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Global worker No1 2022

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AUSTRIA: The joint negotiating team of the Austrian Metal and Textile Workers&#039; Union (GMT) and the White-Collar Workers&#039; Union (GPA) has been successful in concluding a new agreement for over 50,000 production and non-manual workers in the electrical and electronics sector. After what the unions described as &quot;intense negotiations&quot;, the following items were among the results: <ul> <li>a new, integrated pay system for blue- and white-collar workers; </li><li>an increase in effective wages of 2.5 per cent over the next 18 months with the higher fixed pay increase coming into effect from the first day; the pay increase falls also due for earners of the collectively agreed minimum wages; </li><li>a distribution option at plant level whereby companies choose to raise total pay by either 2.9 per cent or at least 2.3 per cent while distributing 0.6 per cent individually; </li><li>due to the introduction of an integrated pay system for blue- and white-collar workers, an increase in the minimum wage will be postponed until May 1, 2004, when the scheduled wage hike will be at least 2.6 per cent, with an elimination of the lowest wage group.</li></ul> The integrated pay system was considered the key issue in the bargaining. It will take effect on May 1, 2004, and provide for automatic bi-annual pay rises for both categories of workers, blue and white collar. The distinctions, however, between the two categories will remain, as reflected in separate collective agreements and works councils. Bargaining for metalworking in the small crafts and trades sector, which opened on October 20 and affects over 10,000 production workers, is continuing.

High on the list of achievements is an integrated pay system for production workers and non-manual employees.

Deal reached in Austrian electrical &amp; electronics sector

BY JENNY HOLDCROFT The Export Processing Zone of San Pedro de Macorís, east of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, is restricted with gates, razor wire and armed guards. Workers are locked in all day, including during the half hour they are permitted for lunch, and kept there at night until work quotas are completed. At maquiladoras in Tijuana, Mexico, workers earn around US$1 per hour, wages so low that workers are forced to live in houses they build from packing cases, in communities without sewerage or running water. Women and men work 3_ nightshifts per week of 12 hours each. During each shift they are allowed one 10-minute break and one half-hour meal break. These are two -- unfortunately typical -- snapshots from the increasingly growing practice of Export Processing Zones. These zones may carry different names -- "Maquiladoras," "Free Zones," "Free Ports" or "Special Economic Zones," but most if not all of them are about two things: tax and duty breaks and cheap, unorganised labour. The concept of EPZs is not a new one, but in the last 10 years there has been a rapid expansion in the number of countries with EPZs, in the overall number of EPZs, and in the number of workers employed there (see table on page 25). The main industries operating in EPZs are electronics and garments, while automotive companies also have a significant presence. Major transnationals, including General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, Nissan, Fiat, General Electric, Siemens and Philips, have a presence in EPZs, not to mention the many smaller companies that supply them. According to the OECD, transnationals employ most of the workers in the world's export processing zones. It is a typical characteristic of EPZs that trade union rights are restricted. Whether this is by law or by a lack of enforcement of existing laws, the result for workers is the same. Few unions have been able to successfully organise EPZ workers. Promoting EPZs Various groups have been formed to promote the EPZ concept, including the World Federation of Free Zones, the World Economic Processing Zones Association and many country level associations. To sell EPZs to investors they make frequent reference to the 'bureaucratic procedures' and 'red tape' that can be avoided by creating and investing in EPZs. Naturally, they do not mention that these bureaucratic procedures, to be avoided at all cost, include labour laws to protect workers and guarantee them their rights. In fact, the impact on workers' wages and conditions is not a question that is considered as a cost of investment in EPZs. Proponents of the EPZ model boast of 'Profitability for All Parties: The Investor, the Economy and the Region' -- the workers who contribute their labour to generate the profits are not considered to be among the parties whose interests are at stake. And yet the impact of EPZ employment on workers' rights, on their pay and conditions is enormous. Impact on employment The International Labour Organisation is sufficiently concerned about the economic and social effects of EPZs that for over 20 years it has monitored their impact on employment. It has also questioned their role in social and economic development in the host countries, noting the lack of information available on whether jobs generated by EPZs are of a long-term nature and the real extent of skills transfer. The ILO has found that in Mauritius over the past 10 years 35 firms have opened in EPZs each year, but the same number have closed down. In the maquiladoras of Mexico, 250,000 jobs were lost between January 2001 and June 2002, some 15 per cent of the maquila workforce. The companies simply packed up and moved to where wages are even cheaper. The $1.20 hourly rate in Tijuana cannot compete with the 40 cents per hour that workers in China make. Likewise in other low-wage countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and even Vietnam, China is setting the benchmark for low wages and substandard working conditions that many companies simply cannot resist. The pressure is on countries to compete on wage costs or risk losing vital foreign investment to the lowest bidder. And this is the great deceit of globalisation. The promise that transnational corporations will bring infrastructure, skills development and economic growth to the countries they choose to invest in gives way to the reality that there are few lasting benefits and devastation when the corporations leave. Challenging the dogma Unions are fighting against the persistent dogma of the business community that decent wages and conditions are barriers to investment. When the Malaysian government set up EPZs, it banned the formation of national unions in the electronics industry as an incentive to foreign electronics companies to invest in the development of that sector. According to the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC), 96 per cent of all workers in seven EPZs are employed by foreign transnationals, and electrical and electronics firms account for 65 per cent of all EPZ employment. There is still no national electronics union in Malaysia. TUAC also points out that minimum wages are not enforced in Malaysian EPZs on the grounds that foreign investors would relocate. Similarly, a UN report stated that: "It is primarily in the EPZs that workers' rights to join a national union for collective bargaining and/or to strike are largely restricted by governments, based on the belief that unions will discourage foreign direct investment in the industry.&quot; Yet the ILO has found that companies are quite capable of adapting to local conditions where countries have an established trade union presence in EPZs and collective bargaining takes place. In fact, such countries "do not appear to have suffered any loss of investment and have the same investor profile as countries which lack trade union infrastructure. In the Philippines, for example, 59 per cent of zone investment is in the electronics sector, and many of the leading electronics firms have increased their investments despite the presence of trade unions in the zones." The Global Unions' group [including the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the Global Union Federations (GUFs) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD] has endorsed a statement submitted by national unions to their governments for the 5th WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún in September 2003. Among other measures, it calls for a clarifying statement to the effect that the weakening of internationally recognised core labour standards in order to increase exports, as in EPZs, is an illegitimate trade-distorting export incentive that is not permissible under WTO rules. Acceptance of such a statement would be a huge change of heart for the WTO, whose director-general in 2001 said that &quot;I see the reflection of the free zones in almost every part of the world actually as a testimonial to the importance of the free zones to facilitate free and fully competitive trade, which is one of the principles of the World Trade Organisation.&quot; Women workers While workers in EPZs in general face low pay and poor working conditions, EPZs are notorious for their exploitation of women workers, who account for as many as 90 per cent of the workforce in some zones. Typically, women's wages are 20 per cent to 50 per cent lower than those of males working in the same zones. Long working hours coupled with overtime and nightshifts lead to women leaving EPZ employment before they reach the age of 25. Accounts of women being forced to undergo pregnancy tests abound. The Sri Lankan government spent millions on providing infrastructure for companies in EPZs but they did not build any hostels to house the influx of migrant workers, mainly from rural areas all over the island. A women's organisation working in the zones says "the majority of these migrant workers are young women in their late teens and early twenties who are herded together inside small rooms in temporary structures. The majority sleep on the floor." Legislation restricting night work for women in Malaysia has been cancelled to allow factories to operate 24 hours a day. Women in EPZs work excessive hours: more than 90 per cent work more than 48 hours per week and in some instances they are required to work a further eight hours' overtime after their eight-hour shift. Promotion prospects are low for women, who are predominantly employed as semi-skilled or unskilled workers. Hard to organise Existing labour laws either don't apply or are flouted with impunity by employers. In Bangladesh, the zones are exempted from the Industrial Relations Ordinance and investors are informed of the absence of unions as an incentive to invest (see also article on page 30). The companies that choose to locate in EPZs are looking for cheap labour and exemptions from social obligations, good reasons to strongly resist union attempts to improve wages and conditions. In Sri Lanka, the law requires that unions be recognised in a workplace if 40 per cent or more of the workers belong to the union; yet employers still manage to refuse to recognise properly registered unions, in violation of the national law and of ILO Conventions Nos. 87 and 98. The Free Trade Zone Workers' Union (FTZWU) has formed eleven branches of which only one has been legally recognised. Of the ten branches pursuing recognition through the courts and through campaigns, four have been crushed. EPZs are often set up in economically deprived areas where labour is cheap and workers are more fearful of losing their jobs if they make demands. Many workers in the maquiladoras of northern Mexico have relocated from even more economically deprived areas and can even less afford to put their jobs at risk. The predominance of women in EPZ employment is a further barrier to union organisation. Trade union responses Organising in EPZs calls for ingenuity and flexibility to overcome the not inconsiderable obstacles put in the way by governments and employers who would rather keep unions out of the zones. In Maharashtra, India, a small woman in her thirties, Sanjita Jabwala (name changed), is an organiser in the Santa Cruz EPZ. She can freely enter the area, thanks to an identity card that the union has managed to get her. Organising workers in the EPZ is a difficult and dangerous task as Sanjita has to face the hostility of the employers and the mafia-like yellow unions. In the Dominican Republic, IMF affiliate FENATRAMIM has a method of organising in the EPZs that involves making contact with the workers outside of the workplace. Two or three leaders are identified in each factory who then get the home contact details of the other workers on the pretext of inviting them to a fiesta. Once the initial contact has been made in a social situation, organisers visit the employees at their houses to discuss the union. Brazilian affiliate CNM/CUT is involved in a project in the Manaus EPZ to strengthen the presence of the union in Nokia. The project starts by training 15 workers who could become union representatives in the workplace and aims to eventually form a World Council of Nokia members and to negotiate an international framework agreement (IFA) with the company. The intention is that the union organisation will be able to spread to other companies within the Manaus EPZ. In some countries unions specialising in organising within EPZs have been formed, such as the Free Trade Zone Workers' Union in Sri Lanka and FENATRAZONAS in the Dominican Republic. EPZs are one of the most difficult organising challenges faced by unions. Persistence and a certain amount of creativity are urgently needed to reach this exploited group of workers. Transnational corporations will take advantage of low labour standards and wages to increase their profits to the extent to which they are able. The labour movement must unite to raise labour standards across the globe and prevent corporations from playing one country's workers off against another's. That is why one of the IMF's priorities is to implement international framework agreements (IFAs). These are agreements between the global labour movement and transnational corporations (TNCs) at a world level. Most EPZ employment is with TNCs and IFAs provide an opportunity to influence their employment practices in the zones. But IFAs alone are not enough. The best way to improve conditions for workers, especially women workers, trapped in these low-wage jobs is to build a strong labour movement throughout the world.

The number of Export Processing Zones in the world has increased six-fold since 1995.  Largely unorganised, their employees work under poor wages and conditions, with little or no access to unions.  The challenge faced by the trade union movement is to find ways to organise workers in EPZs.

Statistics: A rapid expansion

Export processing zones - Globalisation&#039;s great deceit

Meetings between leaders of countries are necessary and useful, if they do not aim at replacing international organisations that have been set up for global governance.

Once again it is time for the "Big" economic powers to meet and decide how to rule the entire world. The place for the event is Evian, France (just 30 kilometers outside Geneva).

This time, Bush, Koizumi, Chirac, Blair and the others have decided to spend one day to "consult" some of the other countries. That is why Algeria, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa and Switzerland have been invited.

To make the event look even more legitimate, the UN, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the WTO have also be included for the consultations. The ILO, the organisation with the best democratic structure, has not been invited, and we know from past experience that workers' rights don't interest the "Big".

The criteria used to select the countries and organisations to be in Evian are a secret and will probably remain so. Furthermore, the G-8 has no rules. It meets and decides the agenda without any kind of democratic process or transparency.

Undoubtedly, there are things absent from this meeting's agenda which should be discussed but within the framework of the UN and under the chairmanship of its secretary-general, such as:
<ul>
<li>how to write off the well over US$2,000 billion external debt of developing countries;
<li>how to introduce a special tax on speculative financial transactions;
<li>how to create jobs for the more than 200 million jobless;
<li>how to reform international financial institutions and make them democratic and transparent.
</ul>
These fundamental issues need to be debated if the powerful leaders are serious about solving the problems which are afflicting most of the world's population.

G-8 Summit is useless&lt;br&gt;for the poor

CANADA: Reacting to the decision announced on May 22 by DaimlerChrysler to drop plans for a new assembly plant for pickup trucks in Windsor, Ontario, the head of the Canadian Auto Workers union, Buzz Hargrove, expressed anger and deep disappointment. 

In a press statement released by the CAW, the union's president said that the new plant could have been a "major decision to reverse the downward trend of auto, the most important industry in the country," but he blamed the federal and provincial governments for not doing enough to make sure the plant became a reality.

Although the automaker said the project for the Windsor plant would not be economically viable, the union believes the two issues standing in the way of implementing the investment agreement, which had been reached during bargaining in the fall of 2002, are lack of federal and provincial government support, and the rising value of the Canadian dollar.

The CAW president has written to Canada's prime minister, Jean Chrétien, to urge him to convene a meeting of the key stakeholders in the project for the Windsor plant, in order to consider the economic hurdles to the project and work together to see if the obstacles can be overcome.

Windsor is just across the border from Detroit, USA. According to the Detroit News and just-auto.com, the Chrysler group is trying to cut costs and boost revenues at a time when U.S. car and truck demand is down 4 per cent so far this year, and its own sales reduced 7.2 per cent.

Canadian auto union is deeply disappointed and blames the government.

News item on CAW-DC bargaining agreement

DaimlerChrysler drops plan for new plant

Did you know that a metalworker in the USA has to work 1 minute to be able to buy 1 litre of unleaded petrol? Whereas he or she has to work 5-6 minutes to buy 1 litre of petrol in France, South Africa or Sweden. In the Czech Republic, he or she has to work 12 minutes, in Brazil about 25 and over 1.5 hours in Belarus.
Source: The IMF publication "The Purchasing Power of Working Time - An International Comparison." Sector: Basic Metals.

Do you know

Did you know that a metalworker in Australia, France or Ireland has to work 3-4 minutes to be able to buy 1 kilo of potatoes. Whereas he or she has to work 25-30 minutes to buy 1 kilo of potatoes in Colombia, Croatia or Malta, and almost one hour in the Philippines.
Source: The IMF publication "The Purchasing Power of Working Time - An International Comparison." Sector&gt; Electrical Machinery and Apparates.

Did you know that a metalworker in Austria, Japan or Great Britain has to work 5-6 hours to be able to buy a pair of shoes? Whereas he or she has to work 26-27 hours to buy a pair of shoes in Guatemala, Romania or Bangladesh, and 41 hours in Ukraine.
Source: The IMF publication "The Purchasing Power of Working Time - An International Comparison." Sector: Motor vehicles.

At its Central Committee in 2003, the IMF adopted a policy stating that equitable and sustainable growth and development must be based on the following four pillars: <ul><li>Job creation and purchasing power;</li><li>Re-regulation of the global financial market, including among other instruments a Tobin Tax;</li><li>Debt cancellation; and</li></ul><ul><li>Reform of the WTO and international financial institutions.</li></ul>Today more than ever, these are the indispensable components of a development agenda based on social justice, an adequate strategy of fighting against poverty, fair international rules to regulate trade and investments, and an effective multilateral system. This is what the IMF will continue to pursue together with its affiliates, other international trade union organisations, and like-minded social and political organisations.It has to be recognised that very little has been achieved by the international trade union movement since our last Congress in terms of democratic world governance, respect of human and workers' rights, and the fight against poverty and workers' exploitation. This applies in particular to trade negotiations: governments give no consideration to workers and pay no more than lip service to employment and development concerns.Even if the joint efforts of trade unions internationally have achieved some progress, like the integration of social standards into the principles of the World Bank's International Finance Corporation, it is difficult to see any positive concrete implementation. In practice, the International Monetary Fund continues to advocate deregulatory policies that undermine labour rights. The IMF strongly reiterates the trade unions' demand to incorporate fundamental labour rights in bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. This however is not enough without effective enforcement mechanisms that take into account the particular situation of countries with poor legal protection for the right of workers to organise and bargain collectively.The opening of markets should be an instrument for sustainable development. For this to be possible, industrial policies that promote employment are indispensable. In fact, the fundamental link between market opening and sustainable growth is still missing. That link is jobs, good jobs for all, and a fair distribution of the wealth for the workers who create it.In its actions on trade, the IMF working with its affiliates will focus on employment and economic development and search for fairness by taking into account possible conflict of interests between workers caused by market opening. Creating quality employment for all to generate wealth and redistributing income to reduce inequalities is an objective that is equally important for industrialised and developing countries. The IMF will coordinate its affiliates' efforts to make this the priority in the trade policies of all governments. The sustainable growth we stand for cannot happen at the expenses of others, and we will fight for balanced solutions that do not damage weaker parties. It is the role of the IMF, particularly through its Working Party on Trade, Employment and Development, to build a solidarity strategy to help harmonize the legitimate interests of workers in the North and the South. The IMF will continue promoting a transparent debate among its affiliates to address the concerns arising from trade liberalisation that may impact negatively on jobs and rights in some countries while protecting employment in others.Governments have to include development and labour rights issues in trade negotiations. These must include explicit consideration of the expected employment repercussions of trade liberalisation. Together with its affiliates the IMF will continue to demand that governments give serious estimates of potential new jobs generated by market opening and foreign direct investment agreements. This is indispensable to avoid ungrounded or misleading evaluations of the impact of increased trade The IMF, in close collaboration with other GUFs, the ITUC and TUAC, will work to influence international institutions to adopt a democratic system of multilaterally agreed rules that fairly take into account the different needs and conditions of countries, and of different groups within countries. The lack of a real development agenda has made any progress in the Doha Round negotiations impossible, while bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) increasingly promote the interests of corporations and their allies at the expense of workers and citizens. Since the last IMF Congress there has been successful resistance often led by trade unions to some of the proposed agreements. These struggles, are important examples of unity and solidarity between workers in different regions on which the IMF can build future actions.Sustainable development should be a key objective in the strategies of developing countries for attracting foreign investments. It should also be an indicator of success, along with the creation of quality employment and of a fair system of public social protection. The IMF will coordinate joint action and promote solidarity between its affiliates in developing and industrialised countries against the establishment of special economic zones where the incentives granted to TNCs cause the suppression of fundamental human and worker rights and make workers' living and employment conditions extremely precarious.The IMF will work in close collaboration with other GUFs, TUAC and ITUC, and other like-minded social movements to ensure that:<ul><li>Global financial markets are regulated, including as an initial step better disclosure of transactions, strengthened monitoring schemes and regulation of leveraging; </li><li>Sustainable development be brought into trade and investment deals, access to markets be fair and balanced, and transparent monitoring mechanisms of already signed agreements be put in place;</li><li>Impact and sustainability assessments along the social and economic development dimension of possible trade agreements be carried out prior to the conclusion of negotiations;</li><li>Employment repercussions of trade liberalisation be considered by governments in the negotiations of multilateral and bilateral trade agreements and assessed with full involvement of trade unions; and</li><li>Universal respect of fundamental workers' and trade union rights as set out in the ILO 1998 Declaration be included in all bilateral and multilateral agreements on trade and investments along with effective enforcement mechanisms.</li></ul>The IMF and its affiliates will work together to:<ul><li>Unite metalworkers at the regional and international level in the search for fair solutions to conflicts of interests in trade liberalisation that would damage weaker parties;</li><li>Build solidarity among affiliates against the possible negative effects of market opening on employment in developing as well as industrialised countries;</li><li>Challenge government resistance to transparently assess, together with social partners, the potential employment impact of trade deals; and</li><li>Promote information and awareness raising campaigns among workers and citizens on the economic advantages that companies, as well as the countries where they operate, can get from the respect of fundamental workers' rights everywhere.</li></ul>The IMF will assist its affiliates in:<ul><li>Monitoring the impact of FTAs on employment and working conditions in metal working industries; </li><li>Mobilising their memberships, in cooperation with their respective national centres, and like-minded political parties and social movements, against proposed FTAs that would undermine development, workers rights, good jobs and public services for working families; and</li><li>Fighting against precarious employment conditions caused by foreign investments.</li></ul>

Preface

3. GLOBAL SOLIDARITY IN ACTION

3.3 Defend and protect workers rights

1. OUR MISSION

2. THE WORLD TODAY

2.1 Profits over people

2.2 Unemployment and job insecurity

2.3 Unions under attack

2.4 Fundamental workers´ rights denied

2.5 Spreading influence of Transnational Corporations

2.6 World trade system in disarray

2.7 An unsustainable future

2.8 Alliances, resistance and opportunities

3.1 Build strong national trade unions

3.1.1 Organise the unorganised

3.1.2 Strive for trade union unity at the national level

3.1.3 Build unions through education, training and effective exchange of information

3.2 Strengthening collective bargaining

3.3.1 Fight for trade union rights

3.3.2 Fight for Equal Rights

3.3.3 Fight for safe workplaces

3.4 Build a counterweight to the power of transnational corporations

3.4.1 Strengthening union solidarity and cooperation across sectors and TNCs

3.4.2 Advance fundamental rights through International Framework Agreements

3.5 Fight for sustainable trade, development and employment

The IMF will seek to challenge TNCs and their supply chains by using IFAs, ILO instruments, OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, increased union cooperation and, in addition to international solidarity, cooperation with NGOs that share our aims to protect and promote worker and trade union rights.  Trade union organization of worksites is an essential precondition to monitor and implement workers' rights. IFAs, however, do not replace the need for binding intergovernmental regulations to enforce core labour standards, or the need for national laws to enforce labour standards and to regulate the activities of the TNCs more effectively. As instruments negotiated at the international level by GUFs in cooperation with their affiliates on one side and a TNC on the other, IFAs are important tools that the IMF and its affiliates can use to establish minimum labour standards across the operations of TNCs and their supply chains. The IMF has adopted a model International Framework Agreement along with policy recommendations covering four key areas: improving the content, initiating, negotiating, and implementation and enforcement.Drawing on the experiences of the IFAs already negotiated with TNCs, the IMF will:<ul><li>Strengthen implementation, monitoring and enforcement through IMF structures and regional offices, and by training and involvement of affiliates with the aim of achieving best practices across TNCs that have signed framework agreements;</li><li>After consultation with unions covered by the agreements, identify opportunities to strengthen existing agreements, and the options and means that are optimal for pursing improvements of their content;</li><li>Coordinate the involvement of affiliates in negotiating additional IFAs;</li><li>Explore possible strategies to encourage resisting TNCs to negotiate, implement, and comply with IFAs; and</li><li>Implement a training programme on IFAs, including a guide, to help affiliates use these instruments in accordance with IMF policy.</li></ul>Cooperation of affiliates, particularly those in the home country of a TNC, is instrumental to such efforts.

ITALY: The SKF Trade Union World Council examined how the world financial crisis is impacting on workers and what measures the company had taken to minimise the effects at a meeting from September 2 to 4 in Turin, Italy.Attended by SKF CEO, Tom Johnstone and trade unions from SKF operations around the world, the meeting heard how production has dropped by 37 per cent in the last 14 months on a global basis. Because of the decrease in demand, 3,800 workers had been made redundant and approximately 2,000 are subject to different programmes. Additionally 18,000 workers are under some form of shorter working time programme, which have been done through government programmes in some countries and through agreements with trade unions in other countries.In June, the company announced that the factory in Fontenay, France will close and 380 employees will lose their jobs. The SKF World Council expressed their solidarity and support with the French unions on their demand to the management to review the decision.During reports from trade union representatives from Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, UK and the U.S. the main issue discussed was how the financial crisis had hit and influenced the situation at subsidiaries in the country. Most plants have had redundancies and/or short time work to be able to handle the situation in the best way for workers.The World Council also discussed how cooperation could be increased by strengthening the networking between the SKF unions by creating a database hosted by the IMF and administered by the network.

SKF World Council of trade unions meet and discuss the impact of the financial crisis on workers and how the unions can strengthen their global network.

SKF workers tackling financial crisis together

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