executive Josh Chifamba. Join these actions today.

See a previous IndustriALL report here.

Voestalpine workers in Russia resign over poor wages and conditions

On 9 August, 12 out of 18 field engineers at Voestalpine in Yarcevo, Smolensk area, Russia, wrote letters of resignation and simultaneously put a list of demands to the management.

Each of the 12 field engineers has worked at Voestalpine for more than 10 years. In fact, it is virtually impossible to replace these workers quickly, since their job demands high levels of skills and experience. What’s more, it is the peak time at Voestalpine and the customers’ demand for its production is at its highest levels.

“There’s no one to replace field engineers in this shop. The work is quite specific and demands years of preparation. The workers are determined to fight until the end. Their dismissal could stop the production at the plant and disrupt the delivery of goods to customers,’”says Sergey Ivanov, deputy president of the Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers (ITUA) local at Voestalpine. ITUA is affiliated to the IndustriALL Global Union.

Field engineers at Voestalpine have good reasons to protest. Their wages haven’t been raised or even adjusted according to the official inflation figures since 2008. Due to the introduction of piece-rate pay scheme in May this year, their income was reduced by 100-200 USD. They demand a salary of 1,300 USD, which is their basic salary adjusted to the inflation.

The workers also demand the introduction of an annual bonus, ‘thirteenth wage’. They claim that their colleagues at Voestalpine AG in Austria have two additional wages each year.

In late 2011, the management of Voestalpine started dismissals and hired new workers as subcontractors. On 18 January 2012 more than 100 Voestalpine workers took part in a rally against this new policy. However, the dismissals are still being conducted. More than 100 experienced workers are replaced with lower-skilled agency workers. As a result, field engineers have to do additional work.

ITUA members at the plant cite another highly controversial policy of the management – workers are forced to take vacations during the January state holidays, whereby they are effectively deprived of summer vacations.

Workers also note lack of safety equipment and poor state of the machinery at the plant.

IndustriALL Global Union sent a letter of protest to the Voestalpine general director in Yarcevo, Russia, urging him to ‘begin good-faith negotiations with the union to restore peaceful and constructive atmosphere at the plant.’

Voestalpine Arcada Profil is a leading producer of cold-rolled metal sections in Russia. The plant belongs to the Austrian TNC Voestalpine AG and employs 495 people.

 

Attack on union at Russian auto supplier disrupts production at GM

According to the ITUA, which operates both at GM and Vlankas, GM assembly shop stopped on 13 August due to the breakdown of supplies from Vlankas. The management of Vlankas dismissed several union activists, causing production problems both at Vlankas and its customer, GM.

The union local was founded at Vlankas in April 2012. In July the activists tried to inform the management about the creation of the union. However, the company refused to receive th eunion’s registration documents. What’s more, the management handed the activists notices of dismissal and sent them home. As a result, the quality division at shift B was left without workers, thus no one could control the quality of the product and supply bumpers to GM.

Furthermore, the company went on to create a yellow union, called ‘Union for Justice’. Workers are under pressure to leave the ITUA and join the new union.

Recent policies of the Vlankas included the introduction of an hourly pay scheme, which significantly reduced the workers’ income. Skilled workers have since been leaving the plant. The management replaced them with migrant workers, mostly from Middle Asia, housing them in trailers on the territory of the plant.

 

Long-standing social partnership at risk in Austria

Next month PRO-GE and GPA-DJP will start negotiation with six employer associations on a new collective agreement for about 180,000 workers in the metal and mining industry. Traditionally, bargaining in metal and mining plays a special role and sets the trend for all other sectors in Austria. Negotiations are expected to be very tough this year as, for the first time, employers have announced that they no longer want to bargain jointly but separately.

The attempt by employers to break-up the collective agreement is a “declaration of war” aimed at undermining union power stated Rainer Wimmer, President of PRO-GE and President of IndustriALL’s Mechanical Engineering Sector. “Social partnership, social peace and economic development are being put at risk. The true objective of some employers is fewer rights and less pay for workers in Austria. The aim of trade unions, on the opposite, is to continue the successful model of joint negotiations and not to destroy it.” 

In 2011 the unions were able to obtain wage and salary increases ranging from 3.8 per cent for white-collar workers up to 5.3 per cent for the lowest income group. This success was made possible thanks to the many workplace actions and the pressure generated by strategic strikes during the negotiating process.  “Our strength lies in our solidarity,” said Wimmer, adding, “We will not be divided.”

IndustriALL Global Union stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Austrian workers and pledges its full support to their fight for a joint collective agreement and safeguarding the current system of social partnership that is a salient feature of industrial relations in Austria.  

 

Thai Auto Growth offers opportunity and challenges for unions.

The meeting took place at a time when the Thai auto industry continues to grow as a result of Government policy and also increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) especially by Japanese OEM’s (original equipment manufacturers). Local unions welcome the growth but also have concerns about the impact this will have on Thai autoworkers. Many of the companies are new to the Thai culture and existing agreements in the auto industry. One question that the unions are trying to tackle is the increased production demand, which is leading many auto parts makers to develop 24-hour production cycles. Both Ford and Mazda have already indicated that it is likely they will start 3-shift operations later this year. 

Researchers believe that the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) is set to become the world’s sixth biggest automobile market by 2018. ASEAN has 10 member states and the region’s auto sales are predicted to double to nearly 4.7 million vehicles by 2018. Thailand will be a driving force in achieving this growth. It’s estimated that Thailand exports over 70 per cent of its auto production in Asia and the Middle East.

Although ASEAN has forged strong bonds between its members there is also fierce competition by governments to attract foreign investment. This has been problematic for the local unions as to date the Thai government has not signed ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on Freedom of Association. In part because the government is nervous that stronger enforcement and labour protection would act as a competitive disadvantage over its neighbors whom are also competing for the same FDI.

Rob Johnston, Executive Director of IndustriALL Global Union, warns that, “The creation of IndustriALL will be a powerful force against those that want a race to the bottom for workers’ rights. Already the unions that make up IndustriALL in Thailand are finding common ground and issues to fight on. Unity will create a powerful force for change.”

Thailand has a labour force of over 39 million and manufacturing accounts for 34 per cent of gross domestic product. The unions have a huge potential to grow but need enforcement of labour laws by the government to prevent organizers being victimized or fired during attempts to unionize. The seminar is the latest example of the Thai labour movement adapting to a changing environment and planning a response.

 

Improving working conditions in Philippines EPZs

Following the publication of Fair Games? Human rights of workers in Olympic 2012 supplier factories, a report on working conditions in the Zone,  the meeting brought together Adidas, Brooks Running and New Balance, together with their key suppliers the Sintex corporation, the Department of Labor and Employment, unions and labour rights NGOs.

The stakeholders agreed a Memorandum of Cooperation on the promotion of freedom of association and full implementation of labour laws and standards in the apparel industry. In the agreement, the parties commit to working together on a number of issues including precarious work, the lack of authentic worker representation, the low awareness of workers’ rights, wages and inadequate grievance mechanisms.

Speaking on behalf of the Department of Labor and Employment Assistant Regional Director Lilia Estellore welcomed the initiative stating “DOLE are partnering with IndustriALL affiliates, brands and suppliers … in signing the Memorandum of Cooperation for continuous dialogue for the decent work agenda for the sportswear industry.” The Department committed to facilitating the dialogue and suggested that involvement of suppliers be included in the scorecard against which suppliers in the region are rated. 

The multistakeholder meeting was preceded by a mediation meeting following a complaint brought by the Play Fair campaign to the organizers of the London 2012 Olympic Games, regarding violations of their Sustainable Sourcing Code in factories in the region. 

Play Fair is a campaign run by the ITUC, IndustriALL, the Clean Clothes Campaign and the Building Workers’ International (BWI) in order to improve conditions for workers producing sportswear or working in construction related to mega sports events.