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IMF NEWSBRIEFS - No. 21, October 20, 2011
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MARUTI SUZUKI BREAKS AGREEMENT, SPARKS NEW STRIKE - SHOT FIRED
Again Maruti Suzuki workers at Manesar went on strike from 4 pm on October 7, demanding reinstatement of contract workers. The strike was triggered by the company's continued lock-out, and physical attacks by hired goons on contract workers. October 9, a shot was fired.
INDIA, Oct 17, 2011: On September 30 an agreement was reached between Maruti Suzuki and striking workers. The workers agreed to resume work, and the management agreed not to indulge in any acts of vengeance against the workers. The parties also agreed to settle disputes through negotiations and to respect each others' fundamental rights.
On October 3, when the contract workers reported for duty, they were turned away. Regular workers who resumed their duties were transferred. The management also stopped bus services, making it difficult for workers to reach the factory. On October 7 the management and contractors sent goons to attack contract workers who gathered at the plant gate, and union office bearers who intervened.
From October 7 around 7000 workers started a sit-in strike at three Suzuki plants, Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), Suzuki Power Train and Suzuki Motor Cycles India Ltd, at Manesar, Gurgaon. They demand that the company immediately allow contract workers and 44 dismissed workers to resume their duties, and that they are assigned responsibilities at work stations where they have at least some experience.
On October 9 a contractor opened fire on workers at Suzuki Motor Cycles Limited. It was maintained officially that he fired in self-defence, but discussions with the workers showed that the intention was to harm workers. The workers snatched the weapon from the contractor and gave it to police.
October 10 the Haryana Labour Department slapped a notice on workers for "breach of settlement" in connection to the agreement that was signed on October 1 and asked them to respond within the next 48 hours the Economic Times of India reports.
The same media also reports that all major Indian national trade unions, cutting across party lines -- AITUC, CITU, HMS, INTUC, BMS, AIUTUC, TUCC, AICCTU and UTUC - accused the company management of "high-handed provocative activities" and said not allowing casual workers to resume work is "an absolute act of vengeance" - a blatant breach of the October 1 agreement.
Update:
A LabourStart campaign in support of the Maruti-Suzuki workers was started on October 18.
Click here to send protest letters to Shinzo Nakanishi, Managing Director and CEO of Maruti Suzuki India. [Oct 17, 2011 – Rainer Santi]
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FORTY FACTORIES OCCUPIED IN URUGUAYAN METALWORKERS' STRIKE
The National Metalworkers's Union says it is not only fighting for a pay rise and a better quality-of-life for workers. It also wants to promote development of the economy and the workforce.
URUGUAY, Oct 20, 2011: A national metalworkers' strike began on 10 October in support of the union's demand for a collective agreement to be signed. Metalworkers have occupied 40 factories throughout the country and will continue their occupation until their demands are met.
The National Metalworkers' Union (UNTMRA), an IMF affiliate, said its demands include: "an inflation plus 3.5% pay rise every six months, reduction of the working week from 48 to 44 hours without loss of pay, an end to employer misuse of attendance bonuses to undermine the union, a new job classification structure (the current classification dates from 1968) and two hours pay for union meetings; this will allow us to improve our workplace organisation, including in unorganised factories".
UNTMRA explained that the union had called an indefinite strike because the collective agreement expired on 30 June 2010. The union has been negotiating for months but has not yet reached agreement with employers in the sector. A decree awarded a 1.5% pay rise in January 2011 but the union says a decree is not the same as a collective agreement. "We are not only fighting for a pay rise and a better quality-of-life for workers. We also want to promote development of the economy and the workforce", said a union spokesman.
He added that the employers' organisation had refused to dialogue. "It has showed a clear lack of interest in meeting our pay demands and also a lack of initiative with regard to industrial development. However, it has increased repression of the workforce, temporarily placing some workers on unemployment pay, threatening to dismiss others and generally acting in a provocative way in order to change the focus of the dispute away from our list of demands". [Oct 20, 2011 – Valeska Solis]
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LAST ISSUE OF METAL WORLD PUBLISHED!
A new issue of Metal World - the last - went to print and is published on the IMF website.
GLOBAL, Oct 20, 2011: The spreading precarious work brings insecurity to workers and their families. It lays a huge burden on their shoulders. The main feature of this issue of Metal World focuses on the trade union fight for social protection for precarious workers, the least privileged and the most vulnerable group of workers.
On the eve of the IMF Central Committee meeting on December 7 and 8 in Jakarta, Indonesia, Metal World reports about the work that IMF and its affiliates have carried out since 2009 when the IMF World Congress took place in Sweden in the most difficult times of world economic and financial crisis. Developments in industrial sectors, campaigns for trade union rights, work in the regions and union building efforts are reported in the special report ‘Building union power for secure jobs and a secure future’.
In June 2012 members of the three global union federations IMF, ICEM and ITGLWF plan to found a new International for industrial workers. Jyrki Raina, IMF general secretary, reflects on a new era of global solidarity that will start with this bold step.
Finally, Metal World publishes a profile of Miriam Chipunza, a young activist in Zimbabwe. She speaks about her union, the IMF-affiliated National Engineering Workers Union, and of its participation in the recent World Day of Decent Work, together with many other unions across the globe.
This will be the last issue of Metal World. Since the year 2000 we have been providing in depth analysis of the trends in the metalworking industries, and reporting on challenges and successes of workers fighting for their rights in the world. Now, after a decade, this magazine's journey comes to an end. But plans are already being made, and pens are sharpened, in order to take on the challenges of the future. With the advent of a new international organization Metal World too will take new shapes. We look forward to it! [Oct 20, 2011 – Alex Ivanou]
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NO CONSENSUS ON AGENCY WORK AT ILO
At the ILO Global Dialogue Forum on private employment agencies, unions put on record their experiences of employment through agencies being used to drive down wages and prevent agency workers from joining a union and bargaining collectively.
GLOBAL, Oct 20, 2011: On October 18-19, representatives of governments, private employment agencies and trade unions exchanged views on the role of agencies in promoting decent work. The discussions revealed that unions and agencies have completely different views on the impact of the growth of agency labour on employment.
The agencies repeatedly insisted that agency work is decent work, that it creates jobs and that it is never used to undermine or replace open-ended, direct employment. All of these claims were rejected by trade union representatives, who presented a catalogue of situations from a variety of industries around the world that demonstrated that agency employment is being used to systematically replace permanent jobs, lowering wages and conditions and leaving workers with no social protection and no possibility of joining a union or bargaining collectively with their employer. Worker delegates insisted that triangular employment relationships by their very nature make collective bargaining virtually impossible.
It rapidly became clear that the representatives of private employment agencies were using the meeting to seek legitimacy for their industry, to grow their markets and to be recognized as the sole counterpart for collective bargaining, at the exclusion of user enterprises. For their part, unions were seeking equal treatment for agency workers and restrictions on the circumstances under which agency employment is permissible, its duration and extent. Unions also wanted action to strengthen freedom of association and collective bargaining for agency workers which included user enterprises and unions representing workers in user enterprises.
At the end of the meeting, a very limited number of potential consensus points were put forward for discussion, but finally the meeting ended with no conclusions when agency representatives showed that they were not ready to negotiate in order to reach agreement.
Unions will continue to work within the framework of the ILO to ensure greater protection for agency workers and to limit the spread of agency work and triangular employment relationships. [Oct 20, 2011 – Jenny Holdcroft]
BELARUS PARLIAMENT VOTED ON A BILL CURTAILING FOREIGN AID TO NGOS
On October 3 lower house of the Belarus parliament adopted in the two readings the bill 'On Making Addenda and Amendments to Some Laws of the Republic of Belarus'. This bill, among other things, make completely illegal foreign financial support and financial aid to NGOs (including the unions) and further complicates arranging of mass protests and actions.
BELARUS, Oct 20, 2011: On October 3 the lower house of the Belarus parliament adopted in the two readings the bill ‘On Making Addenda and Amendments to Some Laws of the Republic of Belarus’. This bill, among other things, makes foreign financial support and financial aid to NGOs (including unions) completely illegal. Such aid is treated as a criminal offence. The NGOs are also forbidden to have money on the accounts of foreign banks. The bill also complicates arranging of mass protests and actions.
Another bill introduced to the parliament, ‘On Making Amendments and Addenda to the Law of the Republic of Belarus ‘On mass events in Belarus,’ further criminalizes mass protests and actions.
The upper house of the Belarus parliament will consider both bills on October 21.
A third bill introduced to the parliament substantially widens the authority of the State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus. Thus, it allows the officers of the Committee to enter any premises, using physical force if needed, without a court order. When and what version of the bill will be adopted is unknown.
According to some sources, the bills were discussed in the Parliament in secret. Belarus media reports that even the press office of the Parliament doesn’t have access to the notes of the hearing on October 3. It is unknown if there were MPs who abstained or voted against the bills on that day.
Belarus human rights activists strongly condemned the new bills. EU representatives also criticized the new legislation.
‘The bills are not aimed at preventing crime and terrorism. They are aimed at intimidating the citizens whose point of view on what is happening in Belarus differs from that of the authority,’ said Gennady Fedynich, president of the Trade Union of Workers of Radio & Electronics Industry, Automobile Machinery, Metalworking Industry and Other Branches of the National Economy (REPAM), an IMF affiliate.
‘Furthermore, these bills will not improve the economic condition of the working people, students and retired workers. I’m convinced that they will not encourage the consolidation of society on the issue of overcoming social and economic impasse in which Belarus is trapped. The effects of the bills will be quite the opposite,’ added Fedynich.
‘I believe there’s no need to tighten the laws on NGOs. The existing laws and the actual legal practices don’t permit the citizens to freely exercise their right to create such organizations and engage in civic, not political, activity,’ said Vasily Levchenkov, president of the Free Metalworkers’ Union (SPM), also an IMF affiliate in Belarus. [Oct 20, 2011 – Ilya Matveev]
UAW SIGNS FOR U.S. MEMBERS AT FORD AND CHRYSLER
UAW’s tentative four-year agreements with Ford and Chrysler focus on jobs and investments. If accepted by 67,000 USW members at Ford and Chrysler, thousands of new jobs will be created.
USA, Oct 20, 2011: The agreement with Ford adds 5,750 new UAW jobs which means that with jobs previously announced Ford will create more than 12,000 new jobs. Many of the jobs will be added by the end of 2012. The agreement also specifies investments of $16 billion to produce more new and upgraded vehicles and components by 2015.
UAW further made important gains in income and benefits in the tentative agreement. Entry-level wages were increased to US$19.28 an hour over the term of the agreement. Workers will get a $5-6,000 settlement bonus depending on seniority, US$7,000 in inflation protection and other lump-sum payments over the term of the agreement. Current health care benefits were maintained and improved.
During the two weeks preceding October 19 Ford workers voted largely in favour of the tentative contract, with 85 per cent of the 41,000 UAW members voting, making the contract the second agreement ratified with the US automakers, after the agreement with General Motors.
Also the tentative agreement with Chrysler, covering 26,000 UAW members, secures current jobs and adds an additional 2,100 jobs during its duration. It also includes a significant commitment from Chrysler to invest in plants, and in engineering and design to bring new and upgraded car models. US$4.5 billion will be invested directly into retooling and upgrading.
At Chrysler too, new hire wages are increased to US$19.28 an hour over the term of the agreement. New hires now earn about $14.65. First-tier workers, as at GM and Ford, receive no raise. A ratification bonus of US$3,500 will be paid, one half in 2011 and one half in 2012. In addition to that, there will be US$1,000 in annual Quality and Performance bonuses and up to US$1,000 in an annual "Upside Bonus" on achieving World Class Manufacturing (WCM) metrics. [Oct 20, 2011 – Rainer Santi]
SAVE OUR STEEL JOBS SO WE CAN SAVE OUR INDUSTRY
The International Metalworkers Federation is calling on Government and business leaders to back steel industry workers to ensure future success. The call comes amidst a number of high profile companies announcing closures or job losses that could undermine the future sustainability of the steel industry. Recent announcements have included 1,300 job losses at BlueScope Steel in Australia, the permanent closure at Liege (Belgium) and the idled blast furnaces in Florange (France) and Eisenhüttenstadt (Germany) by ArcelorMittal.
GLOBAL, Oct 19, 2011: Despite warnings from unions about the volatile conditions facing the steel industry many Governments have failed to act and introduce measures that improve sustainability. While steel demand is still waiting to fully recover in many developed countries unions are facing difficult decisions on how to address employer concerns on fixed costs. The main fixed costs are Raw Materials, Energy, Labour and Distribution. During the recent downturn the main focus of employers has been on labour but despite tough choices taken by workers it appears as if this is not enough.
Rob Johnston Executive Director stated "Unless Governments act by developing industrial policies which support the continuation of steel production more announcements of job losses are likely to follow". "A tripartite approach is critical workers alone cannot save this industry nor should they have to, measures have to be taken to address raw material prices, energy costs and fair trade".
Currently three big raw material companies BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Vale control seventy per cent of the iron ore market and use their dominant position to dictate prices for raw materials. Prices for raw materials have increased by over 100 per cent in the last year.
Also at the same time as record profits for mining companies many treat their workforce badly in attempts to maximize profits and oppress workers rights. The IMF wants Governments to take back some of the power from mining companies on pricing to ensure a more sustainable approach.
As part of this process Government intervention must also be matched by a greater long term commitment from employers. Social justice and long-term employment policies must be an integral part of business strategies. The steel industry must position itself for a brighter future through supporting programs that invest in education, training and vocational skills. Retaining a highly skilled and secure workforce is the foundation for a successful industry, short-termism is not the answer. Industrial change is happening in the industry already workers have to be prepared but also protected as worker participation is key.
Sadly until these measures are taken workers will continue to pay the price for the current crisis. Irresponsible decisions will continue to be made that undermine the future of manufacturing industries and see the closure of plants that have the potential to be profitable if given an equal opportunity by policy makers. [Oct 19, 2011 – Rob Johnston]
AUSTRIAN METALWORKERS NEGOTIATE 2011 WAGE TERMS
Broad strike activity accelerated a positive wage agreement in the Austrian metal sector. On October 18 Austrian trade unions PRO-GE and GPA djp, the Salaried Employees, Print, Journalism, Paper Union, emerged from bargaining on behalf on 170,000 metal and industrial workers with positive results.
Oct 18, 2011: The 2011 pay awards will range from 4.2% to 4.4%, with the minimum wage in the sector increasing by €80-per-month, or a sizeable 5.3%. The ICEM commends these wage gains as a sterling European example in creating consumer power to offset the dire financial climate of the Eurozone. PRO-GE and GPA djp are to be congratulated for negotiating €300 million into the Austrian economy in this single set of talks.
This was made possible by strategic and early strikes last week that moved third-round bargaining up to yesterday, and forced the employers' hand in raising their wage offers to above 4%. (See ICEM report on Austrian coordinated strikes last week here.)
"We have met our main demands of sustainable wage and salary increases, particularly for the lowest paid workers," said Rainer Wimmer, PRO-GE's chief negotiator. "I thank the stewards, members, and supporters who made this deal possible. Without the 800 workplace actions and the pressure generated by the strikes, this would not have been possible."
Those strikes happened last Thursday and Friday, and were about to carry into Monday, 17 October, except that employers recognised the growing momentum among workers for fair wage gains and they reached settlement on union terms. That recognition came in hastily called exploratory talks held on Sunday, 16 October, that included ÖGB national labour centre President Erich Foglar and the leader of the chief employers' association, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ).
Third-round bargaining was moved up from 20 October to yesterday to avoid further work stoppages, and the two sides reached accord early today after a 14-hour bargaining session.
The agreement grants a 1 November pay rise of 4.4% to bottom rung workers, 4.3 to mid-level, 4.2% to senior staff, and 4% to top level people. In addition, pay for apprentices increases by 4.3% and all benefit indemnifications increase by the same amount.
Perhaps the crowning achievement was hiking the minimum wage by 5.3%, or up to €1,584-per-month. The wage agreement positively affects the buying power for 25,000 autoworkers, 16,000 who work in basic steel and iron, 5,000 in non-ferrous metals, 5,000 in utility work, and tens of thousands more in machinery, metal goods, and other industrial production.
Austria's metal sector agreement now sets a template for 450,000 retail sector workers. Unions representing those workers and retail employers begin talks on 19 October.
See full ICEM report here. [Oct 18, 2011 – ICEM]
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NEW COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT IN SWISS WATCH INDUSTRY
Thanks to their tenacity and to grass-roots mobilization, the negotiators of UNIA, the Swiss IMF affiliate, have succeeded in thwarting the employers’ drive toward flexibility and achieved some gains in social benefits.
SWITZERLAND, Oct 13, 2011: Representatives of UNIA and the watch-making industry have just signed in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, a new collective agreement in the watch and micro-technology sector. It will apply to the approximately 400 enterprises in the industry covered by the agreement (mostly small and medium sized enterprises) and 85% of workers in the watch-making industry, which employs about 48,500 people.
Major progress was made in the area of social benefits, the minimum starting wage and the creation of a flexible retirement scheme. In addition to an increase in the employers' contribution to the health insurance fund, a family and training benefit of 30 francs will be added to the existing amounts. As regards the starting wage, the union obtained an increase of 100 francs per month for those cantons where wages are lowest, and 80 francs for the others. The employers' attempt to raise fluctuating hours from 30/45 to 30/48 hours was rejected.
According to Jean-Claude Rennwald, the architect of the new agreement and the officer in charge of the watch-making industry at UNIA, flexible retirement is the most innovative area of progress. Workers in the industry will now be able to reduce their working time by 20% two years before the legal retirement age with the assurance that the employer will cover half of the lost pay at his expense. It will also be possible to reduce working time by 40% one year before retirement, with the employer covering lost pay.
Furthermore, union access to the plants will be improved and delegates to UNIA professional conferences (watch-making, industry) will receive one day of paid leave per year to attend them. Regarding temporary employment, which affects about 4% of employees in the sector, negotiators achieved the establishment of a joint commission which will investigate abuses.
The new agreement is the result of eight months of negotiations. It has been concluded for a period of 5 years, and will come into force on January 1, 2012. Negotiations on adjustment of pay to inflation as of January 1 of the following year take place every year in September. [Oct 13, 2011 – Anne-Marie Mureau]
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FIRST COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT WITH TENARIS COLOMBIA
After two years of death threats, legal manoeuvring and delays on the part of Tenaris, Sintratucar signed its first collective agreement with Tenaris Tubos del Caribe on October 7.
COLOMBIA, Oct 12, 2011: The members of Sintratucar -- Sindicato de Trabajadores de Tubos Caribe - working for Tenaris Tubos del Caribe Ltd, Colombia, will get new protections in the work place, higher salaries, opportunities to obtain loans from the company to buy houses and support for the education of their children, among other achievements.
A further substantial gain is the transfer to permanent status of 30 workers that have been working on contract for long time, some of them 17 years, doing the same jobs as other Tenaris workers.
Sintratucar thanks the Tenaris Workers' World Council for its undeviating support since the union was formed. The IMF congratulates Sintratucar for the achievement. [Oct 12, 2011 – Rainer Santi]
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NUTEAIW WINS UNION VOTE AT BOSCH MALAYSIA
A secret ballot to determine the majorty for union recognition at Robert Bosch, Malaysia, was conducted by the Malaysian Ministry on September 27. The National Union of Transport Equipment and Allied Industries Workers (NUTEAIW), an IMF affiliate, secured a 73.6% majority among the 499 employees.
MALAYSIA, Oct 08, 2011: After enquiries of the local Bosch management the Malaysian Authority didn´t accept the competence of NUTEAIW. Unions in Bosch then visited the Bosch plant in Malaysia in November 2010 and met with the union and with the local management.
After a lot of discussions especially at the headquarters of Bosch in Stuttgart, Germany, the European Works Council achieved that the local management was asked to prepare for union recognition.
"Sometimes these things take a long time, and our work is like the strong and slow boring of hard boards," Helmut Lense at the IMF said. "But if the result is positive it´s worth it."
NUTEAIW thanks especially the European Works Council of Robert Bosch for the assistance rendered in its struggle. [Oct 08, 2011 – Rainer Santi]
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SIX WORKERS CRUSHED IN SHIPYARD IN THE PHILIPPINES
Five workers were immediately crushed to death and seven more injured when a 42-ton elevated ramp fell on workers at Keppel Subic Shipyard on October 7. Later the same day one of the seven injured workers died in hospital in Olongapo. The MWAP denounces lax safety standards.
PHILIPPINES, Oct 12, 2011: The killed workers were Cris Xander Papna, Jhay Lord Reyes, Glenn Miranda and Ronaldo Bagay, project employees of Keppel Subic Shipyard, and Mark San Juan and Ronald Lara, from Garcia & Rocafor General Services (G&R), a subcontractor.
The Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines (MWAP) – an IMF affiliate uniting workers in the metal industry including automotive, electronics, shipbuilding, mining and steel – expressed its deepest condolences to the family and relatives of the victims of the accident.
The MWAP conducted a fact-finding mission at the site, and found irregularities in Keppel’s health and safety practices which caused the tragic incident. They were presented at a press conference on October 11 in Quezon City.
The steel tower ramp that fell on the workers was shaky, and lacked the usual 10-ton support. There was only one boom when the incident happened – a deviation from the common practice of using four booms when a ramp is repaired.
“We hold the management of the Keppel Shipyard responsible for non-implementation of mechanisms ensuring workers’ safety and lives. We call on the government to conduct a thorough investigation and help shed light on the real reasons and lessons of the incident,” said Reden Alcantara, MWAP secretary-general.
Accidents are common in the shipbuilding and shipyard industry. At the nearby Hanjin shipyard in Subic over 40 workers have died in industrial accidents. “The industry requires the highest standards of occupational health and safety due to the dangers inherent in it,” Alcantara said.
The workers’ alliance likewise called on the government to review the Philippine Economic Zone Authority’s jurisdiction over the country’s special economic zones to make the PEZA at least conform with existing labor laws.
“We are alarmed by the fact that investigators and even Subic Mayor Jay Khonghun were initially denied entry to the company premises because it is under the jurisdiction of PEZA. Is Keppel so powerful as to have its own laws and regulations that are contrary to Philippine laws?” Alcantara asked.
The fact-finding mission’s initial findings will be presented to the Congressional Oversight Committee on Labor and Employment to urge the body to conduct an investigation into the incident in aid of legislation. [Oct 12, 2011 – Rainer Santi]
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INDONESIAN FSP-KEP (SPSI) MINERS EXTEND FREEPORT-MCMORAN STRIKE, ONE SHOT DEAD
On 6 October, leaders of Indonesian FSP-KEP (SPSI), the Trade Union of Chemical, Energy, and Mine Workers (CEMWU), officially extended a 30-day strike at the world’s largest gold and third largest copper mine one more month – until 15 November.
INDONESIA, Oct 10, 2011: Community leaders also formed a committee and visited different locations of the vast mining complex in order to assess the number of outside workers recruited to break the strike. The committee visits were fired upon, with reports today that one protestor was shot dead.
The Grasberg mine in Papua Province, New Guinea Island, is 91% owned by US-based Freeport- McMoRan. The PT Freeport Indonesia Workers' Union of CEMWU is in dispute with its subsidiary, PT Freeport Indonesia, over unwillingness to meet the salary demands of 10,000 miners. They are seeking a 65% increase above the current US$1.50-an-hour wage rate.
A two-year labour agreement expired on 1 October. The company is offering only an 11% increase in each year of a new two-year agreement, below that recommended by Indonesian government mediation last month.
Last week, government officials of West Papua Province, leaders of the province's Parliament, the Papua Peoples' Council of seven indigenous groups, a human rights committee, and the PT Freeport Indonesia Workers' Union of CEMWU waited patiently for mine managers to show up to address issues. None did.
This came a week after the ICEM intervened with Freeport-McMoRan's chairman asking him to personally step in to resolve the dispute, which threatens global copper and gold supplies. The ICEM received a response from a senior vice president of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold stating the executive had full confidence in managers of PT Freeport Indonesia.
The response stated, "The union maintains its unrealistic demands for compensation, which are grossly inconsistent with Indonesian wage levels and, substantially in excess of the wages of mining workers in other countries performing similar duties."
In the mediation last month, the union reduced its wage demands from a doubling of the US$1.50-per-hour salary to 65%. Freeport-McMoRan posted a net profit of US$1.37 billion in the second quarter of 2011 and the person ICEM and the CEMWU is trying engage to resolve the dispute, James Moffet, took in a total compensation package in 2010 of US$21.5 million.
Read the full ICEM report here. [Oct 10, 2011 – ICEM]
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GEORGIAN METALWORKERS AT HERCULES STEEL REHIRED
International pressure – both inside and out of Georgia – caused a change of course last week by police and political authorities in the aftermath of belligerent 15 September strike-breaking at Euroasian Steels in Kutaisi.
GEORGIA, Oct 07, 2011: Not only were over 30 sacked workers offered their jobs back, but police questioned the Indian managing director and two aides at Euroasian, also known as Hercules Steel, on 29 September.
The next day the top boss was sacked.
Meanwhile, three strike leaders - Emilo Gumberidze, Irakli Iobidze, and Malkhaz Gogiava - who were jailed by police on bogus charges were released after serving ten-day sentences in the Kutaisi jail. (See ICEM report here.)
They immediately called Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers' Union President Tamazi Dolaberidze and pledged their continued support to the union. On 30 September, the new acting managing director of Hercules personally called each of the three to offer them their jobs back. The reversal gave Hercules metalworkers renewed momentum following the strike's crushing and that registered both with Georgian workers and about 130 Indian workers employed at the rolling mill.
Several points of global and internal civil pressure caused deep embarrassment to Georgia. There also was high-level diplomatic pressure involved, especially after an international delegation that included the ICEM and top leaders from Poland's Solidarnoşç exposed the fact that the Indian workers at Hercules may be treated worse than anyone else.
They live eight to a room in a dormitory adjacent to the mill, their passports were held by the senior boss, and their salaries are sent back to India. It is believed that the top boss, Raji Kumar Sureika, was sacked because he was holding the passports.
The strike last month by 200 Hercules metalworkers was sparked after the Metallurgical, Mining and Chemical Workers' Union gained written support from a majority of the Georgian workers and then requested labour-management dialogue. After several weeks, the request was ignored and the strike started, including hunger strikes by four workers in front of the mill.
Two days into the strike, police violently broke it up and literally forced workers back to their jobs. Workers are angry that the two-year-old start-up mill has no salary schedule, no health and safety plan, and pays no overtime. Following last week's good news, the ICEM-affiliated Metallurgical, Mining and Chemical Workers' Union again called on Hercules to enter peaceful, constructive negotiations.
See a full ICEM report here. [Oct 07, 2011 – ICEM]
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UNIONS URGE ILO TO ACT ON PRECARIOUS WORK
Unions from around the world, including IMF affiliates, participated in the ILO Workers’ Symposium on Policies and Regulations to Combat Precarious Employment on October 4-7, 2011. The Symposium produced a set of recommendations on measures that the ILO should take to reduce precarious work and improve conditions for precarious workers.
SWITZERLAND, Oct 10, 2011: While trade unions have recognized for a long time the threat that the rapid expansion of precarious work throughout the world poses to workers' rights, concerns have been raised that the ILO is not doing enough to protect the rights of precarious workers to join a union and participate in meaningful collective bargaining. In order to put the issue firmly at the centre of the ILO's standard setting and enforcement agenda, ACTRAV, the Workers' Bureau of the ILO, organized a Worker's Symposium which brought together union representatives from both developing and industrialized countries, the public and the private sector.
During three days, unions shared information on how worldwide, unimaginable numbers of workers are suffering from precarious, insecure, uncertain and unpredictable working conditions. They discussed how global forces are driving the rapid expansion of precarious work in all countries and in all sectors of the economy and the urgent need for regulatory and policy responses to prevent this.
The aims of the Symposium included determining how existing standards can be better promoted in order to protect the rights of precarious workers as well as identifying gaps in existing international labour protections that could be filled by the development of new standards.
At the conclusion of the Symposium, union representatives called on the ILO to conduct a comprehensive report on the obstacles that prevent precarious workers from being able to bargain collectively with their employer, with a particular focus on the barriers to workers in triangular relationships bargaining with the employer that controls their conditions of work. They called for ILO action to promote key conventions and recommendations that can improve conditions for precarious workers and pointed to the need for further regulation, particularly to limit temporary employment other than in cases of legitimate need.
For more information on the content and outcomes of the Symposium, click here. [Oct 10, 2011 – Jenny Holdcroft]
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UNIONS MOBILIZE IN GENEVA FOR THE WORLD DAY OF DECENT WORK
Unions from around the world join local Swiss trade unions in mobilizing to defend trade union rights and decent work on the occasion of the World Day of Decent Work (WDDW) on October 7.
SWITZERLAND, Oct 09, 2011: On October 7, the World Day for Decent Work, 200 international trade unionists joined IMF affiliate UNIA and other Swiss unions outside the UN Headquarters in Geneva to demand recognition of trade union rights and the elimination of precarious employment.
Unions, including several IMF affiliates, who had been attending the ILO Workers' Symposium on precarious work, joined the call by the Swiss unions for stronger protection against dismissal for shop stewards and better union access to workplaces. Actions symbolizing the obstacles and pressures placed on unions in defending workers were held. Employer control over workers, particularly precarious workers, was illustrated by human puppets representing a worker and shop steward being controlled by strings held by managers. At the conclusion of the action, the union cut the strings and freed the workers to exercise their union rights.
Swiss union speakers told their international colleagues how trade union freedoms are being undermined even in Switzerland. Despite a recommendation to the Swiss government from the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association to strengthen protections against dismissal of shop stewards, no improvement has been noticed. In Geneva, the city that hosts the headquarters of the ILO, trade unions face major obstacles in exercising their right to provide information to workers about their rights at work.
The combined unions then marched from the UN to the ILO, carrying a symbolic social safety net containing union demands which were then handed over to ILO Executive Director Guy Ryder to conclude the actions.
Watch the demonstration on the IMF-TV Channel on youtube. [Oct 09, 2011 – Jenny Holdcroft]
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WHAT NAME FOR THE NEW INTERNATIONAL?
On 18-20 June 2012, a new global union federation will see daylight at a Founding Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark. But what shall the new International be called? Now you have the chance to make a proposal.
GLOBAL, Sep 16, 2011: The organization will unite 50 million workers in more than 140 countries in automotive, aerospace, mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, mining, energy, metal, chemicals, paper, rubber, building materials, textile, garment and leather industries.
It aims to connect workers, fight for labour rights and build global solidarity across entire supply chains. It will be a strong counterweight to multinational companies and promote social justice, democracy and a sustainable future in the whole world.
Such a powerful organization needs a fresh and identifiable name. Your contribution is welcome. Please send your proposal by e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at the latest on 31 October 2011.
A joint Executive Committee meeting of the IMF, ICEM and ITGLWF will decide upon the name at the end of February 2012. [Sep 16, 2011 – Alex Ivanou]
