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4 September, 2012The Asia-Pacific Regional Glass Union Network Meeting of IndustriALL Global Union was held in Jeju, Korea, on 17-19 September. The meeting was attended by 34 trade unionists including 7 women from 14 unions in the glass sector (major MNCs such as Saint Gobain, AGC, NSG, Schott Glass and Owens-Illinoi) of Malaysia, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and India.
The meeting formally launched the Saint Gobain Network in the Asia-Pacific Region, with affiliates in Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand joining the network, following the Saint Gobain network of Central and Eastern Europe, organized in Slovenia in May 2012.
Glass unions in the region resolved to build global networks for AGC, NSG and Owens Illinoi. The meeting was also joined by three colleagues from Belgium, FGTB La Centrale and ACV-CSC, who provided a briefing on activities of the European Works Council and expressed support for networking.
Two Korean Unions, FKCU and KCTF, hosted the meeting with supported from the German Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES).
Tyler Brown, Director of the Industrial Sector of Boilermakers, welcomed participants on behalf of President Newton B Jones, Chair of IndustriALL Materials Sector, stating:
Developing and improving company and sector global and regional network activities and demanding a global agreement is a key priority agenda of action plans adopted at the World Conference on Glass in Istanbul in 2009 and we are committed to build global networks with all major glass makers.
IndustriALL Director for Glass, Cement and Ceramics Materials Industries, Phee Jungsun, reported on major developments and challenges in the global materials industries, the social impact of restructuring and profiles of multinational companies.
Brahim Hilami, Glass Sector Secretary of FGTB La Centrale and Marc Moreau, ACV-CSC, gave a presentation on the general situation in the glass industry in Europe and explained the difficult situation in Europe where management has announced more restructuring in research and development.
Participants gave country reports with pre-arranged survey details on working conditions and occupational safety and health. The participants also discussed the current status of restructuring in the industry with mergers and acquisitions, and delocalization and closures of production and research facilities by multinational corporations.
It was reported that glass companies in Asia hire an increasing number of contract workers – averaging about 40 to 50 per cent – with offers of voluntary retirement schemes to reduce permanent workers with long seniority.
The participants agreed that all unions should demand financial information and key business plans of the foreseeable future to the management that directly affects employment. The demand should be made in writing with a specified reasonable time frame. A Facebook-Asia Glass Network was created during the meeting for constant flow of communication among unions.
The establishment of Saint Gobain Networks on the national and regional level is seen to coordinate with French trade union affiliates, CFDT-FCE, which heads the Saint Gobain European Works Council, and CGT Verre et Ceramique.
This Asia-Pacific network will work alongside the existing North American Saint Gobain Network and the newly built network in Brazil. Saint Gobain Global Network Meeting is to be held in the middle of November in Bangkok, Thailand in conjunction with IndustriALL Materials Industries World Conference at which a proposal for a global agreement with Saint Gobain will be endorsed and handed over to the management representative who will be present at the Conference.