Inditex GFA in new phase with pilot project in Turkey

Inditex and IndustriALL have developed a Guideline on Free Elections of Workers’ Representatives, and concept paper for a prototypic program covering workers and managers from supplier companies with a view to proper implementation of provisions of the GFA and the protocol on involvement of local unions.

A pilot project in Turkey has started with a workshop in Istanbul on 25 April with participation of around fifty worker and management representatives from four factories supplying to Inditex as well as leaders from IndustriALL and its two Turkish affiliates DISK/Tekstil and Deri-Is. Workers representatives were already elected at the factories concerned through town-hall meetings where the global framework agreement was explained with a particular emphasis on fundamental rights and freedoms.

Following a start with a joint session where the purpose of the project was identified to all the participants, two separate sessions, one with elected employee representatives and another with managers, were organized. Finally the separate groups reconvened in a joint session to share the findings and to frame future work under the GFA.

In the two parallel sessions, Turkish individual and collective labour legislation, ILO Conventions and major axes of the Framework Agreement were specifically discussed through speakers from universities, trade unions and employers’ organizations. A lively debate in the workers’ session focused on particular circumstances with a view to finding ways to handle problems through dialogue, union organizing and collective bargaining. Most of the participants cited that it was their first time having such open discussion about their working and living conditions with a hope for further improvement. Discussions in the session of managers focused on the country's business culture, approaches over corporate social responsibility and working with trade unions in a spirit of dialogue.

At the end, the seminar with representatives of workers and management from supplying factories constituted a breakthrough in forming a solid background for social dialogue within the spirit of the GFA. As a first experience with its pilot character, the seminar identified findings to prepare a basic document that will essentially work on further implementation of the GFA, and serve as preparation of future applications of this method of working.

Attending the seminar, IndustriALL Global Union’s Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan commented: “With this first experience, we are now much more convinced that our global framework agreement will continue to play an important role in labour relations in the garment sector. We really want our joint work with Inditex to stand as a good model for the rest of the sector worldwide.”

The project in Turkey will continue at other Inditex supplier factories with the involvement of other IndustriALL affiliates in the sector, Teksif and Öz İplik-İş.

Union-busting at Vallourec in the USA

Last year workers within V&M tubes plant in Ohio, which is a Vallourec Group Company, contacted the UE for assistance in organizing a union. Immediately management began confronting unionized workers and interfering in union activity.

A supervisor in the plant directly threatened a pro-union leader by implying that he would lose his job if he continued. This is not the sort of behaviour expected of a company with whom IndustriALL Global Union has signed a Global Framework Agreement. In the agreement, Vallourec explicitly recognized the right of all its employees to be or become members of a trade union and to participate in collective negotiations.

Vallourec management hired a union-busting consultant, M. Vanetti, of Vantage Point Alliance and the Labor Relations Institute. On his public LinkedIn profile, Vanetti boasts of his skills in maintaining union free work environments. The Labor Relations Institute famously offers a “Guaranteed Winner Package” meaning that if it cannot block workers’ efforts to form a union, the company does not pay. Vanetti has held captive-audience meetings at the plant, at which he has allegedly dispensed disinformation about unions.

IndustriALL Global Union has sent a letter to Vallourec President Philippe Crouzet expressing concern over the anti-union behaviour of the company. “We expect Vallourec to take a position of neutrality towards attempts to organize a union. Hiring a professional union-buster is not neutrality. We expect that Vallourec will cease these actions and allow the workers to make their own decisions.”

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.
 

Electrolux imprisons then sacks workers in Thailand

In a letter addressed to the company management in Sweden, which is signatory to an International Framework Agreement on workers’ rights, IndustriALL Global Union joined with Swedish union IF Metall in expressing outrage at the unjust and anti-union actions of Electrolux Thailand.

On 11 January 2013 Electrolux Thailand management called a meeting of all workers at 8am and announced a two-month bonus, but then refused to discuss the workers demands for fair wage increases and permanent employment for agency workers after 6 months.

Instead the managers forcibly removed the union president, Phaiwan Metha, from the meeting throwing him onto the street and dismissing him. When the gathered workers learnt of the dismissal they continued to sit on the floor and demanded his reinstatement and return.

Management then called security and police and surrounded the workers, preventing them from leaving for 8 hours, including a pregnant woman in her sixth month who tried to leave. At 5pm the workers were released, one by one by the security guards. The workers returned to work on 14 January to find written dismissal notice for 127 workers.

The dismissals followed more than a month of efforts by the union to negotiate on the new minimum wage and annual wage adjustments due to be implemented by 25 January 2013. The management had refused to accept the proposals by the union and instead attempted to impose wage adjustments that had not been agreed to.

In the letter to Electrolux IndustriALL General Secretary Jyrki Raina states that the company’s actions “constitutes a crystal clear union-busting attempt to force upon workers an unfair collective bargaining process”.

“I strongly urge you to use your influence to immediately reinstate the dismissed workers and union members and return to the collective bargaining table to achieve a fair and just resolution of this conflict as well as create a constructive relationship between labour and management,” writes Raina.

The union at the plant in Thailand was formed in 2010 at which time it managed to negotiate a collective agreement that is due for renewal this year. The products of the Electrolux plant include washing machines, refrigerators and other electrical appliances for European and Asian markets.

The dismissed workers are now fighting against the management’s unjust union busting tactics and have submitted their grievances to the Parliament’s Labour Commission.

Aker GFA is extended with an indeterminate duration

On 17 December, the Global Framework Agreement (GFA) was renewed for the third time at Aker ASA. The first and second agreements were made between Fellesforbundet, International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) and Aker ASA in October 2008 and in November 2010 with 2 years duration respectively.  This time, the newly signed GFA also includes Tekna and NITO, engineering trade unions, as signatory parties and the agreement is applicable for an indeterminate duration.

The agreement covers provisions on freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, discrimination, forced labour, child labour, health and safety, living wages, employment conditions, working hours, HIV/AIDS, environmental issues and skills training, referencing the standards as established by the core labour conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Aker ASA with its industrial holdings employs approximately 24,000 workers in around 30 countries. The agreement relates to all parts of Aker and states that the company will use its influence to secure compliance with the standards set out in the agreement with its subsidiaries and third party business associates, with non-compliance ultimately resulting in potential termination of a contractual relationship.

At the signing event, CEOs of the industrial holdings from Aker Solutions, Kvaerner, Det norske oljeselskap,  Aker BioMarine, and Aker Seafoods also attended and exchanged opinions on the future implementation of the GFA, together with the trade unions and employee members of the board of directors.

Øyvind Eriksen, CEO Aker ASA insisted on the importance to integrate the GFA into the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy in more practical ways.  All the participants confirmed to work together in building, developing, and managing the process which secures implementation of the GFA in all workplaces.

IndustriALL renews the agreement with Statoil

The signing ceremony took place at the International Labour Office in Geneva. The agreement was signed by Siv Oftedal, Vice President Human Resources of Statoil, Leif Sande, President of Industri Energy Union and Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of the IndustriALL Global Union.

Siv Oftedal, Vice President Human Resources of Statoil commented, “Our corporate employee relations strategy and action plans reflects Statoil’s ambition for international growth. The content of the agreement is in line with the way we operate in Norway and how we would like to be recognized where we are present as a company. It is difficult to attribute a priority to a specific subject covered in this agreement. However, human rights, including the right of every employee to be represented by a union of his or her own choice and the basic trade union rights as defined by ILO Convention 87 and 98 covering freedom of association and the right to organise, as well as the commitment to provide a safe and healthy work environment are elements of vital importance to Statoil. In addition, our company takes pride in honouring local laws and practices, thus ensuring that we act as a responsible employer and a social citizen.”

From his side Leif Sande added, “For us the most important thing is that Statoil makes a commitment towards a system of cooperation through which they accept trade union rights. By doing this the company can lift standards around the world where they have their operations.”

Jyrki Raina, praised the fruitful cooperation started by the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Union (ICEM), a co-founder of IndustriALL, back in July 1998, stating, “this Global Framework Agreement remains a benchmark and good example for multinational companies not only in oil and gas sector, but also in other industries.”

Text of the agreement does not include any considerable changes from the earlier agreement and will be available on the IndustriALL website soon.

International Works Committee established at Indesit

An agreement was signed according to which on 1 January 2013 the European Works Committee of Indesit will expand its geographical scope and become an International Works Council, including representatives of workers and trade unions of the sites manufacturing in countries outside the European Union.

The new agreement is signed by IndustriALL Global Union, IndustriALL European Trade Union and a number of their affiliates representing workers at Indesit Company sites in France, Italy, Poland, UK, Russia and Turkey.

The decision is based on the union strategy to build global union networks (and international committees) in transnational companies with the aim to promote worker unity.

In December 2001 the former-IMF, one of three predecessor organizations of IndustriALL Global Union, represented by its affiliates in Italy FIM, FIOM and UILM, signed an International Framework Agreement with Indesit, then Merloni Elettrodomestici S.p.A.

In signing the agreement, the company committed to comply with and promote the fundamental principles and rights at work established in conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). To supervise compliance with the undertaken obligations special monitoring has been put in place to for violations not only of the company's own production units and activities, but its suppliers as well, with the risk of having their contracts cancelled in case of grave violations.

The company has also undertaken to report on the implementation and status of the agreement at the annual meeting of the European Works Committee (EWC) and at the national information meetings provided for by the national collective contracts.

The text of the agreement on institution of the International Works Committee as well as the text of the agreement on transformation of European Committee into International is available on the links.

Membership audit at AngloGold vindicates Tanzanian union

Management at Geita Gold Mine owned by AngloGold has disputed the membership figures of Tanzania Mines, Energy, Construction and Allied Workers Union (Tamico), leading to a protracted struggle since 2004 at a branch level for recognition and resulted in the dismissal of the branch chairman and secretary. Through the intervention of IndustriALL Global Union, who has a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with AngloGold, the two were reinstated and AngloGold agreed to resolve labour relations issues at the mine.

Using the GFA, IndustriALL was able to argue that Geita management was violating the clause on trade union rights through union bashing and victimisation of members that were put under pressure to resign from the union. The GFA supported Tamico to gain credibility amongst workers to champion their issues and gain recognition.

AngloGold Ashanti engaged Ernst & Young to conduct the membership audit, which concluded that over 50 per cent of 1,525 employees at the mine are Tamico members thus the union meets the legal requirement to represent all workers in negotiating with management over salaries and working conditions.

“The Ernst & Young audit report vindicates Tamico’s  long battle and signals a new era of worker representation and access with full organisational rights,” says Kenny Mogane, regional project officer for IndustriALL. “This means that Tamico can now work towards the improvement of working conditions at Geita.”

Lively debate strengthens IndustriALL’s trade union networks and GFAs

The conference was in unanimous agreement on the importance of trade union networks as central tools to build trade union power and solidarity. While some networks have been born out of struggle and are a long way away from culminating in a GFA, others have operated well in certain regions but encountered communications and inclusion challenges elsewhere.

IndustriALL President Berthold Huber opened the conference. “Our central task is to enforce minimum social standards in order to make globalization more humane. We are negotiating with companies on Global Framework Agreements so as to implement minimum conditions in all locations of the company and in their supply chains,” he said.

On the issue of trade union networks, IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary Kemal Ozkan added, “We must strategically choose target companies for building networks and genuine global union solidarity. Then the global union should be able create the infrastructure with the full involvement of affiliates as the real owners of the network.”

Experience and policy differs between member trade unions regarding GFAs and the thematic conference was important in developing ways forward for IndustriALL to strengthen practices that improve existing agreements and the process of signing new ones.

The conference identified some problems around the joint ownership of agreements and the need for a more inclusive, transparent standardized process to establish new agreements.

The conference reached unanimous agreement on a number of clear recommendations to the IndustriALL Executive Committee to be held in December. The recommendations include:

Also, IndustriALL will now structure its world sector conferences differently and couple them with breakout company specific meetings. Identified target company networks will be built and developed through this new practice.

The conference was successful in clarifying areas that need improvement in the GFA and trade union network activity of IndustriALL, and was successful in reaching agreed proposals to make those improvements.

The world conference was held upon invitation of IG Metall on 17-18 October in Frankfurt, with around 150 participants from more than 30 countries, representing all regions and industrial sectors, with FES support.

Global networks and GFA expected to defend workers’ rights at Siemens in India

On 5 October 2012, Kan Matsuzaki, Director of ICT, Electrical and Electronics, and Suzanna Miller, Project Officer, both from IndustriALL Global Union, were warmly welcomed by the Siemens Workers’ Union (SWU) to participate in the founding ceremony of the newly established union branch at Siemens Motor Satellite Factory and the SWU General Assembly meeting in Thane, India.

The SWU organizes workers at the Kalwe plant, which has 3 manufacturing units, namely WMOT (motors, generators and traction motors), WSGR (switchgear products) and WSWB (panel boards and circuit breakers). The union is the largest of all unions in Siemens in India and currently fighting against de-unionization, increased contracting of precarious workers and the other labour issues that they have been facing over the years.

In May 2012, the local management introduced a new blue-collar category called Trainee Officer. Once the workers are promoted to Trainee Officer, they are treated as a management category while they perform the same jobs and duties as before, and many labour laws will not be applied to them such as overtime payment and working hours. Moreover, the Trainee Officer workers lose their membership status in any trade unions and will not be allowed to form/join any unions. Since the Trainee Officer category has been introduced, many workers were forced to accept the promotion even if they are not willing to do so. The management refuses to discuss/negotiate this issue with the SWU and the case has been deadlocked.

The above-mentioned Siemens Motor Satellite Factory, which is located 6km away from the Kalwe plant, manufactures motors, generators and traction motors. The workers in the factory are also facing the union-busting promotion issue, and the SWU has filed a complaint before the Industrial Court in Thane and also submitted a letter of intervention to the Deputy Commissioner of Labour in Thane to bring the workers back to the real blue-collar status as members of the union.

Following the founding ceremony of the union at the factory, the General Assembly of the SWU took place in a town hall where the union committee members and activists gathered. Union leaders from other plants in Thane were also invited. Kan Matsuzaki introduced the creation of IndustriALL Global Union and the contents of Siemens Global Framework Agreement (GFA), which was signed in July 2012, and expressed the importance of proper implementation and monitoring of the GFA throughout developing trade union networks of Siemens.

As the SWU is also facing an increase of agency workers at the plant, Suzanna Miller introduced the newly published IndustriALL report “The triangular trap – Unions take action against agency labour”, by giving examples of the myths and employers’ excuses for using agency workers and addressing the unequal treatment of precarious workers in Siemens, such as the recently introduced separate canteens for subcontracted workers.  IndustriALL’s world wide Stop Precarious Work campaign was explained and the union was asked to actively participate and take action on 7 October.

Girish Ashtekar, SWU President, and  Uday Mahale, SWU General Secretary, insisted that the union would extend its organizing effort to not just Siemens factories, but also to suppliers to fight against de-unionization and the increase of agency workers. The union expects the GFA and developing trade union network of Siemens will help in the struggle to defend the workers’ rights and interests.