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GLOBAL: On today of all days trade unionists around the world demand fresh steps to reform the global economy in favour of social justice, investment in jobs and fairness in society. This is no time for business as usual.Workers are being asked to pay an intolerably heavy price for recovery programmes that favour bankers and the old guard of the global economy. Millions of workers are losing their jobs or have been thrown into precarious work. Social safety nets are being torn apart. Public spending that provides for cohesive communities is being savagely cut.With all of this in mind, Global Unions call on policymakers and democrats everywhere to support a new paradigm of recovery and social justice that will: <ul><li>Reassert in government at all levels the primacy of public interest over private gain and ensure that the protection of citizens' rights is made a cornerstone of social and economic development; </li><li>Defend the rights of workers and unions and mobilise the creation of sustainable, secure and good quality jobs across all sectors of the economy; </li><li>Ensure that social justice is a central mission of government and take concrete measures to reduce income disparities and increase equality, in particular gender equality. </li><li>Eliminate market abuse through short-term speculation and manipulation of financial markets by imposing binding and effective regulation;</li><li>Promote sustainable development with job-centered policies, effective social protections and reversal of global warming and environmental degradation;</li><li>Renew commitment to public service values in society and enhance the contribution of quality public services to fairer and more efficient societies and to finance these services through progressive systems of taxation that provide sufficient resources while improving social equity;</li><li>Commit to education for all and provide resources needed to achieve the enrichment of society that comes from high quality education and training;</li><li>Improve the quality of people's lives by providing universal access to health care and other vital social welfare services and breathing new life into efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. </li></ul>May Day 2010 is a moment to change course, to meet the aspirations of workers and communities for a new beginning, to put to flight self-serving politics and corporate greed, and, above all, to build anew solidarity in society in support of people-centered values that will enrich the lives of all.Visit Global Unions' website at <a href="http://www.global-unions.org/">http://www.global-unions.org/</a>.

Global Unions, the voice of the global labour movement, today issued a joint statement to mark May 1st 2010.

Jobs, Justice and Public Service -- Getting the Economy to Work

CANADA: Next month, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the IMF will conduct a pivotal forum for industrial and manufacturing unions on sustainable development. On June 18-19, 2010, the two Global Union Federations - along with their Canadian affiliates - will host a conference titled &quot;The Triple Crisis of Sustainability&quot; in Toronto, Ontario, to precede the G8 and G20 summit meetings near there.There is little question that the economic collapse, environmental degradation, and the resulting negative social impacts have badly affected workers, their families, and their communities. Contributing to the magnitude of these crises is the absence of effective global regulations and lagging financial governance of markets.Toronto's World Conference on Sustainability will produce a declaration that will be forwarded to the G8 and G20 summits. It will demand that global economic and political leaders take decisive action to reverse the downward social spiral felt by most of the world's people, and begin implementing real, worker-friendly solutions on climate change and a sustainable economic future.The Conference will include panel discussions, as well as keynote speeches from notable experts on the economic crisis, sustainability, and global governance. In addition, there will be ample opportunities for trade union leaders of ICEM and IMF affiliates, as well as others to tell their own stories of how workers have responded to a crisis not of their own making.The Conference will be held in the Dominion Ballroom of the Sheraton Centre Hotel, Toronto, 123 Queen Street West. The ICEM has reserved a block of rooms. The registration form for the Conference and hotel rooms can be found <a href="http://www.icem.org//files/PDF/EN%20sust.dev%20Attendance%20form.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>, and it should be returned forthwith to <a href="mailto:Fanja.rasolomanana@icem.org">Fanja.rasolomanana@icem.org</a> in order to assure prompt booking. Workers have a central role to play in building a future that lifts people out of poverty, while protecting the environment. The ICEM and IMF believe that the systematic looting of the global economy by unscrupulous speculators must be stopped. The Jobs Pact, developed by the ILO, is one proposal for exiting a financial crisis brought about by greed and lack of financial oversight.Regarding the environment, industrial unions did deliver a message in Copenhagen that a fair, ambitious, and legally binding agreement on global greenhouse gas emissions is necessary, but that the legitimate concerns of workers for decent work, social justice, and long-term, sustainable jobs must be forefront. It cannot be jobs or the environment, it must be both, or it will ultimately be neither.The crises of failing economies, environmental inaction, and social disorder are interconnected. It will be the goal of the ICEM/IMF conference to ensure that the voices of workers are heard on these matters at the highest level. Jobs, workers' rights, social protections, quality public services, and sustainability are at the heart of this agenda.

Global Trade Union Sustainability Conference in Toronto fast approaching.

Global conference on sustainability

MALAYSIA: About 200 workers who are members of IMF affiliate the Electrical Industry Workers' Union (EIWU) staged a peaceful picket in front of a major high voltage cable manufacturing company on May 19. The company, Federal Power Cables, is failing to meet the terms of an agreement with the union. The company is located in the biggest industrial city in Malaysia called Shah Alam, which is about 40 km from Kuala Lumpur. There was a heavy police presence, which are common sights during industrial disputes in Malaysia.The union has an existing collective agreement with Federal Power Cables, one management failed to comply with. The management refused to grant the contractual bonus and annual wage increments to more than 300 workers. EIWU made several attempts to negotiate with management but the results have been negative. Being left with no other alternative the workers decided to stage pickets outside the company premises.Maniyan Poovan, General Secretary of EIWU said that at one stage the Managing Director openly stated that he does not like national unions like the EIWU, but preferred in-house unions. He also coaxed workers to leave the union by granting better conditions of employment, which are more favourable than the collective agreement. Maniyan stressed that the management is also using racial issues to divide the multi-racial workforce. The company uses favouritism based along racial lines to deprive long-serving workers of their promotion. He added, &quot;Tthe union has helped this company for five years to recover from a slump in business and now when it's business has turned around the management don't want to honour the provisions of the collective agreement and pay the workers their due benefits.&quot; He stressed that the picket would continue and since this plant works on shifts, pickets will be held at different times. He also expressed disgust that the management is trying to bust the union which had been representing the workers in this company for more than 30 years.Aside from this the management started issuing show-cause letters to workers who took sick leave and approved annual leave. The local shop-stewards were also issued with show-cause letters which might lead to harsh disciplinary action.Arunasalam. P, IMF Regional Representative who was present at the picket site expressed solidarity support on behalf of the IMF. He called upon the management to honour the collective agreement and pay the workers.A news report about the picket can be seen <a href="http://www.malaysiakini.tv/video/19340/federal-power-menyingkirkan-hak-pekerja.html" target="_blank">here</a>.

The company Federal Power Cables is failing to comply with its agreement with workers and is attempting to bust the Electrical Industry Workers' Union.

Malaysian cable company tries to bust union

<img style="margin-right: 7px" src="" alt="" width="225" height="325" align="left" /> The fourth annual Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival -- by, for and about unions and working people -- tells workers' stories of confronting the challenges caused by the extreme imbalance in power between the transnational corporate elite and working people.Among other issues, the current financial crisis takes centre stage in this year's line-up of 15 shorts, primarily focusing on the voices of workers and their unions: their struggles and triumphs. From the conditions of ship-breaking workers in Bangladesh and the atrocities afflicted on farm workers in Zimbabwe, to the struggle of independent truck drivers in the United States, the programme includes a diverse blend of film shorts. The festival brings into view compelling stories of workers from around the world, occasionally using comedy or tragedy to grab the attention of viewers. This event is organized by the Global Union Communicator's Task Force, representing all global union federations, the International Trade Union Confederation and TUAC. WHAT: Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival WHERE: Grütli Theatre, Rue du General-Dufour 16, Geneva WHEN: June 15 from 20h00 to 22h00, open reception at 19h00Subtitles in English and French Admission is free. ________________________________ The programme for the Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival 2010 features:<table border="0"><tbody><tr><td><img src="" alt="" title="The Man Behind the Labour Film Movement" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td><a href="http://www.goiam.org/index.php/news/latest-videos/6921-the-man-behind-the-labor-film-movement">THE MAN BEHIND THE LABOUR FILM MOVEMENT</a>IAM, USA, February 2010, (00:02:45)As economic troubles continue in the U.S., Chris Garlock a Washington, DC-based labour activist is pursuing his passion by operating a film festival that showcases movies about the crisis, the union movement and the daily life of working-class people. This film was produced by the International Association of Machinists for its online news network.</td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" title="HF6" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td><a href="http://www.far.be/hf6/">HF6 </a>Yannik Bovy, Frederik Tihon, Gérald Jamsin-Leclercq, FGTB, Belgium, 2009, (00:00:20)A short teaser of a documentary about the revival of blast furnace number six at a plant of the global steel group ArcelorMittal in Seraing, Liège, Belgium.</td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/sustainlabour#p/u/3/PvTrg1nkjdA">A CALL TO ACTION</a>Sustain Labour/ITUC, Global, 2009, (00:01:44)A teaser and short film in its own right from the 20 minute film &quot;Time to Tackle Climate Change&quot;, which was first launched at the COP15 meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009. The video showcases trade unions' commitments for action on climate change around the world.</td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/nlcnet#p/u/8/fxUGONR9pQw">WHERE SHIPS AND WORKERS GO TO DIE</a>NLC, USA, 2009, (00:09:22)Produced by the U.S.-based National Labor Committee, this moving documentary exposes the harsh, slave like conditions of workers in the ship breaking yards in Bangladesh. U.S. labour activists call on the G20 to put an end to the exploitation.</td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td><a href="http://www.oseo.ch/index.cfm?ID=D76999D9-EBD6-F6C2-D73CE44A89C6CABC">REPORT: FAIR GAMES FAIR PLAY</a>OSEO, Switzerland/South Africa, 2009, (00:08:38)A short film reporting on the Fair Games Fair Play campaign led by South African unions and supported by others including the Swiss workers' organization OSEO, producer of this film. Preparing for the world cup workers fight for better working conditions and better pay.</td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td><a href="http://www.manicstudios.tv/portfolio.htm">WHAT HAVE UNIONS EVER DONE FOR US?</a>Manic Studios, Australia, 2009, 00:02:09WINNER OF LABOUR START'S VIDEO OF THE YEAR With unions getting a bad wrap from big business, web video designers Manic Studios ask the biting question, what have the unions ever done for us?</td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td><a href="http://cms.iuf.org/?q=node/282">HOUSE OF JUSTICE</a>GAPWUZ, Zimbabwe, 2009, (00:26:05)A chilling documentary on the atrocities conducted by Zimbabwean government in defiance of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) treaty. Accounts of torture, vandalism and violence on Zimbabwean farm owners and workers as they fight for their rights in the face of the land reform program issued by President Mugabe.</td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/CWUTV#p/u/4/e1vouvGNqXY">WARNING SIGNS</a>Flawless Media, UK, 2009, (00:00:60)Produced by Flawless Media for the Communication Workers' Union (CWU), this entry to the Trades Union Congress' 60 second short film contest in 2009 highlights workplace &quot;warning signs&quot; of when it is time to call for help from a union.</td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/UnionYouthUkraine">FUTURE BY OWN HANDS</a>UBWU, Ukraine, 2009, (00:10:02)A short movie that recognizes the important and difficult role that young people play in the life of the Ukrainian Building Workers' Union. Young unionists from UBWU fight to make their life better. This short film features organizing efforts and the struggle for humane conditions of living and safe and healthy jobs.</td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/gamedifacket">JOIN THE UNION</a>LO, Sweden, 2010, (00:00:40)Landsorganisationen, a Swedish trade union confederation, used this advertisement as part of its organizing campaign. The main purpose of the film is to show how employers often tell workers not to organize, while they themselves have all the help they need in case of a dispute or a conflict.</td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td>RACE TO THE BOTTOMJonathan King, 2008, USA, (00:05:00)A short online version of a 20 minute documentary film about truck drivers working at the Port of Oakland, where over 2,000 independent truck drivers operate every day. The film looks into the lives of the drivers, as we learn about their struggles to earn a living wage, support their families and stay healthy as they do their jobs, transporting goods in and out of the Port.</td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/NZAEPMU#p/u/19/TCypSIoITaw">CRUNCH TIME EPMU</a>Unreal Films, New Zealand, 2009, (00:13:42)New Zealand is entering an economic crunch unlike anything seen before in our life time. Prominent economists and trade union leaders discuss what is happening, why, and what workers can do about it. This is an Unreal Films production for the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU). </td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/sustainlabour#p/u/1/ajT4NzMhNYI">UNION OF GREEN</a>Sustain Labour/ITUC, Global, 2009, (00:01:56)A teaser and short film taken from &quot;Time to Tackle Climate Change&quot;, which was first launched at the COP15 meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009. The video showcases trade unions' concrete experiences, challenges, opportunities and commitments for action on climate change.</td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAB6eGzOnIs">ROBONURSE</a>Frances Underwood, Australia, 2009, (00:03:39)This film takes a look at the &quot;cost&quot; of nursing care and what strategies may be introduced by employers or health administrators to reduce nursing costs in the future. Winner of the NSW's first Labour Film Shorts Festival in 2009. </td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="150" align="left" /></td><td><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/johninnit#p/u/1/LLGoKqPAhSk">JUST ANOTHER COG IN THE MACHINE</a>John Wood, UK, 2009, (00:01:01)A union can make a big difference to people's experiences in a workplace. This movie was screened at the Canadian International Film Festival in 2009.</td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="135" align="left" /></td><td>TCO AND FACKET FÖRÄNDRASAcne Advertising, Sweden, 2009, (00:02:42) A campaign of Swedish trade unions federations aimed at graduates explaining the value of a collective agreement, which among other things sees workers earn on average 80,000 kronor (CHF11,500) more than workers without a collective agreement. </td></tr><tr><td><img src="" alt="" width="200" height="135" /></td><td>Feature Presentation : Like a Bird in a Cage (Kafesteki Kuş Gibiydik)Directed by Güliz Sağlam and Feryal Saygılıgil, Turkey, 2009, (00:30:00) Fired for her trade union activities, Emine Arslan, a Turkish female textile worker at Desa Safaköy factory, inspired the resistance of other women workers at the factory. The film tells of the women's hopes, expectations and relationship with the union.</td></tr></tbody></table>

Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival 2010

Text / Alex IvanouTrade union activist Yolanda Morín, 33, is the international secretary at the Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO), one of IMF's affiliates in Spain, and currently a substitute member of the IMF Executive Committee. In this capacity Yolanda Morín will attend her first IMF Executive Committee meeting in Frankfurt on June 10 and 11, 2010.Yolanda joined the CC.OO national headquarters only two years ago. However she is not new to the trade union movement. Graduated as a teacher at the age of 21 in Madrid, Yolanda moved to Catalan-speaking Barcelona, where she started her career as a teacher. Soon she found that due to linguistic problems it was difficult to continue. Living in an industrial area Yolanda decided to change her work profile and embarked on a different job in small industrial metalworking enterprises. Notably it was here that she first faced the reality of precarious employment with poor working conditions and a bad system of protection of health and safety.In a bid to change this reality Yolanda joined a union and made contact with the union world. In the beginning, she worked in the morning at the factory and on free afternoons at the local union, where she volunteered to work with the training department. Soon after that Yolanda was offered a permanent job in the union as a technical assistant responsible for studies of the labour market and workers' inclusion programs. Yolanda's activism and interest in participating in collective bargaining led to her becoming a member of the Bosch works council and member of its negotiating team. Later, based on her experience, Yolanda was contacted by Comisiones Obreras and offered a job in Madrid first with responsibility for industrial relations observatories and now as the international secretary.In her daily work Yolanda is involved in union cooperation projects, she maintains contacts with European works councils and with colleagues in different companies, both in Europe and globally. In terms of her expectations from her current and future activities with the IMF, Yolanda believes one should be ambitious about what can be done in conjunction with the IMF, while at the same time finding a balance between the available human and financial resources.Yolanda believes that IMF, together with its affiliates, should fight to oblige companies to implement socially responsible practices, since she is assured they do have responsibilities vis-à-vis their workers and society; companies have significant influence on finances, economic systems and also on governments and their policies. Yolanda believes that, &quot;the aim should be to change the rules of the game, it is clear that the IMF cannot do that alone, nevertheless we should put pressure on governments and different institutions where unions are involved to seek to change the rules of the game. The present rules have given us the financial and economic crisis. And the brunt of this has been paid by workers and has translated into a loss of basic rights for workers in collective bargaining and negotiations. It has also resulted in an increase of industrial accidents due to the lack of respect by the companies of health and safety regulations.&quot; &quot;Companies do design and evaluate their strategies by communicating within and between themselves; therefore union cooperation is also key. Unions should be in a position to communicate, to set up and evaluate their own strategies,&quot; she argues, adding, &quot;therefore there is a clear need to set up global workers' and trade union networks.&quot;NB: The IMF Working Group on Trade Union Networks in TNCs, met in Geneva in May and will report to the IMF Executive Committee in June 2010.

Yolanda Morín strongly believes the IMF should develop trade union networks to protect workers' rights all over the world.

The rules of the game should be changed

The International Labour Organization potentially has a significant role to play in bringing companies, trade unions and governments together to bring about improvements to working conditions, starting with improving recognition of the right to freedom of association. In March 2009 the ILO Governing Body decided to develop activities that build capacity of trade unions and employers to participate in social dialogue in the electronics industry at country level. It also agreed to encourage the tripartite constituents at country level to develop agreed mechanisms to reduce the amount of temporary and contract employment in the industry. Importantly, given their key role in promoting labour standards down their supply chains and their capacity to contribute to creating conditions for long-term employment relationships, the ILO is encouraging participation by brand-name companies in these activities which are scheduled to commence in 2010.

Organizing electronics workers

Employment

Threats to workers' rights

Barriers to organizing

The way forward

The role of the ILO

Speaking at the IMF conference, Anne Lindsay of CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development), which along with IMF is one of the founding members of the GoodElectronics network (www.goodelectronics.org), stressed the importance of trade unions and Non-Governmental Organizations working together to compel companies to improve conditions in their supply chains. Through GoodElectronics, unions and NGOs concerned with labour rights in the industry can strengthen their relationship and put a consistent message to the companies that they need to improve their approach to freedom of association and enter into direct dialogue with trade unions. The ensuing discussion identified several more principles for dealing with supply chain labour abuses. Responses must be speedy and specific to the particular circumstances. One potential danger to guard against is that multinationals do not sever the supply chain relationship, and thus put workers' jobs at risk, without making all possible efforts first to remedy the situation. Trade unions in the multinational's home country have a particular responsibility to hold the company to respecting labour standards in their own relationship.An important strategy is to improve dialogue with companies, including discussions towards International Framework Agreements (IFAs). The IMF has entered into a number of IFAs with multinational companies, though none in the electronics sector. Such agreements commit companies to respecting at least the key ILO Conventions on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, discrimination, child labour and forced labour. Most importantly, in signing an IFA with the IMF, the multinational company undertakes to pressure its suppliers to uphold the same standards.Such an agreement in the electronics industry, besides avoiding the pitfalls inherent in unilateral codes, would provide a useful tool for enabling dialogue between companies and trade unions at the international level that could eventually lead to workers participating in monitoring labour conditions in their own factories.In concluding the conference, IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina highlighted areas for future IMF work. This will include:<ul><li>Supporting organizing and union building in the Asia-Pacific, prioritizing Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines;</li><li>Organizing in industrialized countries;</li><li>Spreading good examples of organizing non-manual workers, women, young people and migrant workers;</li><li>Cooperation with NGOs to create public pressure on governments, companies and investors;</li><li>Working with NGOs, including continued participation in the GoodElectronics network;</li><li>Taking action against precarious work; and</li><li>Developing trade union networks in TNCs and supply chains.</li></ul>

There is entrenched resistance in the electronics industry to unionization. For some of the dominant U.S. brands, this dates back to their early days in Silicon Valley. Despite having an established presence in certain European-based companies such as Philips and Nokia, unions have never been able to gain sufficient toehold in the industry on which to build organizing efforts. Consequently, when electronics manufacturing went through its massive period of growth in the 1990s, unions were not in a position to be able to organize the hundreds of thousands of new electronics workers. Today, only a handful of contract manufacturing plants worldwide have any union presence. Reports abound of workers losing their jobs and being put on an employment 'black list' for attempting to organize or being told not to join a union or engage in any union activity. In Mexico, employment agencies routinely screen jobseekers for family ties to trade unionists and companies expressly prohibit workers from joining trade unions. Export Processing Zones or EPZs, where electronics manufacturing is increasingly located, are notorious for guaranteeing employers a union-free environment and enforcing it by preventing union organizers' access to workers and creating a climate of fear that deters workers from unionizing. Governments contribute by failing to enforce labour laws in the EPZs, either through lack of resources or from a misguided assumption that union-free EPZs will attract more foreign investment. Precarious temporary and agency contracts that proliferate in the sector are another obstacle to electronics workers forming unions: temporary workers have no guarantee of remaining in the workplace for an extended period (although many in fact do); agency workers have an indirect employment relationship with the company they work for; legislation or union statutes prevent contract workers from joining the same unions as the permanent workforce; unions find it hard to make contact with such workers who are likely to be on different pay and conditions from the permanent workforce; and, perhaps the biggest barrier of all, workers' fear of losing their current or future employment.A significant characteristic of electronics manufacturing, from an organizing perspective, is that it is increasingly being done by women and migrant workers. This presents a very large organizing challenge to metal unions that have historically catered to a predominantly male membership. The biggest obstacles to organizing migrant workers are that they may be afraid to join a union and may not be aware of their rights. Language and cultural barriers also need to be overcome. Non-manual workers, which in some parts of the sector make up a high proportion of the workforce, are likely to have their own specific demands of trade unions.Far from being discouraged by these challenges, unions attending the IMF's ICT, Electrical and Electronics conference determined that unions need to continue to develop specific strategies to organize different groups of workers, including women, young people, non-manual workers and precarious workers. Reasserting their commitment to organizing electronics workers, delegates declared that while unionization rates in the electronics industry remain so low, organizing must remain the top priority to improve wages and working conditions and restrict the ever increasing spread of precarious work.

Not surprisingly, the race to drive down labour costs has given rise to reports of widespread abuse of international labour standards, both in the CM companies themselves and further down the supply chain. Typical conditions include below subsistence wages, excessive working hours, forced overtime, temporary contracts, no job security, unsafe working conditions and degrading treatment. The practice of contracting out manufacturing and workforces enables major brand-name companies to distance themselves from the substandard working conditions experienced by the people manufacturing their products. But these companies are coming under increasing pressure to clean up the abuses in their supply chains. A series of high-profile consumer campaigns coupled with pressure from shareholders via responsible investment groups has increased awareness of the vulnerability of high profile brands to negative public perceptions of working conditions in their supply chains. Yet most companies respond only by encouraging, with differing levels of enthusiasm, their suppliers to abide by their own unilaterally developed codes of conduct. This company-driven CSR approach has proven inadequate both to raising standards and sustaining them. Workers have no involvement in monitoring or implementing labour standards as collective labour relations are virtually non-existent. Most significantly, there is no evidence of implementation of company codes successfully addressing breaches of freedom of association or promoting a climate that is less hostile to workers wanting to join a union. There are strong arguments in favour of taking an industry approach to improving labour rights including freedom of association. Supply chains are complex with a high degree of overlap - in many cases a range of brand name companies are supplied by the same factory.This makes it practically impossible for a single company to successfully implement its code of conduct in a factory supplying multiple companies. Accordingly, many of the major companies have joined the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), which has improving social and environmental conditions across the supply chain as a goal. Unfortunately, the industry code agreed by EICC members does not meet the ILO standard on freedom of association, nor does it include any right to bargain collectively.

Threats to workers&#039; rights

The ILO estimates total employment in the manufacture of electrical and electronic products worldwide at over 18 million. The majority of workers are highly concentrated in some 20 countries which together account for nearly 87 per cent of the world total. Employment growth this century has been led by China which in 2004 had a share of some 35 per cent of global employment. Conversely, between 1997 and 2004 employment in the United States declined by some 550,000 (30 per cent of the workforce), in Japan by 400,000 (20 per cent) and in Germany by 100,000 (14 per cent). Women's share of employment in the sector has risen from 38.7 per cent in 1997 to over 40 per cent with the share in different countries and industry branches ranging from five per cent to 87 per cent.In Europe and North America, new ICT jobs are primarily being created in the service parts of the sector, while in Asia employment is growing not only in lower wage production jobs, but in research and development and other highly skilled jobs. There is still a lot of movement in the sector, with a high rate of mergers, acquisitions and attendant plant closures.Up to 75 per cent of global electronics production has now been outsourced from brand-name companies such as Hewlett Packard, Dell and Apple, to contract manufacturers (CMs). At this level there is significant market concentration, with five major CMs producing electronic products for all the major brands: Hon Hai (Foxconn), Flextronics, Sanmina SCI, Jabil Circuit and Celestica.Despite being for the most part unknown to the general public, the largest CMs are themselves major multinational companies that have seen extraordinary growth. Flextronics increased its sales by a factor of ten between 1997 and 2005, while the largest CM, Hon Hai, employs over 486,000 workers, the majority of them in China. Its turnover for 2009 topped $56 billion.Some of the rapid changes that are occurring in the sector can be seen in the table on page 21, which compares revenues and profits of the leading technology companies in 2009 with 2007.A major element of the CM strategy to attract business from brand-name companies is to locate in countries where wage costs are lower: Flextronics claims to save its clients 75 per cent on labour costs. Consequently, the search for low cost manufacturing locations has led the CMs and other manufacturers away from North America and Western Europe, where there have been numerous plant closures and job losses, towards countries in Eastern Europe and Asia. In 2006, China overtook the European Union in hi-tech exports for the first time.

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