Unions campaign for decent work in artisanal and small-scale mining

A union delegation that is part of an international exchange programme, witnessed the harsh conditions in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) when they visited some open cast mines in Tarkwa District, Ghana on 30 August and resolved to continue campaigns for better conditions.

The delegation from IndustriALL Global Union affiliates, Ghana Mine Workers Union (GMWU) and Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ) was accompanied to the mining sites by members of the Ghana Small Scale Miners Association.

They visited three types of mines: those owned and operated by a company and employing about 320 workers, those belonging to a concession, and those owned by communities and supported by the government. However, at all the sites the unions saw the poor working conditions of the miners who did not even have personal protective equipment.

Kwarko Mensah Gyakari chairperson of the GMWU said:

“We continue to call upon the government of Ghana to ratify ILO Convention 176 and adopt measures from Recommendation 183 on safety and health in mines as these are important to ASM.”

”We will discuss the inclusion of artisanal small-scale miners in our constitution at the next national congress later this year. This is aimed at promoting decent work in the informal sector and building union power which are part of the objectives of the ILO Recommendation 204 on the transition from informal to formal economy,”

added George Mumba, MUZ general secretary.

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

“We welcome the campaigns by the GMWU and MUZ for a better ASM sector. This sector can contribute to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals especially SDG8 on decent work and economic growth. It is important for the governments to continue providing concrete support for the growth and formalization of ASM.”

The exchange visit is part of the activities of the union transformation innovative project which promotes formalization of ASM in Ghana and Zambia. The project is supported by Union to Union, Sweden.

Madagascar’s revised mining code must include workers’ and human rights

During consultative meetings on the code, the unions had presented their expectations, which included the protection of workers’ rights and the rights of women in the mining sector, improved working conditions including curbing long working hours, ensuring health and safety in the mines, and paying living wages that catered for the cost of living.

Unions want the mining code to include artisanal and small-scale mining, protection of community interests, and for mining resources to contribute to local development. Amendments to the mining code is an opportunity to adopt and domesticate the recommendations from the African Mining Vision (AMV), which argues that mineral resources can be used for economic development and industrialization.

“The unions want a mining policy framework that benefits the Malagasy people. Without a sound policy and legal framework, it is impossible for the mining sector to support sustainable development. The mining code must promote better mineral governance that benefits the Malagasy citizens and protect the environment. The AMV, to which Madagascar subscribes as an African Union member state, highlights the critical role that can be played by policies that maximize the benefits from mineral resources,”

says Remi Henri Botoudi, IndustriALL Madagascar chairperson.

20 participants from IndustriALL affiliates participated at the meeting in Antananarivo on 25-26 August

To build trade union capacity and a labour perspective on the mining code, the IndustriALL Sub Saharan Africa regional office commissioned a study by two experts Mutuso Dhliwayo, from the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association and Toky Ravoavy, an independent consultant, to help unions develop a deeper understanding and learning of the provisions of the mining code and what it means for workers.

The experts presented their findings at the meeting after analysing the 14 chapters of the mining code and concurred on the issues raised by the unions, as well as on the critical importance of collective bargaining agreements, inclusion of civil society organizations and local communities in policy making, and the AMV. Additionally, the meeting heard that mining companies must include environmental protection in their operations.

“Madagascar is rich in minerals that can be exploited for the development of the island, and these minerals are mined by workers. The union demands for decent work guarantees in the mining code must be supported. While recognizing that mining is a male-dominated sector, it is important to stress that women miners should not be discriminated through exclusion from the mining code. The code should address women miners’ concerns including those on gender-based violence and harassment,”

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

20 participants from IndustriALL Global Union affiliates, Federation des Syndicats Travailleurs des Entreprises Franches et Textiles (FISEMA/SEMPIZOF), and Sendika Kristanina Malagasy (SEKRIMA), and Syndicalisme et Vie des Societes (SVS) attended the meeting in Antananarivo on 25-26 August, which was held with support from ACV-BIE Belgium. The regional office study was conducted in cooperation with Union to Union, Sweden.

Workers in South Africa strike for living wages

According to Statistics South Africa, annual inflation reached a 13-year high at 7.8 per cent in July and the prices of food, electricity, fuels, and medicine have gone up. Average households need about R5000 (US$294) for food. Unions says the national minimum wage of R3500 (US$206) needs review, and that the government should introduce a basic income grant of R1500 (US$88) to reduce financial pressure on workers who look after unemployed family members.

Unions are concerned by the high unemployment levels at 34.4 per cent, while the extended rate that includes discouraged job seekers is 44.4 per cent. According to official figures, seven million people are unemployed.

The strike, in which civil society and community-based organizations participated, was organized by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), to which IndustriALL Global Union affiliates also belong.

A miner from the National Union of Mineworkers, who marches in Pretoria, said:

“The union movement is exercising the right to protest and calling upon the government to address socio-economic issues. We want this strike to make an impact so that workers’ demands are addressed, and action taken towards improving livelihoods for workers and their families.’’

“We are striking to defend our rights to living wages as we do not have enough money to pay for our daily expenses. Unemployment is high, and our wages are not enough to cover the basics. Through this strike we are hoping that the government will get the message and act on our grievances,’’

added a garment worker from the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU).

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

“South African workers are feeling squeezed by the increasing cost of living, yet wages are not catching up. Hence unions are calling for above inflation increases to improve wages as seen in the recent wage negotiations in most industrial sectors. We support this strike and the continuation of social dialogue to create jobs and reduce the high unemployment, especially among young people.”

Conference discusses feminist ideas on building union power in Africa

The issues discussed included how to develop a feminist trade union agenda, building alliances and networks with other feminists and civil society organizations, ending toxic hierarchies that block women’s participation, and abandoning patriarchy and gender oppression structures including unequal power relations.

Rose Omamo, IndustriALL vice president, said:

“Union work is not detached from the feminist fight for equality. Unions must build alliances with women’s rights organisations to challenge oppressive systems. Gender quality underpins many problems including the lack of adequate health care, education, decent work deficits, and promoting gender equality and social inclusion.”

The conference discussed how feminism can be used to promote social justice and sustainable development. These issues were identified as key to developing a network of gender champions at workplaces and in communities as part of a trade union transformative agenda. The conference stressed the ratification of International Labour Organization Convention 190 to eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work. Storytelling sessions discussed experiences of sexual harassment at workplaces, body shaming, harmful cultural practices, and how these can be fought by trade unions.

Margaret Ndagile, from IndustriALL affiliate Tanzania Union of Industrial and Commercial Workers (TUICO) said:

“In the union, we usually talk of gender, but feminism promotes more action. However, we need more awareness and education at the factory level on how we can use feminist thinking in ways that include both genders.”

Neema Lugangira, a Tanzanian member of parliament, said the conference discussions were relevant to her work in championing for land rights for women, child support, and guaranteeing decent work in the oil and gas and mining sectors.

Bärbel Kofler, the German deputy minister for economic cooperation and development, and a trade unionist highlighted Germany’s feminist development policy, which focuses on rights, resources, and representation, and the importance of young women activism in fighting for workers’ rights. She was accompanied by Tina Rudolph and Dagmar Schmidt, both members of the German parliament, and Emilio Rossetti, head of political section EU delegation in Tanzania.

A feminist approach is one of the ways that unions can use for dealing with the violence of the patriarchy’s supremacy and impunity, which leads to gender-based violence and harassment, argued Patricia McFadden, an expert on feminism from Eswatini.

“The systems of gender oppression that are rooted in patriarchy must be rejected in homes and workplace,”

said Bashiratu Kamal, a gender and labour specialist from Ghana.

“The conference has been a valuable space to address the many ways that patriarchy works in the trade unions to maintain existing power structures. Feminism is a powerful tool to push for the needed transformative change in the labour movement,”

said Kathrin Meissner, director of the FES Trade Union Competence Centre (FES-TUCC) for Sub Saharan Africa.

About 30 participants from IndustriALL Global Union affiliates in Sub Saharan Africa, civil society organizations, and Members of parliament from Germany and Tanzania, attended the conference. The regional feminist conference drew participants from Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The meeting was held with support from the FES TUCC, and the IndustriALL Sub Saharan Africa Regional Office.

Sexual harassment blocks young women’s training in Kenya’s automotive industry

“As a young woman you have the urge to acquire skills, and you are eager to learn, as you are new to the field. However, the opportunities for the artisan training are found in the established garages in the informal sector where most male trainers demand sex from young women as a condition for undergoing training. This causes most young women to change from one workplace to another in search of a suitable place for their learnerships where they can obtain skills and knowledge without being sexually harassed. Imagine you are lying on your back fixing a car, and a man starts groping you anyhow. This dampens your learning experience,” narrated Wambui at the workshop attended by 30 participants including 11 women.

“At one garage I worked for months without touching a spanner: without being given skills learning opportunities. I ended up washing cars simply because no one was willing to mentor me as a trainee. Obviously, I was being punished for refusing sexual advances. In other instances, the male technicians will try to lure you with money by giving you large sums of money for doing minor repairs. But when you reject their advances; they start ignoring you.”

“Women are vulnerable during the beginning of their careers in the auto sector as most of them are not paid wages when undergoing training. What is worse is that there are no support mechanisms for young women who enter the industry, and in most cases, they are on their own. It is only after joining the Amalgamated Union of Kenyan Metal Workers (AUKMW) that I realised that unions could offer support to the young women artisans.”

Wambui says sexual harassment is common in the male dominated informal sector known locally as Jua Kali “hot sun” in Swahili as most of the auto repairs are done in the open roadside garages and workshops.

Rose Omamo, general secretary of the AUKMW and IndustriALL Global Union vice president says:

“Shop stewards must lead on the dialogue on gender-based violence and harassment in the automotive sector and the Jua Kali. The union must advocate for the ratification of Convention 190 to eliminate gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in the world of work and for the implementation of Recommendation 206 so that gaps in the current laws are closed. All workers – women and men – should be sensitized on GBVH.”

Explained Paule France Ndessomin IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa who participated at the meeting.

“Our mindsets must change as unionists if we are to effectively deal with gender-based violence and harassment. Workers must know their rights and existing mechanisms to stop GBVH and must reports violations and act against the perpetrators.”

The AUKMW, an affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union, and the IndustriALL Sub Saharan Africa regional office, organized the workshop. The AUKMW which organizes workers in the automotive sector, has formed partnerships with the Jua Kali automobile sector to protect workers’ rights.

South African mineworkers discuss strategies to prevent injuries and deaths from mine accidents

The campaigns and strategies are aimed at accident prevention in the mining industries and other workplaces that the union organizes. One of the strategies discussed at the meeting is to demand an effective labour inspectorate in the national department of mineral resources and energy. The NUM says the labour inspectors are not consulting with the union therefore making unilateral decisions on Section 54 notices of the Mine Health and Safety Act which stop operations at mines for health and safety reasons. In some cases, inspections are not done, accident reports are not issued as prescribed in the law, and the inspectors have not been seen in some mines for long periods of time.

The NUM strategies empower and strengthen the capacity of occupational health and safety and trade union committees at workplaces to play essential roles in reporting accidents and emphasising on the right to stop dangerous work. Further, the union wants the government, and mining companies to provide more labour inspection services.

The provision of suitable personal protective equipment for women miners continues to be an outstanding issue. Additionally, the union says heat stress management is being used as an excuse to retrench some women miners and want this unfair labour practice to be stopped.

Masibulele Naki, the NUM national secretary for health and safety said:

“Despite the challenges, we are joyful in that the fatalities related to the fall of ground are getting less. This makes us confident that achieving zero harm and zero fatalities is possible. We continue with our campaigns and training on health and safety and so far, we have trained 500 workers, in addition to the regular training that we provide to the health and safety shop stewards.”

Falls of ground – rockfalls, rock bursts and strain bursts – have caused most of the death of mineworkers in South Africa. According to the Minerals Council of South Africa there have been no fall of ground accidents in the first seven months of this year.

Speaking at the meeting, Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining and occupational health and safety lead said:

“The NUM must not lose sight of the gains it has made in making South African mines safer for mineworkers. The union’s success stories are a global model for the mining industry. Importantly, the union must continue to protect the lives of workers through health and safety campaigns that help to prevent fatal accidents and emphasize on health and safety as a fundamental right at work. Mining companies must always be reminded to adhere to mine safety standards and ILO conventions.”

He cited Convention 155 (Occupational Health and Safety Convention), Convention 176 (Safety and Health in Mines), and related recommendations.

The IndustriALL regional office for Sub Saharan Africa has set up a platform to address the health and safety deficits on the continent. With most African economies relying on the lucrative export of minerals, there are more occupational health and safety challenges in the mining sector where fatal accidents are common and largely unchecked with some mining companies not having accident prevention policies. Although health and safety laws exist, implementation and enforcement remain a challenge. In some countries failure to enforce the legislative framework is often attributed to lack of financial resources to employ enough labour inspectors.

Union takes Zheng Yong garments to court over dismissal of 20 workers in Eswatini

The five-week strike took place from April 5 to May 9 with the main demand being wage increases of at least E15 per hour or E2983 (US$179) per month. However, the employers awarded a paltry 7.25 per cent increase or E12 per hour.

The union says instead of engaging on the workers demand, the employers teamed up with the government and used strike breaking tactics and violence against the workers including teargassing them in their homes and threats of violence. According to the ITUC Global Rights Index for 2022, Eswatini is amongst the “10 worst countries for working people.”

Further, it’s been over three months since the garment manufacturer gave the dues that it is collecting from 1247 workers to the union. By not surrendering the dues as per the labour laws, Zheng Yong, which employs about 4000 workers, is flouting national labour laws, says ATUSWA which is affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union. The union says withholding the dues is a form of union busting as it violates Section 43 of the Industrial Relations Act which states that an employer “shall promptly remit” union dues after collection. ATUSWA argues that the employer’s actions can be construed as punishing workers for going on strike which is against the law.

To resist the push back, ATUSWA is taking Zheng Yong to the Industrial Court to challenge the dismissals and for violating workers freedom of association. Additionally, the union says the employer must respect trade union rights.

Wander Mkhonza, ATUSWA secretary general says:

“Zheng Yong and other employers must improve working conditions in the garment and textile sector and not always resort to threats and legal action. Employers must engage with the union when there is a dispute instead of taking drastic action such as dismissing workers for striking for living wages.”
“Adopting an anti-union stance is detrimental to promoting industrial harmony between ATUSWA and Zheng Yong. The employer must pay living wages especially after recent increases in the cost of living. We recommend approaches that promote social dialogue and mediation and arbitration to resolve the dispute,”

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

Union calls for tougher sentences after 8 women are gang-raped in South Africa

Over 80 suspects have appeared in court facing charges of 32 counts of rape and attempted murder. The attackers are allegedly part of criminal syndicates that are involved in artisanal and small-scale mining in some abandoned mines in South Africa.

The women aged 19-35 were part of a production crew of 12 women and 10 men that was shooting a music video at a mine dump when they were attacked by heavily armed men on 28 July. The crew was also robbed of personal belongings.

Although South Africa has passed laws and legislation to end gender-based violence and harassment, that include the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Act and the Domestic Violence Amendment Act, the cases keep increasing and unions want the courts to prosecute more cases and convict the offenders. South Africa ratified International Labour Organization Convention 190 in 2021 which aims to eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work.

The country also has a national strategic plan on gender-based violence and femicide. In the plan, President Cyril Ramaphosa describes gender-based violence and harassment as a scourge in which “rape and sexual violence have become hyperendemic” and that “South Africa holds the shameful distinction of being one of the most unsafe places in the world to be a woman.”

“The location of a video set is a workspace at that moment. Artists are deemed a vulnerable sector based on the type of work that they do, and as a trade union it is our right and joint responsibility with other formations to uphold and adhere to Convention 190 that commits to the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence,”

says Mathapelo Khanye, NUM national secretary for the women’s structure.

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

“We are appalled by the rape and sexual violence which continue to traumatize South African women, and support unions and civil society organizations in their campaigns to eliminate rape, and gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH).”

The Sub-Saharan Africa regional office continues to carry out training and campaigns to sensitise and equip unions with strategies for the prevention of GBVH, and the adoption of workplace policies that provide safe working environments.

Young workers commit to active participation in transforming trade unions in Botswana

The second Sub-Saharan Africa IndustriALL Global Union-Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) youth activist school program this year took place in Gaborone, Botswana, 20-23 July. Over 20 young workers participated,11 were women.

The activist school was held in partnership with IndustriALL, FES and the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU). A third session of the will take place in November.

The first school program for 2022 took place in Tanzania, previous schools were held in 13 African countries, before the learning events were disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The next activist school programme will take place in South Africa, Kenya and Ghana.

The young workers' list of priorities on transforming unions include strategies to advance the decent work agenda, and the future of work. On advancing workers’ rights, the importance of national labour laws and international labour standards was highlighted.

The participants came from 10 unions that organize in the automotive, diamond, energy, garment and textile, mining, the public sector, and others.

Discussions included knowledge and skills that are needed for young workers to play effective roles in the union. The BFTU highlighted the history, legal frameworks, and the national trade union context, while the Southern African Trade Union Coordination Council (SATUCC) presented on effective approaches to collective bargaining. The FES presented engagement and successful negotiations. These sessions explored the collective bargaining culture in Botswana and how to make it more effective.

There were discussions on international worker solidarity, inclusive social dialogue processes that catered to young women and men and focused on strengthening non-adversarial industrial relations. Feminist approaches to trade union campaigns included discussions on gender equity and equality and developing workplace policies using International Labour Organization Convention 190 on eliminating violence and harassment in the world of work. Gender role plays exposed how women workers had more roles than their male colleagues, and how this impacted on their participation in union activities.

“As young workers we welcome the youth activist school because it offers practical workers education which is key to effective trade unionism. In addition, for unions to stand for fair and just societies, they must be inclusive of young workers in all spheres of union life,”

said Vanessa Nakedi, BFTU youth secretary.

Tumelo Awee, Botswana Mine Workers Union (BMWU) added that

“The activist school challenges us to evaluate and play effective roles as young workers. With the new learning from the activist school, we are now better prepared to engage employers.”

Thilo Schöne, FES Botswana resident representative says: “The youth activist school is an important revival of interactive, union-related and justice-motivated training for young Batswana. I am impressed by the solidarity, dynamism, and motivation of young trade unionists to become more involved in their unions in the future and to work for better working conditions.”

Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa explained that,

“The youth activist schools are a strategy to create a vibrant trade union youth network in Africa that is innovative in using digital tools in union organizing. This network aims to build an activist and learning community that will advocate for social transformation. Additionally, we want the youth network to be a space where young workers will become organisers, negotiators, and gender champions through capacity development and networking.”

The Botswana Diamond Workers Union (BDWU), BMWU, and the Botswana Power Corporation Workers Union (BPCWU) who are affiliated to IndustriALL and the BFTU also participated in the activist school.

Massive job losses reverse union gains in Ethiopia’s Hawassa Industrial Park

The closures began after the announcement by the United States government that Ethiopia would no longer benefit from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)’s duty-free access to US markets from 1 January this year. The reasons given for the termination of the preferential trade benefits are “gross violations of internationally recognized human rights by the government of Ethiopia and other parties” in the war in the northern part of the country.

Most of the factories in Hawassa that were exporting to the US had their orders cancelled leaving them stranded. However, with the on-going peace talks in the country, the union hopes for a peaceful breakthrough that will bring back trade and a new lease of life to the Hawassa Industrial Park which at its peak employed over 35,000 workers.

The IFTLGWTU says Best International Garments, an Indian owned company, with a factory in the park, has retrenched over 3000 workers. Further, the closure of one of the largest factories in the park by Phillip Van Heusen (PVH) in November 2021, is having a ripple effect as over 15 companies in the park received orders from PVH under third party manufacturing contracts.

The union says currently, there are plans to scale down production by other garment factories that include Sumbiri Hela Intimates which has put 260 workers on a month paid leave after which there is uncertainty. The factory is jointly owned by Sri Lanka based Hela Indochine Apparel and Sumbiri Intimate Apparel. Quadrant Apparel Group has also put 300 on paid leave while Epic Apparel Plc, a Hong Kong-based Epic Group subsidiary, has retrenched workers after paying six months’ wages. In June, Chargeurs Fashion Technologies, a French company, also retrenched 22 workers.

“In this job losses crisis, workers are anxious because job security is no longer guaranteed in the factories that are still operational. We are trying our best to ensure that workers are paid their terminal benefits according to the labour laws and hope that the end of the conflict will bring back AGOA benefits to ease the plight of the suffering workers,”

says Angesome Gebre Yohannes, the president of the (IFTLGWTU) which is affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union.

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

“The Ethiopian industrial parks industrialization strategy remains one of the most effective models in creating jobs in the garment and textile sector in Africa. We were hoping for more jobs and not the retrenchments that we are witnessing. However, IndustriALL continues to support the IFTLGWTU in ensuring that employers respect workers’ rights and international labour standards during the retrenchments.”