Leadership of IndustriALL affiliate NUM including Acting President Piet Matosa met with the Rio Tinto branch committee at the Rio Tinto Richards Bay operation to explain why the company was being targeted by unions around the world. NUM also distributed the global flyer to its members at the mine.
The activities in Nigeria had the full support of the Nigerian Labour Congress with the active participation of Congress’ anti casualization committee.
IndustriALL affiliate in Madagascar, the Fédération des Syndicats des Travailleurs de l’Energie et des Mines (FISEMA) produced a banner for the global day advertising Rio Tinto's excessive use of precarious labor. They also took their concerns about precarious work to the CEO of Rio Tinto Madagascar on 7 October.
At Rio Tinto's Madagascar Minerals operation, there are double the numbers of contract workers as permanent staff.
IndustriALL affiliate, the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN), produced a press release about Rio Tinto's unsustainable practicies at the Rossing operation in Namibia, and shared information about the global day of action with union members.
More than 90 IndustriALL Global Union affiliates from over 40 countries took action through mass rallies, seminars and awareness campaigns to mark the WDDW. This year IndustriALL used social media to reach even more activists – a total of 1,592 supporters signed up to Thunderclap, reaching a massive 1,194,792 people on twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.
In Japan, Slovakia, Trinidad and Tobago, Congo DRC, and Boznia Herzegovina affiliates took to the streets and held seminars on how precarious work threatens secure employment, pay and working conditions.
In the Dominican Republic, Indonesia and Congo DRC unions are fighting laws that expand precarious work. Dominican affiliates marched first to the offices of the employers' association, then to the Ministry of Labour, and finally to the Congress, where they submitted a draft bill.
In India and Pakistan workers held meetings and demonstrations all over both countries at a variety of work sites. In Pakistan there are more than 20 million workers in informal sector, out of which 12 million are women workers. The Home Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF) also organized demonstrations of home based glass bangle and garment women workers in Hyderabad and Karachi to put forward their legal demands and demand a STOP to precarious work.
Actions continue to pour in, take a look at IndustriALL’s STOP Precarious Work page to see who took action on the World Day for Decent Work.
If your union has taken action around 7 October, but your actions don’t appear on IndustriALL’s STOP Precarious Work campaign page, send them to: [email protected].
You can also tweet using the hashtag #STOPrecariousWork or share your actions with us on facebook.
The World Day for Decent Work was a great opportunity for the tripartite partners (trade unions, employers and government) to stress their cooperation to achieve a decent work agenda. Success comes through partnership, participation and negotiation, and this joint position of tripartite partners is a strong cooperation.
MOLSA, SCCI and FESTU believe that the notion of decent work is based on the belief that work is not merely a source of income but is essentially a source of personal dignity, family stability, peace in the community, and economic growth for the entire nation that expands opportunities for productive jobs and employment.
For the first time on this occasion of the WDDW, MOLSA, SCCI and FESTU have come together in a spirit of social dialogue and consultation so that the goal of decent work for all becomes a reality in the Federal Republic of Somalia.
Somalia needs rights-based and people-centred development. Workplaces and working people are the essence of the social pillar. It is through opportunities for decent work that many of those today trapped in poverty can have access to sustainable livelihoods. It is also by making workplaces safe and healthy that Somali people can meet their needs in acceptable conditions.
MOLSA, SCCI and FESTU collectively call for an end to precarious work and reform of labour code of Somalia in compliance with international labour standards.
The tripartite partners sent a strong message that decent work is the foundation of a decent life and a strong and equitable Somalia.
IndustriALL affiliates in the DRC, the Travailleurs Unis des Mines, Métallurgies,Energie, Chimie et Industries Connexes (TUMEC), the Organisation des Travailleurs Unis du Congo (OTUC) and the Conseil des Syndicats Congolaisde la Métallurgie (CSC) delivered a clear message to their provincial government official in Katanga.
The memorandum was a clear call on the local government to make meaningful changes to legislation that encourages the spread of precarious work. The main points stated in the memorandum were are following:
