LafargeHolcim: Final step taken towards Global Framework Agreement

The three parties agreed earlier this year to begin discussing, negotiating and concluding a GFA in 2017. The agreement confirms that the workers are core to the success of LafargeHolcim, and the ambition is to create a workplace that is safe, diverse, inclusive, and respectful where people enjoy coming to work.

The objective of the GFA is to establish and conduct a constructive and responsible social dialogue between the company and the global unions.

After the merger of Lafarge and Holcim, IndustriALL Global Union and BWI formed a World Union Committee (WUC) with the involvement of unions at LafargeHolcim workplaces worldwide. Through a democratic decision of the WUC, a successful and efficient campaign was conducted where one of the demands was identified to reach a GFA.

In the meantime, LafargeHolcim signed a new agreement in March 2017, creating a European Works Council (EWC). The objective of a GFA was reiterated and supported at the Annual Shareholders Meeting of LafargeHolcim in May 2017.

During the negotiation process, a series of consultations with the relevant affiliates were made and a number of comments and suggestions were received and inserted. This includes main ILO conventions, neutrality, a scope covering all operations of the company, access to workplace, LafargeHolcim Annual Conference (LHAC) as a platform of dialogue at global level, procuedure for dispute resolution.

At the signing of the MoU in Zurich, LafargeHolcim was represented by Eric Olsen, CEO, and Caroline Luscombe, Head of OHR, Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan represented IndustriALL, and General Secretary Ambet Yuson BWI.

Kemal Özkan, IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary, said on the MoU:

"A Global Framework Agreement between LafargeHolcim and IndustriALL/BWI is now a benchmark in the materials industries, and will have an impact on improving working and living conditions of our members.

“It is also a strong signal to other multinationals in the sector to engage with their most important stakeholders and their workforce. Our job is now to make sure that this GFA is successful with proper implementation and monitoring."

According to the MoU, in the period to come, within the framework of the GFA provisions on health and safety which identify fundamental rights, IndustriALL Global Union and BWI will develop a detailed Global Health and Safety Agreement with LafargeHolcim.

BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson said:

"Health and safety at work is a priority for trade unions and a critical area covered in this agreement. This year we will develop a global health and safety agreement with LafargeHolcim, and the company has agreed to set up a H&S working group. We look forward to working with LafargeHolcim and our affiliates around the world to implement these standards, and we thank the negotiating team who worked very patiently to make this agreement come to fruition.”

Caroline Luscombe, Head of Organization and Human Resources at LafargeHolcim said:

“We are positively progressing to build a scheme of relations for LafargeHolcim based on mutual trust. This agreement contains important elements for our social approach and will surely be a pillar of the social dialogue we aspire to develop."

LafargeHolcim was established as a result of the merger of equals by Lafarge and Holcim in 2015 as the largest Group in the building materials industry, particularly in cement and concrete production. The Swiss-based Group employs more than 90.000 direct workers with operations in around 80 countries.

Also present at the signing were the members of the negotiation team Feliciano Gonzalez, Head of Group Labor Relations and Social Policies at LafargeHolcim, Vincent Giard,  Labor Law & Social Policies Group Manager at LafargeHolcom, Fiona Murie BWi Global Director Occupational Health and Safety and Construction Industry, and Matthias Hartwich, Director for Mechanical Engineering and Materials Industries at IndustriALL.

Empowering Bulgarian affiliates in the Inditex supply chain

During the meeting, held in the capital Sofia from 17-19 June 2017, IndustriALL’s affiliates, FOSIL and the Federation of Light Industry, and Inditex representatives discussed the situation in the textile and garment sector, and steps to promote implementation of the GFA in the Inditex supply chain in Bulgaria. 

Textile and garment is the biggest employer in Bulgarian manufacturing, employing some 100,000 workers, of whom roughly 9,000 work at Inditex’s suppliers. Union leaders reported sub-standard working conditions and low wages in the sector. “Workers earn the minimum wage, far less than a living wage and young people are not motivated to look for a job in that sector,” said one union leader. “They prefer to leave the country.”

Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL Global Union’s textile and garment director, gave a presentation on IndustriALL’s sectoral policy for supply chains and stated “There is no way to have a say in the wage debate without industry-wide bargaining. We want to promote a well-functioning industrial relations model in the supply chain, including here in Bulgaria.”

Bulgarian participants were introduced to the content of the GFA between IndustriALL and Inditex, and how its implementation can help improve social dialogue in the country.  Inditex representatives spoke about coordinated action with IndustriALL to promote respect for the agreement, in particular freedom of association.  “Our objective is to achieve sustainable working conditions and a win-win situation throughout the supply chain,” said Murat Akkün from Inditex Sustainability Department in Turkey. He further talked about the joint training project that IndustriALL and Inditex have developed for workers and managers at a supplier in Turkey, and stressed the benefit of freely elected trade union representatives and good social dialogue for ensuring company sustainability.    

There was a lively debate on the presentations given and actions taken in different countries to promote GFA implementation and resolve problems encountered. Víctor Garrido Sotomayor, IndustriALL’s coordinator of the Inditex GFA gave several examples of violation of workers’ rights and how those were solved successfully, particularly in Turkey where IndustriALL and Inditex conducted joint actions.  Union density in the Bulgarian textile industry is very low and workers are scared to join a union for fear of losing their livelihood. “What we saw and learnt from the presentations at the meeting gives us hope,” said a Bulgarian union leader. However, there is a strong need to empower workers and trade unions if a real change is to be seen in the textile and garment sector in Bulgaria.  

The meeting was followed by a visit to two Inditex suppliers – one located in Pleven and the other in Pernik. The visits gave union leaders an opportunity to meet with local management and workers directly on the shop-floor for the first time.  Affiliates expressed their determination to follow-up on the talks and together with IndustriALL’s support they are planning to engage with other Inditex suppliers in Bulgaria and initiate steps towards a sustainable industrial relations system in the sector.  

Aerospace unions to confront anti-union campaigns

Aerospace unions from North America, Europe, South America, Africa and Asia discussed the new and innovative strategies for organizing the unorganized throughout the world, from South Carolina to Shanghai and Morocco to Mobile, Alabama.

Some 75 participants discussed negotiating collective bargaining agreements that will improve wages, benefits and provide job security and retirement security to the millions of aerospace workers throughout the world.

Sector co-chair and IAM International President, Bob Martinez, said:

“We have the opportunity to continue building on efforts to bring justice and dignity to all of the world’s aerospace workers through union strength. This is opportunity to build a global aerospace workers movement that will rival the global aerospace companies.”

During the conference, participants discussed increasing anti-union and anti-worker extremism that seeks to crush the fundamental human right to join a real union that is free from government or company control. Participants also discussed continued outsourcing of unionized work within or outside production countries, often to nonunionized workforces in countries like China, where fundamental human rights like the right to form a union and engage in collective bargaining are either not recognized or not enforced. Discussion also included unfair competition from countries like China that do not abide by international trade rules and demand the transfer of technology and production in return for aircraft sales, rather than fair trade and a level playing field.

Participants focused on anti-union campaigns being waged by the managements of the world’s two largest commercial aerospace companies: Boeing and Airbus. Taking a page from the most notorious union busting companies in the world, Boeing management spent millions of dollars to keep its workers in South Carolina from joining the IAM. Not to be outdone, Airbus management is putting on an anti-union campaign in Alabama, in direct violation of IndustriALL’s Global Framework Agreement with the company.

In view of the current situation in Alabama, participants called on IndustriALL to review its agreement with Airbus. Participants also asked IndustriALL to coordinate organizing campaigns at Airbus and Boeing.

Participants called on all affiliates to recommit their efforts to:

Delegates thanked outgoing Aerospace Director Brian Kohler for his work with the sector and pledged to work closely with his successor.

IndustriALL Executive Committee – stronger together!

Work is becoming cheaper and we will fight against global capital with global answers,

IndustriALL President Jörg Hofmann said in his opening speech.

We will defend basic trade union rights and our success depends on our strength. We need to make sure affiliates can recruit new and retain current members, as members make us strong.

Project activity is an important part of IndustriALL’s work, allowing for interaction with affiliates and achieving the strategic goals. In 2017, IndustriALL is running 45 projects together with donors and national unions in the donor countries. A majority of the projects take place in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, focusing on union building and organizing.

In many countries the projects have contributed to stronger unions, as well as stronger unity among the unions:

Successful campaigning

Delegates at the Executive Committee spoke of difficult times for trade unions in, among other countries, Iraq, where the all union comments and proposals on the new trade union law have been ignored; Macedonia, where the national federation is cracking down on the union; Bosnia–Herzegovina, where social dialogue is under attack; and Indonesia, where unions are excluded from talks on the new minimum wage, which increase equals only one kebab in purchasing power.

But the past year has also seen significant union wins. After trade unionists and garment workers were detained in Bangladesh at the end of 2016/early 2017, an IndustriALL campaign gathered global support, which led to their release in February.

An international solidarity campaign for trade unions in Korea contributed to significant political change in the country. After President Park was ousted from office in March, snap elections are expected to take place on 9 May.

You are all part of the victory,

Korean unions told Executive Committee delegates.

But there is a lot of work ahead. Until we win fundamental trade union rights and have reduced inequalities in society, we will not rest.

Increasing unionization at mining giant Rio Tinto has been one of IndustriALL’s major campaigns over the last years. The Executive Committee was told that significant progress has been made, as the company is engaging in genuine dialogue with the unions and IndustriALL.

Tools for safeguarding workers’ rights

Global Framework Agreements (GFA) are important tools for promoting workers’ rights on a global level. Delegates discussed the need for binding mechanisms in the agreements and the need for local unions to be involved.

Implementing the GFA along the supply chains is crucial, as Executive Committee delegates called on Volkswagen to stop union busting at its plant in Chattanooga, USA.

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a historic agreement signed after the Rana Plaza collapse in April 2013 runs out in 2018. A discussion was held on the importance of a new Accord next year, where the right to Freedom of Association should be a fundamental commitment.

The Executive Committee adopted a number of solidarity resolutions:

The Executive Committee was preceeded by regional meetings.

Textile and garment unions advance organizing in Tunisia and Morocco

At the meeting in Hammamet, Tunisia, on 13-16 March IndustriALL Global Union and its affiliate Fédération Générale du Textile, de l'Habillement, Chaussure et Cuir (FGTHCC-UGTT) focused on the next steps in finalizing and implementing the newly negotiated 2017 sectorial agreement. In early March the trade union center Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail (UGTT) and the employers’ organization Union Tunisienne de l'industrie, du commerce et de l'artisanat (UTICA) have signed the agreement on six per cent wage increase for each 2016 and 2017 to cover the workers in private sector.

The activists also highlighted the importance of supply chain industrial relations in the global sectoral policies of IndustriALL and debated on how these can translate to the national context in Tunisia.

“It is essential that our sectorial work continue to emphasize the role of industrial relations in the supply chain rather than voluntary non-binding initiatives,”

stated Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL Global Union’s textile and garment director.

As part of an overview of the sectorial global framework agreements (GFAs), a working group was elected to review and plan next steps on GFA implementation in Tunisia, specifically focusing on the Inditex supply chain in the country.

In recent years FGTHCC-UGTT has taken important steps in strengthening union density within the sector. Since 2015, the union has launched an organizing campaign in the key areas of textile and garment industry in the country http://www.industriall-union.org/tunisian-textile-and-garment-union-sees-strong-growth.

Ayda Elzerai, leader of FGTHCC-UGTT said,

“Organizing is becoming a dominant element of our everyday union work. We are committed to constantly exert efforts and develop strategies aiming at increasing union density.”

IndustriALL continues to run a range of training on methods of mobilizing union members and attracting new members into the union.

In Casablanca, Morocco, Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT) announced that it would begin to take next steps in creating a national textile and garment union. This is an important step in enhancing the union’s organizing efforts.

“The fast expansion of the global garment supply chain and brands in Morocco has imposed various challenges for workers in the sector. It is now imperatives to build an effective sectorial union structure to better defend our workers’ rights in such complex nature of the industry,” said Araby Hamouk, leader of UMT textile and garment unions.

During the two-day meeting in Casablanca on 16-17 March, the role of global brands in the supply chain was debated and UMT local union leaders discussed the importance of union participation in the brand’s audits of their workplace.

Many leaders felt that the auditing of the factories need real worker input to be meaningful. With the launch of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector, there is a common understanding that workers are not peripheral to the due diligence process, but that they are core to it. UMT local leaders hope that in the future workers can be involved in on-site supplier assessments, development of corrective action plans, and the design of operational-level grievance mechanism of the global brands producing in Morocco.

At the following Inditex GFA meeting on 21 and 22 March unionized and non-union Inditex Moroccan suppliers discussed the importance of social dialogue. Participants from workers/unions and national suppliers were introduced to the content of the GFA between IndustriALL and Inditex and how its implementation can improve social dialogue in the industry in Morocco.

“Working with the garment global brands to improve the social dialogue and working conditions is a new approach in Morocco and MENA. We are keen to further develop such potentials with our affiliates and to include the supply chains of more global brands operating in the region,” stated Ahmed Kamel, IndustriALL Global Union’s MENA contact person.

IndustriALL signs new global agreement with the PSA Group

The agreement was signed at the headquarters of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva, in the presence of Valter Sanches, General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, Luc Triangle, General Secretary of industriAll European Trade Union, Carlos Tavares, Chairman of the PSA Group Managing Board, Xavier Chéreau, the Group's Director of Human Resources, and Deborah Greenfield, ILO Deputy Director General.

The agreement has two parts:

Valter Sanches, General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, said:

“This agreement goes further than ever before to protect the rights of workers in PSA Group’s global supply chain and acknowledges the essential role of trade unions in the group. This is especially important now as PSA Group looks to expand. The agreement puts international labour standards first when national law is weak and makes respect of fundamental rights a determining factor in the selection of PSA Group suppliers.”

In addition, the agreement confirms the vital role of trade union bodies in the Company's dialogue and social cohesion. The PSA Group promotes a relationship of trust and transparency in steering the Company's development. The agreement accordingly strengthens the global dimension of the Group Works Council and its role in sharing the business and social challenges worldwide.

Xavier Chéreau, PSA Group's Director of Human Resources took this opportunity to announce:

“In line with the dynamic of the 'New Momentum for Growth' agreement signed in France, I wanted to bring our desire to build together with the Group's future employee representative bodies up to the global level. This agreement will drive a new momentum and accompany the PSA Group's international expansion as set out in our 'Push to Pass' strategic plan."

Luc Triangle, General Secretary of IndustriAll European Trade Union declared:

“With the renewal of the PSA Global Framework Agreement, it goes the extra mile by establishing worldwide minimum standards on the development of skills, employability of workers and health and safety at work. Transforming PSA into a learning company and giving every worker the chance to adapt is the right answer to the challenge of digitisation and the decarbonisation of the economy. These ambitious commitments will only become a reality for workers if they can depend on a robust social dialogue and negotiations at local level”.

Deborah Greenfield, ILO's Deputy Director-General for Policy said:

“The ILO welcomes the agreement which reinforces the commitment of PSA Group to the respect of workers' rights. It is a good example of how social dialogue can positively impact on working conditions in a global context.”

What is a Global Framework Agreement?

Global Framework Agreements (GFAs) serve to protect the interests of workers across a multinational company’s operations.

Global Framework Agreements are negotiated on a global level between trade unions and a multinational company. They put in place the very best standards of trade union rights, health, safety and environmental practices, and quality of work principles across a company's global operations, regardless of whether those standards exist in an individual country.

IndustriALL prioritizes establishing, monitoring and improving GFAs with multinational companies.

Current agreements
IndustriALL has existing GFAs with the following multinational corporations:

Aker, BMW, Bosch, Daimler, EADS, EDF, Electrolux, Endesa, Enel, Eni, Equinor, Evonik, Ford, Gamesa,  GDF Suez, GEA, H&M, Indesit, Inditex, Lafarge, Leoni, Lukoil, MAN, Mann + Hummel, Mizuno, Norsk Hydro, Norske Skog, Petrobras, Prym, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Rheinmetall, Röchling, Saab, SCA, Siemens, Solvay, SKF, Tchibo, Total, ThyssenKrupp, Umicore, Vallourec, Volkswagen, ZF

Union stands for workers’ rights at Indocement/Citeureup plant

The shop stewards shared information about challenges faced at the factory owned by Indocement, a subsidiary of German company HeidelbergCement.

At the meeting activists expressed their commitment to continue building social dialogue at the factory and advancing workers’ rights, but also to participate in social dialogue globally.

Establishing a good social dialogue is a long-lasting and continuous process. Just a few years ago, there was a serious labour conflict at the Citeureup plant. Together with the union, IndustriALL lodged an OECD complaint in May 2013 in order to stop the anti-union activities by the management. Thanks to a commitment from both the union and the management, the conflict was solved within the framework of OECD mediation.

Although main concerns were addressed an agreement was reached, some issues remain unsolved. The union office is placed outside the plant, which is an obstacle for direct communication with the factory workers. Another open question is the impossibility of organizing white-collar employees at the plant.

Local trade unionists and the FSP ISI General Secretary Widjajadi support the idea of creation of a global union network and a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) between IndustriALL and HeidelbergCement.

Matthias Hartwich, director of materials and mechanical engineering, comments:  

“A discussion with dedicated union activists is always inspiring and a source of energy and encouragement. We understand that conflicts may occur at any moment, even in a plant with a functioning social dialogue and not all can be solved locally. We fully support your call for a GFA to be able to solve these issues.”

“But we are also happy to see that since 2013 the situation at the plant has improved. We think the different partners in the social dialogue, shop stewards and local management, as well as global unions and corporate managements, have specific roles to play. We see social dialogue as part of a solution, and not as part of the problem.”

IG Metall and Opel European Works Council meet with PSA Group

The meeting highlighted a mutual desire for a dialogue in the interest of the future of Opel and its employees. Participants discussed the impact of the potential acquisition of Opel/Vauxhall by PSA on existing labour agreements, site protection and job guarantees.

PSA Group reaffirmed its commitment to respect the existing agreements in the European countries and to continue the dialogue with all parties. The Group announced that it is willing to closely cooperate with the European Works Council and IndustriALL German affiliate IG Metall, to “create together with Opel-Management a European Champion with French-German roots to protect the future of the company and its employees”.

Cooperating with IG Metall, while respecting and implementing existing collective agreements is an important condition for the further process. It is the basis for a possible merger on the employees' terms,

says Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall and IndustriALL Global Union.

Wolfgang Schäfer-Klug, Chairman of the Opel/Vauxhall European Works Council, says:

This commitment and the agreement of a further negotiation process provides the basis of further talks with PSA. Tavares communicated convincingly in the talks that he is interested in a sustainable development for Opel/Vauxhall as an independent company. 

IndustriALL's global framework agreement with the PSA Group has a clear commitment to international core labour standards and stresses the extension of the Group's requirements to its business partners. It was first signed in 2006 and will be renewed on 7 March this year.

With the renewal of the GFA we'll strive to secure all the jobs and production sites of PSA and Opel/Vauxhall worldwide,

says Valter Sanches, IndustriALL General Secretary.

The meeting on February 20 was attended by Carlos Tavares, Chairman of the Managing Board of PSA, and Xavier Chéreau, EVP Human Resources of PSA, Jörg Hofmann, First Chairman of IG Metall, and Dr. Wolfgang Schäfer-Klug, Chairman of the Opel/Vauxhall European Works Council.

OECD launches guidelines for garment and footwear sector

The OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector were formulated in response to international pressure, following the Rana Plaza factory building collapse in Bangladesh that killed over a thousand garment workers in 2013.

IndustriALL Global Union, which represents garment workers around the world, was a member of the OECD advisory board and consulted in the drafting of the guidelines.

“The guidelines represent a move beyond voluntary, non-binding auditing and corporate social responsibility initiatives, which have done little or nothing to protect and improve the rights of workers,” said IndustriALL’s textile and garment industry director, Christina Hajagos-Clausen.  

The new OECD international standards are endorsed by brands, labour and industry, and involve real worker participation in identifying risk and violations of human rights, while encouraging direct negotiations with labour.

“It is important there is a common understanding that workers are not peripheral to the due diligence process, but core to it.  The Guidance articulates when and how workers should be involved and labour views this as a welcome shift,” said Hajagos-Clausen at the Paris launch.

The guidelines allow for workers and trade unions to actively participate in designing and implementing on-site supplier assessments; developing corrective action plans; monitoring impacts; and formulating operational-level grievance mechanisms.

Significantly, the guidelines promote responsible purchasing practices, lack of which can lead to excessive and forced overtime as well as low wages for workers. IndustriALL’s ACT initiative is a memorandum of understanding signed by global apparel brands that identifies industry-wide collective bargaining and responsible purchasing practices as essential to achieving living wages.  

“By creating mechanisms that link unions, buyers and suppliers, ACT aims to create a framework for genuine supply chain industrial relations for a fair and stable global garment industry,” Hajagos-Clausen told launch attendees.   

The guidelines also endorse direct agreements between enterprises and trade unions, such as global framework agreements (GFAs).  IndustriALL has four global framework agreements with apparel brands Inditex, H&M, Tchibo and Mizuno.

The guidelines include various modules on sector risks, including child labour; sexual harassment and gender-based violence; forced labour; working time; occupational health and safety; trade unions and collective bargaining; and wages, as well as environmental hazards.

“I am hopeful that this new guidance can help mitigate and remedy worker rights’ violations. We have a long way to go, as globally the supply chain is full of risks.  As we sit here, 25 workers and labour leaders are in jail for participating in mobilizations to demand a living wage,” concluded Hajagos-Clausen as she referred to IndustriALL’s campaign to release jailed union leaders and garment workers in Bangladesh.