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.

IndustriALL women’s committee develop gender perspective for Mid-Term Policy Conference

Over 100 women from around the world participated in the meeting on 18 June in Cape Town, South Africa, the first in a week full of meetings leading up to IndustriALL’s Mid-Term Policy Conference.

“We have an important task to fulfil here. We are fighting for gender equality, and we take pride in having strong brothers who stand with us. If we want to make progress we need to increase our knowledge and that is what we are doing here,”

said Hashmeya Alsadawe, IndustriALL Vice-President. 
 
Assistant general secretary Christine Olivier said:

“Feminism is seen in a different light, it is seen as women who want to overthrow men, but we must change this narrative. We are not here to overthrow men, we are here to determine how we include women in building strong unions, how we make sure that women’s needs are attended to in all sectors and companies and we are here to make sure that women are included in the just transition process.”

A session on how feminism can change trade unions was chaired by IndustriALL vice president Rose Omamo.

“When we mention feminism people think people we want to take over from men and this is not the case. Feminism is a word that means to fight domination and inequality,”

said Rose Omamo.

Women in the meeting shared their experiences on feminism and a common denominator was lack of visibility of women in trade unions and in leadership positions and that gender equality is an ongoing struggle. Many women shared their experience as often seen as incapable of leading and in order to achieve a feminist organization everyone must work together. 
 
Professor Akuka O Britwum, an expert on gender and labour from Ghana who made a presentation on how feminism can change trade unions said,

“feminism could help building democracy in trade unions, meaning making these unions legitimate and relevant. We need to bring men in the core of the discussion in order to dismantle patriarchy and toxic masculinity.”

Irati Bañuelos from ELA Spain shared her experience on how her union has been working towards becoming a feminist union.

“The women working in my union wanted to work in a feminist organization. In 2017, we led a participatory diagnosis exercise, and we found that our union has been reproducing the discrimination existing in the society against women. Yes, we had resistance from men, and it has been a long, difficult but interesting process and we found that we need to work differently. We need better recruitment and collective bargaining for women,”

said Irati Benuelos. 

Armelle Seby, director of gender and white-collar workers said, 

“we need to make sure that we add a gender perspective to the Mid-Term Conference. Trade unions need to collect data to capture the different impact on women and men, of growing inequalities and ongoing transformation in the world of work, and develop gender responsive strategies. We need to extend social protection for women in the informal economy. To promote a gender transformative approach to human rights due diligence to transform discriminatory social norms and we need to make sure companies are accountable. We need to make sure that just transition plans will enable equal opportunity for women and men to access future jobs .”

Building workers’ power along the Hop Lun Group supply chain

Hop Lun, who manufactures lingerie and swimwear, employs close to 30,000 people in twelve manufacturing facilities in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and Ethiopia.

Workers in Hop Lun facilities in Bangladesh are organized under IndustriALL affiliate Sommilito Garment Sramik Federation (SGSF) and have negotiated collective bargaining agreements. Workers at Indonesian facilities are organized under IndustriALL affiliate GARTEKS SBSI, on their way to negotiate CBAs by increasing membership.

Organizing was central when the federation and union level leaders from the two countries met in Indonesia last week for a Trade union leaders Information exchange. Participants from Bangladesh shared their long struggle of establishing their unions and successful negotiations of two CBAs in the last four years.

Workers and union leaders from the two countries formed the Hop Lun trade union network and discussed the importance of a network to build cross-border union solidarity to attain a common set of labour standards throughout the supply chain.

Discussions also included wages, contract types, maternity leave, union recognition and negotiations, occupational safety and health, and supply chain industrial relations.

IndustriALL sector director Christina Hajagos-Clausen said:

“Trade union networks are key to building worker power across the supply chain. Exchanging information between workers is an important step in increasing awareness on organizing and collective bargaining. We will call on Hop Lun to recognize our new trade union network.”

Members of the newly formed network agreed to improve communication through national contact persons and IndustriALL project coordinators from the two countries, and committed to build solidarity among workers.

Action plans on organizing and increasing membership of the union in Indonesia were agreed upon, as were plans to engage with the Hop Lun head office for negotiations on a global framework agreement with the help of IndustriALL.   

 

Everyone needs social protection

In February, Indonesia’s Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mining, Oil and Gas Workers’ Union (FSP KEP) received facilities for mothers, after a 5-year long negotiation with PT Garudafood Putra Putri Jaya Tbk (Garudafood). 700 women workers can now enjoy new facilities like a lactation room, breast feeding facility, childcare centre, and special allowance. 

These workers were organized by FSP KEP under their general industry sector. IndustriALL and Union-to-Union provided them with union building training, which allowed them to include the lactation room in the latest collective agreement.

Bangladesh's ministry of labour and employment launched a pilot for an employment injury scheme in collaboration with the International Labour Organization in June last year. The scheme covers the country’s four million ready-made garment (RMG) workers. The employment injury scheme (EIS) is a social protection scheme includes compensation for medical treatment and rehabilitation services, as well as income loss caused by occupational injuries and disease. 

This project aims to top up the lump sums already paid in Bangladesh for death and permanent disability due to work injury, and to ensure that work-related compensations are line with international labour standards.

In September 2022, IndustriALL affiliates in Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia, Egypt, and Palestine launched a campaign to fight for social protection and for better health and safety standards in the region’s textile, garment and shoe factories. Textile unions in MENA joined the global call by taking up the Garment workers need safe factories campaign. 

Kan Matsuzaki, IndustriALL assistant general secretary says: 

“social protection is mandatory, but many workers are deprived of it because companies evade it, and the law is often not correctly applied. Many workers find themselves without a pension when retiring and women are deprived of their maternity rights. We need to work together to make sure that all workers have access to social protection.”

Global unions meet representatives of Myanmar National Unity Government

Minister Aung Myo Min applauded the global unions’ efforts to mobilize the global trade union movement to call for recognition of the NUG, as well as the imposition of more economic sanctions against the military junta. 

The Minister said that the military is increasingly losing control, with 52 per cent of the territory no longer under military control, and a resilient civil disobedience movement that resists the regime.

The military is guilty of genocide against the Rohingya. However, the regime is now committing democide – it sees the people as the enemy. Although the military is losing territory, it has air supremacy and uses this to conduct air strikes against civilians.

It is essential that all financial resources that benefit the military are cut, as well as essential supplies and services – particularly aviation fuel and access to the SWIFT payment network. The military uses the foreign exchange it receives to buy weapons and ammunition.

“Together with other global unions, IndustriALL reiterated our support for the democracy movement,”

says IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan.

“It has been two years since the military junta seized power, and we continue to stress the urgent need for comprehensive economic sanctions to cut off the illegitimate government.”