Sub Saharan African regional meeting discusses how to assess union strength

This is the information that will be collected and evaluated using the organizational assessment tool that is being developed by the IndustriALL Global Union Sub Saharan African region for use in six countries that are part of the Union Building Project. The user-friendly tool is already in use in other countries.

At a meeting in Johannesburg 11-12 September, attended by project coordinators from Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mozambique, and Uganda, and with support from Union to Union, it was agreed that union organizational assessments were key to identifying capacity gaps that the union needed to pay attention to.

This would make it easier to develop policies and programmes to strengthen the union. Examples of policies to be included are finance, human resources, gender, media and communication, youth, and anti-corruption. Improving record keeping would also give the union important information on the composition of its membership, the sectors they are from, their gender, age, and whether the dues they pay to the union are up to date. Such information is key when capacity development programmes are being planned.

This year the Union building project is focusing on strengthening union structures, operating systems, procedures and strengthening organizing and recruitment. This includes bringing the union leadership together, setting up women and youth committees, facilitating and providing technical support to affiliates to develop gender, youth, finance, and health and safety policies. For instance, youth in trade union structures’ programmes have been set up in Ghana and Zimbabwe.

Says Fons Vannieuwenhuyse, IndustriALL director for projects:

The Sub Saharan Africa region has developed an organizational assessment tool that will be useful to all. As this is where theory may not always meet the practice, however, as a simple question to one person is not necessarily easy for the next, there is still a lot of important work to do. The tool is work in progress.

eSwatini: Workers protest textile companies’ refusal to increase wages

The police were called in with batons and gunshots were fired to disperse the angry workers who shut down the town in protest. Tempers flared when negotiations deadlocked, and the Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration Commission declared an unresolved dispute. Other textile companies, like Fashion Enterprises, are also refusing to engage unions on the matter.

The textile companies are digging in saying they want the negotiations to take place at the wages council — a tripartite body that regulates conditions of employment. But IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Amalgamated Trade Unions of Swaziland (ATUSWA) says it will not be intimidated by such action, as the wages council is there to provide only a wage base and does not replace collective bargaining between workers and employers.

ATUSWA says the workers are not earning living wages and face hardships. Shockingly, the employers seem not to be interested in improving the wages.

Says Wander Mkhonza, the secretary general of ATUSWA:

“The employers must know that workers feel cheated and neglected by them and the government. The cost of living is increasing while wages remain, low forcing workers to live in poverty. Therefore, we are calling for a joint negotiations council in the garment and textile sector. Unfortunately, this proposal is not getting support from the employers and the government. We are horrified that the government does not support collective bargaining 18 years after the passing of the Industrial Relations Act.”

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

“Our call is for textile companies in eSwatini to pay living wages. It is unacceptable for workers to live in poverty while they are going to work.”

eSwatini garment and textile sector supplies garments to South Africa and the USA to which the country is a signatory to the US trade act, the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act.

South Africa: CEPPWAWU congress agrees on roadmap for union revival

The congress, attended by 224 delegates, took place in East London, 27-31 August, and focused on reviving the union through participatory democracy. The congress emphasized the importance of a leadership collective that is accountable, and which respected democratic traditions of the labour movement including “workers control.”  Trust building will be prioritized through bottom-up programmes that include union members.

Since the last congress in 2011, CEPPWAWU, which has 55 000 members, went through a dark period of internal fights for the control of the union and its investment company. Courts described the disputes as “internecine squabbling” between rival factions. During this period, national executive committee meetings did not take place and two congresses were skipped. Dismissals and expulsions of members were common as well as allegations of fraud. This badly affected the membership of the union which declined.

The union also failed to produce audited financial statements as required by the law and faced deregistration from the Department of Labour. However, the union brought the situation under control when Simon Mofokeng, then general secretary was dismissed by the union in 2017 after failing to appear for disciplinary hearings.

Since then the union has adopted a “roadmap” to bring its affairs to order including urgently complying with the law. However, there is still a lot of work to be done by the union’s leadership. In the next few months, the national executive committee will finalize outstanding matters including the secretariat report, constitutional amendments, and an organizational review.

However, no woman was elected despite calls for gender equality. “We need a gender balance in the union leadership. Unions must not only preach about gender equality but should practice it through including women in the leadership,” said Miriam Marishane, who with other women demonstrated against the unfair treatment of aspiring women leaders in the union.

The congress elected the following leaders: Thamsanqa Mhlongo (President), Lucas Mashego (1st Vice President), Johannes Dube (2nd Vice President), Lemmy Mokoena (Treasurer), Welile Nolingo (General Secretary), and Musa Bhengu (Deputy General Secretary).

“We congratulate CEPPWAWU for being able to convene this long overdue congress and agree with the views of the workers who want a strong and democratic union. Uniting on common programmes that benefit all workers is key to building union power,” said Kenny Mogane, IndustriALL regional officer for Sub Saharan Africa.

Liberian unions demand better working conditions at Firestone rubber plantations

Led by IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Agriculture Agro-Processing and Industrial Workers Union of Liberia (AAIWUL), in collaboration with the Golden Veroleum Oil Plantation workers and the Sigma group of companies, the unions want Firestone-Liberia to fulfil its promises on improving the wages and the living and working conditions of workers. According to the unions, this failure to act undermined the government’s pro-poor agenda. 

When the president and managing director of Firestone-Liberia, Edmundo Garcia, recently told the House of Representatives that the least paid worker earned US$8.36 per day, the workers immediately demanded that they be paid that amount and went on strike to push for the promised earnings.

The announcement was contrary to the minimum of $5.60 per day that Firestone pays which is low for the hard work that workers were doing. In some instances, this back-breaking work includes tapping at least 500 trees per worker before mid-morning, and collecting the latex in the afternoon.

Medical staff at the plantations also worked under precarious conditions. For example, medical doctors and nurses were not paid overtime in violation of the Decent Work Act 

Unions are also demanding that the 2008 agreement to employ 50 per cent Liberians should be implemented. Firestone should also provide technical assistance to small holder farmers to enable them to enter the rubber industry.

Firestone, which has a monopoly on rubber production in the country, often with government support, has produced rubber from Liberia for over 90 years. The company has also been condemned for dumping toxic waste into rivers where local communities got drinking water.

Edwin Cisco, AAIWUL general secretary, wants the government “to stand firm and demand that Firestone-Liberia meets its obligations as required by the law.” He says the company must stop “providing inaccurate and misleading information that makes a complete mockery of the valuable service provided by the workers.”

Said Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa: “It is incumbent upon multinational companies like Firestone to pay living wages and improve working and living conditions of workers. Companies cannot continue to declare profits at the expense of suffering workers.”

Lesotho: workers celebrate minimum wage victory

When it seemed that the government was not yielding, the unions called for a shutdown at textile factories in Maseru, Maputsoe and Nyenye’s industrial areas. Then the government succumbed when ministers recommended the minimum wage to the Wages Advisory Board, which advises the minister of labour on wages and conditions of employment. According to Lesotho laws, workers cannot be paid below the mandated minimum wages. The unions are also pressing for wages to be increased by 15 per cent across other sectors.

The minimum wage is significant for the poorly paid workers who are struggling to pay for basics like housing and transport. For example, a general worker earning the previous minimum of LSL1,238 (US$85), will get an increase of 62 per cent. Unions have long described the low pay in the garment and textile sector as poverty wages.

Independent Democratic Union of Lesotho (IDUL), an affiliate of IndustriALL, in collaboration with other unions, has been campaigning for the announcement of better minimum wages which, according to the labour laws, should have been done in April. 

“After sustained pressure the government addressed our demands exactly the way we wanted. The increase in minimum wages boosts workers’ confidence in trade unions. We have been fighting for better wages for many years, and now we know that we have been struggling for a worthy cause,”

said Daniel Theko, IDUL general secretary.

“We welcome the minimum wages but will continue to support IDUL in its campaigns for better wages and working conditions in Lesotho,”

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

Employing over 35,000 workers, over 80 per cent of whom are women, the garment and textile sector in Lesotho is an important player in the economy and the second largest employer after the government.

Strengthening union organizing as Ethiopia industrializes

The latest to be opened is the Chinese-built Adama Industrial Park, about 74km from Addis Ababa, where 25,000 workers will be employed. Hawassa will employ 60,000 while other parks that will cater for tens of thousands of workers include Bole Lemi and Kombolcha.

A workshop on 28 and 29 July 2018 at Adama, organized by IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Industrial Federation of Textile, Leather and Garment Workers Union (IFTLGWU) with support from FNV Mondiaal, discussed how unions could be strengthened to demand their rights to organize as protected in the country’s constitution and the labour laws. According to the IFTLGWU, there are cases in which unions are denied access to some of the industrial parks.

On collective bargaining, the workshop, which had participants from 11 textile and garment factories, discussed minimum labour standards as prescribed in the laws and what should be included in a collective bargaining agreement. Collective bargaining structures should also be set up shortly after the setting up of a base union.

Highlights included avoiding mistakes as the agreement is a legal document that is binding on the union and the employer. This means that if there are errors they must be corrected immediately. Unions also had to ensure that the employer complied with the agreement. When bargaining, workers should do so collectively to avoid being divided by the employer.

Hunde Gudeta, the facilitator of the workshop from the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions, emphasized the importance of addressing, through collective bargaining, issues not directly covered by the laws but key to the agreement.

Other matters raised were on wage discrimination in which foreign workers were paid more than local workers for the same work. Further, workers wanted an improvement in their working conditions including provision of transport by the employer.

Says Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL director for the textile and garment industry:

“Workers’ rights to organize are important to union building in Ethiopia, and the focus on collective bargaining will assist the unions’ demands for better working conditions and living wages.”

Ethiopia’s industrialization strategy is aimed at transforming the country from an agricultural base to an industrial one through the textile and garment sector among other industries.

Mozambique: Union demands better wage deal from Sasol

At a meeting in Temane, a natural gas exploration and production plant with a workforce of 143, workers are demanding above-inflation wage increases and collective agreements extended from the current one year to two years.

Workers also want to be represented by a union official during collective bargaining instead of a shop steward, as it is common in these meetings that management sends human resources experts and lawyers to negotiations. Further, they want the union’s capacity on collective bargaining to be improved.

The workers are organized by IndustriALL affiliate in Mozambique, SINTIQUIAF, say relations between the union and the company are not cordial, and therefore not conducive to fair bargaining.

SINTIQUIAF members at Sasol Temane are also calling for a better deal and feel short-changed after getting only a 13 per cent increase, which is below the current inflation rate of 21 per cent. .

When a rotation allowance, which was part of their salaries, was stopped, workers lost earnings. They hope that in the future, revisions of job categories should lead to promotions. The stand-by watch system also disadvantages them as stand-by watchers earn more than the person performing the job.

Workers are further calling for an improved housing system. Although some workers are accommodated in a suitable housing facility, others live too close to the site which can be a serious health risk due to gas emissions from production activities.

As part of collaboration among IndustriALL affiliates in Sub Saharan Africa, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union, shared experiences on the bargaining structures and formats in the petroleum sector in South Africa from which lessons could be drawn for Mozambique.

Shop stewards were advised to build their negotiations capacity by getting more information from the company, government institutions on other wage offers and ensuring that workers were united and followed the collective bargaining process.

Jessica Gune, general secretary of SINTIQUIAF says:

While we appreciate that Sasol takes care of workers especially on health and safety, we would want the same efforts to be made towards improving collective bargaining and paying better wages. Sasol must also improve its relations with the union.

Mozambique is one of the emerging countries in the oil and gas sector. According to its national development strategy natural resources should be used for economic development and to end poverty.

Zimbabwe: Unions denounce human rights violations in post-election violence

Zimbabweans went to the polls with the hope of turning things around from decades-long political and economic crises. Reasonably so, because unemployment is over 90 per cent, factories have closed, and wage theft is common.

Cash shortages, limited access to clean water, power outages and a crumbling infrastructure have led to mass migration of millions while the majority eke a living in the informal sector. Only six percent of the working population has formal jobs.

With the military-assisted removal of Robert Mugabe, the country’s ruler for 38 years, so much was expected in the 30 July elections for local government, parliament and the president. The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) party won over two thirds of the parliamentary seats with the MDC Alliance (MDCA), a smaller party and an independent candidate getting the remainder.

However, the delays in announcing the presidential ballot led to protests on 1 August in Harare by the opposition which alleged that the results were being “stolen”. To disperse the protestors who marched to the vote counting centre, the police came first, but when the army appeared on the scene — shooting indiscriminately in crowded streets with live bullets — six people were killed, and dozens injured. During the mayhem shots were fired at the offices of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.

Sylvia Maphosa was on her way home from work when she was shot in the back and killed in Harare when soldiers fired live bullets to disperse protesters demanding the release of presidential poll results.

A member of IndustriALL affiliate, the Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union (ZEWU), Maphosa worked at the Zimbabwe National Water Authority.

In its condolence message ZEWU said:

Maphosa was a staunch member of the union who joined ZEWU in 2003 and remained loyal to the organization until her untimely death which shocked everyone who knew her as a humble character.

The union therefore calls for a thorough investigation into the matter to ensure that those responsible for committing this heinous act are brought to book urgently and face the full wrath of the law.

Human Rights Watch has reported beatings and intimidation of opposition supporters by “security forces and unidentified gunmen” in the townships of Harare where most workers live.

The army’s heavy-handedness has been condemned by the UN which is calling for “maximum restraint.”  Further, the EU, Canada, Switzerland and the United States of America deplored “the eruption of violence, and occurrence of serious human rights violations.”

Wiseman Garira, chairperson of the Zimbabwe IndustriALL Council representing eight affiliates in the garment and textile, engineering, chemical and plastics, energy, leather and shoe, metal and mining sectors denounced the way in which the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission managed the polls. For instance, the commission failed to supply the voters roll to opposition parties on time.

Even the results are “questionable and took longer than is necessary” Garira added.

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

The right to protest is guaranteed in Zimbabwe’s Constitution. In the event of violent protests, it’s the responsibility of the police to maintain law and order, but not the army. Therefore, the use of live bullets against fleeing civilians is deplorable.

BRICS unions discuss decent work and sustainable development

At a meeting in Durban 27-29 July, the BTUF adopted an African developmental agenda with a focus on decent work and sustainable development. The meeting, which took place at the same time as the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, called for social justice. Unions should also be included in the BRICS summit to strengthen collective power and building solidarity networks and activism in the global South.

However, BTUF raised concerns over precarious work and on the need for unions to develop a strategic response and multinational corporations were asked should comply with labour laws.

The issues discussed included the future of work, workers’ rights, universal health, investments that boost manufacturing, industrialization, and sustainability. Further, job creation was identified as key for young people as well as for attaining Sustainable Development Goals. Closing the gender gap in wages would improve women’s access to employment, and equal pay for work of equal value should be promoted.

For example, living wages are important in countering working poverty amongst the youth in Sub Saharan Africa, which was 70 per cent in 2016. Additionally, high youth unemployment works against benefiting from the demographic dividend which will happen in 2030 according to UNICEF’s Generation 2030 Africa 2.0 report. When this occurs, there will be more working-age young adults as compared to the elderly. However, without jobs there will be no benefit as the youth will be economically inactive.

BTUF goals for 2018 are investment in people, social and economic infrastructure and environmental responsibility. Building workers skills, innovation and developmental ICT tools key to Industry 4.0 with decent work, collective bargaining and social protection important. Full employment and job creation and trade union participation and effective social dialogue are some of the goals. Other goals promote democratic, ethical and responsive governance in public and private institutions, and inclusive international multilateral systems.

BTUF says it is up to the task “on many issues affecting workers, communities, developing countries, peace and security, food production, unemployment, international labour standards and workers’ rights.”

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

“The BTUF is a crucial reminder that international trade cannot exist without engaging unions. Without the watchful eyes of unions, multinational companies will ignore workers’ and human rights, and therefore we must be vigilant.”

Some IndustriALL Global Union affiliates belong to federations that are part of BTUF.

South Africa: Mine responsibly and improve working conditions, recommends report

Instead, sad realities are common in the mines — poor working conditions, destruction of the environment, and poverty and disease in mine affected communities. How then can mining companies meet the expectations of society which sees mineral resources as being key drivers of national development? Can the companies be made responsible on economic, environmental, social and governance issues? What accountability mechanisms can be used to achieve this?

These are some of the questions and issues that over 50 delegates from Ghana, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe grappled with at a meeting on 25-26 July in Johannesburg, to discuss the main findings of the Responsible Mining Index (RMI) 2018 assessment. The delegates were drawn from community-based organizations, human rights organizations, mine affected communities, non-governmental organizations, and universities. Trade unions, represented by IndustriALL Global Union affiliates, the National Union of Mineworkers and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, said it is important to collaborate with civil society actors on common issues facing workers and communities.

The RMI assessed 30 mining companies using six thematic areas which are economic development, business conduct, lifecycle management, community wellbeing, working conditions and environmental responsibility. The assessment included 127 mining sites.

Working conditions is the worst performing thematic area. The RMI found out that despite mining companies paying attention and expressing commitment to health and safety, 331 fatalities were reported in 2015 and 2016. Further, the mining companies are weak on addressing living wages, worker grievances and in stopping discrimination in the mines. However, notable gains are on forced and child labour.

The meeting recommended that the RMI, which promotes open access to information through sharing its data publicly, should work with other organizations doing similar work including the Alternative Mining Indaba and the African Mining Vision. A strategy that the RMI should continue to use is the publicizing of poor performance. This puts pressure on companies as shareholders asked why this is the case. Further, the RMI which questions the inconsistencies in reporting by mining companies, can complement other mechanisms.

Says Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL director for mining:

“By validating what we know, the RMI is a useful tool for building bridges and finding common spaces for dialogue and collaboration between mine affected communities, civil society and unions. We want mining companies to abandon rhetoric and commit to improving health and safety.”