Unionists of the world ride for workers’ rights

The event has been organized and led by members of the global union federation Public Services International (PSI), representatives of IndustriALL also joined the ride.

The ‘Route of Shame’ was planned in conjunction with the 102nd International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva. A major focus of the annual ILC is to determine whether countries are upholding their obligations to respect the rights of workers and their trade unions under International Labour Organization conventions. Numerous delegates participating in the ILC sessions were also invited to join the tour, in fact the organizers provided bicycles for those who did not have them.

The ride highlighted violations in Belarus, Russia, Turkey, Greece, Canada, Nigeria, Iran, Paraguay, Tunisia, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Cameroon, Honduras, Dominican Republic and South Korea.

The ‘Route of Shame’ speakers spoke among others countries about Egypt where independent unions are being denied the right to strike or protest to silence their demands for a just society, abouton-going gross human rights violations in Turkey; about South Korea, where democratic unions are constantly denied recognition and workers are pushed into precarious employment; about Belarus, where consistent violation of freedom of association and collective bargaining still goes on, the case is being considered by ILC since 2000 and the Government fails to apply numerous ILO recommendations.

As part of the ‘Route of Shame’ action the participants of the rally delivered letters to the missions and embassies of the above mentioned countries denouncing on-going violations.

Zewu challenges the dismissal of their President in Labour Court

In July last year, 135 electricity workers were suspended without pay and benefits on charges of a threatened strike when the, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa), claimed that it could not afford to give workers the wage increase in the collective agreement reached in January 2012.

After a protracted battle in which Zesa attempted to use the suspensions as leverage to have the Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union (Zewu) abandon the collective agreement, all but three workers were reinstated by November last year.

Zesa has victimised these three remaining workers because they are union leaders. Dickson Nyika, a Zewu branch secretary has not been granted an appeal hearing by Zesa. The union secured an external arbitration process for Dennis Mukote, a national executive member of Zewu and the award is pending.

Angeline Chitambo, President of Zewu and IndustriALL Executive Committee Member is challenging her dismissal in the labour court. Chitambo was dismissed at a hearing that took place in her absence on allegations that Chitambo disclosed confidential information at a press conference damaging the image of the company.

The situation for workers has not improved for workers as Zesa has not implemented the collective bargaining agreement, despite an arbitration award instructing them to do so and a criminal court ruling that Zesa must comply with the agreement. Workers have still not received wage increases which entitled workers of the lowest pay grade to a wage increase from US$190 to US$275 in 2012.

“We need to continue to mobilise on this campaign because workers have still received nothing despite arbitration awards and court rulings,” says Mbonisi Sibanda, Acting General Secretary of Zewu. “This is serious beyond our issue with Zesa, showing that the rule of law does not prevail in Zimbabwe. Today this is against workers but tomorrow it may be against someone else, undermining much needed investor confidence in Zimbabwe.”

IndustriALL General Secretary, Jyrki Raina has appealed to the Zimbabwe Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai to urgently intervene and compel ZESA to reinstate Chitambo immediately. Raina also asked the Prime Minister to instruct ZESA to implement the collective bargaining agreement, engage with the union for renewed dialogue and to stop victimisation of union leadership.

“We will continue to support ZEWU and Angeline Chitambo until this matter is successfully resolved and would like to contribute to restoration of harmony and fairness,” said Raina.

South African solidarity support for Nissan Mississippi Workers

Delegates from the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) including IndustriALL executive committee member Bob King and substitute member Kristyne Peter were joined by a worker and organizer from the Mississippi plant as well as a civil rights organization and community organization lending support to the campaign. But it was actor and activist Danny Glover, committed to raising awareness of the situation of US workers at the Nissan plant, that stole the show.

Hugely popular in South Africa, Danny Glover was well received by the public and media. He met with South African President Jacob Zuma and together with the rest of the delegation, was received also by several other government officials as well as those from the ruling party, the African National Congress.  

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) hosted the delegation in South Africa and organized several opportunities to engage with unionists and workers. Accompanied by Numsa, the delegation met with management of the Nissan plant in South Africa.

They spoke positively of their relationship with Numsa and said that they would put our concerns to the company in Japan,

said Peter.

Peter said that they had encountered this around the world, where Nissan has good relations with unions that organize at their plants. All except in the United States.

Whilst in Cape Town the delegation met with IndustriALL affiliate, the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union. "What made the Cape Town trip extra special was that President of the Australian Workers Union, Paul Howes, also an IndustriALL Exco member, made the effort to come to our press conference where he reaffirmed Australian workers’ solidarity to Nissan workers in Mississippi.”

Numsa organised a picket outside the Japanese Embassy on 4 June to call on the apenese government to reach out to Nissan and ensure it behaves as a good global corporate citizen. Demands of protestors included that Japanese owned car manufacturer Nissan must end union bashing in Mississippi, respect worker rights and end exploitative conditions including the lack of job security for its temporary workers.

“Nissan employs a high percentage of temporary workers who for years receive less pay, have limited benefits and have no job security,”

Said Numsa spokesperson, Castro Ngobese. 

Nissan can do better!

IndustriALL Executive Committee pays homage to Marcello Malentacchi

Opening the Executive Committee meeting at IG Metall headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, IndustriALL President Berthold Huber paid homage to the outstanding service of Marcello Malentacchi who served as General Secretary of the International Metalworkers’ Federation from 1989 to 2009. Marcello was a great, devoted and combative trade unionist who died on 24 May 2013 aged 66.

Delegates also mourned the 1,127 Bangladeshi garment workers killed in the Rana Plaza industrial homicide. General Secretary Jyrki Raina Day reminded the delegates of the amazing complacency of the global clothing brands, which only changed as more dead bodies were pulled out of the rubble day after day, and the global media outrage was so huge that IndustriALL and UNI managed to force the brands to the bargaining table. The legally binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh has already been signed by more than 40 major brands and retailers. IndustriALL has taken its place as a strong counterpart at the global level.

IndustriALL’s Executive Committee committed to a four-point action plan for Bangladesh:

General Secretary Jyrki Raina updated delegates on the negotiations around the Bangladesh Accord and other work.

Assistant General Secretary Kemal Ozkan updated the Executive Committee on IndustriALL’s priority work in the Middle East, focusing especially on the three key countries for action Egypt, Iraq and Tunisia. The Committee pledged its support for the persecuted oil workers’ union leader Hassan Juma’a in Iraq, and a training program with independent trade unions in Egypt. The next Executive Committee meeting is planned to be conducted in Tunis.

Assistant General Secretary Fernando Lopes presented IndustriALL’s program on organizing and campaigning, including training on skills for the staff and affiliates, continued action to stop precarious work, a corporate campaign against mining giant Rio Tinto, and action to guarantee human and union rights in Fiji.

Key challenges facing IndustriALL’s affiliates around the world were examined in Europe, Russia, South Africa, Colombia, Middle East and North Africa and elsewhere.

The victories of the Indonesian trade unions in the areas of minimum wages, precarious work, social security and pensions were commended by President Huber as an example for others to follow. Huber congratulated FSPMI leader Said Iqbal for receiving the Dutch Elizabeth Febe prize and promised continued support for the Indonesian unions.

Napoleon Gomez of Los Mineros in Mexico, a titular member of the IndustriALL Global Union Executive Committee, was once again blocked from travelling to take his seat due to a renewed court case in the sham legal claims against him by the Mexican authorities. Delegates committed to continue the long-term campaign to build strong, free and democratic unions in Mexico. 

South African garment workers strike on low wages

The warning strike was in protest of violations by member companies of the United Clothing & Textile Association (UCTA). SACTWU’s core demand is immediate compliance with the legally prescribed minimum wage and an end to UCTA’s sustained attack on bargaining rights of clothing workers.

In Newcastle alone, where the prescribed minimum starting wage is as low as USD43 a week, 4,200 workers participated in the strike action. The rest of the workers supporting the strike were in other parts of the KwaZulu Natal region.  

“UCTA wants to break the power that workers have spent decades building to try to protect themselves against abuses,” states Sactwu in it memorandum of demands “UCTA wants to lower the legal wages of workers. UCTA pretends that workers at their members’ companies are actually happy with the treatment they get from their employers! But this is not true. Workers want a better life. Workers do not want to be treated like animals.”

Unprotected strike at Mercedes-Benz South Africa

Members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) at Mercedes-Benz in East London had been engaging on lunch hour pickets, which escalated into full-blown unprotected strike action last week Thursday.

Workers whose demands relate to a transport allowance as well as an end to outsourcing at Mercedes-Benz became frustrated when management responded negatively to the pickets, threatening disciplinary action.

Management sought an interdict declaring the strike illegal. Numsa has upheld the court decision in favour of management despite concerns that members are being bullied for exercising their democratic right to embark on a picket.

“The strike action was imposed on them after serious provocation and threats by the employer to subject all workers to a kangaroo style disciplinary process for picketing”, says Numsa National Treasurer Comrade Mphumzi Maqungo. “Numsa has however agreed with workers that they return to work on Tuesday and that the union takes up their legitimate demands in negotiations with the company.”

In memoriam Marcello Malentacchi

Marcello was a great, devoted and combative trade unionist who served the metal workers at local, national and global levels for more than 40 years, promoting solidarity and trade union values of social justice during decades of major changes in the world economy and politics.

Inspiring a generation of trade unionists around the world, Marcello was a man of intelligence, culture and intuition who, working in six languages, responded actively and strategically to the many attacks on local and global rights and the dignity of labour, believing collective bargaining and strong independent unions were an essential part of society.

In retirement, Marcello was pursuing his many interests, including following world politics, returning to the classroom as both a student and teacher, reading widely, travelling and enjoying family and friends and cycling.

Throughout his life, Marcello never forgot the shop floor and working life where he came from. Born in 1947 in Grosseto, Italy, his father was an agricultural labourer and an active Italian Socialist. After leaving the village school, like many young Italian workers in an economy with few jobs, at the age of 17 he immigrated to Sweden.

In Sweden he began working at the Volvo Torslanda auto assembly plant in Gothenburg in 1965.  Very soon he became active in the trade union. Marcello was hired as Svenska Metall’s health and safety officer in 1974, and he was appointed to the IMF in 1981 to work with health and safety matters. Marcello was elected IMF General Secretary in 1989 and held that post until his retirement in 2009.

Marcello will be remembered as a wonderfully warm and empathetic comrade.

IndustriALL Global Union extends its deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to Marcello’s wife, Joséphine, daughters, Christina and Sandra, and his extended family in these terribly difficult times of grief.

A memorial will take place in Messery, France near Geneva on 17 June.

Anti union practices at Petrobras Nigeria

Nigerian affiliate, Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (Pengassan), has brought the unfair labour actions by management of Petrobras in Nigeria to the attention of IndustriALL Global Union. These actions are in breach of the labour laws in Nigeria and against the fundamental principles of the global framework agreement that IndustriALL has with the multinational.

The redundancy clause in the bargaining agreement would only apply in the case of excess manpower in a division but as Petrobras has shut down the whole division, these ten workers are entitled to severance packages negotiated with Pengassan. However Petrobras Nigeria terminated all further negotiation with Pengassan on the matter and served the trade union with notice of its intention to take the matter to court.

The termination of employment of all ten workers in the exploration division is evidence to vindicate allegations that Petrobras is divesting from Nigeria, raising concerns for Pengassan and IndustriALL  that there may be further labour rights violations for the remaining workers currently employed by the company.

In a letter to the CEO of Petrobras, General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, Jyrki Raina said,

We strongly urge Petrobras to cease all legal action and return to negotiations with the union on severance packages for these workers. We also insist that any further terminations by Petrobras in Nigeria be negotiated with the Pengassan.

Raina has also warned,

We would consider actions to the contrary to be against the spirit and content of the global agreement which would put strain on our relations at an international level and require us to mobilize solidarity support from for our affiliates that organize your plants elsewhere in the world.

NUM submits its wage demands to the Chamber of Mines

The union demands that surface workers should receive a minimum amount of R7000 and underground and opencast workers  minimum should be set at R8000 per month. For all other categories, the NUM has put a demand of 15%. Furthermore, the union demands that Rockdrill Operators job categories be rolled up to category 8 whilst other categories of operators are rolled up to category 7.

These demands are informed by many studies which have revealed that cash wages received over time has indeed been growing but, the disposable wage has been under severe strain due to the effects of inflation and other expense incurred to maintain a worker’ modest lifestyle

says Frans Baleni, the NUM General Secretary.

In addition to all these, the union has put forward several other demands dealing with housing allowance, market allowance, commuting allowance, risk allowance and living out allowance. These demands are for gold and coal employers affiliated to the Chamber of Mines.

The NUM will await a response from the Chamber of Mines as to when negotiations will begin.

Zambian miners strike for wages

Under the leadership of the Mineworkers Union of Zambia (MUZ, workers have taken strike action to secure better deals in wage negotiations.

About 600 workers at Luanshya Copper Mines embarked on strike action on two occasions a week apart during the negotiations. MUZ secured a 15 per cent increase up from the 6 per cent initially on the table.

At Ndola Lime, 400 workers went on strike demanding an improvement in salary and finally settled on 9.5 per cent. 

“Our mines should wait for strikes to improve salaries and working conditions at the table, our members have shown that they are prepared to take action on these issues,”

said Chewe.