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Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

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Madhukar Kashinath Pandhe, a steadfast champion of workers in India and elsewhere, died of a heart attack on 20 August in a New Delhi hospital. M K Pandhe was a champion for decades in India of carving gains for all workers, from unorganised workers in the informal sector to the skilled workers that drive India&rsquo;s economy. He was 86. 
 
Pande was an early leader of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). When he died, he was Vice President of CITU. He had served as the trade union&rsquo;s Secretary, General Secretary, and President. 
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He was also President of the All India Coal Workers&rsquo; Federation. The ICEM knew him as a tireless and dedicated partner on coal supply, work rights, pay, health, safety and other issues in the mining industry. 
 
Pande was born in Pune, Maharashtra, and joined the Communist Party in 1943. He joined the Goa liberation struggle against the Portuguese and after the Communist Party in India divided, be became a leader a CPI(M) &ndash; the Communist Part India (Marxist) party. 
 
His high prestige in India as a trade union negotiator who delivered for the working class was earned because Pandhe did it across all industrial sectors, from mining, steel, energy to all forms of transport, and from navy to shipping to aviation to many other jobs. He served on numerous national level bodies formed by the government, and his steady voice inside all of them never wavered from the defense of the working class. 
 
M K Pandhe is survived his wife, Pramile, a key leader in CPI(M) and also leader in the All India Democratic Women&rsquo;s Association, and a son.

M K Pandhe: 1925-2011

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At the triennial United Steelworkers Convention in Las Vegas, US, on 16 August, the union covering members in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean moved closer to formalising a unified North American trade union together with oppressed National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico (SNTMMSRM), or Los Mineros. 
 
Los Mineros President Napole&oacute;n G&oacute;mez Urrutia addressed the 3,000 delegates via teleconference from Canada, where he has been in exile for the last five years. These same charges blocked G&oacute;mez from travelling to the Las Vegas Convention. His wife, Oralia, gave an emotional speech instead. It had been planned that Los Mineros leader Juan Linares would sign the agreement, but he was blocked from leaving Mexico by authorities who are conducting a relentless campaign against Los Mineros. 
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&ldquo;A strong, unified union is needed to fight for workers from the northern tip of Canada to the most southern tip of Mexico, particularly in the age of the North American Free Trade Agreement,&rdquo; stated USW President Leo Gerard. 
 
Among other things, the agreement establishes worker councils for employees at multinationals in the three countries, &quot;to facilitate exchange of information, strategic cooperation, solidarity support, and organizing initiatives.&quot; 
 
The two trade unions formed a commission, charged with increasing strategic cooperation and exploring a fusion together following the aggressive police attacks on workers and their families at Cananea and Pasta de Conchos on 6 June 2010, announcing the bi-lateral trade union commission at the global &quot;Triple Crisis of Sustainability&rdquo; conference in Toronto on 19 June 2010. 
 
The commission was made up of five members from each of the union&rsquo;s leaderships, and will now be expanded to include the USW general counsel and director of international affairs. Los Mineros will get two additional representatives. 
 
The USW represents 850,000 workers in the US, Canada and the Caribbean, while Los Mineros represents about 180,000 in Mexico.

USW, Mexico’s Los Mineros Strengthen Alliance

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ICEM-affiliated United Steelworkers (USW) in the US is fighting to keep pension and healthcare benefits for 125 highly skilled mould repairmen at Owens-Illinois, and 175 at Ross International. US-based glass packaging manufacturers Owens-Illinois and Ross International are attempting to discriminate against younger workers by providing inferior retirement benefits to new staff. 
Also under attack in current negotiations are healthcare benefits contained in the two-tier proposals. The ICEM condemns this draconian stance of Owens-Illinois and Ross International in their collective negotiations. 
 
As reported by ICEM in July this year, Owens-Illinois has been attempting to squeeze more profit out of its operations elsewhere in the world by cutting workers&rsquo; benefits. In Colombia, ICEM-affiliated Sintravidricol members were forced to work dangerously long periods after restructuring at the plants in Envigado, Cogua, and Soacha. The company filled gaps by outsourcing work unilaterally, ignoring Sintravidricol&rsquo;s pleas for dialogue. 
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Tim Tuttle
Ross International also has a record of bitter disputes with ICEM affiliates. However, Sintravidricol in Colombia did achieve recognition and a collective agreement from the company following a 23-day strike in 2007. 
 
Both companies are now targeting USW members&rsquo; social benefits and those of future generations. These workers repair the moulds used to manufacture containers in the beer, wine, spirits, and food sectors of glass and other packaging. 
 
Tim Tuttle, Chairman of USW&rsquo;s Glass Industry Conference, reports that a further meeting with management is scheduled for Wednesday, 31 August, the same day the current agreement expires. Additional dates in September will be sought to continue discussions. 
 
In a letter to Owens-Illinois CEO, Albert Stroucken, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda condemned the company&rsquo;s stance against a fair contract for employees. &ldquo;This is an attempt by Owens-Illinois to bolster its bottom line on the backs of vulnerable retirees. It also appears to be a cynical attempt by Owens-Illinois to undermine the union by sewing divisions within it between current workers and newly hired workers,&rdquo; stated Warda. 
 
As Warda warned the CEOs of both glass packaging manufacturers, the ICEM will mobilise international support if managements fail to alter their regressive stance in North American bargaining.

USW Resists Concessions in Owens-Illinois, Ross International Bargaining

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In the midst of national unrest facing Chile President Sebasti&aacute;n Pi&ntilde;era, Mineworkers&rsquo; Federations meet together today in Iquique to push forward support for 1,500 union members of Sindicato de los Trabajadores de Collahuasi, a major affiliate of Chile Federation of Miners (FMC), the trade union covering miners and workers employed by the world&rsquo;s major mining houses. 
 
The Mineworkers&rsquo; Union of Collahuasi and FMC have set 2 September as a 24-hour day for industrial action, mainly in protest to the company sacking six workers during the last 24-hour strike, on 29-30 July. The union&rsquo;s planned strike is also in protest to the miners&rsquo; employer, Do&ntilde;a Ines de Collahuasi, reneging on collective agreement conventions put in place in the past. 
 
A delegation from Federaci&oacute;n de Trabajadores del Cobre (FTC), the Mineworkers&rsquo; Federation representing state-run copper company Codelco&rsquo;s staff, will likely participate in today&rsquo;s meeting. 
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Do&ntilde;a Ines de Collahuasi, the world&rsquo;s third largest copper mine, is jointly owned through 44% stakes each by AngloAmerican and Xstrata. The 29-30 July strike at Collahuasi was also done in support of a strike at another FMC major branch, Sindicato No. 1 de Trabajadores de Minera Escondida. Then, 2,375 miners where in a middle of a 15-day strike at Minera Escondida, the world&rsquo;s largest copper producer, owned by BHP Billion (57%) and Rio Tinto (23%). 
 
In the past few weeks, FMC President Cristi&aacute;n Arancibia has visited several mines where workers are represented by FMC branches and urged support for Collahuasi miners as the global copper enterprise ramps up for even more production. 
 
Today&rsquo;s meeting comes on the heels of a prior successful FMC-FTC solidarity meeting in Antofagasta &ndash; on 28 July &ndash; just prior to Collahuasi miners joining Escondida miners in a symbolic day-long shutdown of 10% of the world&rsquo;s copper supply. Another coordinating meeting between the Collahuasi mineworkers&rsquo; branch and the Escondida branch on 20 August produced official support from the Escondida union. And the Cobres have met amongst themselves to discuss ways to support the FMC Collahuasi miners, as well as narrowing issues in which to engage Codelco on. 
 
Dialogue has occurred between mine management at Collahuasi and Sindicato de los Trabajadores de Collahuasi, reports FMC branch President Manuel Mu&ntilde;oz, but that dialogue is undermined by supervisors intentionally giving workers mis-information. Relations between Do&ntilde;a Ines de Collahuasi and mineworkers have been frayed for over a year and the two sides were pitted in a bitter 33-day strike late last year that still is being felt. 
 
In a 24 August letter to the company, Mu&ntilde;oz said that the company&rsquo;s Human Resource facilities have failed and the company is vulnerable to workers and supervisors leaving Collahuasi for other employment. He alluded to common misunderstandings that could get resolved in honest negotiations, but instead have become serious confrontations. 
 
Meanwhile, Codelco recognised that popular Chilean unrest in both mining and the general society is not good for the country&rsquo;s business climate. Last week, the company and the Cobres signed a framework agreement intended to remove communication barriers between labour and management. The agreement sets the conditions under which workers&rsquo; opinions are fostered for shaping the future direction of the company. 
 
FTC President Raimundo Espinoza said the framework agreement gives FTC stature to help develop Codelco&rsquo;s divisions &ldquo;including an analysis of the current and future workforce and compliance with the law for contract workers.&rdquo; The framework agreement results from a one-day strike on 11 July at Codelco mines over privatisation threats.

Mine Federations Meet Today in Support of Collahuasi Strike

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Trade union movements in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK will protest at Fiji missions in their respective countries this week over escalating union and civil society repression imposed by Fijian military dictator Josaia Voreque Bainimarama. These manifestations &ndash; in addition to protests at embassies of Fiji in several other countries &ndash; occur as Daniel Urai, President of the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC), and Dinesh Gounder, of the National Union of Hospitality, Catering, Tourism Employees, face a court hearing this week, 2 September, on charges of holding a union meeting without a permit. 
 
Gounder and Urai, formerly of ICEM affiliate Fiji Electricity Workers&rsquo; Union who also serves as General Secretary of the Hospitality, Catering, Tourism union, were arrested on 3 August for violating a four-day-old decree aimed at disempowering trade union activities. 
 
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) will conduct two manifestations while Urai and Gounder are in the dock; one at the Fiji Consular General&rsquo;s office at 100 North Walker Street, North Sydney, the other at the Fiji High Commission in Canberra, 19 Beale Crescent. Both demonstrations begin at 11h.
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Daniel Urai, Dinesh Gounder
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) will conduct a protest at 12h30 on Friday, 2 September, at Fiji&rsquo;s High Commission offices at 31 Pipitea Street, Thorndon, Wellington. 
 
In the UK, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) will hold a protest together with Amnesty International outside of Fiji&rsquo;s High Commission in London on Thursday, 1 September, from 16h to 17h. This Fiji mission is located at 34 Hyde Park Gate, London SW7 5DN. 
 
LabourStart has launched an online campaign in which opponents of this blatant repression of trade unionism can respond directly to the Fiji government. The&nbsp;<a href="http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1086 ">LabourStart campaign</a> can be found here. 
 
The Fiji military regime has tightened the noose on human and trade union rights over the past months and it has flaunted it in full view of the international community. In May 2011, the regime imposed a draconian anti-social amendment to the Employment Relations Promulgation 2007 law that eliminates public-sector workers from the scope of the regulation. On 29 July, the regime of Commodore Bainimarama then published the Essential National Industries (Employment) Decree, effectively banning all industrial actions, voiding existing collective agreements in weeks to come, curbing overtime pay, and canceling wage adjustments and certain work terms in designated industries. The decree will severely hamper union ability to gain bargaining rights and maintain representation status. 
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The decree also prohibits people from holding union office unless employed by the respective company, and those that do not face large fines and jail sentences. The right to was previously limited, but the Essential National Industries decree now makes it near impossible, with strike authorisation only granted by government approval. 
 
The military regime last week also banned the annual conference of Fiji&rsquo;s Methodist Church because church leaders refused to accept a government demand that pro-democracy church leaders step down from their church roles. The Methodist religion is Fiji&rsquo;s largest religious affiliation. 
 
The ICEM joins national labour centres and other labour organisation in pressing Fiji to reverse these archaic decrees, as well as calling on Fiji to conduct free and democratic elections in the near future.

Days of Action This Week Against Fiji: Join!

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The worst forms of trade union repression are being conducted by the authorities and business leaders of Bahrain, punishing workers for protesting and carrying out a general strike on 13-22 March 2011. The general strike led by the national trade union centre, General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU), was called in support of pro-democracy protests in the Persian Gulf island-state. 
 
The crackdown was immediate, with a campaign of mass sackings, intimidation, and violence against all workers involved, although the agreement to end the strike included a promise to GFBTU, an affiliate of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), by authorities that strikers would not suffer repercussions. 
 
As trade unionists around the world condemned the violent repression, the worst estimates then were that over 1,000 workers would be sacked for strike activity, including staff at Alba Aluminum Bahrain BSC, Bahrain Telecommunications Company, Gulf Air, Bahrain Airport Services, and APM Terminals Bahrain at the Khalifa Sea Port. 
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Now, more than 2,600 workers have been sacked for their involvement in the uprising, including over 100 government workers in recent weeks, including health, education, and municipal workers. Reacting to international pressure, the Bahraini authorities have promised the reinstatement those illegally sacked. However, GFBTU reports that only 134 workers have been reinstated, with many only brought back in return for promises never again to join political activities &ndash; or a trade union. 
 
Jailed trade unionists and others are being passed through tribunal hearings in which they are not given an opportunity to mount a defense. 
 
The global union federation for teachers, Education International (EI), has issued a new appeal to Bahraini authorities to release Jalila al-Salman and Mahdi 'Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb, Vice-President and President of the Bahraini Teachers Association (BTA), who face trial by a military tribunal. Send appeals to the Bahraini authorities on <a href="http://www.ei-ie.org/en/uaas/uaa_details/31">EI&rsquo;s site</a> here.&nbsp; 
 
Six members of the GFBTU Executive Board remain dismissed, as well as 44 executive board members of GFBTU-affiliated unions.

Kingdom of Bahrain’s Trade Union Repression Continues

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A three-week strike by 4,000 members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) spilled into the streets of Johannesburg this week, as workers at Xstrata&rsquo;s Boshoek and Wonderkop ferrochrome smelters near Rustenburg took a protest to the Swiss company&rsquo;s Alloys headquarters. NUMSA members presented a petition to company managers demanding wage parity with workers employed at the Xstrata Lion ferrochrome smelter in Tubatse, Mpumalanga province. 
 
Both operations are undergoing big expansions. Xstrata owns 79.5% of the ferrochrome complexes in South Africa, while publicly-listed Merafe Resources holds a 20.5% stake. Both companies also mine chrome in South Africa. 
 
The strike by NUMSA in the North-West province began on 24 October after conciliation efforts by the country&rsquo;s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) failed. NUMSA and Xstrata Alloys met two days earlier, but a revised pay offer by the company fell short and workers rejected it. 
 
NUMSA is seeking an immediate 10% pay increase for Boshoek and Wonderkop metalworkers and a reduction of job grading systems from eight to five. That would close the wage gap with workers at the Lion smelter and equalize the grading system. Currently, Boshoek and Wonderkop workers earn 14 to 39% less than at Lion, depending on pay grades. 
 
NUMSA is also seeking a housing allowance of R3,500.
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&nbsp;NUMSA President Cedric Gina (rear) has&nbsp;Xstrata's Edwin Hlatshwayo&nbsp;Sign Receipt of Petition
The petition handed to Xstrata Alloys management on 15 November states: &ldquo;(The company) has angered workers and instead of focusing on negotiations, they have decided to apply cheap apartheid-era tactics of bashing members through police intimidation of the strike. NUMSA is very angry that workers who went on a legal and protected strike have been treated like common criminals.&rdquo; 
 
NUMSA President Cedric Gina and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Second Deputy Vice President Zingiswi Losi led the march and handover of the petition. The petition asks the company to respond within 48 hours. 
 
Xstrata is world&rsquo;s largest producer of metal alloys, which besides ferrochrome includes vanadium and platinum, and accounts for one-third of total global production. The Boshoek smelter is currently seeing an expansion that will lift production to 240,000-tonnes-per-year by the end of next year. A second smelter, meanwhile, is now being constructed at the Lion operation that will see production double from the current 360,000 tonnes when it goes on line in the first half of 2013. 
 
The Xstrata-Merafe joint venture in South Africa will then yield 2.3 million tonnes yearly of ferrochrome, which is used in stainless steel production.

NUMSA Protests Pay Disparities at Xstrata’s Chrome Smelters

ICEM WOMEN’S BULLETIN

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A branch union of the ICEM-affiliated National Miners&rsquo; and Metalworkers&rsquo; Union (FNTMMSP) of Peru is continuing its struggle for a decent new collective agreement at the Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde copper and molybdenum mine in southern Arequipa region. For the first time in the 40 year history of the mine, national government declared industrial action to be legal, as all 1,220 FNTMMSP members downed tools on 29 September for indefinite strike action. 
 
The legal status for the strike means the ministry of labour will arbitrate negotiations, with both sides meeting this afternoon, Monday, for talks. Striking miners are being replaced with 600 scabs and management staff in company efforts to continue production, breaching Peruvian labour law. If company negotiators continue to push regressive proposals, the union will demand the government and Congress send labour inspectors to determine operations are in line with regulations. This would paralyse all production. The branch union general secretary Leoncio Amudio Pe&ntilde;a alerted labour authorities to the pending request for inspections on 8 October. 
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Cerro Verde is offering workers a rise of less than US$1 per day, whereas the union seeks US$3. Local management also wants to replace future salary increases with a production bonus. As well as improved wages, strikers are demanding improved working conditions and better health and safety conditions. Branch general secretary Pe&ntilde;a reports that the company only offers solutions to 4 out of 40 union demands. Union and management positions are also far apart on the length of the agreement, with the union wanting a one-year duration and the company originally seeking 5 years, now 3. The previous agreement which expired 31 August was 3-year, but that was extended as a one off in exchange for company concessions. 
 
The strike was preceded by a 48-hour work stoppage in early September and an indefinite strike mid-September that was suspended due to a technicality making it illegal. 
 
Cerro Verde produced 312,336 tonnes of copper in 2010, 2% of the world&rsquo;s copper creating a net profit of US$1.05 billion. The open-pit mine is owned by US-based Freeport-McMoRan (53.7%), SMM Cerro Verde Nederlands (21%), a unit of the Japanese Sumitomo Corp., and Peru-based Compania de Minas Buenaventura (19.3%). Mining profits are soaring on global markets due to increased metals prices, with massively increased profit margins not shared with workers.

Peruvian Cerro Verde Miners Launch Legal Indefinite Strike

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Several hundred garment workers conducted a hunger strike in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka on 29 September, demanding payment of outstanding wages and allowances of workers at five garment factories. Protestors also sought legal compensation for dismissed workers from four garment factories. The pressure exerted achieved payment of the moneys owed by some, but not all of the employers. 
 
The strike was organised by the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF), a highly active member trade union of the International Textile, Garment &amp; Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). The hunger strike action was followed by the submission of a memorandum to the Ministry of Labour by a five-member delegation led by NGWF General Secretary Ms Safia Parveen. The memorandum called for immediate government intervention. 
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Each of the five garment factory employers had failed to pay wages since July, with overtime and other payments also outstanding. This affected 900 workers at S Nahar Garments of Kawran Bazar in Dhaka city, 200 workers at Bristi Garments of Tikatuli, 200 workers work in Jas Fashion of the Dab Star group in Arambagh, 1000 workers of Reo Fashion of the Dab Star Group also in Arambagh, and 350 workers at Millennium Garments of Tikatuli. Following the protest, Bristi, Jas, Reo, and Millenium groups made the payments, with Nahar promising to pay by today. 
 
Protestors also called on the government to intervene in the struggle for compensation to illegally dismissed workers of four garment factories, 97 at Benson Apparels of Tejgaon, 30 at Riz Fashion of Matuail, 25 at Aditi Apparels of Mirpur, and 45 at Bristi Garments. All saw their jobs disappear in cost cutting efforts over the last two years. Bristi has since paid, while Aditi promised to make payments by today. 
 
Focus now concentrates on Benson and Riz fashion. 
 
Speakers called for more action from the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) to whom the NGWF submitted a grievance on 15 July. See prior <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4557-Bangladesh-Garment-Workers-Take-Hunger-Strike-Actions-over-Delinquent-Employers">ICEM report</a>.&nbsp; 
 
NGWF President Amirul Haque Amin presided over the hunger strike. Speakers included, Coordinator of the Bangladesh Garment Workers Unity Council Salauddin Swapan, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Garment Trade Union Centre Ruhul Amin, NGWF leaders Ms Safia Parveen, Mohammad Faruk Khan, Mrs Sultana Aktar, Mohammad Kabir, workers&rsquo; representatives of the affective factories spoke on the occasion, and Harun Chowdhury of the Bangladeshi Communist Party.

Bangladeshi Garment Workers’ Hunger Strike Achieves Owed Wages

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