Namibian union declares dispute over retrenchments of 600 workers at Langer Heinrich Uranium mine

The LHU mine, a subsidiary of Australia’s Paladin Energy, has given notice to retrench 600 workers and put the mine on care and maintenance citing lowest spot uranium prices in 15 years. The company says uranium prices have not recovered since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 that was triggered by an earthquake and a tsunami. The mine, which employs 317 permanent workers, while the rest are employed by contractors, only wants to retain 20 workers, and has informed the ministry of mines and energy, the labour commissioner, and the provincial governor of its intentions.

However, Paladin doesn’t want to sell the mine but to keep it as an asset until prices pick up. Uranium spot prices are averaging US$30 but contract prices are higher. Contracts are signed years in advance of making the first delivery. In 2017 LHU produced 3.4 million pounds (1542 metric tonnes) mainly from stockpiled ore. Uranium is used in nuclear reactors. According to the World Nuclear Association there are 447 nuclear power reactors globally, with 61 under construction.

Concerned about the job losses which will affect hundreds of its members MUN is fighting for fair severance packages and has declared a dispute of interest according to Namibia’s labour laws and is questioning how the proposed severance packages were arrived at. Further, the union says LHU is negotiating in bad faith by not giving the union enough time to consider the retrenchment packages that it is proposing.

In a petition to the LHU, the MUN expresses “disappointment and dissatisfaction in the way the company has approached this very serious and equally sensitive issue of the care and maintenance decision. Despite having an active recognition and procedural agreement, the company instead elected to address a memo to the union without attempting to engage the union prior to making the decision.” The union demands that LHU considers workers families and financial obligations when coming up with the severance packages.

Says Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director of mining:

“We expect global multinational mining companies to mine responsibly and respect the human rights of workers. This also applies to fair compensation of workers when there are retrenchments. It is unacceptable for mining companies to continue sacrificing workers’ livelihoods for profits.”

Organizing the diamond mining industry in Lesotho

High in the Maluti mountains of Lesotho, in the Leribe region, at an elevation of 3,100 metres above sea level, operators such as the United Kingdom’s Gem Diamonds Letšeng mine produce high colour and quality diamonds. Although some of the diamonds produced in the mountain kingdom are rated at the highest price per carat production in the world, the lives of mineworkers and communities adjacent to the mines reflect a different reality of poverty.

The Independent Democratic Union of Lesotho (IDUL) is an active participant in IndustriALL Global Union’s diamond global network, which integrates the whole supply chain of the diamond industry, namely mining, gems, ornament and jewellery production. Major challenges confront the global diamond industry supply chain, including in Lesotho, and building strong unions lies at the heart of sustainable solutions to those challenges.

“The luxury diamond, mining, gems, ornament and jewellery production industry does not reflect the harsh reality of the working conditions suffered by those working in the sector, including women,” said Dan Theko, general secretary of IDUL.

IDUL has undertaken the task of organizing these mineworkers. Recognizing the scale task of organizing in mines buried deep in the remote mountain valleys of the Maluti mountains, IDUL invited IndustriALL and affiliate the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) to assist and participate in its organizing drive.

The organizing drive, conducted in a freezing cold mountain winter, involved a two-day training workshop and an organizing and recruitment drive at British miners Firestone Diamonds’ flagship Liqhobong mine. General secretary Daniel Theko led his organizers in the four-day activity.

Besides the Liqhobong mine, IDUL has identified the Mothae mine, owned by Canadian Lucara Diamond, the Kao mine, owned by Namakwa Ltd of Bermuda, the Letšeng mine and the Lemphane mine, owned by British Paragon Diamonds, for organizing and recruitment drives. These mines are in various stages of development or initial production.

“The diamond industry is under greater pressure to improve its social and environmental performance, while workers face challenges of job security, trade union rights and achieving the decent work agenda,”

says Glen Mpufane, director of mining and diamond, gems, ornaments and jewellery production, who led the organizing and recruitment drive. The Sub-Saharan Africa regional office was represented by regional programme officer Charles Kumbi.

The vision of IDUL is to become the fastest growing mining union in Lesotho. NUMSA has committed to strengthening relationships with IDUL to realize that vision while IndustriALL, through its union building project, will continue to train and to build capacity to this new emerging union in Lesotho. Organizing in the diamond mining sector in Lesotho is a new initiative by IDUL since its formation from a merger process in 2015.

Ethiopia: Meeting stirs debate on living wages

With support from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, key players at the discussions in Addis Ababa on 22 May, including the ILO, reminded the government of Ethiopia of its obligations to fully implement Convention 87 on freedom of association and the right to organize. Further, the country should also implement a decent work agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. Social dialogue will also stop union-bashing tactics by some employers that include terminating, transferring or demoting union leaders to weaken the union.

The 55,000 strong IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Industrial Federation of Textile, Leather and Garment Workers Union (IFTLGWU), 56 per cent of whose members are women, says workers should be paid decent wages to live better lives and be able to look after their families.

The Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU), to which IFTLGWU is affiliated, supports the proposal and calls for minimum wages that meet workers’ needs. Government officials, the Ethiopian Investment Corporation, global brands and the Ayka Addis textile company, who were present at the meeting, discussed how decent wages benefitted workers. The government emphasized the importance of social dialogue that included trade unions, employers and government.

With the list of global brands from North America, Europe, China and Asia sourcing from Ethiopia increasing, and 20 brands including Peter Van Heusen, Quadrant Apparel, Epic Apparel and Ontex Hygiene Disposables already sourcing from Hawassa Industrial Park, calls are being made for wages to be pegged using international benchmarks. When fully operational, the park will house factories employing 60,000 workers. However, unions are questioning why they are being denied access to recruit members at Hawassa.

Says Masho Beriku, from CETU’s external and public relations department: “We are fighting for living wages and for Ethiopian workers’ rights. Therefore, we want restrictions stopping unions from organizing to be removed. This will enable us to grow the CETU membership from the current 550,000 to our target of two million. We also would like labour law reforms to protect workers’ rights.”

Ethiopia’s Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Hirut Woldemariam, says in a statement: “We are living in a society and an economy that is driven by globalization. The textile and garment sector is a notable globalized business with high female proportion in its labour force. With the establishment of industrial parks, our country has positioned itself in supply chains in the garments sector”.

The meeting was attended by affiliates from Bangladesh and South Africa who shared experiences on campaigning for better wages and collective bargaining.

South Africa: Union condemns retrenchment of 1,722 mineworkers at Evander gold mine

The company, which went through the retrenchment processes according to the Labour Relations Act, says the Evander 8 mine shaft will be closed to reduce further losses caused by weak gold prices and a strong currency – after the South African Rand’s recent gains in value.

The company mentions that it will prioritize low-cost operations including the Elikhulu Tailings Retreatment Plant in which it is investing 1.74 billion rand (US$139 million) and where 250 jobs will be created. In contrast, Pan African Resources will only pay 160 million rand (US$12.8 million) towards the retrenchments and says some of the retrenched workers will be reskilled for the new operations.

The NUM disputes that the company is making losses, and says that it is instead sacrificing workers for profits as seen in its tailings investments. This money could have been invested in the underground mine facing closure and thus saving jobs. The union points out that the mine is prioritizing surface mining where it employs cheap contract labour rather than underground operations.

Says the NUM:

There is plenty of ore body which can allow the operation to run for the next 40 years. It is therefore irrational for Pan African Resources to close down such an operation where there is an opportunity to create employment.

Workers were given short notice to vacate the houses they are living in, which the company intends to sell. According to the NUM, 80 per cent of the workers are from other parts of South Africa and neighbouring countries, and some have lived in the houses for years and their children go to local schools.

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

Instead of retrenching thousands of workers, jobs should be protected. Retrenchments should be used as a last resort to protect the interests of workers and their families.

According to Statistics South Africa, mining is the largest employer in Mpumalanga. Although gold mining is declining, the precious metal’s sales are third in value after coal and platinum group metals.

Ethiopian textile unions campaign to end poverty wages

To end poverty wages, IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the Industrial Federation of Textile, Leather and Garment Workers Trade Unions (IFTLGWU) is amongst the unions leading the campaign for better wages, workers’ rights to organize, and collective bargaining.

The campaign targets the industrial parks set up by the government including Bole Lemi in Addis Ababa where South Korean garment manufacturer, Shints, employs 4,300 workers, of whom 3,800 are union members. Other parks targeted by the campaign are Hawassa and Mekele.

Unions see minimum wages as a starting point in reversing the low wages and are demanding that they be included in the new labour laws under consideration. Eventually the unions want to shift the campaign to living wages.

Unions are campaigning for minimum wages above 3,373 Birr (US$121). These wages can be pegged using the official minimum wage, 1,800 Birr (US$64), or the consumer price index, 2,400 Birr (US$86). Current wages average below US$50.

Meetings have taken place between the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU) and various stakeholders including the ILO. There were also meetings with the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to discuss minimum wages.

IndustriALL director for the textile and garment sector, Christina Hajagos-Clausen, who will speak at a workshop on organizing in the supply chain in Addis Ababa later this month says:

We support Ethiopian unions on the introduction of minimum wages to set at a level of a living wage. We demand further that workers be paid what other garment workers earn globally.
Therefore, we are promoting global framework agreements in the sector to stop global brands from exploiting cheap labour in developing countries. Living wages can lift workers out of poverty.

South Africa: Four dead as mine claims more lives

Sibanye-Stillwater has an appalling safety record. Two workers died at Kloof mine in March, and earlier 1,000 workers were trapped underground when there was a power failure. Those workers were later brought safely to the ground when the power was restored.

Twenty-six mineworkers have died from mine accidents since the beginning of this year. In 2017, 30 per cent of the accidents were caused by seismic activities in gold mines which have become dangerous workplaces. After having seen a drop in mining accidents in South Africa, this all changed last year.

Laws and regulations seem unable to stop the rising death tolls from mining accidents. The Mining Health and Safety Act, which set up an inspectorate to monitor safety standards and stop violations, appear to have improved safety over the years before the reverse started happening.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is “concerned at the rate at which mining incidents are happening at Sibanye Stillwater”.

Says Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining:

“South African mines are increasingly becoming dangerous death traps for mineworkers, and this situation can’t be allowed to continue. The health and safety of workers who toil daily to feed their families is very important and mining companies have a responsibility to ensure safety standards that safeguard the precious lives of mineworkers are adhered to.”

Gwede Mantashe, the minister of mineral resources, says mining companies should put “greater attention to issues of safety, particularly the protection of lives of workers as opposed to the insistence on chasing production.” He promises that the government of South Africa will put together a team of experts to investigate the seismic activities.

South Africa: Zara accused of design theft

Zara conceded to its guilt by withdrawing some of the merchandise. It had appeared in stores in South Africa, the US and UK Instead of playing copycat, SACTWU is urging Zara to work with local designers and clothing factories to create more jobs in the garment sector.

According to SACTWU the “cut-and-paste” of designs by big multinational companies ignores the “little folk” whose businesses are vulnerable to such practices and can collapse as a result. The union argues that the niche market is the lifeblood of small boutique brands and can be easily killed off by mass production by big retailers like Zara. This will wipe out the local and global market for local designers.

Says Andre Kriel, general secretary of SACTWU:

“It seems they are comfortable acting like colonialists – simply exporting the money they make in South Africa to Spain and causing damage to local factories and workers. Now they are stealing some of our cultural artefacts and damaging a niche designer along the way”.

Kriel explains further:

“International brand Zara appears to have appropriated the designs of South African homegrown talent, the inspiring local designer Laduma Ngxokolo and his brand maXhosa. If this is true – and it is certainly suggested by the ‘coincidental’ stylistic overlaps between some Zara products and maXhosa’s iconic designs – it would represent the worst form of fashion colonialism: the extraction by global retail powerhouses, based in the developed world, of intellectual and cultural heritage from far less powerful designers based in the developing world”.

SACTWU says Zara is more interested in commercial value than design rights.

“Culture, designs and styles are reduced to fair game that can be poached or cut-and-pasted – the more so if these designs are considered exotic, other and traditional. There is no sensitivity to the origins of the designs, their context, history, and meaning”.

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

“Local designs and factories should be promoted instead of being destroyed by big brands. For this reason, we support SACTWU in its campaign for an agreement with Zara.”

SACTWU has been trying since last year to get Zara’s parent company, Inditex, to procure goods from South Africa to save local factories from closing but the company is refusing to commit to an agreement.

eSwatini: Union celebrates court victory

Therefore, the two unions no longer exist but are now part of ATUSWA which is a registered union under the Commissioner of Labour.

Reads the court ruling: “In the light of the evidence before the Court, the proper application of the law is that all trade unions that amalgamated ceased to exist and are defunct. Their membership, rights and duties were assumed by the newly formed trade union, ATUSWA”. This puts to rest attempts by the merged unions to revert to their old names and former autonomy. The old unions with support from employers and some in government were bent on dividing and weakening ATUSWA.

However, the court challenge took its toll on ATUSWA finances because the union was unable to receive subscriptions from members who were being claimed by the former unions. This explains the relief to the union brought by this court victory. The Court ordered that the challenging unions to pay the legal costs.

ATUSWA thanked the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland for its support during the court challenge. It also recognized IndustriALL for “standing by our organization when it was not fashionable to do so. We were able to keep the fires burning because of the support we received from IndustriALL”.

Wander Mkhonza, secretary general of ATUSWA says:

“To the employers who took advantage of the situation to frustrate the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining we say shame on you. Workers, who made an informed decision to form this giant union and to stand behind its leadership, will go down in history for standing for their rights when odds were stacked against them”.

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

“Court battles often waste union time to the extent that its core activities suffer because of the uncertainty created by legal challenges. Therefore, we join ATUSWA in celebrating the court victory, and to use this moment to focus on the important work ahead of recruiting and organizing more workers.”

South Africa: Union protests Glencore malpractices

The march was part of a nation-wide strike called by the Federation of South African Trade Unions, which saw tens of thousands of workers taking to the streets in South Africa’s main cities to stop amendments to labour laws compromising the right to strike, and the introduction of a minimum wage, too low to meet workers’ needs.

Demonstrators called on Glencore to stop undermining wages and conditions of employment, end union bashing and denying workers freedom of association, and stop polluting the environment through reckless acid waste disposal at its operations.

Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining says:

Multinational companies like Glencore should lead in responsible mining by respecting workers and human rights, collective bargaining and protecting the interests and rights of mine-affected communities. To this end, we will continue our campaign to force Glencore to comply.

NUMSA is demanding the re-registration of smelters with South Africa's Department of Minerals and Resources, and the disciplining of managers involved in collective bargaining that violated ILO conventions. Additionally, Glencore should engage NUMSA as the majority union in the company’s coal division. Contract workers and those employed by labour brokers should get better deals instead of unequal wages, bad working conditions and deplorable health and safety standards.

Thabo Mogoroe, NUMSA, said, when handing the petition to Glencore staff who received the document from behind a steel gate:

We want to inform Glencore that this is the beginning of a series of actions that we will take to fight back its attack on workers, the poor and their families. We are gathered to protest the abuse of workers, communities and the environment by Glencore, not only in South Africa but internationally.

NUMSA was part of the IndustriALL mission to DRC in February, and condemns the human and workers’ rights abuses at Glencore operations at Mutanda Mine and Kamoto Copper Mine. These include constant threats of dismissals, poor health and safety practices, occupation diseases, racism and discrimination, unfair and unjust job classifications, low pay and inferior salaries for Congolese workers compared to foreign ones.

The union also condemned the discharge of acid waste into local rivers at Luilu copper refinery also in Kolwezi. There are also acid waste drainage problems in Mpumalanga, South Africa, where communities will be left with polluted water long after mining has stopped.

*This article was amended on 30 April to reflect that NUMSA wants smelters to be registered under the Department of Minerals and Resources, and not the Department of Labour

PROFILE: TUMEC – organizing and defending Congolese workers’ rights

Union: Travailleurs Unis des Mines, Métallurgies, Energie, Chimie et Industries Connexes (TUMEC)

Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Text: Elijah Chiwota

The DRC is rich in cobalt, copper, gold and other minerals. About 65 per cent of the global cobalt, whose prices have spiked because of increased demand from electric car batteries and smartphones makers, is mined in the DRC. However, the country’s history has not made organizing easy for TUMEC as multinationals have become used to exploiting workers.

The DRC is often used as an example of a country facing “a resource curse” where mineral riches fund wars and bloodshed instead of developing the country’s livelihoods and infrastructure including roads and clinics thus reversing poverty.

Organizing in a country with such a past and as vast in size as the DRC has not been an easy task for TUMEC, but the struggle for due diligence and responsible mining and to unionize more workers continues.

TUMEC fights to ensure that employers conform to labour practices that are agreed upon in collective agreements as protected by the law. Organizing in the mines, in energy, and chemical sectors, including workers from subcontractors and artisanal mines, TUMEC has over 12,000 members in companies that include mining multinational Glencore, and state-owned mining company Gecamines.

TUMEC is part of IndustriALL’s Glencore campaign, aiming to enforce respect of workers at the company’s operations at Mutanda and Kamoto Copper Company in Kolwezi, Lualaba province.

Through continued recruitment and organizing, it is now an established union in Kolwezi, Lubumbashi, Doko, Kisangani, Mbujimayi, Kinshasa, Lukala, Matadi and Muanda. TUMEC campaigned through union elections at workplaces, according to the labour laws. The union with the highest number of votes in the elections becomes the majority union, whilst that with less votes will be a representation union. This year, TUMEC aims to become a majority union, which has power to negotiate with the employer.

Much of TUMEC’s work over the last years has been supported through an IndustriALL union building project funded by Dutch trade union solidarity support organization Mondiaal FNV.

In the last couple of years, leadership problems at TUMEC in Kolwezi stunted membership growth. However, after last year’s congress a new leadership was elected and recruitment and organizing plans were put in place. Among other workplaces, TUMEC is targeting Mutanda and Kamoto. At Mutanda, it has only 200 members out of a permanent workforce of 6,500, and at KCC it has 175 members out of 5,800 permanent workers. The union is working hard to reverse this situation.

“TUMEC’s recruitment and organizing strategy focuses on problems that workers face daily at the workplace. We then try to solve the problems in participatory ways which involve workers. We don’t attract workers to the union by offering them money or clothes. Instead, they join the union because it is guaranteed that TUMEC will fight for their rights,” says the general secretary Didier Okonda.

In 2017, the IndustriALL DRC women’s committee was set up to address issues affecting women workers in the union. The committee is organizing more women into the union and setting up women’s committees at companies where TUMEC is organizing. There are plans for training workshops on rights and working conditions for women, campaign against sexual harassment, freedom of association, health and safety, laws that affect women, and improving the understanding of gender issues.

“Hopefully the training will develop a strategy to stop violations of working women’s rights’ at workplaces in the DRC and to build their participation and leadership skills,” says Olga Kabalu, chairperson of the women’s committee.