Unions protest police brutality against trade unionists in Nigeria

Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission said the attack violated citizens' and trade union rights to freedom of expression.

On 14 November, Nigerian unions went on an indefinite strike to protest the attack on trade union leaders which they described as a threat to freedom of association and trade union rights. However, NLC and the Trade Union Congress Nigeria, suspended the strike the following day after meeting with the national security adviser.

“After the federal government had met our crucial demands to address the distressing abduction and brutalization of the president of the NLC, comrade Joe Ajaero and others, some of the perpetrators have been arrested, and we were given high assurances that all others will be fished out and prosecuted,”

said the unions.

“We reaffirm that workers under the Nigerian Constitution, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and International Labour Organization conventions particularly Conventions 87 and 98 on the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, have the right to organize and engage in collective bargaining and social dialogue. It is therefore strange that Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, will repudiate a 2021 agreement on salaries and pensions,”

said John Adaji, Sub Saharan Africa regional co-chair and president of the National Union of Textile Garment & Tailoring Workers of Nigeria.

“IndustriALL denounces the serious threats to freedom of association, human rights, and trade union rights caused by these physical attacks. It is unacceptable that state authorities are resorting to violence and intimidation instead of engaging in social dialogue to address the legitimate workers concerns that include demands for living wages. These demands have been caused by high inflation and the increasing cost of living following the Federal Government of Nigeria’s introduction of harsh economic policies that are anti-worker and exposing vulnerable communities to poverty,”

said Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary.

Photo: Nigerian flag, jbdodane, Flickr

Trade unions strategize pathways for human rights due diligence in Africa

The 60 participants from 24 countries included delegates from the Central Organization of Trade Unions – Kenya (COTU-K), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Kenya, IG Metall, IG BCE, Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Southern Africa Resource Watch, and the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association. Trade union support organizations represented were ACV-CSC Belgium, 3F, the International Lawyers Assisting Workers, SASK, the Swedish Workplace Programme, and Union to Union.

The conference deliberated on multi-layered issues regarding human rights due diligence and critical minerals supply chains in the global south. The findings of a research paper on the Just Transition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe by Tom MacNamara, La Trobe University, Australia which was commissioned by the SSA regional office, was also a focal point.

Participants indicated that Chinese companies are violating labour laws in several African countries like the DRC, Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In response to the concerns, a presentation from TUAC said that one of the ways to ensure that Chinese multinational companies comply with human rights due diligence is to use the OECD guidelines because China participates in OECD activities as an observer.

The presentation on IRMA emphasized that the standard requires mine sites to adopt a comprehensive approach to identify, assess, account for, and address potential human rights impacts associated with their operations.

The conference also discussed how the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act will positively influence the enactment of binding human rights due diligence laws in Africa. For example, Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria have already developed national action plans on human rights due diligence. Discussions on gender dimensions of human rights due diligence included ending discrimination, violence, and harassment in the world of work.

This conference was part of IndustriALL Sub-Saharan Africa’s weeklong meetings which began with a regional youth meeting on 16 October, a women’s meeting on 17 October, and a regional executive meeting on 18 October which focused on Just Transition and critical transition minerals.

Speaking at the regional executive meeting, Francis Atwoli, COTU-K secretary general said,

“trade unions must be vigilant and militant in defending workers’ rights and interests.”

Rose Omamo, IndustriALL vice president, and secretary general of the Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metal Workers said:

“At the African Business and Human Rights Forum in Ethiopia, in September, IndustriALL SSA made demands for the inclusion of trade unions in the African Union processes through social dialogue, and for labour clauses to be integrated especially in the draft policy on business and human rights and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement protocols. We hope the AU will respond favourably to these demands.”

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“As trade unions we cannot outsource our struggle for demanding the respect for workers’ rights and living wages to others, but must continue fighting the employers and governments to respect these rights. Unions must continue to demand binding legal instruments to protect workers from rights violations by multinational corporations and support campaigns for a binding UN treaty on business and human rights.”

Mining unions prioritize building power along critical minerals supply chains

Bringing together trade union representatives from around 30 countries, the last meeting reached a common understanding that the mining of critical transition minerals (CTM) and critical raw materials (CRM), including cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, and rare earth elements used in clean energy technologies for the manufacturing of batteries, identifies responsibility for trade unions to organize the workers in the newly emerged sectors along the supply chains.

As there is increasing demand for the materials for the energy transition, more investments are being done with more employment. In the meantime, in another segment of the mining industry, the coal industry is in the process of phase-out/down with millions of jobs expected to be lost by 2050, according to different sources.

Participants stressed that these changes have had implications on workers’ and unions’ demand for a Just Transition for workers in the process to renewable energy. Unions want a Just Transition with the decent work concept of the International Labour Organization around job creation, fundamental rights at work, social protection, and social dialogue with a strong gender dimension, particularly around the ILO Convention 190 to end violence and harassment in the world of work.

On health and safety, over 200 workers continue to die per annum in mine accidents in Pakistan which is one of the countries that have not ratified ILO Convention 176 on safety and health in the mines. IndustriALL’s campaign, together with its affiliates, actively continues.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) performances of the mining companies, according to the participants, must include the protection of community interests over a sustainable development approach. Human rights due diligence, as defined in the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights, was also highlighted as important to CTM/CRM in securing fundamental workers’ rights, particularly freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.

Furthermore, the global meetings discussed the convergence and interconnectedness of different industrial sectors through CTM/CRM value chains. Participants reported these convergences provide opportunities for the mining sector, particularly increasing union density. But there are possible risks for trade unions that come from job losses and violations of workers’ rights. Cases of violations by BHP, Cerrejon, Glencore, Prodeco, Rio Tinto, Vale, and Chinese multinational companies in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Madagascar were cited.

The critical minerals agreement on battery manufacturing between the DRC and Zambia was mentioned as an example of where unions from the two countries could cooperate in organizing mineworkers. A study on transition minerals in the DRC, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, identified the job creation potential in CTM/CRM.

The women in mining meeting on 24 October concluded that women in mining were underrepresented, poorly paid, faced discrimination, and were less likely to receive on the job training. There is a gender pay gap. The meeting recommended better working conditions, decent and quality jobs for women miners, an end to rampant sexual harassment, and the ratification and integration of ILO Convention 190 into national labour laws and workplace policies.

The coal mining unions global network meeting on 25 October whose theme was – climate change and the future of coal – urged coalminers through their trade unions to demand social dialogue and multistakeholder consultations to protect their interests during discussions to close coal mines. Additionally, climate financing by the World Bank and other international financial institutions must include social dialogue. The meeting heard about the preparations for COP28 and how unions will push for a Just Transition that protected labour interests.

Ben Davis from United Steelworkers of North America reported that laws were sometimes ineffective in addressing health and safety violations, wage discrimination, and subcontracting issues in CRM mining globally. However, in reference to the US, he said labour clauses in trade agreements were an effective tool. For example, the “rapid response labour mechanism” in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement enabled workers to file complaints leading to potential trade sanctions when freedom of association and collective bargaining were violated. The mechanism also led to improved wages and working conditions.

“Affiliates in the mining sector need a CTM/CRM action plan with organizing and campaign strategies. This plan must include human rights due diligence and the promotion of social and environmental justice. Inclusive of women and young workers, the plan must be a strategy to build union power along the supply chain,”

said Lucineide Varjao Soares, IndustriALL sector co-chair.

Dominic Lemieux, also sector co-chair emphasized:

“IndustriALL must review strategies and support members and communities on decarbonization challenges. Mining companies must include workers and communities in their decarbonization plans through social dialogue.”

Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining said:

“Focusing on national mining policy is important as CRM access is a major battlefield in the Global South. The challenge is how to achieve technology transfer and value addition in the supply chain for mineral processing as key to maximising benefits from mining for the developing countries. In Europe, there is need for a coordinated response to EU-level policies that include the Battery Alliance, EIT Raw Material Alliance, and EU level campaigning. Standard setting and labour-specific guidelines across the supply chain that links consumption to production are key demands for unions.”

Workshop strategizes a gender responsive Just transition for Sub-Saharan Africa

The main issues were on what sustainable Just Transition models that are beneficial to working women can be implemented by Sub-Saharan African countries, and what role should be played by trade unions.

Key discussions were on how trade unions can build awareness on the gender dimensions of the Just Transition, and the adverse impact of climate change and development on women. The workshop deliberated on skills that were needed in future industries including the renewable energy sector. Further, strategies were discussed on trade union engagement with policymakers on the Just Transition through social dialogue. However, the issues that remained crucial for women included gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and harassment, discrimination and exploitation, weak legal protection, limited access to justice, and precarious working conditions on which the workshop concurred that countries should develop strategies on.

The workshop focused on climate change and the future of work, the opportunities that exist for women, and how women were experiencing the changing workplaces. The participants discussed that a Just Transition should include issues that have been raised by working women including closing the gender pay gap, gender inequality, stopping gender discrimination, providing job security to women through permanent work, providing childcare facilities, and maternity protection. Unpaid care work continued to keep women from seeking wage employment.

“Working women should rise, come together, and let their voices be heard. It is important to prioritize addressing women’s challenges, ensuring gender equality in the Just Transition through policy interventions at national level,”

said Christian Ranji, chairperson of the SSA interim women’s committee.

“Women in Sub-Saharan Africa are fighting patriarchy, discrimination, and exclusion, and are vulnerable to climate change. It is for these reasons that a Just Transition framework that we will support in Africa will be that which includes the International Labour Organization fundamental rights at work, the decent work agenda, and International Labour Organization Convention 190 on the eliminating of violence and harassment in the world of work,”

said Rose Omamo, IndustriALL Vice President.

Union to protest against high mine accident deaths in South Africa

The NUM, is protesting against the high rate of fatal accidents in the mining sector especially in gold mining, and will picket at multinational companies, Harmony Gold, and Sibanye Stillwater mines.

In 2021, 74 deaths were reported while 49 mineworkers were killed last year from accidents. The NUM reported that by September this year 27 mineworkers had been killed in accidents.

“The union is greatly concerned by the high rate of fatal accidents in the sector. To us, the lives of mineworkers matter the most. We will not tolerate the continued brutal killings of our members while working, trying to provide for their families. Already in 2023, the mining sector has reported 27 fatal accidents. The gold sector is leading with 15, coal sector has four, platinum sector also has four, and other sectors have four,”

said the NUM in a statement.

With the mining industry in South Africa adopting technologies that include seismic sensors, big data, and information technology to improve operations, this might have a positive effect on occupational health and safety as fatal accidents may be further reduced. The technologies that are being used include automated underground mining which reduces accidents in drilling, blasting, loading, and hauling. Other technologies are proximity detection and collision warning systems for workers including machine operators and rock fall prevention systems.

Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining said:

“Whilst the deaths from mining accidents are decreasing; a lot needs to be done as workers are still losing their lives. But with the laws, policies, and technology that exist more lives can be saved. The role of the health and safety shop steward at the mines continues to be key to reducing injuries and deaths.”

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, says the government continues to commit to implementing policies towards zero harm and to ensure that safer technologies and mining practices are adopted to reduce accidents. Further, the department monitors and enforces health and safety at mines through inspections and audits. It also works with trade unions, mining companies and other stakeholders in campaigns to raise awareness about the importance of complying with health and safety protocols.

Under the Mine Health and Safety Act, workers’ have a right to refuse to work in dangerous areas where their health and safety is at risk. The Act also promotes identifying hazards and developing measures to eliminate, control and minimize risks to occupational health and safety through tripartite and multistakeholder strategies and for the setting up of health and safety representatives and committees.

Unions want a just energy transition for workers in South Africa

The summit, held 19-20 September in Johannesburg, was convened by the NUM under the theme: Ensuring an energy transition that is just for workers and communities.

The summit objectives included on providing “opportunities for trade unions to consider their overall responsibility to ensure that they achieve a Just Transition that safeguard and guarantees livelihoods.”

Over a hundred participants recommended possible strategies for the energy transition in South Africa. These included learning from experiences from other countries, skills training, and other energy policy interventions. The participants included shop stewards, union leaders, government ministers and officials, sector education and training authorities, representatives from the Presidential Commission on Climate Change, the United Federation of Workers in Denmark also known as 3F, and other stakeholders.

Speaking at the summit Pravin Gordan minister of public enterprises, said plans were underway to restructure or unbundle the power utility Eskom into generation, transmission, and distribution units, and to end “massive rent seeking” behaviour and corruption at the state-owned enterprise.

In the declarations made during the summit participants stated that they want the current energy transition plans to be delayed. This will ensure fairness of the transition process to workers and communities. The delegates also further agreed that the unbundling of Eskom should also be put to a halt to allow for further consultation.

Additionally, unions expressed concerns over job losses if the coal-fired power stations were closed without due process as confirmed by a Presidential Climate Commission preliminary report on the decommissioning of Komati — Eskom’s oldest power station — which led to job losses and the collapse of value chains that were beneficial to the communities.

“As a union we are extremely serious when we call for a Just Transition and very firm that the jobs of workers in the energy sector, at coal power stations, are not for sale. The reckless closure of power stations does not only plunge us into rolling blackouts and energy poverty but leaves the rest of the Mpumalanga province with ghost towns and high unemployment. This will further deindustrialize our country,”

said Irvin Jim, National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa general secretary.

Mpho Phakedi, NUM acting general secretary said:

“It is important that unions are debating and finding common ground with the government and other stakeholders on the just energy transition agenda. However, at this summit, the NUM expected government ministers and officials to articulate pro-labour interventions in the energy transition, but their statements were unsatisfactory. We wanted the government to give trade unions guarantees that the well-being of workers will not be compromised.”

Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa said:

“IndustriALL supports the union demands to have an energy transition that protect jobs and workers interests. The energy pathways proposed by the NUM which include energy sovereignty, a public energy mandate for Eskom as well as a public approach to variable renewable energy are important for social dialogue on the just energy transition.”

Nigerian unions suspend national strike after agreement with government

The government removed the subsidy in January as part of economic reforms it is implementing, and argues that it is making savings. But the unions are disputing this saying the savings cannot be made at the expense of the workers.

The removal of the subsidy on premium motor spirit or petrol triggered price increases and caused a cost-of-living crisis among the workers who are paying more in transport fares to go to work. Prices of other goods and services also went up because of the increased transportation cost as transporters raised prices.

According to the memorandum of understanding reached between the government, the Nigeria Labour Congress, and the Trade Union Congress, the strike which was supposed to begin on 3 October was suspended for 30 days to allow for social dialogue. Further, the Federal Government of Nigeria agreed to pay government workers a wage increase of 35,000 Naira (US$46), to set up a minimum wage committee within one month, and to remove valued added tax from diesel for six months.

The government also committed to improve public transport through the provision of 100 billion Naira (US$132 million) for high-capacity buses that will run on compressed natural gas (CNG). CNG buses have lower running cost than those that use petrol or diesel. The government also agreed to pay 25,000 Naira (US$20) to 15 million households and pensioners and provide tax incentives to the private sector and the public.

John Adaji, IndustriALL Sub Saharan Africa regional co-chairperson and president of the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, said:

“The unions welcome the measures to meet the workers’ demands on living wages to cushion them against the removal of the subsidy. As unions we will continue to campaign for pro-worker economic policy reforms that benefit the workers and improves the livelihoods of their families.”

“Austerity measures must not sacrifice workers’ wages and ignore the realities that workers must be paid living wages to enable them to meet their basic needs,”

said Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa.

Photo: Floating petrol and diesel filling station in the Niger Delta, Stakeholder Democracy

Union to contest unjust court judgment against Malagasy unionist

Sento, an SVS trade union representative at Etoile SA, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment and fined 400 000 ariary ($89) for a social media post which provided feedback on a meeting with management at Etoile SA, a garment manufacturer and subsidiary of the ALSICO Group. This meeting discussed unpaid overtime, sick leave, workers’ concern over poor food quality in the factory canteen, and the outcome of union elections.

Sento, who was sentenced in August 2022, served eight months at Antanimora, one of the worst prisons in the world, before receiving a presidential clemency of three months. On his release he hoped to be reinstated to enable him to look after his family who suffered during his absence. But after losing the appeal his dreams of going back to work are shattered.

“I have limited options. I have to look for temporary and odd jobs. It will be very difficult to find a formal job with a criminal record. Self-employment in the informal economy seems to be one of the limited options that I have now,”

says Sento.

Despite ALSICO’s claims to support social dialogue, SVS says the company lawyers were determined to ensure that the appeal was thrown out, but the union will fight this.

SVS vigorously campaigned for Sento’s release. The union, IndustriALL and the ITUC submitted statements against the conviction at the International Labour Conference (ILC) where the report of the Committee on the Application of Standards said the government of Madagascar was violating International Labour Organization Convention 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize).

The committee report recommended urgent redress by the government of Madagascar through the following actions:

“Immediately and unconditionally quash the conviction of Mr Zotiakobanjinina Fanja Marcel Sento; refrain from using the criminal law to target trade unionists; amend all provisions of the criminal code hindering the right to freedom of association of workers and employers.”

Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary said:

“We support SVS in its sustained fight for workers’ rights in Madagascar. It is deceit for the ALSICO Group to talk about corporate responsibility while persecuting trade union leaders. IndustriALL concurs with the ILC that the conviction and sentence must be quashed.”

In rejoinders with ALSICO, which were facilitated by the Business and Human Rights Resource centre, IndustriALL wrote:

“This injustice is intended to intimidate and instil fear into trade union representatives with the intention of discouraging them from defending workers’ rights that are protected by the Constitution of Madagascar and the Labour Code.”

We need mandatory human rights due diligence laws now

Consensus is escalating that voluntary measures on human rights due diligence and responsible business practices are not sufficient to ensure corporate accountability because they are not binding.

The speaker series is described as a platform for advocates working in business and human rights, drawn from business, investors, civil society, and governments who are fighting to end corporate impunity and empower workers and communities to stand up against violations. The series was hosted by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre.

Mary Robinson, the first female president of Ireland asked:

“Is this a turning point for business and human rights? Are we finally reaching the moment when powerful governments in the north and south are confident enough to direct businesses through new regulations and incentives to address unsustainable inequality and climate breakdown in their operations and supply chains. A new social compact on businees and human rights is needed.”

Kalpona Akter, executive director of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity and president of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation, an affiliate of IndustriALL, said:

“Trade union organizing, workers’ rights protection, freedom of association and safer working conditions will be enhanced by mandatory due diligence. This will act as a counterbalance to shrinking spaces of trade union organizing.”

She added that environmental and social governance approaches were now tools for green and ethical washing as they failed to stop workers’ exploitation through low wages, long working hours, child labour, and other human rights abuses.

Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL mining director, who was also one of the speakers said:

“Workers through trade unions are the most organized formation of civil society and powerful partners in ensuring sustainability. Unions are cautiously optimistic that the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act is changing the narrative.”

He explained that there are several cases where the law has been used to challenge corporate violations. These include cases against automotive manufacturers VW, BMW, and Mercedes Benz, garment manufacturers, and Amazon for failing to meet due diligence requirements.

To build trade union capacity, Glen Mpufane said:

“IndustriALL is carrying out awareness training on human rights due diligence jointly with IndustriAll Europe. Recently there was training of the automotive sector unions in Turkey and there will be a human rights due diligence in mining conference in Kenya, in October, which is being organized by the IndustriALL Sub-Saharan Africa regional office”.

The participants in the webinar heard that the African Union is integrating human rights due diligence through the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights while the same is happening in Latin America and the Caribbean where similar initiatives were aiming to stop corporate human and workers’ rights violations.

Unions demand African Union include labour provisions in business and human rights policy

On 6 and 7 September over 300 delegates from 47 African countries participated in the second African Business and Human Rights Forum (ABHRF) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The theme of the forum was: For Africa, from Africa. The forum discussed the draft African Union (AU) business and human rights policy, businesses responsibility to due diligence and access to effective remedies when violations occur.

However the ITUC Global Rights Index 2023, published before the coups in Niger and Gabon, states that workers’ rights violations were increasing with dire implications on business and human rights in Africa.

The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung-African Union (FES AU) cooperation office and the IndustriALL Sub- Saharan Africa (SSA) regional office hosted a workshop prior to the forum which discussed union strategies. The unions, which are affiliated to IndustriALL, BWI, ITF, and IUF are from Kenya, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and represented workers in the agriculture, building, cement, construction, forestry, mining, oil and gas, textile and garment, transport, wood, and other sectors.

On the critical role of unions, Alex Geiger, FES AU director said:

“The central role of trade unions should be emphasized in the ABHRF and NAP processes. NAPs are important for social dialogue at national level and unions, human rights institutions, and other stakeholders should utilise them to promote human and workers’ rights.”

In closing remarks at the forum, Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for SSA said:

“We are demanding the recognition of trade unions by the AU and for their inclusion as key stakeholders in business and human rights as distinct organizations that serve workers’ interests as mandated by their members.
Unions are interlocutors on workers’ rights and including them under the broad umbrella of civil society organizations in most instances tend to compromise the labour agenda. Further, the inclusion of ILO standards are important for the AU policy business and human rights as well as the African Continental Free trade Area agreement.”