Botswana affiliates set up IndustriALL National Council

The three unions are the BPWU in energy, the BDWU in the diamond and the BMWU in the mining sector. IndustriALL particularly welcomed back the latter – the 10,000-member strong Botswana Mineworkers’ Union – into its membership, after a few years’ absence.

Many of the key challenges mentioned were similar for the three unions in Botswana, including the pervading lack of education of rank-and-file members and the need to continue to work on detailed policies and careful planning. Another often mentioned – and major – problem are the high court case costs in Botswana. Employers seem to be all too happy to bring unions to court, thereby avoiding short-term solutions and continuing disputes over years.

A sustainability issue, but also a goal in itself, is the identified need by all unions to engage in active organising. Possible organising targets include a few new mines across the country. Another surfacing issue, as elsewhere in the world, is that of precarious work. With the exception (for the moment at least) of the diamond sector, companies in Botswana are increasingly engaging in outsourcing their work and their workforce – and they do that massively. One of the ways discussed to deal with this is for the unions to further broaden out their scope, including by changing constitutions, so that they can cover a wider range of workers, making it easier to organise the precariously employed workers.

The meeting ended with the creation of the Botswana IndustriALL National Council, an effort aimed at (much) closer cooperation between the IndustriALL affiliates at national level. This new platform will look into, among other, joint campaigning, solidarity support and exchange of information. It will also act as an interface with IndustriALL Global Union.

Kenny Mogane, project coordinator for the IndustriALL Union Building project, said that “this new council will be a great step forward for workers’ struggles in Botswana, as, together, the unions will be able to achieve much more”.

IndustriALL Global Union embraces Africa’s Mining Vision 2050

The workshop was attended by civil society organizations and two of  IndustriALL ‘s mining affiliates, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Ghana Mineworkers Union (GMWU). It was hosted by the Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARWA) and the Ghana based Third World Network – Africa.

The intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development’s annual meeting, held in Geneva in 2012 adopted the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Africa Mining Vision. The Mining Vision had been adopted by heads of state and government of the African Union in 2009.

The meeting in Geneva followed a meeting of the 2nd African Union Conference of Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources Development held in Addis Ababa from in 2011 on the theme Building a Sustainable Future for Africa’s Extractive Industry: from Vision into Action.

The Africa Mining Vision (AMV) provides a strategic pathway for Africa’s economic development trajectory, agreed by African nations themselves. It puts the continent’s long term and broad development objectives at the heart of all policy-making concerned with mineral extraction. The AMV sets out how mining can be used to drive continental development.

At the workshop, Industriall presented its industrial policy proposals, which are underpinned by the recognition of manufacturing as the engine for economic growth and decent work.

“IndustriALL’s industrial policy proposal resonates with the tenets of the Africa Mining vision, which recognizes mining as a catalyst for sustainable industrial policy for mining-dependent developing economies”, says Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL Director of Mining. “The AMV prescribes a policy trajectory that moves mining away from its enclave model of production to an integrated model of production. The model has down-stream linkages into mineral beneficiation and manufacturing and up-stream linkages into mining capital goods, consumables and services industries.”

Workers strike over slave wages at Crabtree in Lesotho

About 100 workers downed tools on 22 April after securing the right to strike on their demands for higher wages. Currently workers earn about USD105 a month, in part due to the low minimum wage in Lesotho, which is far below a living wage.

Crabtree started its operations in the tiny landlocked nation, which is entirely surrounded by South Africa, in July 2007. The company, which makes electrical accessories such as plugs and extension cords for export to the SADC (Southern African Development Community) market, is based in South Africa where it has another manufacturing plant.

Workers have received no salary increase on demands dating back to 2010, despite promises from management that wages would be reviewed. Workers are demanding a 30 per cent increase and are resolved to remain firm on this given the number of years they have gone with no increment.

FAWU, an IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, has taken the matter up with the Directorate of Disputes Prevention and Resolution (DDPR) and the Labour Court. The legal processes took over a year to conclude with the right to strike on the matter finally secured. However, Crabtree has now approached the court for an order to lock out the workers.

“Despite having secured the right to strike, management is ignoring the union and refusing to negotiate with us,” says FAWU organiser Thapelo Bohloko.  “We are determined because workers cannot keep earning such low wages and will explore all avenues of support for this reasonable demand.”

The Sub Saharan African office of IndustriALL will focus efforts on the living wage campaign in Lesotho and hopes to engage employers and government to improve the situation, supporting calls from organized labour for a higher minimum wage and through company level negotiations to secure better wages.

Global May Day celebrations

In Madagascar, Fisema Fort Dauphin marched with fellow trade unions, before organizing a debate on the importance of social partnership for a sustainable company development.

In Bangladesh the National Garment Workers Federation rallied on the streets of Dhaka together with thousands of textile workers. The IndustriALL affiliate demanded compensation for the dead and injured of the Rana Plaza and Tazreen tragedies, and a safe workplace for everyone in the ready-made garment sector in Bangladesh.

To mark May Day, Bangladeshi trade union BGTLWF marched in one of Savar’s industrial zones.

Members of IndustriALL affiliate Sommelito demonstrated on May Day.

In Pakistan, secretary general Haji Muhammad Saeed Arian and chairperson Atiua Saleem Chairperson were among those addressing the audience in the WFTU-PLF National Seminar on May Day.

In Berlin, IndustriALL marked the day alongside LabourStart and the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Association (IUF).

Switzerland saw IndustriALL Global Union staff march on the streets of Geneva and Bern, together with affilated union Unia.

In Mexico City, Mexico, IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina and assistant general secretary Fernando Lopes rallied along side fellow trade unionists. 

Chilean affiliates rallied to celebrate the international workers' day.

IndustriALL demands justice for South African miners at Anglo American

Silicosis is a deadly respiratory disease that has a latency period of between 15 and 20 years. Anglo American refuses to pay compensation to these affected miners, denying that it is responsible for their suffering. It is fighting a litigation lawsuit brought against it by Leigh Day, a British based law firm, on behalf of affected mine workers. 

The result of Anglo American challenging the lawsuit is that the affected mine workers continue to die without the compensation due to them and their families. For the National Union of Mineworkers and IndustriALL Global Union, this is not a legal battle against Anglo American, but a moral battle whereby the multinational must change its behaviour regarding the health and safety of its employees worldwide. 

The National Union of Mineworkers’ President, Senzeni Zokwana, the National Chairperson for Health and Safety, Peter Bailey, and Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL Global Union’s Mining Director will once again raise the demand for compensation at the company’s AGM as they did in the forum last year.

IndustriALL general secretary Jyrki Raina stated:

It is unconscionable for Anglo American plc and its shareholders to continue to deny compensation for these mine workers and their families.

Senzeni Zokwana castigated the behaviour of Anglo American as running contrary to its publicly stated values of safety, care and respect, integrity and accountability when he said:

Thousands of ex gold miners have already died from lung disease and thousands more have had their lives destroyed. Unless Anglo American acts now, thousands more will die without the healthcare, compensation and support they deserve.

Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) and the London Mining Network (LMN) who are coordinating solidarity actions and support for this cause, have organized a series of actions in support of the demand. These actions include a public meeting for South African Miners, a protest action for justice to be held outside the AGM and an Early Day Motion 1260 in parliament in support of decent compensation, testing and healthcare for ex gold miners with silicosis.

The Sub-Saharan Africa women’s committee

One of the most important focuses of the meeting was to check on the progress made in the different countries in setting up women’s structures. Setting up women’s structures is one way to make unions take women’s concerns seriously. IndustriALL ‘s policy is for national councils to be formed in countries where there are more affiliates. These country councils are platforms that women can use – women must claim them and raise issues and where possible form national committees. This will help the women to communicate among each other.

So far a committee was formed in Zimbabwe. In Zambia a women’s structure was set up, and a person has been made responsible. Steps have been taken in Nigeria and Cameroon. The situation is difficult in DRC. At the end of May the structure will be formed in Lesotho. The structure was created in Ethiopia. (follow the link for details http://www.IndustriALL-union.org/ethiopian-unions-form-womens-committee). Not in all the countries unions have succeeded to consolidate under IndustriALL – this is not the case fort Mauritius for example. Women’s structures are felt to play a positive role in this consolidation. In countries where there is no executive committee member, the office must facilitate the communication and formation of the women’s structure. Once the structure has a chair, that person must communicate with the office.

It was felt unanimously that communication needs to be approved. The delegates promised to fill in the questionnaire on women membership and return it in order to enable the basic data to be collected.

The need for women’s projects was flagged up. The project with the most women’s involvement is the union-building project in nine countries. What the project does is train women shop stewards as well as men. However it does not create women’s structures. This is one way that women can be trained. Some of the textile projects have women’s empowerment included in them. These projects need to be monitored more closely.

In addition HIV and AIDS must be part of the program for women. The HIV infection rate is going up again, most probably because people are becoming complacent. It was also felt that research needs to be done on infection rates among young workers. This is the last year of the IndustriALL HIV and AIDS project because the traditional solidarity support organizations are no longer willing to support HIV and AIDS work. It was decided to campaign to bring back the funding. It was agreed that brands and employers can be approached to fund HIV and AIDS work.

The committee decided to nominate Angeline Chitambo, Zimbabwe, and Prince William Ankrah, Ghana to represent the region on the gender sub-committee at international level. The aim of this sub-committee is to make concrete proposals to meet the goals stated at the founding Congress in 2012.

The regional women’s conference will be held in Johannesburg on 14 October 2014. The theme is Women Workers: Safe Work with Dignity. The international women’s committee decided that the regional conferences in Asia, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa would work according to a standard agenda. This agenda includes issues such as health and safety, maternity protection, organizing precarious workers and leadership, as well as preparing a resolution to be adopted by the main regional conference. It is hoped that many women will attend the regional women’s conference.

In conclusion the women decided to continue discussing the women’s charter and to report back to the next meeting.

Ethiopian Unions Form Women’s Committee

Women representing IndustriALL affiliates in Ethiopia, the Industrial Federation of Textile, Leather and Garment Workers' Trade Unions IFTLGWTU and the National Industrial Federation of Energy, Chemical Petroleum and Mine Trade Union decided to create a national women’s committee at a meeting held on 19 and 20 March 2014. Women from the textile, garment, shoe, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, glass and paint sectors attended the meeting.

The women were trained in easy to use methods for working with women, such as body mapping, workplace mapping and life mapping. They understood that such methods can be used anywhere without any sophisticated technology to talk to women and explain to them why a trade union is important. Women’s health concepts and sexuality were introduced briefly. These issues are important particularly in working on self-esteem in women. Two concerns were highlighted in particular – most women have limited access to toilets during working time,  and secondly, many women faint at work either due to overwork and/or overheated workplaces. These two problems need to be taken up as trade union issues as a matter of urgency.

Themes involved in trade union democracy were discussed. The women understood that they have to make trade unions listen to women and take their demands seriously. This is more easily achievable if the women form a committee; women by themselves just represent themselves, and there is strength in numbers.

The women contemplated their dreams. One of the common points that came out of their dreams was that the women wanted to help other women grow.  And finally women’s leadership qualities were strengthened.

The women gave some thought to why they needed a women’s committee. They decided that the committee should do the following:

The women felt that they needed activities focused on women. This would also strengthen the union. They asked for more training on gender issues and a forum for women to exchange experiences.

The committee’s work program should include the following:

IndustriALL spotlight on Malawi

Malawian unions organizing in IndustriALL sectors have challenges but they have huge potential to grow members and power if they can work together.

said Fabian Nkomo, Regional Secretary of IndustriALL Sub-Sahara Africa, after the factory visits and two-day workshop on 4-6 March 2014 in capital city Lilongwe.

 BCCEAWUCIAWUTGLSSEWUCEMAWUTOTAL

Paid membership

8,930

5,200

6,543

1,147

21,820

Paid membership IndustriALL sectors

1,242

750959

1,147

4,098

Potential

35,000

20,000

37,00035,000

127,000 (at least)

Potential in IndustriALL sectors

18,000

2,500

7,000

35,000

62,500

No. Staff

546318

No. of CBAs

569020

Location HQ

BlantyreBlantyreBlantyreLilongwe 

Women structures

?YesYesNo 

There is a large potential for organizing workers in IndustriALL’s sectors in Malawi. The three IndustriALL affiliated unions, with a fourth in the process of affiliation, have targeted priority organizing targets and already represent 21,820 members.

The potential organizing work for the unions was mapped out during the mission and possibilities for a joint programme were discussed in the presence of representatives from Finnish IndustriALL affiliate Metalli and Finnish solidarity support organisation SASK.

The mission was impressed with enthusiastic and committed trade union officials of each of the affiliates, all ready to work in unity, and was also impressed by the openness to organizing from workers and employers.

See the eye-opening photos attached to this article that offer a snapshot of working conditions for IndustriALL members in Malawi.

Fight against precarious work: a central demand in Rio Tinto Campaign

Fernando Lopes, IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary said: “Most of the time, in the mining industry the majority of the workforce is in precarious employment. In response to this, IndustriALL Global Union has identified three main areas of focus to combat this practice: organise; protect through collective bargaining; improve legislation.”

A Memorandum of Demands has been addressed to the Rio Tinto Chief  Executive Officer (CEO), which includes the need to minimise the incidence of precarious work.

Organising:

Workers in precarious jobs have little chance to join a union or to bargain collectively. Pay and conditions are being driven ever lower by companies, thereby dividing the workforce inside the plants.  Hence it is imperative for precarious workers to be represented together with their comrades. Only with a strong unionisation rate will workers become an unavoidable counterpart for Rio Tinto.

Protect:

One of the reliable ways to protect precarious workers is to include them into the collective bargaining agreement. At Rio Tinto’s operation in South Africa, most workers are contract workers and non-union members. However, during the 2013 collective bargaining round, NUM’s wage demands to the company included contract workers.

Legislation:

Policy protection through e.g. minimum wage or limiting the use of precarious work is one other element. SYNATE in Cameroon has been strategizing on how to deal with  legislation that allows for three categories of workers: permanent workers, subcontracted workers and temporary workers. This has allowed Rio Tinto Aluchem to create an intermediate company of subcontracted employees and these employees can spend all their working years until retirement in that category of employment. According to SYNATE, education and sensitisation of all workers is key in this fight.

After the global economic crisis in 2008, Rio Tinto announced the cut of 14,000 jobs around the world, of whom 8,500 were contract workers. Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL Mining director, stated: “Contract workers have been paying too long Rio Tinto’s race for profit and its liberal employment policy. It is now time for workers all around the world to come together and clearly say: Down Rio Tinto, Down!”

Not so sparkly conditions in Botswana diamond polishing

At a training seminar for shop stewards conducted last month by IndustriALL, in collaboration with Botswana Diamond Workers Union and Botswana Power Corporation Workers Union, participants revealed that companies in the diamond polishing industry are routinely flouting labour laws.

According to the shop stewards, workers are summarily dismissed for minor offences and untested allegations. Furthermore, safety at the workplace is often compromised as workers have to work behind locked doors for long periods. Participants also complained of discriminatory practices where the diamond companies provide more benefits and better treatment for expatriates than locals.

IndustriALL’s director of mining, Glen Mpufane said:

The experiences of our affiliate members in Botswana highlight the plight of thousands of vulnerable diamond workers across the globe who are subjected to dangerous working conditions, low pay and discrimination by employers. IndustriALL is working hard to support mining trade union affiliates across Africa and the world to increase their capacity to protect workers.

Diamonds are the lifeblood of the Botswana economy. They account for one third of the country's total gross domestic product as well as 76 percent of its export revenue and 45% of government revenue. The country is the highest producer of diamonds by value in the world.

And yet, workers in the diamond industry do not share in this wealth, with average salaries for people employed in the diamond polishing industry as low as US$225 per month.

A significant amount of diamond mining in Botswana is done through a partnership between Botswana government and De Beers Mining Company, the merger of which is a company called Debswana Diamond Company. Through a beneficiation policy, some 21 companies have been established and approximately 3200 people are employed in the diamond polishing industry in the country. 

Participants at the workshop on the 7 and 8 February 2014 resolved to strengthen representation in the sector through recruitment and to organize workers to better address their problems and fight for fairer wages.