IMF EXPLORES IMPACTS OF FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS
The International Metalworkers' Federation's Working Party on Trade, Employment and Development discusses the social and economic impacts of Free Trade Agreements and their potential challenge to solidarity.
INDIA: As the importance of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) increases during this crisis of multilateral mechanisms, trade unions must ensure that bilateral agreements do not become a dangerously divisive issue and a cause of weakness for workers, concluded a meeting of the International Metalworkers' Federation's Working Party on Trade, Employment and Development (WP).
Meeting in New Delhi, India, on February 10 to 12, 2010, WP members from all regions urged the IMF and its affiliates to further develop joint work and a transparent debate on possible FTA-related conflicts of interests between countries/sectors, with mutual consultation between the concerned unions.
Among various examples, the possible EU/South Korea FTA was seen as a potential step in the right direction, but without real monitoring and implementation tools on workers' rights. Serious doubts are raised about the potential development benefits and the repercussions on democracy in South Korea with the possible undermining of regulations on transnational companies. In this and other FTAs, the lack of transparency and of consultation of social actors, as well as of adequate assessment of the potential impact on jobs in different industries and countries, especially in labour intensive sectors, were identified as major risks that require much stronger trade union commitment.
At a round table with the Indian Joint Secretary of Commerce, the trade policy of India was discussed from a labour perspective and concerns were raised about the loss of good jobs while trade generated employment, mostly under Export Processing Zones' poor conditions, can hardly promote sustainable development.
The WP unanimously rejected the possible ratification by the European Parliament of an EU/Colombia FTA as unacceptable on the grounds of the tragic Colombian record on human and trade union rights.
A joint seminar of the IMF and the International Textile, Garment & Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) followed the WP meeting, with the participation of the leadership of Indian unions that organize workers in the metal and textile sectors. The impacts of trade liberalization and investments on jobs, development and workers' rights in India were analysed. Recommendations were agreed upon for closer systematic collaboration between the Indian affiliates of the two Global Union Federationss and with Non-Governmental Organizations to jointly voice the workers' concerns on India's trade policy.
Copies of all the presentations made by participants at the meeting of the WP are posted in the right hand column of the page on the IMF website here. [Feb 25, 2010 – Carla Coletti]
TENARIS WORKERS IN SOLIDARITY IN COLOMBIA
International delegation of Tenaris unionists will travel to Colombia to show solidarity with workers and their union at the Tenaris plant in Cartagena.
COLOMBIA/GLOBAL: A delegation of the International Metalworkers' Federation, composed of Tenaris delegates and union representatives, will travel to Colombia to offer solidarity support to the workers and their union at the Tenaris facility in Cartegena, Colombia from February 26 to March 2, 2010.
The Tenaris Workers' World Council decided at its meeting in Bergamo, Italy in September 2009 to take this action after hearing a report from Jairo del Rio, the President of SINTRATUCAR a new company level trade union formed in Colombia.
At the September meeting, Rio reported on the difficult situation the workers face with company management at the Cartegena plant and the many death threats received by the SINTRATUCAR union board members.
To express active solidarity with the Colombian workers and the union at the Tenaris plant in Cartegena, the delegation will participate in a march called by trade unions in all the big cities in Colombia on February 26, meet with the trade union SINTRATUCAR and seek to present to the local Tenaris management their reasons for their visit.
The delegation includes union and workers' representatives of Tenaris plants in Canada, Argentina, Brazil and Italy and a representative of the IMF from the Latin America and the Caribbean region. [Feb 24, 2010 – Anita Gardner]
METALWORKERS, MINERS AND MARITIME WORKERS UNITE
IMF commits to strategic engagement at global level to counter power of TNCs seeking to undermine workers' rights and conditions worldwide.
USA: The International Metalworkers' Federation joined leaders of mining and maritime unions representing workers in Canada, United States, Australia and South Africa on February 16 and 17 to examine ways to strengthen efforts and coordination to take on transnational corporations attacking fundamental workers' rights globally.
The strategic alliance, organized by the Mining and Maritime Initiative, committed to working together to counter massive violations of workers' rights at mining giants Grupo Mexico, Vale and Rio Tinto where all three global union federations, the IMF, the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), have affiliates.
Grupo Mexico's violent war on workers is a long-standing one. The Mexican government has allied itself with Grupo Mexico in a more than four-year campaign of repression and abuses of power to eliminate the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM). The SNTMMSRM, which is that country's strongest independent union, is an IMF and ICEM affiliate and its leader, Napoleón Gómez Urrutia sits on the IMF Executive Committee. See more here.
In September, IMF and ICEM with the help of ITF launched a global effort to highlight rights abuses at Brazilian-owned Vale worldwide, and show solidarity for 3,500 members of the United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada who have been on strike since July 13 after workers refused to agree to a drastic reduction in conditions and increased job insecurity. See more here.
The meeting took place in Palmdale, California, near a Rio Tinto borax mine and plant where some 600 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) have been locked out by the company in an attempt to force workers to accept an extremely concessionary contract that includes:
- The conversion of full-time jobs to part-time jobs when deemed necessary by management
- Authority to reduce employee pay, when company deems necessary, regardless of contract wage rates and without any right of the worker to file a grievance
- If Rio Tinto violates any state or federal labour laws, workers would be required to pay for the company's legal penalties, fines, damages and attorney fees
Meeting delegates marched with locked-out Rio Tinto workers to the plant gates demanding that the company "Let us Work!" and vowing global solidarity until justice and fair treatment is won for all Rio Tinto workers worldwide.
See Mining and Maritime statement here. [Feb 24, 2010 – Kristyne Peter]
BOSCH WORKERS PROTEST TO DEFEND JOBS
Following the loss of 900 jobs at the closed Cardiff Bosch plant, metalworkers across Europe unite in action to defend jobs.
EUROPE: More than 1,000 Bosch workers in seven countries at 30 production sites participated in a European action day on February 22, 2010 to defend their jobs.
The action, coordinated by the European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF) and the European works council from Bosch was in response to the closure of the Cardiff plant in the UK producing starters and generators where 900 workers are laid off in a structurally weakened region.
The metalworkers called for a coherent and consistent industrial policy and for socially responsible actions from Bosch.
Together with the European Works Council of Bosch, the EMF considers that 15 plant closures in Europe alone over the past 24 months have already caused hardship for thousands of workers.
Around a common slogan, "Enough is enough! Bosch workers in Europe defend their jobs", the workers took actions ranging from worker information sessions, to flyer drops and solidarity letter writing in Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands.
After plant closures the workers and their unions have vowed to make their fight visible and no longer just accept bargaining for severance packages.
For addition information go to: http://www.emf-fem.org/Press/Press-releases/European-action-day-at-Bosch-Europe or http://www.bosch.igm.de/ [Feb 24, 2010 – Anita Gardner]
IG METALL SECURES JOBS
Agreement in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany provides for jobs security and wage rises to combat the effects of the financial crisis.
GERMANY: IMF affiliate IG Metall and the employers' federation Gesamtmetall reached a pilot agreement for the metal and electronics/electrical sector in the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany on February 18, 2010.
The new collective agreement, called "future in work", includes a joint call on the German government to extend provisions adopted in response to the financial crisis beyond the end of this year for workers already on short-time work. Workers in these plants get a 12 month job guarantee and have the possibility to reduce the normal weekly working time of 35 hours to 28 hours with a partial compensation in terms of wages.
The new agreement saves thousands of jobs in the metal and electronics/electrical sector. In addition there is a joint call from the union and employers' association on the German government to continue subsidising the provisions for job security.
The agreement provides a lump-sum payment for the period of May 2010 to March 2011 of 320 euros per worker (apprentices 120 euros), which will be paid out in two payments on May 1 and December 1, 2010.
A 2.7 per cent wage increase will take effect for April 2011 to March 2012, with Works Councils given the mandate to negotiate that sum within two months prior or two months after that date.
The content of the pilot agreement reached in North Rhine-Westphalia has already been agreed between IG Metall and employers in the region of Baden-Württemberg and it is expected to reach a similar conclusion in other regions.
IG Metall President Berthold Huber termed the job protection provisions of the agreement, "a good result in securing jobs in the biggest economic crisis in 80 years." He added that the government must now do its part to supplement the agreement with extended social insurance benefits. [Feb 23, 2010 – Anita Gardner]
GIKIL PAYS BACK WAGES TO BOSNIAN WORKERS
GIKIL pays back wages to Bosnian workers and monitoring begins after workers take strike action and receive international solidarity support.
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: The renegade Indian steel company run by Pramod Mittal was made to pay back wages to 1,250 members of the Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metals of Bosnia-Herzegovina (SSHN-FBIH) this month.
A deadline of February 15 was met by Mittal's company, Global Ispat Koksana Industtrija Lukavac (GIKIL), which manages and half-owns the sodium carbonate plant, and wages were paid through December 2009.
Workers at GIKIL, also half-owned by the Canton of Tuzla, and SSHN-FBIH's President Kata Ivelijc assured that back wages were paid by the delinquent Mittal through their vigilant strikes and determination. They received assistance outside of Bosnia-Herzegovina from the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), and the European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF).
After receiving no pay for work performed over the final quarter of 2009, SSHN-FBIH began a week-long strike action on January 6. That strike gained them back-pay for October and November, and then the outside intervention and workers' actions at the plant and inside Tuzla got them December's pay by the deadline, February 15, a date on which workers were braced to take another strike action.
The empowered action of workers in highly industrialized northern Bosnia was widely noted across Europe. Both the ICEM and SSHN-FBIH pledge unified vigilance on future salaries to be paid on time, justified increases to those salaries, and improved health and safety conditions at GIKIL.
Kata Ivelijc thanked the ICEM, IMF, and EMF for "the cooperation and support" and said the intervention "left a strong impression on the institutions and media" in the region. For more information see the ICEM website. [Feb 23, 2010 – Anita Gardner]
65 DEAD REMEMBERED AS CANANEA DISPUTE CONTINUES
IMF joins striking miners in Cananea in remembering the 65 miners who died at the Grupo Mexico mine in Pasta de Conchos on February 19, 2006.
MEXICO: Striking workers at the Grupo Mexico mine in Cananea will hold a minute of silence today, February 19, in memory of the 65 miners who died on this day four years ago at Pasta de Conchos.
The 65 miners were trapped underground on February 19, 2006 when a methane explosion occurred in the number eight shaft of the Pasta de Conchos mine owned by Grupo México in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. Many of the miners that died were members of the Mexican Miners' and Metalworkers' Union (SNTMMSRM). Immediately after the blast the Mexican government deployed army troops to guard the mine.
Only two bodies were recovered at the time of the incident. Today the United Steelworkers have filed a lawsuit on behalf of the families of the deceased coal miners in a U.S. federal court in Arizona seeking damages from Grupo México and related companies.
The lawsuit alleges Grupo México and the other corporate defendants failed and refused to take the necessary steps to prevent the disaster even though they were informed of unsafe conditions by the Mexican government and the miners themselves.
This tragic event precipitated and coincided with a series of actions that included the illegal removal of Gómez as the Mexican miners ‘union's general secretary, continuing violence and intimidation of union members and leaders, including the killing of two striking workers in Lázaro Cárdenas, and Gómez' exile in Canada.
In addition, at Grupo México's massive copper mine at Cananea in the state of Sonora members of the Mexican miners' union began a strike in July 2007 over health and safety concerns at the mine.
The International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF), the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and others condemned a decision by a Mexican appeals court last week on February 11 to allow the Grupo México mining company to fire the 1,200 striking workers and union members at its Cananea copper mine.
The IMF and ICEM is urging restraint by the Mexican authorities fearing the court ruling will result in violence between armed Mexican troops and the miners.
IMF regional Representative Jorge Almeida has joined an international delegation in Cananea, today, to show solidarity support to the striking miners as they remember the dead at Pasta de Conchos. [Feb 19, 2010 – Anita Gardner]
JOB SECURITY AGREEMENT EXTENDED AT VW
IG Metall and Volkswagen extend job security agreement for 95,000 workers to 2014.
GERMANY: IG Metall and Volkswagen AG reached an agreement on February 16 to extend until 2014 job security for 95,000 workers at plants in Wolfsburg, Emden, Hanover, Salzgitter, Brunswick and Kassel and VW Financial Services AG. The employment guarantee was already part of the current negotiated agreement due to expire next year and has now been extended to 2014.
It was also agreed that all apprentices in the company will get a regular employment contract after finishing their apprenticeship, providing 6,400 young people with job security in the future.
Negotiations for the VW plants in Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden are continuing, where it is expected the same principles will apply. Elsewhere workers at VW's Audi plants are covered by regional collective bargaining contracts and subject to a separate negotiating process.
Also in the agreement is a commitment from VW to invest additional money to create new jobs in innovative and alternative sectors.
"This outcome shows that it is possible for companies to weather the storm of a global financial crisis while at the same time providing for job security for the workers who make the success of the company possible," said Helmut Lense, IMF Director for Auto. [Feb 18, 2010 – Anita Gardner]
PROTESTS GROW AGAINST EXPULSION OF MIGRANTS FROM THAILAND
Rights groups protest as millions of Burmese migrants face deportation from Thailand on March 1, 2010.
THAILAND: Over 2 million migrants have been threatened by the Royal Thai Government with deportation after February 28, 2010 if they fail to enter a complex "nationality verification" process. Over 80 per cent of these migrants are from Burma and face ethnic and political conflict as well as continuing economic deterioration in their homeland, which is controlled by a military government. Migrants from Burma left their country illegally but are still being pressured by the Thai government to submit their biographical information to Burma's military government, return to Burma to complete nationality verification and then return to work "legally" in Thailand with temporary Burmese passports.
The International Metalworkers' Federation has joined its Thai affiliate TEAM, other labour and human rights groups in seeking to relax this ruling and ensure protection of migrants' human rights.
The Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) in Thailand reports that:
- Most migrants in Thailand do not yet understand the nationality verification process
- Many migrants in Thailand have not yet entered nationality verification
- Genuine humanitarian concerns remain for migrants forced to go through nationality verification in Burma
- Unregulated nationality verification brokers are exploiting migrants
- Many migrants from Burma cannot and will not enter nationality verification but no strategy to support them exists
In an open letter delivered to the Thai Prime Minister on February 16, the IMF joined over 60 Thai and international rights groups and trade unions in calling on the Thai government to extend the February 28, 2010 deadline and immediately cease threats of mass deportation. A copy of the letter can be seen here.
Earlier on February 16, outside the United Nation's (UN) offices in Bangkok, complaint letters were submitted by protesters to representatives of the UN's Special Rapporteurs on the Human Rights of Migrants and on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, as well as the Director General of the International Labour Organization. [Feb 16, 2010 – Anita Gardner]
ICEM, IMF URGE RESTRAINT BY MEXICO AT CANANEA COPPER MINE
The caution to Mexican authorities follows a court decision on February 11 to end the 31-month strike by the Mexican Miners' Union and terminate its collective agreement with Grupo Mexico.
MEXICO: Two global union federations are urging the Mexican government and Mexican armed forces to use restraint in any attempt to secure Grupo México's Cananea copper mine in Sonora State. The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) are deeply concerned that a court ruling last week will precipitate violence between armed Mexican troops and miners represented by an affiliate of the two Geneva-based labour federations, Mexico's National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union (SNTMMSRM).
The caution to Mexican authorities comes following an February 11 decision by a labour appellate court upholding a Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board declaration to end a 31-month strike by the union, and terminating the collective agreement between SNTMMSRM and Grupo México.
The ICEM and IMF are aware that federal troops have been dispatched to northern Sonora State. The ICEM and IMF are also in direct contact with the Mexican trade union and believe miners at Cananea are resolved to continue occupying the mine until a fair and equitable labour agreement is reached.
"This week is a very critical time at Cananea and we urge the Mexican government to order its forces to use prudence and abeyance in dealing with workers," said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. "If the mine is to reopen, we insist that Grupo México, the government, and the union engage in honest dialogue to address the issues that are unresolved, and to recognise the union in a productive spirit."
"The use of violence of any kind will serve only to further isolate the parties," said IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina. "We understand that the legal process has now been exhausted, so we urge respect and balance and hopefully a negotiated resolve can occur that will put the miners back to work in a region of Mexico that desperately needs income-generating jobs."
Together, the ICEM and IMF represent 45 million workers globally. The ICEM serves as the umbrella global union federation for 467 trade unions in 132 countries, while the IMF represents the interests of 200 trade unions in 100 countries. [Feb 15, 2010 – Anita Gardner]
