Unions address accountability as Glencore prepares to reopen Mutanda mine

During the closure, 500 workers from Mutanda were transferred to Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) – a joint venture between Glencore which owns 75 per cent and the state-owned Gecamines which owns 25 per cent. At its peak Mutanda mine employed over 3,000 workers.

Glencore, which owns Mutanda Mine, an open-pit copper and cobalt mine, closed the mine in 2019 citing increasing costs, low cobalt prices and higher taxes. However, since the beginning of 2021 prices of cobalt have increased by more than 40 per cent. Current prices at the London Metal Exchange are US$42500 per tonne for cobalt and US$9508 per tonne for copper.

The news of the opening of Mutanda coincided with the DRC battery supply chain and gender workshop on 10-11 June, which discussed due diligence, health safety and gender equality in the copper and cobalt supply chains. The supply chains include mining, initial processing for export, shipping, processing into powder form, battery manufacturing and other industrial uses, and batteries for electric vehicles and smartphones among other products.

The workshop discussed the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines for multinational enterprises as some of the few international instruments that trade unions could use to fight for due diligence and adherence to international labour standards and decent working conditions by multinational corporations.

Further, the guidelines which are signed by governments had important recommendations on employment, industrial relations, human rights, transparency, the environment, and anti-corruption. Due diligence also allows for the end-to-end traceability of cobalt to avoid cobalt mined through child labour and conflict.

Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining says:

“Due diligence compels multinationals to respect human and trade union rights. Enterprise and trade union agreements – collective bargaining agreements, global framework agreements, protocols and memorandum of understanding – are a means of due diligence.”

The workshop further discussed that unions must hold companies like Glencore to account on the OECD guidelines. As Glencore claims that it implements OECD guidance risks, and is part of the Fair Cobalt Alliance, the unions organizing at Mutanda and KCC want Glencore to exercise due diligence at its operations, and for the company to respect collective agreements that it has signed with unions.

The DRC affiliates organizing at the Glencore operations that attended the workshop are Organization des Travailleurs Unis du Congo (OTUC), Secretariat des Syndicats de IndustriALL (CSC), Secretariat des Syndicats de IndustriALL de la CDT (CDT), Secretariat IndustriALL Global (UNTC) and Travailleurs Unis des Mines, Metallurgies, Energie, Chimie et Industries Connexes (TUMEC). Other delegates were from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung DRC office in Kinshasa.

Kenyan unions campaign against workers’ rights violations at Style Industries

KUHABWO has recruited 3,811 workers out of a workforce of 6,000 of whom 85 per cent are women, but the company only remits union dues for 70 workers. According to the union, to discourage workers from joining the union, 150 workers were dismissed last month. Those who have remained union members have been threatened with dismissals.

Since 2015, Style Industries, a manufacturer of synthetic hair made of fine plastic fibres that look like human hair, has refused to recognize the union. The dispute was deadlocked at conciliation, and the case went to the Employment and Labour Relations Court which issued a restraining order against the company in 2017. The order instructed Style Industries to stop “victimizing, intimidating, coercing, harassing, and indulging in unfair labour practices” and allow for the case to be finalized in court.

Further, the court said the company must stop terminating contracts and dismissing union members because of their union membership. The court further stated that the company’s actions are meant to “disorganize the union.” However, despite the firm approach by the courts, the company’s union busting tactics have continued ,resulting in the unions launching the campaign.

Margaret Ndiritu, KUHABWO deputy general secretary, says:

“The management of Styles Industries is anti-union and workers are being dismissed without fair hearings because they are union members.”

Speaking at a press conference after a campaign meeting of the affiliates on 7 June, Julius Maina, chairperson of the IndustriALL Council of Kenya said:

“Style Industries management threaten workers with victimization if they join the union. When they join the union, they are sacked. When union officials come to recruit workers during breaks or lunch time, the employer uses the police to harass and arrest the workers to stop them from exercising their rights at the workplace.
“The management must respect workers’ rights to freedom of association to join, form and participate in union programmes as outlined in the Kenyan Constitution, the Labour Relations Act, and International Labour Organization Conventions 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize) and 98 (Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining).”

“We support KUHABWO in its long fight for a recognition agreement and collective bargaining rights at Style Industries, and we applaud the Kenyan affiliates for the unity and solidarity that they are giving to the union,” says Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa.

IndustriALL affiliates in Kenya are the Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metal Workers (AUKMW), Kenya Engineering Workers Union (KEWU), Kenya Glass Workers Union (KGWU), Kenya Petroleum Oil Workers Union (KPOWU), Kenya Shoe and Leather Workers Union (KSLWU), Tailors and Textile Workers Union (TTWU) and Kenyan Union of Hair and Beauty Workers (KUHABWO).

Lesotho workers strike over government failure to announce wage increases

The strike is over a wage dispute arising from the government’s failure to announce wage increases for textile, garment, shoe, and leather workers in the last two years. The last wage gazette was published in 2019 and wages for the workers have not been increased since. According to the labour laws, the wages gazette must be published yearly, but the government is using the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse for not increasing the minimum wages.

This prompted an indefinite national strike in which over 40,000 workers took to the streets in protests. The government responded with force, with the police attacking and injuring several striking workers.

Mamakalo Mohapi, IDUL president and garment worker at Precious Garments in Maseru says:

“Instead of resolving the dispute by announcing new wages, the government is resorting to the use of excessive force. Two workers have died: one was hit by a truck while the other was shot by the army. Several workers have also been injured and hospitalized.”

Mohapi says employers are also using divide and rule tactics.

“With non-unionized workers being asked to report for work when unionized workers are on strike, the employers are also turning workers against each other. Employers are also bribing workers to break the strike.”

Minimum wages in the textile sector for workers with less than a year’s experience are LSL1900 (US$138) for a general worker and trainee machine operator, and LSL2042 (US$148) for a machine operator per month. Those with experience over a year earn LSL2120 (US$155). Workers are demanding a 20 per cent increase to improve the low wages that are not enough to pay for their living expenses.

“The government must announce the wage increases and be sensitive to the livelihoods of workers who have waited for two years for an increase. The workers’ rights to freedom of association must be respected, and the police must stop using force against the striking workers. We support IDUL’s fight for minimum living wages,”

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

Photo: IDUL at a rally in Lesotho, 2019

Union fights sexual harassment at Hippo Knitting garment factory, Lesotho

Taiwanese-owned Hippo Knitting in Maseru, Lesotho, supplies workout wear to Fabletics, a brand co-founded by actor Kate Hudson.

Three women workers and members of IDUL, confirm that sexual harassment and verbal abuse is common at the factory, taking many forms, including being asked to undress during searching. Verbal abuse including comments on the women’s bodies and other derogatory remarks are a daily occurrence.

The management also snoops into the women’s private lives including their relationships and uses the information when deciding who should report for duty during the weekend for overtime work.

Mathabiso Moshabe, a shop steward at the factory says:

“The company asks women workers to undress during searches when they knock off work and justifies this by saying they suspect that the workers are stealing from the factory. But we are refusing the body searches which are humiliating, disrespectful and against our dignity.
“One of the human resources managers teases workers that since they undress for others to take photos; why not undress for body searches. The manager also makes fun of their bodies, mocks how they dress, and the shoes they wear.”

Of the 1,000 workers at Hippo Knitting, 538 are IDUL members of whom 479 are women. With more than 50 per cent members at the factory, the union is preparing to sign a recognition agreement with the factory as per labour laws as more members continue to join.

Workers meeting at Hippo Knitting, Maseru

However, Hippo Knitting has cancelled the stop order agreement for union dues following recent action by workers demanding the gazetting of new wages by the government.

Mamahlomola Ntikoane, IDUL treasurer and a shop steward at Hippo Knitting says:

“A woman was sexually harassed by a supervisor, but the human resources department did not act. Instead, the perpetrator was transferred to another factory. The managers are also involved in sexual harassment. One female manager followed a worker into the toilet and attempted to grab his genitals.”

Hippo Knitting is not the first factory where IDUL is fighting sexual harassment. At Nien Hsing, IDUL together with other unions and international partners, campaigned for an agreement to be reached to end sexual harassment at the factory.

Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL textile director says:

“We condemn sexual and gender-based violence at Hippo Knitting which is a violation of human and trade union rights and the dignity of the women workers. We support IDUL in its campaign to end the abuses in Lesotho’s garment factories.”

Lesotho’s garment sector employs over 40,000 workers, 70 per cent of whom are women. The factory supplies the garments under the African Growth and Opportunity Act which allows duty free exports from Lesotho to the US.

Photo credit: Lesotho garment factory, Enhanced Integrated Framework, Flickr

South African youth activist school discusses the future of trade unions

The activist school, which also had online participants from Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, heard that unions are facing difficulties that have been worsened by the Covid-19 crisis, including retrenchments, precarious work, wage cuts, and loss of benefits especially among the youth. The school emphasized the need to strengthen union power, unity, and global solidarity.

The participants said they are supporting union campaigns for the ratification of ILO Convention 190, which aims to stop violence and harassment in the world of work, and the adoption Just Transition policies.

The school urged trade unions to form partnerships with artisanal and small-scale miners and other informal sector workers. Further, the land inequality must be addressed to benefit workers and communities.

Abigail Moyo, from UASA said:

“I learnt about feminism and gender equality in society and workplaces, the relevance of unions today and the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on the job market. We will discuss these issues with the youth in our union, and in the sectors we organize.”

"Pamela Bonga from NUM added:

"To attain gender equality, women must be given support and encouragement to take up leadership positions in the union. Unions were also reminded that they can use the health and safety provisions in the Constitution to advance workers’ rights.”

A visit to the Workers Museum in Johannesburg.

On stopping xenophobia, Sboniso Nkomonde, from SACTWU said:

“Employers continue pitting local workers against migrant workers whom they pay low wages. They take advantage because some of workers do not have work permits, and fear being deported. Unions must find ways to stop the exploitation of migrant workers.”

Uta Dirksen, the director of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung South Africa office which supported the activist school said:

“Young workers must build union power and harness that power to push for their demands. Dialogue with members is important in reshaping the union and maintaining its strength. As union strength is also found in the society where workers live; unions should be part of social movements that are demanding social justice.”

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

“It is significant for the youth in the unions to learn about feminism because it advances the interests of young women workers and workers in general. Feminism is also educational and empowering as it addresses gender inequality and sexual and gender-based violence at work.”

The IndustriALL affiliates that participated are the Chemical Energy Paper Printing Wood and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU), National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU), and UASA – The Union.

Presenters included a gender expert from Ghana while others were drawn from the Congress of South African Trade Unions, SADC-NGO, Khanya College, and the University of the Western Cape.

SPECIAL REPORT: Campaigning for safer working conditions in Zimbabwe’s artisanal and small-scale mining

SPEACIAL REPORT

From Global Worker no. 1 May 2021

Country: Zimbabwe

Theme: Zimbabwe’s artisanal and small-scale mining

Campaigns by trade unions, civil society organizations and mine affected communities for the formalization of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) are meant to end the deadly working conditions of the miners in Zimbabwe. In addition, formalization will introduce decent working conditions.

Hundreds of artisanal and small-scale miners in the country are dying in flooded and collapsing mines which are trapping miners underground. Rock falls often block escape routes and toxic gases suffocate the miners in poorly ventilated mines. Most rescue operations carried out by the government’s ill-equipped teams are never completed, and only a few miners are rescued before the operations are abandoned.

Sadly, some mines where accidents have happened are now grave sites of the mainly youthful miners. The mine accidents in the last few years include Ran Mine, Bindura where an old derelict gold mine shaft collapsed on 6 November 2020. Only six miners were rescued and 24 trapped underground when the rescue mission ended. At Cricket and Silvermoon Mine in the Battlefields area near Kwekwe over 40 miners died. Most of the accidents have happened at mines that were no longer operational and whose mining licences were in dispute.

Commenting on the country’s quick abandonment of rescue operations, the Parliament of Zimbabwe says there is no compassion in the way the country deals with artisanal miners’ deaths with rescuers failing to save miners from shallow depths of about 60 metres.

Zimbabwe’s labour laws allow for health and safety in the mines and the country has also signed the International Labour Organization Convention 176 on Safety and Health in Mines. But these legal frameworks are less useful in an informal working environment that is sometimes controlled by syndicates and gangs.

With no other source of income, over one million miners, or 14 per cent of the country’s labour force, continue to look for minerals, especially gold, to eke out a living. The vicious cycle continues as accidents in the unsafe mines continue to claim the lives of the workers. With the country’s decades long economic crisis, unemployment remains high with over two million people living in poverty. Child labour is common along rivers, with some children dropping out of school to pan for gold.

Terrance Sakala (25) an artisanal miner working at a small scale mine with seven other workers near Kadoma, says:

“My working day begins by pumping water from the 30 metre deep mine using a submersible water pump and waiting for four hours before we drill three holes into the earth using a jack hammer. After that, we put explosives and blast and wait for another four hours before we go into the mine to scoop the ore. We get paid weekly, but this depends on the gold that we get after milling. When there is no gold; there is no money. In a good week you can get as much as US$500 but in a bad one the amount can be US$100 or nothing. We live in hope and faith. Artisanal mining is about endurance. This is not large-scale industrial mining.”

The Zimbabwe Auditor General’s report confirms that there is non- compliance with occupational health and safety in ASM. This is worsened by situations where the mining takes place at sites where there are ownership disputes and mining may be considered by the authorities as unlawful. There have also been incidents of violence when knife wielding gangs attacked some artisanal miners and communities in violent clashes over land use.

Unions in Zimbabwe have long identified the risks of ASM as unsafe and poorly ventilated pits. Further, the shafts and tunnels are prone to collapse and flooding, especially after heavy rains. There is also lack of personal, protective equipment and exposure to dust. The miners are also exposed to other risks from hard labour as the work involves digging with picks and shovels repetitively over long hours. Most miners or their employers cannot afford to buy mining equipment and machinery. There is also exposure to hazardous substances such as mercury.

On the increasing calls for formalization of ASM, Justice Chinhema, general secretary, Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union, says:

“As a union representing the interests of mine workers across the country, we urge the government to advance the rights of artisanal and small-scale miners by giving them mining concessions and improved access to mineral rights. The lack of such concessions, where legal titles are available for the formalization of ASM, is a major barrier. We would also like technical support to be given to ASM through regulation that will promote formation of mining cooperatives, provision of social security and the setting up of pension funds.”

Zimbabwe is in the process of amending the Mines and Minerals Act to include artisanal miners and introduce formalization and better regulation. Further, civil society organizations and mine affected communities are calling on the country’s authorities to adopt the recommendations from the African Mining Vision on the integration of ASM as one of the strategies for resource-based development and poverty reduction.

On illicit financial flows, there are recommendations to stop the smuggling of gold. For example, gold worth over US$1.8 billion was smuggled out of the country in 2020. An investigative report by South African’s Daily Maverick, Cartel power dynamics in Zimbabwe, concluded that gold smuggling is controlled by cartels and that most of the smuggled gold which found its way to South Africa and the United Arab Emirates is mined by ASM who “in 2019 produced 63 per cent of the gold marketed formally in Zimbabwe.” This is more than the gold produced by large scale mines.

However, the mining and working conditions of ASM in Zimbabwe mirror what is happening in most Sub-Saharan African countries where 10 million artisanal and small-scale miners dig for minerals through panning, open cast, and shaft mining. The minerals include tin, tungsten, tantalum, gold, cobalt, and other rare earth metals used in the manufacturer of electric cars batteries, smartphones, and other products.

To improve conditions in ASM, IndustriALL has facilitated meetings with affiliates in Sub Saharan Africa to discuss the implementation of ILO Convention 176 and the adoption of ILO Recommendation 204 on the transition from informal-to-informal work. Among other issues, the recommendation aims to “facilitate the transition of workers and informal units to the formal economy, while respecting workers fundamental workers’ rights and ensuring opportunities for income security, livelihoods and entrepreneurship.”

IndustriALL affiliates from Zimbabwe and other African countries including Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, and South Africa, have participated in the Alternative Mining Indaba (AMI), held annually in parallel to the Mining Indaba, where resolutions have been adopted to support ASM and recognize the role miners play in sustaining the livelihoods of marginalized and rural communities.

One of the resolutions for the AMI states:

“ASM contributes to the livelihoods of millions of Africans. As such we affirm that this must be recognized in laws and policies of the countries and must not be criminalized. This includes strengthening ASM right to access and ownership of mining rights, a decent work framework aimed at ensuring fair beneficiation along the value chain, access to social protection and safety nets and decent working conditions.”

Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining says:

“IndustriALL supports formalization of ASM to address the appalling health and safety conditions and decent work deficits in Zimbabwe and other African countries. It is distressing that miners continue to lose their lives in preventable accidents that could otherwise be prevented by national laws and international labour standards. Formalization comes with compliance, and knowledge and technical capacity on mining governance as explained in the African Minerals Governance Framework.”

Resolutions have also been adopted for better mineral resource governance at the AMI and the curbing of illicit financial flows which, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, drain the African continent of over US$88 billion dollars which leaves the continent illegally for offshore accounts.

DRC unions confront challenges of supply chain due diligence

Various OECD partner events were organized across issues in the minerals global supply chain, including side events by the Initiative for Responsible Mining (IRMA) on due diligence beyond conflict-affected and high-risk areas and the Responsible Mining Index (RMI).

IndustriALL affiliates from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) participated in the Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC) side event on Artisanal Cobalt Production: Towards a safe and Just Transition. EGC, a recently established cobalt mining company, is a subsidiary of the state-owned La Générale des Carrieres et des Mines (Gecamines). EGC holds the monopoly for the purchase, processing and sale of all cobalt produced by artisanal miners or companies involved in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). This makes EGC important to IndustriALL’s battery platform project.

“IndustriALL is giving special focus to the DRC given the importance of the country’s cobalt as a critical mineral in the transition to a low carbon economy. Additionally, the huge role of ASM in mining cobalt is another factor for the urgent need to organize the DRC affiliates around the OECD Forum on responsible minerals supply chains,”

says Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director of mining.

Unions from DRC raised concerns on their exclusion from the developments and processes that led to the establishment of EGC and questioned the central role played by Trafigura, one of the world’s leading independent commodity trading and logistics companies.

Trafigura and its partners are solely responsible for developing responsible mining controls and traceability associated with ASM cobalt production, including the development of the first responsible sourcing standard for ASM cobalt in the DRC.

While the EGC process and governance put a premium on multi-stakeholder consultation and participation, trade unions were not consulted and are not represented in its committees, despite the huge presence and participation by non-governmental organizations. To address this, the affiliates will write letters to EGC and Trafigura expressing their concerns.

The unions committed to develop an engagement strategy on due diligence with the assistance of IndustriALL.

Sven Schwersensky, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung director for the DRC based in Kinshasa, coordinated the unions’ participation by bringing six affiliates to his office and linking them with Geneva, Johannesburg and to the forum in Paris.

“The virtual forum made it possible to participate in most sessions, creating an opportunity for capacity building and engagement for DRC affiliates,”

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

Zimbabwe: gender champions to curb sexual harassment at work

Participants, who included members of IndustriALL Zimbabwe Women’s Committee and youth council, discussed how union members can become gender champions with a primary role of receiving and investigating complaints on sexual and gender-based violence, raise awareness on women and workers’ rights, and provide support to victimized workers.

The gender champions will be campaigners for the ratification of the ILO Convention 190, and some will also engage in protecting whistle blowers and workers affected by sexual and gender-based violence.

Miriam Katumba, president of the National Union of the Clothing Industry (NUCI), gender chairperson of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and ITUC general council member said:

“Gender mainstreaming is important in the fight for women workers’ rights. Further, recruiting young women into the union is key to attaining gender equality at the workplace.”

According to the workers attending the workshop, sexual exploitation continues to take place in workplaces and is compounded by the low wage economy with average wages below US$100 and high unemployment.

Most of the sectors where the unions organize are male dominated. For example, there are less than 20 women among the 600 mineworkers at Jena Mine in Silobela, making campaigning for gender equality in the mines intimidating for women miners.

“The mining sector must employ more women to address this obvious gender imbalance. How are women expected to participate in union and workplace activities when they are such a ridiculously small minority,”

asked Memory Kadewera from the Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Workers Union (ZDAMWU).

Rose Omamo, IndustriALL co-chairperson for Sub Saharan Africa said:

“We congratulate the Zimbabwean unions for launching the gender champions strategy. Gender champions are being used in many African countries, including Kenya, to deal with sexual and gender-based violence at the workplace. They will also promote some of the recommendations in the ILO Convention 190 and Recommendation 206.”

The seven unions attending the workshop are the National Union of Metal and Allied Industries Workers Union (NUMAIZ), National Union of the Clothing Industry (NUCI), Zimbabwe Chemicals, Plastics and Allied Workers Union (ZCPAWU), Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Workers Union (ZDAMWU), Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union (ZEWU), Zimbabwe Leather, Shoe and Allied Workers Union (ZLSAWU), and the Zimbabwe Textile Workers Union (ZTWU).

South-South union solidarity against challenges of energy transition

Both parts of the world face common predicaments on energy transition as governments pursue neoliberal economic policies marginalizing workers and poor communities. Chile was cited as a resource-rich country whose population is mainly poor. The same can be applied to most Sub-Saharan African countries, which are rich in fossil fuels and oil and gas, yet most people live in poverty.

The meeting discussed the energy transition’s potential to drive industrialization and economic development in the regions. Energy, it was argued, must be discussed in the context of the political economy of the continents. There were opportunities for the setting up of renewable power plants, but this should be done while protecting workers interests.

The meeting discussed both regions’ huge potential in renewable energy resources, including hydropower, wind, solar and bio power, geothermal and fossil fuels.

Unions in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico said they want a just energy transition with improved working conditions and a respect for workers' rights. They spoke about the importance of social dialogue to promote sustainable industrial policies and a Just Transition, with the participation of governments, companies, unions and affected communities.

Sintracarbón secretary of education, Fredys Fernández, mentioned the initiative developed since 2015 by Colombian unions USO, Sintracarbón and Sintraelecol called “Social, mining-energy and environmental table”. Together with the community, government authorities and businessmen they debate on energy transition and the construction of a sustainable energy policy for Colombia.

Across the Atlantic, unions in Ghana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, part of the Sub-Saharan Africa Energy Network, are fighting against the privatization of public state power companies which often results in increases in the cost of electricity.

“We are against the privatization of the power utility, ESKOM as proposed by the government. We prefer an energy provider that is publicly owned and run in the public interest and not for profit as this will make energy unaffordable and inaccessible to poor communities. On renewable energy, we are calling for the social ownership of renewable energy sources,”

said Enos Mbodi from the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa.

Kemal Ozkan, IndustriALL assistant general secretary said:

“We need a global energy transition model that promotes industrialization, decent green jobs and the interests of workers and communities. This is only possible if countries in the Global South adopt sustainable energy and industrial plans.”

Workers fear returning to work in Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region

The park was closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, before war broke out.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the IndustriALL Federation of Textile, Leather and Garment Workers Trade Union (IFTLGTWU), which organizes the textile, garment, shoe, and leather workers in Mekelle, says it has been difficult to reach its members and their families.

Phone lines, the internet and other means of telecommunications were unavailable for many days when the civil war between the federal army and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) began.

Garment and textile factories were looted and destroyed. These include Almeda, Sheba Leather, and DBL garments. The Almeda factory, which employed over five thousand workers, was looted, and destroyed. The other two factories were ransacked. Thousands of jobs will be lost if the factories do not reopen.

Media reports have pointed to killings, rape and looting which is being attributed to different armed groups involved in the conflict including militias and the army from neighbouring Eritrea. According to the reports, homes, clinics, hospitals, health centres, schools, and grain stores were destroyed or looted, and fields burnt.

This has created a humanitarian crisis in which people are starving and in need of food, water, and shelter. Thousands have fled their homes and the government of Ethiopia and UN agencies have appealed for emergency support.

The Ethiopian prime minister said in parliament that gross human rights violations and abuses will be investigated by the Ethiopian Human Right Commission and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Council.

“We call upon the government of Ethiopia to provide peace and security to the people and the workers of Tigray. It is important that the armed conflict is ended so that workers can go back to work without fear and that communities can go back to living in peace,”

says Valter Sanches, IndustriALL general secretary.