Georgian miners' win

In June, the company announced that the workers needed to mine 40 per cent more ore over shorter shifts. Not only would this result in a real-time cut in salaries, but the demands would be impossible to meet.
 
Calling the demands inhumane, the miners took industrial action on 8 June. A group of miners travelled to Georgia’s capital Tiblisi, protesting outside the Parliament building.
 
A solution was negotiated and the miners went back to work on 1 July. The company agreed to provide paid holidays and sick leave. In addition, they promised to reimburse strike days at 60 per cent and to improve safety conditions in the mines.
 
A commission consisting of representatives of the company, workers, trade unions, and government officials will also be set up to decide on a range of other complaints, including improving health insurance, better safety equipment, and deferring bank loans for employees.
 
“IndustriALL affiliate, Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia, was central in finding a solution for workers,”

says IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan.

“We support their work, which resulted in ending the industrial action in a way that benefit the workers. We congratulate the workers for their resistance and successful result.”

Justice for murdered trade union leader

With the rising attacks on trade union leaders, hundreds of garment workers, trade union organizations and labour activists took to the streets across the country after the brutal killing of Shahidul Islam’s.

Shahidul Islam was killed by factory-hired thugs for demanding payment of wages and festival bonuses for workers employed at Prince Jacquard Sweater Limited. Union leaders Mostafa Kamal, Ahmed Sharif, and Akkas Ali were also injured in the attack.

IndustriALL Global Union and UNI Global Union have made a statement and written a letter to the Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, strongly condemning the horrific attack.

General secretaries, Atle Høie and Christy Hoffman said,

“those responsible for this heinous crime should be held accountable and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Freedom of association continues to be violated in the country and the government must ensure that trade unions and their representatives can operate without intimidation, and violence in their role as elected representatives of workers.”

Kalpona Akter, IndustriALL Executive Committee member and president of Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation, says: 

“Shahidul mobilised thousands of workers to join unions, empowering them to become solid factory-level trade union leaders. Throughout his life, he assisted thousands of workers in receiving arrears and severance pay wrongfully denied by their employers. With workers' needs always in mind, Shahidul and three other union leaders met on the evening of his death to discuss a peaceful resolution to a wage dispute and the Eid-ul-Azha festival bonus. He met his fate due to the industry’s ill practice to promote yellow unions and the neglect of workers' voices. This needs to be stopped. Workers must be allowed to organize and join unions. Shahid's contributions to the labour movement were remarkable and will be sorely missed.”

Mid-Term Policy Conference lays down strategic goals for a just future

"If we want defend human and trade union rights, oppose global capital and want a humane economy with an ecological, social and fair transformation, then we have to expand our trade union power resources – especially through organizing. All topics that we work on, all activities that we carry out must lead to strengthening our organizational power. There's no way around it,"

said IndustriALL president Jörg Hoffman in his opening remarks.

IndustriALL president Jörg Hoffman

Sweden’s former prime minister and former IF Metall president and IndustriALL Exco member, Stefan Löfvén, said in his address:

“There are no empty spaces in democracy. We need Ubuntu, respect, sharing, trust, community. I am because we are. What matters is the change you have made to the lives of others.”

Stefan Löfvén

Breaking into four break-out sessions, participants had the opportunity to hear and strategize on addressing growing inequalities in the world, building union power through organizing, strategize and develop plans towards companies and brands and lastly shaping our future through Just Transition.

Break-out session one centered around addressing the growing inequality in the world.  This session discussed streamlining strategies, mapping multinational corporations and their supply chains, leveraging digital technology, and fighting for a global living wage. Participants agreed that the right to organizing and collective bargaining are essential to address inequality and participants said that the global north should demonstrate global solidarity to ensure the fair distribution of wealth.

 

Building union power through organizing, was the main goal for break-out session two. Subcontracting, precarious work and the ever-expanding supply chain is the common threat to organizing. Organizing young workers and women workers was top of the agenda during this session. Affiliates said that there would be more constructive collaborations between unions, especially support from north to south. Delegates decided that strong legislation, international tools and IndustriALL’s role was a strong foundation for organizing.

 

Holding multinational corporations accountable was the theme of break-out session three. Multinationals often resort to numerous tactics to avoid accountability, they do union busting, renaming the companies, relocation, and tax evasion. They have all these maneuverers which harm workers every day. The group said a clear strategic campaign to defend freedom of association, human rights’ due diligence laws and health and safety accords, for all brands and countries must be developed.

 

Shaping our future through Just Transition sparked inspiring ideas from affiliates in break-out session four. Delegates decided that social dialogue and collective bargaining were central to Just Transition. Affiliates were adamant that unions must lead the Just Transition conversation and pressurize governments for support. The session demanded collaborations between north and south for stronger union networks. Another key outcome from this session was decent work opportunities for all, especially women workers.

 

 
IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie said:

“This Mid-Term Policy Conference gives us a good idea of the status of our affiliates. There have been many thought-provoking discussions, which will take us forward both politically and organizationally. We need to work together to implement our decided plans and better the lives of workers.”

Atle Høie

Going forward a working group will develop a conclusions document, and this will be submitted to the next executive committee meeting, which will be held in November.

IndustriALL Global Union and UNI Global Union demand justice in the murder of trade union leader in Bangladesh

Shahidul Islam Shahid was president of the Gazipur unit of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), affiliated to IndustriALL.

Shahidul Islam Shahid was killed in the Gazipur area on Sunday night. According to Shahid’s colleagues, local criminals attacked him for speaking in favour of payment of wages to the workers at the company Prince Jacquard Sweater Limited. Three more labour leaders were injured in the attack. They are Md Mostafa Kamal, Ahmed Sharif, and Akkas Ali.

According to local sources, the workers of Prince Jacquard Sweater Limited have been aggrieved for the last few days as they did not receive outstanding salaries of two months and the Eid bonus. Shahidul Islam Shahid discussed the issue, on behalf of the workers, with the owners of the company. The workers were supposed to get the outstanding salary and bonus on Sunday. The workers were kept waiting for the whole day on Sunday, but did not receive any payments.

Shahidul Islam Shahid and three others came out of the factory at around 7:00 pm and stood in front of the main gate. Suddenly, ten to twelve criminals attacked them. Locals rescued them and took them to hospital in Gazipur where an on-duty physician declared Shahidul Islam Shahid dead. The three injured union leaders received treatment at the same hospital.

We join forces with the IndustriALL Bangladesh Council, which has organized a human chain and protest in front of the Gazipur District Commissioner's Office, to demand justice for this murder and attack on trade union leaders. Those responsible for this heinous attack should be held accountable and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Freedom of association continues to be violated in the country and the government must ensure that trade unions and their representatives can operate without intimidation, and violence in their role as elected representatives of workers.

Regrettably, this murder is another stark reminder of the situation for organized labour in Bangladesh. When people are killed for exercising their constitutional right to organize, we are seeing government and employers at their weakest and most dangerous. It is the responsibility of the Bangladeshi government to investigate the crime and to bring the perpetrator(s) to trial to face the legal consequences.

Union to fight Anglo American attempts to avoid health and safety laws

In 2022, Anglo American started a migration process in which it sought to exclude some of its operations from falling under the stringent Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA). Water Val Smelter, Anglo Converter Plant, Precious Refinery, Rustenburg Base Metal Refinery and Mortimer Smelter would then be moved from the MHSA to be regulated by the Occupational Health Safety Act (OHSA) which applies to mostly manufacturing industries except mining.

Anglo American justified this decision by stating that it had sold the mining rights but remained with the process operations and surface rights. However, the NUM argues that the selling of mining rights does not remove refineries and smelters from being mining operations as defined in the MHSA.
 
The NUM says that the MHSA is a better law for the mining industry than the OHSA, and by moving workers to fall under the latter they will lose their hard-fought rights.” The union has taken Anglo American to the High Court to interdict the process. The NUM says if the multinational implements its proposal many workers rights will be affected. These include workers’ duties for health and safety, and the right of workers to refuse unsafe work and withdraw from dangerous work. Inspectors’ powers to deal with dangerous conditions and to recommend a fine will also be curtailed.

Other rights that will be affected are on initiating investigations for serious injuries and fatalities, right to participate in inquiries, and the joint conducting of inquiries and inquests in the event of death. These rights are in the MHSA but not in the OHSA. The NUM wants the national parliament to merge the two laws into one. This is supported by federations that are represented in the country’s social dialogue platform, the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC). 
 
NUM deputy general secretary Mpho Phakedi said,

“we have declared a dispute and launched an application in the High Court. We strongly condemn the unlawful migration from MHSA to OHSA. This so-called migration process is a self-created concept which does not exist in law.”

The union is expecting to receive support on its court application from the departments of mineral resources and energy, and employment and labour.
 

“The MHSA became law after consultations with unions and considering the health and safety concerns of the mine workers in South Africa. The law has been effective in reducing accidents in the mines. This means that Anglo American has a responsibility to act in the best interests of the workers by retaining the stricter law that is relevant to the mining industry. The company must protect workers’ interests according to the memorandum it signed with IndustriALL as well as per its own health and safety policies,”

said Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary. 

Tunisia is sliding into totalitarianism, warn the global unions

In September 2022, President Kais Saied signed Decree-Law 54 on combating crimes related to information and communication systems. It quickly became clear that the new law was designed to restrict freedom of expression and public debates. The legislation has been weaponized to detain, threaten and harass journalists, public figures and citizens for doing their jobs or expressing critical views. Among the journalists who have been subjected to legal intimidation and detention are Mohamed Yassine Jelassi, the President of Syndicat National des Journalistes Tunisiens (SNJT) and senior journalist and union leader Zied El-Heni.

On 16 June 2023, the Parliament announced that journalists will no longer be allowed to cover the work and debates of the parliamentary committees. Information about the work of the committees will be available only through official statements from the Parliament. This decision will prevent the public from understanding the work of the Parliament and restrict their ability to monitor the work or parliamentarians.

On 17 June 2023, the Anti-Terrorism Court, which is part of the Tunisian Appeals Court, banned the media from publishing any news regarding 20 opposition leaders, lawyers, activists and journalists who are in jail following their arrest on charges of ‘conspiracy against state security.’ This is an arbitrary decision that prevents journalists and the public from scrutinising the work of the investigators in a high-profile case.

Earlier this year, the Council of Global Unions expressed its solidarity with trade union activists and leaders of the national trade union centre UGTT, who had been arrested and harassed by the authorities in Tunisia.

The Council of Global Unions hereby reiterates that systematic attacks on freedom of expression, restrictions in the access to information and in the scrutiny of the work of Parliament and the judiciary, and the arbitrary detention of journalists and trade union leaders are evidence that Tunisia is steadily sliding into totalitarianism. We hereby express our solidarity and support to colleagues in Tunisia who are fighting for their rights and for the future of democracy in their country. We call on the President, the Parliament and the judiciary to reverse course and guarantee freedom of expression for all in Tunisia.

The Global Unions signing this joint statement are:

Shipbreaking industry set for transformation with Hong Kong Convention

IndustriALL and its affiliates have been campaigning for years to clean up shipbreaking which is the world's most dangerous job. A key part of the campaign has been to push for the ratification of the International Maritime Organization’s Hong Kong Convention.

IndustriALL campaign

“Reporting on deaths linked to the shipbreaking industry has become all too common for us. Finally, shipbreaking workers and unions have the international convention in their hands, which sets out minimum standards and a first step towards creating a level playing field for a safe and sustainable future. This is a tangible victory for workers as a result of international solidarity,”

said Kan Matsuzaki, IndustriALL assistant general secretary.

“The continued efforts by IndustriALL through the campaign to clean up shipbreaking in various countries, especially in South Asia has yielded in a great success. Shipbreaking unions are ready to develop social dialogue with the government and employers to implement the convention on the ground,”

said Vidyadhar Rane, general secretary of ASSRGWA who is also a vice chairperson of IndustriALL Shipbuilding-Shipbreaking sector and part of IndustriALL Indian affiliate SMEFI.

Overall, the Hong Kong Convention plays a crucial role in promoting sustainable and responsible ship recycling practices. By addressing occupational health, safety and environmental concerns, it aims to safeguard workers' well-being, protect the marine environment, and establish a global standard for the ship recycling industry.

For the Hong Kong Convention to enter into force, it required ratification by at least 15 States, representing 40 per cent of the world’s merchant shipping by gross tonnage and a combined maximum annual ship recycling volume of no less than 3 per cent of their combined tonnage. One of the largest flag states, Liberia, and one of the largest ship recycling states, Bangladesh, allowed for the goal to be reached.

Now that these conditions are met, the convention will enter into force for the ratifying states within 24 months, and they will be bound by its provisions.

“All maritime states have responsibilities to provide, and workers have a right to expect safe, healthy, clean and sutainable jobs. While this is a huge victory our work is not done yet, we must continue the campaign for more countries to ratify. And trade unions will play a significant role in promoting and enforcing the provisions of the Hong Kong Convention,”

said Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary.

Raising workers’ voices for change

The ILC adopted conclusions on just transition. Stressing the need to advance a just transition to achieve social justice, some of the most relevant conclusions for IndustriALL affiliates are:

“The ILO will develop a strategy and action plan on just transition for the Governing Body later this year. These actions will give a needed boost to the work on Just Transition,”

said IndustriALL director for energy and just transition Diana Junquera-Curiel.

Addressing the plenary, IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie welcomed the discussion on just transition. In his speech, Atle Høie also highlighted attacks on worker’s rights, in particular in Myanmar and Belarus where authorities have cracked down on free, democratic and independent unions on a massive scale.

Høie raised concerns over the regression in workers’ and trade union rights in Ukraine. The respect for ILO conventions 87 and 98 must return to Ukraine for there to be a good basis to start rebuilding the country once the war is over.

“IndustriALL calls on the Ukrainian government to withdraw all the draft laws from the agenda of the Parliament and set up a moratorium; repeal all the anti-labour and anti-union laws in force; halt the expropriation of trade union properties and immediately stop intimidation and threats against union leaders.”

IndustriALL made a number of interventions for the Committee of Application of Standards (CAS), a core supervisory body of the ILO’s standards system. Among others, IndustriALL called on the government of Afghanistan to guarantee equality and provide remedies towards the elimination of harassment and violence against women, and an end to discrimination in vocational training, employment, and occupation.

IndustriALL also made interventions on other countries including, Armenia(Convention 122), Cambodia (Convention 105), El Salvador (Convention 144), and the Philippines (Convention 87). 

In the conclusions, the Committee called on the UK government to limit the powers of the Certification Officer to ensure that it cannot interfere with union independence, to e-ballot for strikes and elections, and offered ILO technical expertise in ensuring that UK law is in compliance with our international commitments.

On Indonesia, IndustriALL cited Convention 98 urging the government to revoke the Job Creation Law, which includes provisions that affect working hours, severance pay, contract work, outsourcing, and the ability of unions to organize and strike, deteriorating current working conditions.

IndustriALL called for a judicial review in Madagascar of the sentence and for full reinstatement of Sento Chang. Sento Chang was jailed for carrying out his union responsibilities at the workplace, is protected by international labour standards and the national labour code. 

On Peru, IndustriALL pointed out the abusive use of the employment relationship – particularly outsourcing and temporary contracts – to evade responsibilities towards workers. These violations are evident in the textile and garment sector where IndustriALL affiliate FNTTP operates.

The Conference adopted a resolution on Belarus, under Article 33  of the ILO Constitution, challenging Belarus’ continued disregard for workers’ rights and the arrest of countless trade unionists. This is only the second time in the more than 100-year history of the ILO that ILC delegates have taken such a step.

During the ILC, IndustriALL together with ITUC and BWI met with Myo Min, union minister for the Ministry of Human Rights for the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar and vowed to continue to support the fight for a return of democracy in the country.

Meeting with the labour minister of Pakistan, IndustriALL stressed the need for the country to ratify ILO C176 on health and safety in mines, to change the course of the country’s deadly mines. 

Global unions also met with Brazil's Minister of Labour and Employment Luiz Marinho. 

Global youth conference calls for inclusive union structures

Forty young unionists from Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Middle East met in Cape Town on 19 June to emphasize that youth structures are needed at all levels; youth need to be part of decision-making bodies and should be integrated in all IndustriALL committees.

Youth is committed to build stronger unions through organizing, and to include everyone regardless of employment status, sexual orientation or gender identity. No one should be discriminated on the grounds of gender, race and social status.

Young workers must be involved in climate justice actions and advocacy for just transition. Young workers will be severely impacted as their generation will meet more extreme weather such as drought, floods, hurricane that may lead to social conflicts over basic living needs. Young leaders want unions to advocate for sustainable industrial policies and to create quality jobs for youth.

In the light of challenges faced by young workers, delegates adopted recommendations for transforming unions which they conveyed to IndustriALL’s executive committee meeting at the same time in Cape Town.

A draft youth policy to be adopted by IndustriALL was debabted. It contains four priority areas:

The conference set up a working group to develop a proposal for regional and global youth structures and to further work on the draft youth policy. The working group will consist of two youth representatives, one woman and one men, from each region.

“We need to be fully incorporated in IndustriALL’s structures and participate in decision-making processes. An appropriate budget is needed to implement activities in each region and resolve young workers’ issues,”

said Geoffrey Akedi, IndustriALL Sub-Saharan Africa youth committee chair.

“The structural change will take a long time; now it’s important to seek the support of the regional executive committees who should be given a mandate to bring up the matter in the global executive committee,"

said Christine Olivier, IndustriALL assistant general secretary.
 

IndustriALL executive committee meeting calls for peace and social justice

The meeting called for the withdrawal of Russian troops and for the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and to campaign for solidarity, social justice, and peace for Ukrainian unions. More than 47 per cent of Ukraine’s energy supplies have been damaged by Russian forces since the invasion began in February 2022. Leisa Semeniaka from Ukraine union Atomprofsilka told delegates of the enormous suffering of Ukrainian workers and people. Workers’ rights are also being curtailed by newly introduced laws that violate European labour laws and ILO Conventions 87 (freedom of association and protection of the right to organize) and 98 (right to organize and collective bargaining). 
 
The executive committee meeting highlighted the global hotspots of workers’ rights and trade union violations which include Afghanistan where there are murders of women and violations of women workers and human rights by the Taliban government, and Belarus where trade unionists have been imprisoned. The meeting adopted a resolution for the release of secretary general Kim Jun-young, that strongly condemns the violent suppression of workers by the Korean government and the police, their anti-union and pro-corporate behaviour, and POSCO for violating union rights.

On Myanmar, Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary said: 

“We need to be a strong international voice for all workers and are now putting pressure on all the brands to plan their exit responsibly. We have positive signals from major brands like Primark, Uniclo and Inditex. While others like H&M still think it is possible to do sufficient due diligence in the country to defend staying. More evidence is pointing to the contrary and there is no excuse.”

Abdelmajid Matoual from Moroccan union FNTE/UMT told delegates about the current precarious relationship between the government and unions in the country, where social dialogue is non-existent, and the government has yet to implement agreements made with the unions. 
 
On the success of the Bangladesh Accord in achieving a safer working environment in the textile and garment sector in the country, Kalpona Akter from Bangladeshi union BGIWF, stressed the need for legally binding agreements to secure gains for workers. The Bangladesh Accord is now being extended to Pakistan.
 
Reporting from the women's committee held on 18 June, Ilvana Smajlovic from HIN BIH, Bosnia, asked how feminism can change unions, and stressed the need for a strong policy on gender-based violence and harassment, misogyny, and sexism.  

“Africa is too important and cannot be allowed to be destroyed by social inequalities and the consequences of global capitalism. The continent needs dignified forms of development through sustainable industrial and trade policies and decent jobs,”

said Jörg Hoffman, IndustriALL president during opening remarks. He thanked South African affiliates NUM, NUMSA, SACTWU, and UASA, for their support.
 
Other issues discussed included IndustriALL participation at the International Labour Conference where it provided statements before the Committee of Experts on the Application of International Standards and Recommendations, and on the Just Transition discussions. The meeting agreed to co-opt the youth as observers for future executive committee meetings until the next IndustriALL congress in 2025. Additionally, the recently constituted Global Multinational Companies Policy Committee will deal with issues of due diligence in the supply chains and this will complement the current global framework agreements. The meeting also resolved to strengthen cooperation between IndustriALL Global Union and IndustriAll Europe.