BMW workers in the UK announce strike action over pensions threat

The strikes will be combined with an overtime ban and work to rule, and involve up to 3,500 BMW workers at plants in Cowley, Goodwood, Hams Hall and Swindon. The workers are represented by IndustriALL Global Union affiliate Unite the Union, who voted 93 per cent vote in favour of strike action over BMW’s plan to close the final salary pension scheme. It will be the first ever strike by BMW workers in the UK.
 
BMW’s plans could see some workers lose up to £160,000 in retirement income. This is despite a growth of eight per cent in profit to €6.9 billion, a record year for Mini sales, and a six per cent rise in Rolls-Royce sales.
 
On 29 March 2017, a union delegation visited the company headquarters in Munich to protest the closure of the scheme, and accuse bosses of “pension robbery”. Unite plant convenor Norman Gough and national officer Tony Murphy met Manfred Schoch of IG Metall, who is chair of the BMW European Works Council (EWC). The Unite delegation requested support from the EWC and Schoch confirmed they would stand in solidarity.
 
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said,


 “BMW’s bosses need to get their heads out of the sand.
 
“BMW’s UK workers have contributed significantly to a record year in revenues and sales for the carmaker. They deserve better than broken pension promises and the loss of tens of thousands of pounds in retirement income.”

 Helmut Lense, IndustriALL director for the automotive sector, said,


 “BMW is a very profitable company, whose success is the consequence of the hard work and skill of its loyal workforce. We expect the company to agree to a fair solution which will be acceptable for both parties..”

South African metalworkers win 35% wage increase

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) has settled a dispute with the Automobile Manufacturers Employers’ Organisation, the employer body that includes automobile manufacturers Nissan, Ford, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Renault and VW.

The agreement will see a 35 per cent wage increase spread over three years, with 10% in the first year, 8% in the second year and 8% in the third year. The agreement will also provide a 20% shift allowance, and increases in transport and housing subsidies.

NUMSA action spokesperson Patrick Craven said:

“We feel this is a good deal in the circumstances, and we’re very pleased that our members have endorsed it. In other sectors, tough negotiations are proceeding.”

NUMSA declared a dispute with the employers’ group in July. After prolonged negotiations, an agreement was reached and signed on 12 September. This is the first time in nine years that an agreement was reached in the sector without strike action. In 2013, a strike by NUMSA in both manufacturing and components caused severe disruption in the sector.

NUMSA general secretary Irvin Jim said that while negotiations went smoothly in the auto manufacturing sector, strike action was looming in the components sector, because of employers’ failure to make a meaningful offer.

NUMSA is fighting the fragmentation of bargaining councils in the sector, and is still in dispute with the Fuel Retailers Association and the Retail Motor Industry Organisation.

“We wish to inform bosses in the sectors where negotiations are going on to come to the party and make meaningful offers. We will move very swiftly from now onwards to mobilize workers to push employers in sectors still negotiating to swiftly complete the current round of negotiations,” said Irvin Jim.

Helmut Lense, IndustriALL director for the Automotive and Rubber sectors, said:

“This is a good negotiated settlement for NUMSA members in the auto manufacturing industry. Employers in related sectors need to come to the table with a meaningful offer, and end the uncertainty in the sector.”

South Africa’s growing auto manufacturing sector is an import contributor to the country’s GDP and exports.

Empowering Mexican auto workers

The event on 7-8 July, brought together union representatives from Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan and Mexico, who have negotiated collective agreements in the sector, as well as leading academics and labour specialists, and officials of IndustriALL and the FES. This was the third global encounter of its kind.

Mexico is currently the world’s fourth largest auto exporter, employing 580,000 workers, a number set to grow considerably over the coming years.

The rapid growth is explained by the fact that minimum wages in Mexico lag 20 per cent behind wages in China and are among the lowest in Latin America. There is almost a total absence of free and independent unions in Mexico, where 90 per cent of the contracts are ‘protection contracts’ (sham contracts signed by ‘representatives’, often lawyers, without the knowledge or consent of workers). These unfair advantages, combined with the benefits of a skilled workforce, proximity to North American markets and a well-established export industry provide an irresistible lure for multinational auto companies from around the world.

Helmut Lense, IndustriALL auto director, said:

IndustriALL and its leading affiliates in the sector are committed to help improve the wages and working conditions of Mexican auto workers. Dealing with multinationals from around the world means dealing with different corporate and trade union cultures; the key here is to ensure that the objective remains the same even if the approaches are different.

Our work must be grounded in concrete actions in specific workplaces to bring about real change for Mexican workers. And we must make sure that both from inside and outside Mexico, we work together and move from individual to collective efforts.

IndustriALL assistant general secretary Fernando Lopes added that IndustriALL would continue to use global networks, works councils and global framework agreement to build genuine unions, both in car assembly plants and in the auto parts supply chain:

If unions genuinely want to represent and defend workers, we are ready to assist them.

IndustriALL and IGMetall representatives committed to resolve the situation at BMW, where local management last year bought a ‘protection contract’ over the internet three years before the planned opening of the factory in 2017. They also committed to reaffirm full support to IndustriALL affiliate STUHM, the union fighting for recognition at a Honda plant.

Participants adopted a declaration in which they agreed to hold the Mexican government to its commitments arising from the recommendations from this year’s International Labour Conference, to support calls for Mexico’s ratification of ILO Convention 98 and to improve coordination and improved collective bargaining.

Strike season heats up in South Africa’s auto sector

More than 2,000 workers at a BMW plant in South Africa have gone on strike over a deadlock in plant level negotiations relating to shift allowances. The deadlock was not resolved in conciliation which led to the industrial action. 

Negotiations are also underway in the auto sector and BMW has portrayed in the media that they are perplexed by the strike given the sector level talks. 

"It must be very clear that BMW cannot say that they are confused by this strike. Negotiations with them at plant level preceded the industry level negotiations. In fact BMW tried to interdict the strike but the labour court allowed it to proceed;” said Alex Mashilo, negotiator for Numsa. “BMW’s claims are even more unfounded because at industry level we are discussing that shift allowance must be negotiated at plant level."

Meanwhile a wage deadlock has been reached in the industry level negotiations. More than 31,000 workers are expected to go on strike on 19 August, should the deadlock not be resolved. A strike notice has been served to employers in the auto sector including Toyota, Nissan, Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

Originally workers demanded a 20 per cent increase and are down to a demand of 14 per cent. Employers have officially offered 6 per cent plus R1.07 per hour.

Employers are indicating willingness to raise the offer to 10 per cent plus R1.07 per hour for the first year, and consumer price index (CPI) inflation plus 0.25 per cent and R1.07 per hour for each of the following two years.

Numsa wants a double digit wage increase and is not willing to accept lower wage increases after the first year in subsequent years covered by the three year agreement. 

Global solidarity ensures union at auto supplier in Turkey

Following intervention by the companies to whom Fontana Pietro supplies dies, local company management has relinquished its court case in which it was challenging the legal certification of the union by the Ministry of Labour. Birlesik Metal-Is now expects to start collective bargaining negotiations once bureaucratic procedures are completed.

Birlesik Metal Is, an affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union, organized the majority of workers at the Fontana Pietro plant in Tuzla, Turkey and received legal certification of its majority status in August 2012 as required by Turkish labour laws.

Soon after, Fontana Pietro, an Italian-based company that specializes in engineering, making dies and stamping steel and aluminium for the auto sector, began a systematic campaign to harass the union members, including dismissals, and challenged the union’s legal recognition in court.

According to the terms of the Global Framework Agreements signed with IndustriALL Global Union and Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW, the auto companies agree to fundamental rights at work including freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, and that these rights should also be observed by supplier companies.

IndustriALL Global Union reported to the Works Councils of VW, Daimler and BMW about the violations taking place at Fontana Pietro and asked the companies to intervene based on the terms of the Global Framework Agreement.

FIM-CISL and FIOM-CGIL, Italian unions affiliated to IndustriALL that has members at Fontana Pietro plants in Italy, met with the company management in late 2012 in an effort to solve the issue. At the time, the management at head quarters in Italy refused to intervene on the basis that it was up to local management.

“Global solidarity, global framework agreements and the strength of the union in Turkey has forced Fontana Pietro management to finally accept fundamental rights at work and recognize Birlesik Metal Is,” said Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union.
 

BMW

The agreement also states that the BMW Group expects its business partners and suppliers to adopt these principles as a criterion for lasting business relationships.

The agreement was signed after challenging and lengthy negotiations between the company and trade union and worker representatives.