Workers education conference discusses revival of textile and garment sector in Nigeria

The 31st education conference of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers Union of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), which is affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, evaluated current initiatives to revive the sector, especially the cotton, textile and garment (CTG) policy of the federal government of Nigeria and its implications on workers’ welfare. The policy aims to create 2.5 million jobs and revive the sector which has been in decline over the years. 

NUTGTWN welcomed the CTG which will facilitate bank loans for cotton farmers from the Central Bank of Nigeria. The loans will promote and support the cultivation of cotton. Further, the Bank of Industry will also finance spinning and weaving mills. In addition, the government’s memorandum of understanding with the textile mills and the uniformed services for procurement from the local garment factories will benefit the sector.

The union said the cotton to clothes value chain approach of the CTG policy came out of extensive consultations with key stakeholders.

The conference commended the union for signing a wage agreement with employers for a minimum average wage of 45,000 Naira ($125) for the sector which is above the national minimum wage of 30,000 Naira ($83).

Alhaji Adamu Adamu, the minister of education, officially opened the conference. Other guests included Pauline Kedem Tallen, the minister of women affairs.

John Adaji president of the NUTGTWN said the conference resolved that:

“The textile and garment industry remain the key driver of sustainable jobs and development for most national economies of developing nations like ours.  Indeed, for Nigeria and Africa to meet the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, especially SDG 9 dealing with industry and innovation, the continent must innovate and industrialize.”

The conference urged the government “to develop a comprehensive strategy to fully optimise the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area with safeguards in place to prevent and apprehend unfair trading practices such as smuggling and dumping.” 

Issa Aremu, general secretary of the NUTGTWN and vice president of IndustriALL said:

“For the textile and garment industry to be competitive, the existing workforce must be trained and retrained to acquire new skills to meet the challenges of competition within the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

The conference was held with support from the Nigerian Textile Garment and Tailoring Employers Association, and facilitators were drawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria, ministry of labour and productivity, ministry of industry, trade and investment, UNIDO, FES, academia and civil society organizations.

Unions can shape the future of work in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

The topic was: the future of work and the role of trade unions, social dialogue, industrial relations and co-determination.

Commending the GLU programme, Thulas Nxesi, the South African minister of employment and labour, who was at the conference, stressed:

“Skilling and reskilling of workers is important to match current trends in the world of work. Strong unions and social compacts on 4IR are critical.”

The panel said trade unions can be involved in lifelong learning and ensure that workers’ rights and participation is guaranteed. The co-determination approach of the German trade unions should also be protected and the campaign for living wages intensified.

Collective bargaining agreements and social protection should be preserved. Although the national social and economic context is key, trade unions should also develop global strategies and work with the International Labour Organization to respond to the digital economy and demand Just Transition plans as the world moves from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

Bastian Schulz, director of the FES Trade Union Competence Centre, said:

“New instability of work characterizes labour relations in the 21st century. Unions face challenges on the digital economy especially the way it transforms jobs, and employment relationships as well as the social divide between workers with stable paying jobs and those with unstable, poorly paid or precarious jobs, or no jobs at all.”

Reiner Hoffman, president of the German federation of trade unions the DGB, said:

“In discussing the 4IR we must not forget that labour is also changing. The fear of technology displacing workers is not new; it was there in the 1970s and 1980s. In Germany we are focusing on opportunities from the 4IR and not only discussing risks. These opportunities arise from new types of work that will result from technological innovation and digitalization.”

He cautioned that trade unions must not sit back and allow big corporations to dominate the 4IR debates.

Zingiswa Losi, the president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions said:

“Unions must ask if the South African economy is ready for the 4IR. What are the consequences and impact on the workers? We should not support jobless economic growth. Currently unemployment is very high at 29.1 per cent and at the expanded rate of 38.5 per cent. Unions must engage to stop workers’ exploitation under the 4IR.”

Ruth Ntlokotse, second deputy president of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, said:

“Data and artificial intelligence are central to the digital economy. Who owns this data and what are the effects on workers? We are already facing issues with biometrics at the workplaces. Employers are using surveillance systems to infringe on workers privacy. We need studies that will inform us on how to respond to the 4IR.”

Workers from IndustriALL affiliates, the Industrial Commercial Workers Union (Ghana) and the Commercial , Industrial and Allied Workers Union (Malawi) who are former students of the GLU programmes, were part of the 100 participants who attended the conference. The conference was held with support from FES, the University of the Witwatersrand and GLU.

Agreements unite formal and informal metal workers in Kenya

“United, One Goal, One Voice” read a banner during the signing ceremony of the ground-breaking agreements between unions and informal workers’ associations in Nairobi on 29 October. The agreements will promote “a partnering framework for parties in addressing the issues of workers in the informal metal work industry.”

The aim is for the associations to affiliate to the union. Among other responsibilities, the unions will represent the informal workers in legal disputes, conciliation and arbitration, address social economic needs, and engage in policy reform to improve the informal economy. The informal workers will also take part in union activities including Labour Day celebrations, annual general meetings, and benefit from training programmes.

Rose Omamo, general secretary of the AUKMW, affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, said:

“When we started organizing the informal sector — mechanics, spray painters, welders, panel beaters and vehicle body builders — we realized that recruiting individuals was difficult and decided to work with the artisans’ associations.”

According to the agreements, instead of individual membership, the associations become affiliates of the unions and their members will get the same benefits as other union members.

Unlike formal workers who can be organized from their factories and workplaces, informal artisans work from different places like their homes, markets and street corners.

The Ministry of Labour, Federation of Kenya Employers, ILO, FES Kenya, Central Organisation of Trade Unions-Kenya, the Solidarity Centre and others witnessed the signing of the agreements.

Research has confirmed that the informal sector contributes to over 34 per cent of the Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product. The informal sector employ over 13 million, or 83 per cent, of the country’s labour force. Workers in the informal sector are mainly youth, aged 18-35, and mostly women.

AUKMW organizes workers in the motor trade, electrical and electronics trades, tyre manufacturing, retreading and dealerships, battery manufacturing, metal industries and the informal sector.

Workers’ Rights Act amendments a victory for Mauritius unions

Under the act workers will get benefits in insolvencies, and portable retirement gratuity schemes will be introduced. The gratuity is an additional benefit to existing pension funds. The new law allows workers to carry their pensions and retirement benefits to the next employer. The law also makes it a must for employers to pay compensation for years of service and introduces unemployment benefits for up to 12 months.

A recent demonstration for decent work

A new tripartite council is also created which allows for negotiations and representation of workers by a lawyer, labour inspector or a trade union official. A wage guarantee fund pays workers when a factory closes. These benefits are enjoyed by all workers including migrant workers from Nepal and Bangladesh who are working in the country.

Unions are also campaigning for climate justice and against gender-based violence

The victory comes after 16 years in which IndustriALL Global Union affiliates from Mauritius carried out a sustained campaign for workers’ rights which included going on hunger strikes, pickets and demonstrations. These actions saw the union’s efforts being rewarded when the Workers’ Rights Act amendments were approved by the cabinet on 4 October.

Reeaz Chutto, president of the Confederation des Travailleurs des Secteurs Publique et Prive (CTSP) said:

“This victory adds to the union’s minimum wage campaign of 2017 in which we won minimum wages of $300 after a 10-day hunger strike. The union is also strengthening its organizing in other sectors in order to enjoy sectoral collective bargaining.”

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL general secretary said:

“I extend my solidarity greetings to all affiliates, and commend you on your dedication and commitment in fighting for over ten years for the Employment Rights Act of 2008 to be scrapped.

“The new labour law represents a major victory against precarious work and the casualization of labour. We appreciate the important advancement achieved in the protection of workers’ rights concerning, among others, fair compensation in case of termination, retirement benefits, strict restrictions on contract labour, strengthening of social dialogue, implementation of equal pay for equal work, improvements in paid vacation, harmonization of working conditions in different sectors, and an active campaign to stop gender-based violence at work.”

The CTSP is also campaigning against surveillance

The CTSP is also fighting against the invasion of privacy by surveillance systems that allow factory owners to spy on workers from their smartphones.

Young workers are active

Campaign to stop gender-based violence kicks off at South African factory

Music, poetry, and a six-a-side soccer tournament punctuated the event where the management, workers and communities signed the IndustriALL Pledge on stopping violence and harassment of women at workplaces and unions. 

Management, workers and communities signed the IndustriALL Pledge

Ruth Ntlokotse, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa’s Second Deputy President, and secretary of the IndustriALL Women’s Committee South Africa, one of organizers of the campaign, said:

“The crisis of gender-based violence in South Africa requires that we work together to stop the scourge as trade unions, communities, government and social groups. Employers also have an important role to play because gender-based violence also happens at the workplace. With the murder and rape of women and children in their homes, gender-based violence is tearing families and communities apart. This explains the importance of supporting advocacy groups that target men to stop gender-based violence as they are the main perpetrators.”

Ntlokotse, a chief laboratory chemist, has worked for JM for 22 years. JM, which has operations in 30 countries, employs 14,800 workers, and is a Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 listed company. Its products include emission and control technologies, chemical processes including oil and gas, battery materials, pharmaceutical and medical and metal chemicals and products.

Patrick Shai, a popular South African actor who has appeared in many television soapies and movies, and who leads the Khuluma Ndoda advocacy group, said:

“Women are living with lots of pain and in fear of getting stabbed with knives and being shot at with guns. So, we are saying to men: you can change and become better human beings. Loving doesn’t make you a lessor person. Let’s have that conversation and stop the violence against women.”

A woman activist from the nearby community said: “Why are we being violated all the time and how can this be stopped? We get protection orders from the courts, but we are killed even when we are holding those protection orders. Women have suffered enough.” 

According to crime statistics (2017/2018) from the South African Police Service 2930 women were murdered — which is about a death every three hours. This makes South Africa one of the most dangerous countries for women.

Sub-Saharan Africa sets ambitious union agenda

The conference was a culmination of a week of meetings designed to build common purpose among IndustriALL Global Union affiliates on the continent: the Youth Conference, the African Mining Summit, the African Industrialization Conference, and the Women’s Conference.

Each meeting, under the overarching theme of Sub-Sahara African unions in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, considered a particular aspect of trade union work on the continent and developed an action plan which it brought to the executive meeting for adoption and endorsement.

The regional conference was opened by IndustriALL co-chair Joseph Montisetse and vice president Issa Aremu. After a detailed overview of trade union struggles on the continent by IndustriALL regional secretary Paule Ndessomin, affiliates raised problems of workers’ rights violations and called for support.

General secretary Valter Sanches stressed the importance of solidarity. He said:

“We deal with violations of trade union rights like firefighters. We need to be systematic.

“We raise issues with the ILO and the OECD. But institutions won't save us. What works is solidarity. We have had a number of successful union wins over the past few years. In every case, it was because of an international solidarity campaign.

“We are developing a roadmap of instruments to fight violations. But the key is building stronger unions.”

He also stressed the importance of global framework agreements, which are a very powerful tool if used well.

The young workers presented their structure and action plan to the conference. The affiliates formally recognized the youth committee, and committed to improving youth work on the continent.

The women’s committee presented its proposed structure. This was adopted by the conference, which committed to campaign for the ratification of ILO 190 and to strengthen national women’s structures.

Executive committee member Ousmane Diop of Senegal reported on the African industrialization conference. Affiliates resolved to implement IndustriALL’s action plans on industrial policy and trade, and to support the regional energy network.

IndustriALL mining director Glen Mpufane reported on the mining summit. Affiliates resolved to promote the African Mining Vision at national level, and campaign for the ratification of ILO Convention 176 on Safety and Health in mines. They also pledged to campaign for AngloGold Ashanti to sign a global framework agreement, to support diamond miners in Lesotho and to work towards regularizing and organizing small scale and artisanal miners.

Affiliates resolved to establish a task team to identify emerging issues and develop responses, and to develop policy on industrialization, mineral pricing and beneficiation.

They resolved to support unions in Eswatini against rights violations, and campaign against attacks on workers by multinational corporations. They condemned the abuse of workers’ rights by Chinese-owned companies while also noting with disappointment that companies with African origins also violate the rights of workers.

Valter Sanches concluded:

“One year from now we will have our Congress in Cape Town. We have set an ambitious agenda for the continent. Let’s work together so that at Congress we can demonstrate the power of unity in struggle.”

Unions intensify campaign for African industrialization

IndustriALL’s ongoing campaign for African industrialization is part of its strategic goal of promoting sustainable industrial policy: no country or region has achieved prosperity and a decent standard of living for its citizens without a robust industrial sector. 

Africa’s low level of industrialization is linked to its colonial past. After independence, attempts were made to industrialize the economy, but IMF structural adjustment programmes and trade liberalization undermined newly independent African economies, letting market forces “kick away the ladder”.

The result is that the continent is still as a source of raw materials, and value is added elsewhere. According to some reports, on average, African industry generates US $700 of GDP per capita, which is less than a third of that measure in Latin America and a fifth of that in East Asia.

African economies are resource dependent. It is home to the top five oil producing countries with around 10 per cent of the world’s oil output, while 40 per cent of its gold and between 80 and 90 percent of chromium and platinum are from the continent.

The participants stressed the importance of industrialization as a transformation away from an agricultural- or resource-based economy to an economy based on manufacturing, which will increase incomes and living standards.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:

“This is a rich continent that has been systematically plundered. Africa needs a human-centred economy that brings democracy to economic life.

“Some of the fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa. But growth is not the same as development.”

Assistant general secretary Atle Høie spoke about the importance of understanding trade agreements, and the danger of unaccountable investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms.

Affiliates discussed the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area, and committed to implementing IndustriALL’s action plan on trade, which calls on governments to respect ILO conventions and ensure labour rights are included in trade agreements.

Industrialization requires financing. The Mbeki report shows that Africa loses $52 billion per year through illicit financial flows, which needs to be addressed.

The role of industrialization is articulated in the African Union’s action plan, AIDA, and the United Nations’ Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa. Debates took place on routes to industrialization that consider climate change, industry 4.0 and the future of work. Unions agreed that focusing on national strategies will not work, and that regional industrial hubs, infrastructure, skills development and internal trade were essential. The conference agreed on campaign strategies for industrialization.

Unions will act on Africa Industrialization Day on November 20, lobbying global and African intergovernmental agencies. IndustriALL will conduct programmes on aspects of industrialization, such as sustainability, energy policy, supply chains, Industry 4.0 and trade.

“African industrialization is critically important to IndustriALL,” said Kemal Özkan.

“If we don’t break the trajectory of the continent, Africa will remain a place where people live in extreme poverty, which is completely unacceptable”.

African women rise for gender equality

The meeting was opened by regional secretary Paule Ndessomin, who encouraged women to maintain the momentum of the work that had been done. A major part of the discussion focused on the adoption of ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment by the 2019 International Labour Conference.

Mwila Chigaga, a gender expert from the International Labour Organization, said that the Convention is a global mandate to end violence and harassment in the world of work, but warned that the adoption is not the victory: the work starts now. She reminded participants that the Convention needs to be ratified by at least two countries to come into force, and encouraged them to ensure that these are African countries.

“We can't celebrate now. We can celebrate when the Convention is ratified and implemented.”

Mwila Chigaga

“We can't celebrate now. We can celebrate when the Convention is ratified and implemented,”

she said.

“We should primarily see C190 as an international labour standard on gender equality, and see it the context of other conventions: C100 on Equal Pay, C111 on Discrimination, C156 on Workers with Family Responsibilities, C183 on Maternity Protection and C189 on Domestic Work.

“Many of these have not been ratified and implemented. Let's not forget them while we celebrate C190.”

IndustriALL gender coordinator Armelle Seby said,

“Unions have to mobilize and push for ratification. But unions do not need to wait: they should use this instrument to change the lives of workers now. This new instrument is a key tool for trade unions to advance non-discrimination and equality, and fight against gender-based violence in the world of work.”

"I am a gender champion."

Rose Omamo

Rose Omamo introduced herself by saying

“I am the general secretary of the Almagamated Union of Kenya Metal Workers, and I am a gender champion.”

Both Chigaga and Omamo spoke about the need to take the work of gender equality out of the womens’ structure and use male allies to mainstream it in the union.

Chigaga said,

“We need women in leadership positions in unions. But we also need to ensure that the men who are elected are gender champions and feminists.”

There was a discussion about making a practical difference in the workplace, and participants shared that violence and harassment is commonplace.

“As women, we need to have each other's backs,” said one participant. “Sisterhood works.”

Tendai Makanza of the IndustriALL regional office urged affiliates to use the tools that we have, especially the Pledge.

“We hope to start a young feminist movement for the region.”

Lydia Nkopane chaired a session which formed the regional women's committee, as follows:

Additional members:

African miners say mineral wealth must benefit continent

Major themes of the conference included beneficiation, artisanal and small scale mining, safety and ILO Convention 176, and illicit financial flows.

Kemal Özkan

The meeting was opened by IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan, who explained that there is a crisis of inequality worldwide, but mining unions are at the forefront of developing a union response. He gave the example of the Goodbye Neoliberalism report released by Australian affiliate the CFMEU.

Fred Hans Kipamila

Leaders of local affiliates, Tamim Salehe of TUICO and Fred Hans Kipamila of TAMICO, introduced the work of their unions, and Tanzania's mineral commissioner David Mulabwa welcomed the delegates to Tanzania. He outlined the government's priorities for the sector.

Industry director Glen Mpufane spoke about the boom and bust cycle in the commodities market. The current boom is driven by electric vehicles, but mineral wealth often doesn’t contribute to general economic development.

Glen Mpufane

"The mining industry is like a parallel state, with illicit capital flows which bleed resources from the continent. The African Mining Vision is a pathway for a change to a new economic vision, developed by Africans, to benefit the whole continent,"

he said.

Regional co-chair and NUM president Joseph Montisetse said:

Joseph Montisetse

"Our raw materials are exported and we are left in poverty. That's why beneficiation must be on the agenda of every union."

IndustriALL vice president Issa Aremu of Nigeria said,

"We need to turn the resource curse into a resource blessing."

Issa Aremu

"We need to turn the resource curse into a resource blessing."

Pierre de Pasquale spoke about using the Responsible Mining Index to evaluate how compliant companies are with their stated principles, and Peneyamboko Alina Munkawa of the ILO gave a detailed explanation of ILO Convention 176 on safety and health in mines.

Lydia Nkopane

Lydia Nkopane of the NUM spoke about violence against women. Women in the mining industry face gender-based violence at work, a lack of protective equipment and facilities suitable for women and discrimination in jobs and union positions.

Claude Kabemba of Southern Africa Resource Watch and Luc Assosa of PACT spoke about the situation of small scale and artisanal miners. There are nine million in Sub Saharan Africa.

Kabemba said,

"Artisanal and small scale miners are miners, and they belong in mining unions."

Tendai Makanza of IndustriALL addressed the US$50 billion which is lost annually in Africa through illicit financial flows, through criminal activity, public sector fraud and corporate activity, including tax dodging and under-reporting the value of exported minerals.

Kemal Özkan said:

“We have raised many issues which need to be addressed, both at the world mining conference and tomorrow’s conference on industrialization. Our affiliates need to take the lead in deciding their priorities for action, whether it is campaigning on C176 or something else, and IndustriALL will be there to support them.”

Youth in Sub Saharan Africa create regional structure

The 44 delegates from 11 countries were joined by guests from a number of organizations, including the ILO, BWI, UNI Global Union, SASK and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, which sponsored the event.

The delegates displayed spirit and enthusiasm, frequently breaking into call and response chants celebrating union power, and songs to create a sense of unity and movement. They sang songs from the trade union struggle, including Asinamali (“We don’t have any money”), Asifuni Agenda yama Capitalist (“We don’t want the capitalist agenda”) and My Mother was a Kitchen Girl.

A panel discussion was held with participants exploring different aspects of youth organizing in their countries.

“Youth are marginalized. People put us down, not by the power of their arguments, but with the weight of their years,”

said Tafadzwa Eustace Chidhindi of Zimbabwe.

Tolulope Fagbamigbe of Nigeria pointed out that young women workers are doubly oppressed by ageism and patriarchy. When there is an invitation to a youth meeting, men old enough to be their fathers are first in line to attend.

After a presentation on the ILO Centenary Declaration by Mban Kabu of ILO ACTRAV, participants discussed how the future of work was likely to play out in the African context and developed proposals for young workers marginalized by a growing informal sector.

They felt that their familiarity with new technology meant that they could benefit from new forms of work. Sweshta Soomungull of Mauritius asked:

“Since when have unions been afraid of challenges?”

There were debates about the suitability of union structures for organizing young workers. Iris Nothofer of the FES Trade Union Competence Centre Sub-Saharan Africa raised a provocative question: is there a conflict between union democracy and efficiency?

“Democratic structures and procedures are necessary but not sufficient. We need vibrant rank and file networks,”

she concluded.

IndustriALL youth coordinator Sarah Flores spoke about the importance of youth developing autonomous structures and their own way of working. The participants divided into three groups to develop their policy and the structure.

They identified the following priorities:

  1. Formulate a regional structure
  2. Develop youth leadership
  3. Develop a union education programme for youth
  4. Formalize alliances with civil society
  5. Including youth in collective bargaining
  6. Integrate youth into industrial policy

Rose Omamo, general secretary of AUKM in Kenya, led the election process.

The vote was as follows:

Chair: Emmanual Adjei-Danso of Ghana
Vice chair: Christian Rutendo Ranji of Zimbabwe
Secretary: Victor Notaye Ngwane of South Africa

Committee:

Sweshta Soomungull of Mauritius
Tolulope Fagbamigbe of Nigeria
Prisqua Miharilala of Madagascar
Maria John Bange of Tanzania

IndustriALL regional secretary Paule Ndessomin said:

“I am impressed by the passion and commitment we saw here today. The future looks bright! Now that a structure has been created, young unionists can work together effectively.”