7000 South African mineworkers to strike

The NUM demands an increase of R2,100 for core workers and R2,000 for non-core workers. The company has responded with a meagre 6,5 per cent for non-core and 7 per cent for core workers. The NUM has rejected these offers.

“We reached a dispute, went to the CCMA [Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration] and failed to find an amicable solution. We went further to propose another facilitator, the renowned labour lawyer Charles Nupen, but we still failed,” says Ecliff Tantsi, the NUM ’s National Secretary for Education and Chief Negotiator at Northam Platinum.

The NUM further demands that the current living out allowance be increased to R3718.

“We are now determined to strike at Northam simply to deal with the company ‘s arrogance” says Tantsi.

Burkina Faso Actions

In Burkina Faso, IndustriALL affiliate, the Fédération Nationale des Travailleurs du Textile, de l'Habillement et du Cuir – FNTTHC, took action against precarious work in SOFITEX, one of the largest companies in the textile sector in Burkina Faso.

SOFITEX employs more than 4,000 workers and 2100 are seasonal and work in precarious conditions with temporary contracts of 5 months. In addition 1,000 workers employed through an external agency work without a contract or a decent salary.

The FNTTHC has sent a list of demands to the company requesting enter into meaningful negotiation with the worker representatives and to regularize the growing number of precarious workers in SOFITEX.

Cameroon Actions

IndustriALL affiliate in Cameroon, The Syndicat National Autonome des Travailleurs de l'Energie et de l'Eau du Cameroon (SYNATEEC), mobilized their members on 7 October on the occasion of the World Day For Decent Work. Meetings and seminars were held to discuss the growing issue of precarious work and find solutions to combat the problem.

Workshop on organizing

The workshop was attended by regional staff and project coordinators as well as representatives from three affiliated unions; Tanzanian general union Tuico and textile unions Sactwu from South Africa) and the NUTGTWN from Nigeria. Affiliates shared practical experiences of organising with examples of challenges faced and how the union overcame these. Project coordinators outlined current initatives, highlighting how these incorporated organising.

Assistant General Secretary of IndustriALL, Fernando Lopes outlined the principles on which organising work should be conducted at country level, these includes, ensuring that there is no competition between affiliates for membership, that affiliates cooperate in joint activities and that sustainability of affiliates is promoted. Affiliates should include in their organising plans specific effort to organise women, youth, precarious workers and white collar workers. Unions need to collect information on companies in order to develop strategic plans for organising that includes tactics to reduce the risk of victimisation of newly recruited members and other union busting activities. Growing union membership should be seen as the first step of organising, followed by capacity building efforts that ensure structures are put in place for functioning worker democracy in the union.

Sub regional specific strategies were developed to establish organising as a priority in IndustriALL activities and projects. These included supporting affiliates to develop plans and capacity to organise workers, conduct mapping exercises in certain countries and developing targets for union growth.

STOP Precarious Work 2013

As precarious employment continues to spread throughout the globe, the Executive Committee of IndustriALL Global Union has endorsed a worldwide campaign to STOP Precarious Work. The global mobilization of affiliates on the World Day for Decent Work is an important component of the campaign, bringing visibility to the issue and strengthening efforts on the ground.

As IndustriALL’s campaign page shows, unions around the world took to the streets for colourful rallies and demonstrations, while others organized seminars and meetings with the authorities.

I enjoyed the flash mob organized by the Mining and Metallurgy union of Kyrgyzstan. In Nigeria, all affiliated unions together, wearing red and black IndustriALL t-shirts, joined forces with civil society allies to protest against casualization of work and anti-union practices.

And in Thailand, IndustriALL affiliates took the occasion to launch a new joint organization, the Confederation of Industrial Labour of Thailand (CILT), while demonstrating in favour of the ratification of ILO conventions 87 and 98 and a labour law reform.

However, IndustriALL’s STOP Precarious Work campaign is not only about an annual action day, it's about a mainstreamed strategic goal. The issue of precarious work continues to be a standing item on the agenda of all IndustriALL meetings to develop common approaches and actions. We need better laws and collective agreements. We need continuous mobilization and pressure.

Several union networks in multinational companies are undertaking mapping of the incidence of precarious work in their companies and formulating joint strategies to reduce it. New improved language is being introduced to global framework agreements with major corporations like Lafarge and Enel. The “Temporary Work Charter for the Volkswagen Group" remains a benchmark. We need more agreements like this.

IndustriALL’s major externally-funded project is supporting a large number of specific activities in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Regional and national activities are focusing on supporting affiliates to make demands on employers through collective bargaining to limit precarious employment, to push for legislative reform that restricts precarious work, and to resist legislation that expands it.

Organizing precarious workers continues to be a priority. In many cases, union structures do not permit it and need to be reformed.

In October 2012, IndustriALL released a publication attacking the massive expansion of employment via agencies, labour brokers, dispatchers and contractors and the wholesale replacement of permanent, direct employment. ‘The Triangular Trap: Unions take action against agency labour’ exposes the lobbying efforts of the global agency industry body Ciett to remove legal restrictions on agency work. It is still a useful tool for raising awareness of the dangerous impact on workers’ rights.

The massive spread of precarious work is a global problem and we must unite to fight against it. Join us in the global campaign to STOP Precarious Work!

Jyrki Raina

General Secretary

Precarious Work in Rio Tinto Operation in Madagascar

No fair settlement has been reached for 300 dismissed workers after the sudden termination, by Rio Tinto in Madagascar, of the contract with a subcontractor last July. As a matter of solidarity for these precarious workers, and following the letter IndustriALL sent to Sam Walsh on this issue on 20 August, IndustriALL Global Union has written another protest letter to Sam Walsh, CEO of Rio Tinto, on the occasion of the World Decent Work Day on 7 October.

IndustriALL expressed serious concerns over the mass dismissal at Rio Tinto operation in Madagascar at QMM and the impact of this action on the workers and the community.

On behalf of IndustriALL Global Union and its Rio Tinto Global Union Network, I urge you as the Chief Executive Officer to enter into a meaningful and genuine dialogue with the trade unions and government authorities to address the dreadful situation of the dismissed workers, and to comply with both national labour laws and international labour standards.

said Jyrki Raina, IndustriALL Global Union General Secretary.

In July 2013, QMM ended its contract with the security company OMEGA Risk Solutions. QMM opted instead to hire two cheaper companies, naming cuts in operation costs as the reason for terminating the contract. Rio Tinto’s termination of OMEGA Risk Solutions’ contract resulted in the collective dismissal of 300 workers, terminated with only one month’s notice. IndustriALL Global Union’s affiliate, FISEMA, tried, but with no success, to engage in social dialogue with QMM to deal with the disregard for social planning commitments for the dismissed workers.

For more on this case see full article here

Mauritius Actions

To mark the World Day for Decent Work, on 7 October, the Government Services Employees Association (GSEA) of Mauritius organized a one-day workshop on the theme “Precarious Work-Our Concern”.

The workshop was held at the GSEA in Beau Bassin and included around 75 participants from the GSEA and of IndustriALL’s affiliates, the Agricultural and General Workers Union (AGWU) and the Electrical and Mechanical Workers Union (EMWU).

The presidents of the 3 unions addressed the meeting and highlighted the various situations of precarious working conditions in their respective sectors, this included workers on short term contract, casual workers, agency workers, enlistment of young graduates on short term contracts, resorting to services of retired employees to temporarily cater for unfilled vacancies and migrant workers.

Participants formed small groups on concrete actions that can be initiated in the short run to address the issue of precarious work in Mauritius and after discussions, the participants came up with the following resolutions:

The Need to set up a National Coordinating Committee between local affiliates of IndustriALL for more concerted, efficient and effective action
Campaign for the establishment of a National Minimum Living Wage
Educate and sensitize workers on their rights under the Labour Legislation
Compile data as regards the exact location and numbers of precarious workers and their sectors of activity.

Nigeria Actions

On 7 October, IndustriALL Global Union marked the World Day for Decent Work. For IndustriALL Global Union, the day of Action provided a critical platform to further strengthen the Stop Precarious Work Campaign and remind employers and Governments to act responsibly on workplace issues for workers and also mobilize and call workers to action against all forms of violations of the rights of workers.

The National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, Chemical and Non-Metallic Products Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, CANMPSSAN, and National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non Metallic Products Employees, NUCFRLANMPE. Civil society allies under the Joint Action Forum, JAF, Democratic Socialist Movement, DSM, and Campaign for Workers Democratic Rights, CWDR were all part of the protest.

The protesters were led by IndustriALL Global Union, African Region Chairman and General Secretary of NUTGTWN, Comrade Issa Aremu alongside civil society allies in a road show, calling for a stop to all forms of precarious employment in Nigeria.

The protesters marched from Acme Road through Aromire Avenue, Oba Akran, Niwil Close to Allen Avenue in Ikeja. They carried various placards with inscriptions such as "Stop casual and contract work"; "respect workers rights"; "Equal pay for equal work", "Just and humane conditions of work", "Improved health and safety conditions. 'There should be respect for freedom of association", "Respect for collective bargaining", among others.

Addressing the gathering at the Textile Labour House on ACME Road, Ogba Lagos, before the mass rally, Comrade Aremu, reminded the gathering that the struggle for decent work was historical.

He recalled that workers in colonial employment in the mines, railway and colonial public service were not only poorly paid, they were discriminated against and denied the right to unionize. He stressed the sacrifices of the heroes of the trade union movement like Pa Michael Imoudu, H.P Adebola, S.U. Bassey, Wahab Goodluck and others, in negotiating freedom, improved pay and the right to form unions during brutal colonial record.

Zimbabwe Actions

Zimbabwean affiliate, Newu and the recently merged Numaiz commemorated the World Day for Decent Work with a clean-up of a public space in Harare on Saturday the 12^th of October 2013.

Members of the National Engineering Workers Union (Newu) and the Nation Union of Metalworkers in Zimbabwe (Numaiz), joined in the event organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). Over the years the commemoration of WDDW has been through community service events in residential areas raising awareness of the decent work agenda with the communities.

An official of the ZCTU, Peter Mutasa, addressed those that took part in the event, many of whom were youth, on the need for social partners to address working conditions of precarious workers and ensure wages that allowed them to live above the poverty datum line. He said that decent work is important for achieveing quitable, inclusive and sustainable development and the eradication of poverty.

Mutasa also took the opportunity to condemn police brutality on protesting wives of coal mineworkers in Hwange on 7 October 2013. The women were demanding that their husband’s receive their wages, which have gone unpaid for five months. Police fired tear gas and assaulted the group of about a hundred women and children.

International Meeting of the Automotive sector

High level representatives from almost all auto companies which have production sites in Mexico participated in this meeting, such as Audi and MAN from Volkswagen Group, Ford, GM, Chrysler, AB Volvo, Honda and Nissan (represented by JAW), Bosch and Mahle.

From the Mexican side, the correspondent unions from the Mexican plants of the companies mentioned above, as well as several independent unions such as STUHM, which is fighting for recognition at Honda, los Mineros involved in organising in auto parts (PKC) and other unions representing workers from the automotive sector participated in intense debates about the unionisation in this strategic sector for the Mexican economy.

It is worth mentioning that at the same time as our meeting was held, several Industriall affiliates joined the progressive organizations in a huge national rally which included all the democratic and independent unions(los Mineros, SME , CNTE- Teachers , CNT, FAT, Honda etc) against the neo liberal reforms proposed by the Federal Government, and in commemoration of the infamous students massacre (Tlatelolco) on October 2, 1968.

The aim of the Automotive sector meeting was to inform the international participants about the union situation in Mexico and to continue the work of IndustriALL in Mexico.

On the third day of the meeting, all the international participants visited “their” plant to figure out the concrete situation there. The participants then came back to the meeting on the fourth day to share and discuss their different experiences. Some of the international unionists already had previous contacts with their correspondent union, some others created new contacts and in several plants it became absolutely clear that there was no real union. In these cases, the employer has a contract with a “ghost” union to protect the company from having a real union and the workers normally don´t know that they are compulsory members of a pseudo “union” and have no idea of the existence of a collective agreement.

At the end of the meeting we made the following decisions and recommendations:

Wherever it is possible we will invite the Mexican unions to the Global Company Networks if this isn´t already done
We will cooperate with management in the companies which have signed GFA´s, to make sure, that also in Mexico the workers enjoy the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
We will invite representatives of the Mexican unions to visit the union HQ to see how the union is working there
We will have common seminars organized by unions from Europe and North America.
We will have a 2^nd workshop next year to evaluate our advances and work
Local network activities will be carried out in close cooperation between IndustriALL and FES.
We will continue the work initiated by the ITUC, IndustrIALL and TUCA high level mission in 2013 in relation to the Mexican government and the OECD and ILO complaints and will seek to invite employers like Volkswagen,Volvo and some Mexican unions to participate in this process of social dialogue.

Several important side meetings also took place, as for example between the independent union of Continental workers (SNTGTM), USW and IndustriALL, as well as between the JAW and Honda union from Japan and STUHM (the Mexican union which is trying to organize workers at Honda Mexico) who discussed the situation at the Honda plant where management dismissed the leadership of STUHM because of their unionizing activities, between JAW and Los Mineros ; a briefing on the situation at PKC, Ciudad Acuña, talks between UAW & Nissan Cuernavaca, and a meeting among the independent and democratic unions in the sector also took place after the official meeting.

After the meeting the Japanese delegation had also planned a meeting with the Japanese embassy and other institutions as well as a study visit.

Helmut Lense express IndustriALL’s views in his conclusion speech:

We should be inclusive and ready to work and respect different political, ideological and cultural beliefs and cultures but we have two fundamental principles that should always be followed: first, the workers should decide freely which union they want to join and second, the collective bargaining process should be transparent and driven by the workers” .