IndustriALL condemns Ghana Gold Fields retrenchments

Ghana Gold Fields is retrenching and rehiring the same workers on contract.

According to IndustriALL affiliate Ghana Mine Workers Union (GMWU) the retrenchments were not done according to the law, prompting the union to go to court. The union organized a general strike last month, during which the military beat up workers at Tarkwa – an action that was strongly condemned by the union.

An agreement to break the deadlock signed on April 4 has the following conditions: GMWU to withdraw the pending court case before the negotiations, and for the company and union to re-engage on the 2018 wage negotiations in good faith and without media publicity. The Damang mine restructuring should be done according to the Labour Act 2003 and the collective bargaining agreement.

Further, Gold Fields wants to select “on a case-by-case basis and recommend those branch union executives with appropriate conduct and without health issues to the contractors executing the contract mining at Tarkwa mine for potential employment.

During a recent mission to Ghana, IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches, together with Paule France Ndessomin, regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa, met with the deputy minister of employment and labour relations, Bright Wireko-Brobbey, who is involved in the dispute as an observer. The minister says a commission will be set up to investigate working conditions under precarious work.

Collective bargaining should be concluded on time. It is unacceptable for the ministry of labour to unnecessarily delay the issuing of bargaining certificates as this infringed on workers’ rights to representation and freedom of association,

says Sanches.

The general secretary of the GMWU, Prince William Ankrah, expressed gratitude to IndustriALL for sending a letter to Gold Fields and for supporting the mineworkers.

At meetings with the chairperson of the Ghana IndustriALL liaison committee, Solomon Kotei, who is also the general secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union, the general secretary of General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union, Fuseini Iddrisu, and the GMWU, Sanches emphasized workers’ rights.

Workers are free to join a union of their choice without interference from employers or the government. The abuse of precarious workers by employers in the oil and gas sector must stop, and it is shocking that offshore workers are not unionized.

Sanches urges rethink on African development strategies

Sanches spoke at a Sub Saharan Africa regional executive meeting, in Dakar, Senegal on April 12, to affiliates from Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

He emphasized that trade unions have to prepare as the global economy moves to newer technologies that need different raw materials from Africa. Decreased demand for some minerals and for oil and gas means that jobs will be lost in those sectors, resulting in governments getting less revenue. Investing more in manufacturing is an essential strategy for the future.

Sanches said: “Opportunities still exist as the continent has rare earth minerals including cobalt, lithium, zinc and nickel that are in high demand. However, these have to be mined responsibly, and this is part of our campaign against Glencore’s behaviour at cobalt mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia”.

Sanches also met with the Senegalese Minister of Labour and Social Dialogue Samba Sy to deliver the same message. He was accompanied by the regional secretary for Sub Sahara Africa, Paule France Ndessomin and general secretaries from local affiliates, Seyne Ndiaye (SUTIDS), Ousmane Diop (SYNTICS) and Doudou Cisse (SNTIC).

Recent developments show that in a few years – as the world moves towards electric cars – the demand for petrol and diesel cars will slump. Some European cities have even already announced moves to ban combustion engine cars.

Africa’s post-colonial development strategy has been centred on the extraction of raw materials for sale to Europe, America and recently China. This strategy has been dominated by multinational corporations with little role for governments, resulting in huge profits at the expense of communities and workers exploited through poverty wages. It has been easy to violate trade union rights and disrupt the livelihoods of millions of people.

In March, 44 African heads of states and governments met in Kigali, Rwanda and signed an African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Speaking on the initiative, Sanches said:

“The announcement of AfCFTA is welcome, but IndustriALL believes in multilateralism which involves trade unions and social movements. This means governments should have included unions and social movements as key stakeholders in the free trade agreement consultations. Otherwise, we will end up with a free trade agreement that will not promote decent work but precarious conditions of employment and poor wages”.

Energy transition is another key area for Africa, with calls for the development of sustainable industrial policies that are not dependent on fossil fuels and oil and gas. Just transition plans should be put in place to protect workers’ rights and welfare, as well as redeploy workers who lose jobs due to the closure of coal mines.

Meeting recommends policies to end women workers’ rights violations in Sub Saharan Africa

Maternity protection is amongst the issues raised at the Sub Saharan Africa women’s executive meeting in Dakar, Senegal April 10 -11 that was attended by delegates from Burkina Faso, Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The meeting urged unions to adopt policies that ended gender discrimination and sexual harassment at workplaces.

Campaigns on women’s rights at the workplace carried by the IndustriALL affiliates at the meeting focused on physical, emotional and psychological abuses as well as gender discrimination and sexual harassment. The campaigns also took place in communities where the workers lived. For example, in Senegal, gender-based violence included rape, forced marriages, and female genital mutilation.

Says Beauty Zibula, regional chairperson of the IndustriALL women executive committee:

Women are dying from injuries sustained in gender-based violence. To stop this, we must use domestic laws and international conventions to protect women workers and union members.

The meeting encouraged unions to develop gender policies that guided on how to stop sexual harassment and gender-based violence. For instance, affiliates in Ghana and Zimbabwe have already developed gender policies.

Further, the meeting recommended that IndustriALL should support and develop a gender policy which affiliates could use and adapt according to their country contexts. An anti-harassment policy is also needed.

The meeting also agreed on the need to train and include more women in collective bargaining.

Adds Zibula:

Unions should stop excluding trained women negotiators from collective bargaining. This often resulted in the signing of collective bargaining agreements that omitted the specific needs of women workers.

Says Paule-France Ndessomin regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa:

Our affiliates in Sub Saharan Africa have a key responsibility to work towards the elimination of violence against women not only institutionally, but also through educating their members and the wider community, advocacy and collective bargaining. Women should be commended for breaking the silence and being more vocal on how they are being forced into having sex with their superiors.

Government officials including the ministries of trade and mines, and the ministry of labour, and union leaders, signed the IndustriALL pledge on violence and harassment against women.

Mozambique: Union shocked by appalling conditions at plastics factory

The union visited IPED Plastics, a factory producing plastic bags in Maputo Province, and found workers sweating in the heat from the machines, with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees. There were no cooling systems in sight, nor were there showers for workers to cool off after the shifts.

The workers also lacked suitable safety equipment and deep cuts were common. Further, the factory had electronic gates and security cameras but no sign of a fire escape, putting workers at risk. There are no medical examinations to check workers’ health at the company, which has been manufacturing in Mozambique for more than 10 years.

IPED pays all the workers the minimum wage of 5965 Mt (US$98) regardless of the type of work they do or the skills they have. SINTIQUIAF is demanding that this unfair job classification be ended. The union also wants workers to be paid above the minimum wage, WHICH is below the recommended amount for workers to be able to buy a basic food basket which costs 16000 Mt (US$264). The union said it is disappointed t the company is exploiting workers to make more profits when it could afford to pay better wages.

Bartolomew Passado, SINTIQUIAF organizing and legal, labour and social affairs secretary, who visited IPED plastics, said:

“While SINTIQUIAF and other organizations in Mozambique welcome foreign investment as it contributes to job creation and reduces unemployment, it distances itself from the so-called investors who make profits through exploiting workers and forcing them to work in unhealthy and dangerous conditions for low wages.”

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

“Health and safety of workers comes before profit. What is happening at IPED Plastics is unacceptable and must be condemned. We support SINTIQUIAF in its campaign to improve health and safety standards and increase wages.”

Union rejects retrenchment of 340 mineworkers at Abosso Gold Fields in Ghana

According to IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Ghana Mineworkers Union (GMWU), the retrenchments are meant to bust the union as all unionized workers were retrenched at Tarkwa. After the retrenchments, Gold Fields offered six months to two-year contracts to some of the workers.

The union sees the retrenchments as an attack on the International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions 87 and 98. For example, freedom of association on the right to strike was violated when workers were beaten up by the military during a strike at Tarkwa in March. The brutality led to some workers being hospitalized for injuries from the beatings. The right to organize and collective bargaining is also under threat.

Prince William Ankrah, GMWU general secretary, said:

“The ruthless decision by Gold Fields Ghana to lay off all employees at Tarkwa mine contrary to the claims of its CEO (Nick Holland), amount to bad faith and an attack on the fundamental rights of the workers freedom of association and collective bargaining. With no form of protection, current employees on the so-called fixed term contract are at the mercy of the company.”

The union is against the cheapening of workers' contracts from permanent to casual. By opting for casual work Gold Fields is destroying decent jobs and replacing them with precarious ones and worse working conditions.

Adds Ankrah: “The union believes that the business imperatives at Gold Fields Ghana Tarkwa mine do not require contract mining and therefore terminating employees on grounds of redundancy regardless remains questionable. Gold Fields' actions are a calculated attack on the union and on collective bargaining. Indeed, its actions are deliberatively targeted at eroding every gain made through collective bargaining and therefore runs counter to the ILO decent work agenda.”

As negotiations continue, a committee from the Ministry of Labour, Lands and Natural Resources is intervening in the matter and the GMWU has gone to court to have the retrenchments reversed.

Paule France Ndessomin the IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa says the GMWU is making the right call. “Retrenching so many workers must be resisted, and Ghana Gold Fields must not be allowed to retrench workers at will. Decent jobs must be preserved and not be replaced with precarious work.”

South African unions pay tribute to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Jailed, arrested, detained, and persecuted under the notorious apartheid regime’s repression and intimidation, she was amongst the most courageous faces of the bitter struggle for democracy in South Africa. When her former husband Nelson Mandela and other senior African National Congress and resistance leaders were in prison at Robben Island, she led from the trenches as one of the faces of the struggle. She held senior positions in the ANC as president of the Women’s League and as executive member of the ruling party. She was a deputy minister of arts, culture, science and technology in South Africa’s first democratic government.

When the news of her death filtered through, messages of condolences, came from all sections of society and from across the globe. Trade unions also paid tribute to her key role in the anti-apartheid struggle and the post-democratic South Africa.

Says the Congress of South African Trade Unions spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla: “She stared down the evil apartheid regime, fearlessly fought it and ultimately outlived it. Throughout her life she remained a warrior for social justice and never shied away from speaking truth to power, even after the 1994 democratic breakthrough. She was a fearless voice and a staunch defender of the working-class interests and spoke out against the perpetuation of apartheid separate development, growing inequality and deepening poverty. She championed economic transformation without fear or favour and spoke out consistently against social injustice.”

Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of the South African Federation of Trade Unions said: “We have a lost a gallant fighter in our people’s struggle for emancipation. She was a revolutionary woman, who was never prepared to be just Nelson Mandela’s wife but a fearless fighter moulded in the struggle against apartheid and a role model for women today. She will always be an inspiration for a future generation of women revolutionaries.”

Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL Global Union regional secretary for sub Saharan Africa remembered her for exceptional bravery. “Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s legacy is that of a woman who fought bravely against the apartheid repression. Her struggle, in which she made huge personal sacrifices, is an inspiration to all of us. She is the people’s hero and that is why she was called Mother of the Nation.”

South African mines claim more lives

Recently, at another Sibanye Still water mine, Kloof Thuthukani Shaft in Westonaria, 79 mineworkers were trapped underground for five hours but later brought to the surface safely.

South African mines, the world’s deepest, are becoming death traps for mineworkers. Most accidents are caused by seismic activity, and when rocks explode under pressure.

According to the Chamber of Mines, 82 mineworkers died in 2017 as compared to 73 in 2016. Earlier efforts to achieve “Zero Harm” as per Culture Transformation Framework for the South African Mining Sector appears to be lapsing. The framework emphasizes on having a mining industry that is “safe, healthy and productive with risks controlled at their source through collaborative action from all tripartite stakeholders.”

IndustriALL affiliate the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) says the accidents and fatalities and worsening mine safety is the result of mining companies being less concerned about workers’ lives and more interested in making profits.

Says Peter Bailey, NUM Health and Safety Chairperson:

Since January this year, 17 mineworkers have died, and five fatalities happened at Sibanye Stillwater. We are calling for a more serious intervention at Sibanye Stillwater operations in South Africa. We don’t want to end up in a situation where workers are killed, and it becomes normal.

The NUM is appealing to the government of South Africa to investigate the working conditions at the mines including working hours and leave days as they are fears that workers are working long hours and not being given enough resting time. Adequate training on health and safety as well as communications between mining companies and workers should also be improved.

Glen Mpufane IndustriALL mining director says:

It is unacceptable that workers continue to die from preventable accidents caused by working in unsafe working conditions in the mines. Mining companies should adhere to the highest safety standards and follow due diligence to protect workers lives. Otherwise the mining industry is profiting at the expense of workers lives.

Scrap labour law amendment bills, say unions in South Africa

Wearing red t-shirts, whistling, singing along struggle songs from loud music playing from a truck, and dancing the toyi-toyi dance, thousands of workers marched to the provincial government offices and the Department of Labour. The march took place on March 23 which is also Human Rights Day – a public holiday remembering the resistance against apartheid that led to the Sharpeville massacre of 1960 in which 69 people were shot dead by the police for protesting Pass Laws.

NUMSA and a coalition of 20 other organizations, including the South African Federation of Trade Unions to which NUMSA is affiliated, the Casual Workers Advice Office, and the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa say the amendments are “a coordinated attack on workers” which needs a “counter attack”.

If the labour laws amendments are passed the right to strike, to living wages and to collective bargaining will be taken away from workers. Other non-wage rights on housing and land enjoyed by workers which are part of benefits in the sectoral minimum wages set by the minister of labour will be adversely affected. The right to an efficient and fair dispute resolution system will also be negatively affected by the amendments.

The coalition demands that the amendments on strike balloting, picketing rules, longer conciliation and compulsory arbitration be abandoned. The right to strike over unfair dismissals should be restored, and employers must be stopped from using scab labour to break strikes.

The extension of collective bargaining agreements should only happen when the majority of workers in a sector are unionized. Workers should also be involved in decisions on the national minimum wage. Once the minimum wage is agreed upon, labour inspectors must ensure compliance.

NUMSA also condemned the introduction of a national minimum wage of R3500 (US$294). The minimum wage was supposed to become effective on 1 May 1, but the date has been extended.

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

Workers’ rights are constitutional rights that cannot be taken away and attempts to do so must be resisted. We rally behind NUMSA in defense of the right to strike. We also support living wages because they are one of the ways that workers and their families can move out of poverty.

IndustriALL warns car industry of worker abuse in Glencore cobalt mines

IndustriALL, which represents workers in the mining and auto industries, is using its global trade union network of hundreds of auto unions to raise awareness in the industry of Glencore’s mistreatment of cobalt workers in the auto supply chain.

The auto industry is becoming increasingly dependent on cobalt, a critical battery metal, as it ramps up production of electric vehicles. Glencore is the world’s biggest supplier of cobalt.

A report from an IndustriALL fact-finding mission to DRC in February 2018, reveals that workers mining cobalt at Glencore’s the Kamoto Copper Company and Mutanda mines are only allowed 750ml of drinking water per 12-hour shift and that Glencore provides expired food and no decent eating places with protection against the elements.

There are no proper showers or ablution facilities at the mines risking contamination and occupational respiratory diseases for workers and their families: “We are so filthy when we get home that we cannot hug our children,” said one worker.

The mission also found workers and their families have to travel 42 kilometres to Glencore health facilities, meaning that they must leave in the early hours of the morning only to return late at night, and in some instances without being treated.

The mission took place at the urgent request of IndustriALL affiliate TUMEC in DRC, which represents workers at both the Kamoto Copper Company and Mutanda mines.

TUMEC is considering strike action over disparities in wages at Glencore’s mines in DRC where, for instance, a white supervisor earns US$4,000 a month and his immediate Congolese assistants earn US$600 a month.

The report outlines Glencore’s disrespect for the collective bargaining agreement with TUMEC and its refusal to renegotiate. The mission also found that there has been no salary increase for workers in five years.

Over 60 per cent of the global supply of cobalt comes from DRC, which is one of the world’s poorest countries. Swiss-based Glencore expects demand for the metal, which is also a key component for smart phone batteries, to increase by 67 per cent over the next three years. Cobalt prices have more than doubled in the past year.

At the end of last year, the Drive Sustainability partnership, a group of the world's leading car companies, including BMW, Volkswagen and Ford, launched a new initiative to identify and address ethical, environmental, human, and labour rights issues associated with the sourcing of raw materials. IndustriALL is calling on all car manufacturers to carry out due diligence in the sourcing of cobalt for the industry.

IndustriALL’s general secretary, Valter Sanches, said:

“Auto companies need to live up to their customers’ expectations that the electric vehicles they sell are produced responsibly. Cobalt from Glencore, which is so critical for the batteries in those electric vehicles, is anything but.
“We’re not asking them to not buy from Glencore, we’re asking them to pressure Glencore to live up to Glencore’s own claims to produce responsibly and to respect workers’ rights and the communities where it operates.”

IndustriALL has written to the Glencore CEO, Ivan Glasenberg, with a list of demands to redress the situation of workers at its mines in DRC.

Glencore employs about 15,000 people in DRC, through its subsidiaries Mutanda Mining and Katanga Mining, which owns the Kamoto Copper Company. In 2016, seven workers died at Katanga when the wall of an open pit mine collapsed.

Zambia: Dangote confronted over union busting

There are no unionized workers at the Masaiti plant – 9 kilometers outside Ndola – which employs more than 1,000 workers, due to the company frustrating union activity and dismissing workers for joining unions.

Dangote, which has outsourced most its core work, signed a contract with Silondwa Engineering which exposes its union busting: “The contractor shall ensure that its employees are not involved in union activities and strikes that lead to stopping of work”. Further, a worker can be given a final warning for “incitement to strike.”

With no wage increases in four years, workers transferred to Silondwa Engineering and who work under precarious conditions describe Dangote as one of the worst employers. “There is no job security. You can be fired at any time. Recently a worker discharged on medical grounds only got K3000 (US$312) for three years of service”.

Another worker, sexually harassed by one of the managers, has not been promoted since 2014. She is underpaid earning only K1100 (US$114) as a general worker yet qualified for other work. Technicians are poorly paid earning a basic of K2100 (US$218) and expatriate workers earn more than Zambians.

Although the contractor is responsible for allowances and safe working conditions, this is not always provided as personal protective clothing, transportation, accommodation, medical assistance, and housing provisions are inadequate.

Health and safety of workers is compromised as there is neither a clinic nor an ambulance at Masaiti. The dirt road leading to the plant is full of potholes, which means that even if there was an ambulance it will be of little use in emergencies. There is no silicosis examination as is the norm.

Additionally, Dangote is not liable for “injuries or sickness, disease or any death of any person employed by or engaged on behalf of the company.”

Efforts by Joyce Nonde-Simukoko, the Minister of Labour and Social Security, to force Dangote to recognise workers’ rights have not been successful, but unions are not giving up the fight.

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

It is shocking to learn that Dangote is violating workers’ rights. We call upon the company to stop the abuses.