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With company after company in the UK private sector seeking to shut off workers&rsquo; final pension schemes, it comes as a relief that one company heeded a union&rsquo;s concerns and cancelled such a plan for now. 

ICEM affiliate Unite the Union last week convinced German luxury auto maker BMW to back away from closing off its final pension salary scheme to new workers, and to retreat from implementing a loophole in Britain&rsquo;s new Agency Workers&rsquo; Regulation (AWR) that would allow BMW to directly employ agency workers on contracts that deny them equal pay as that received by permanent workers of the company. 

The loophole, Regulation 10 of the AWR and also known as the &ldquo;Swedish Derogation&rdquo; language, would allow an employer to take workers employed by labour hire firms onto their payrolls, but pay them up to 20% less than their own full-time workers. 

In December when BMW announced its intention to move ahead with the two regressive changes, Unite responded that it would consult workplace leaders over an industrial ballot. Such possible strike action would have occurred for 7,000 Unite members at four BMW plants, including Swindon, Cowley, Hams Hall near Birmingham, and the Rolls Royce factory in Goodwood. 

But talks between Unite, its BMW shop stewards and management last week convinced UK management to forego closing off the pension scheme to new hires and not to use the &ldquo;Swedish Derogation&rdquo; model, but rather engage Unite and its shop-floor leaders from all four plants in dialogue on a positive path forward without the harsh proposals. 

Unite National Officer Roger Madisson commented, &ldquo;As always we are prepared to have meaningful discussions with companies in the car industry. Unite is determined to protect all the terms and conditions of our members and ensure that agency workers are treated fairly, in the true spirit of the agency workers&rsquo; legislation.&rdquo; 

Unite&rsquo;s Cowley plant Convenor Chris Bond told the Oxford Mail, &ldquo;I am over the moon about it. The company has listened to our concerns. (Industrial action) has been averted for now.&rdquo; 

As for UK BMW management, it said in a statement, &ldquo;The company and Unite, the union, have jointly agreed to enter into discussions relating to the use of agency staff. We agreed to go back into discussions with the union on the pensions scheme and the AWR.&rdquo;

UK’s Unite Holds Off BMW from Closing Final Pension Scheme, Using Temp Work Exception

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US-based Cooper Tire and Rubber surprised rubber workers and their union, the United Steelworkers (USW), by rejecting good-faith efforts to extend a labour agreement and locking 1,050 USW members off their jobs at a tyre factory in Findlay, Ohio. 
 
The lockout against USW Local 207L started on 28 November after workers rejected a concession-laden three-year proposal by a 606-305 vote the day before. The USW then offered to extend the agreement that had expired on 31 October, but Cooper responded by imposing the lockout. 
 
At the weekend, the company said it intended to take 30 days to re-start production using managers and temporary replacement workers. A senior manager of the US&rsquo;s fourth largest tyre-maker predicted full production in Findlay by then. The company statement is seen as a direct affront to unionized rubber workers at another US Cooper&rsquo;s tyre plant, in Texarkana, Texas. 
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USW Local 752L in Texarkana currently is in bargaining with Cooper over a labour agreement that expires early in 2012. The 1,500 workers there have given union leaders a strike mandate through a vote. Bargaining in Findlay saw USW Local 207L not take a strike vote, making last week&rsquo;s lockout unprovoked and a harmful retaliatory action by Cooper. 
 
The lockout is also a bitter stab at USW&rsquo;s rubber workers who assisted the company in gaining US trade Section 421 protections against dumping of tyre imports into the US by China. In 2008, in the midst of the US debt crisis that crippled American manufacturing, Local 207L members granted US$30 million in contract concessions to Cooper to keep it operating. 
 
The ICEM condemns the lockout for these reasons, and the fact that it now seeks more givebacks from Findlay&rsquo;s steelworkers at a time when it has resumed bonuses to executives. Cooper operates seven manufacturing plants, including former Avon Tyre factories in the UK, and start-up plants in Mexico and joint ventures in China.

Cooper Tire and Rubber Locks Out Steelworkers at Ohio Factory

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Some 6,000 members of the Pascagoula Metal Trades Council &ndash; four US union organisations &ndash; have an early three-year contract extension with shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries at work-yards in the state of Mississippi. That came off because of a 60% ratification vote by unionised workers on 1 December. 
 
Huntington Ingalls, a spin-off of major US defense contractor Northrup Grumman, builds and maintains the US Navy&rsquo;s surface combatant fleet at Pascagoula, a coastal city on the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
The agreement covers workers who are members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the International Association of Machinists &amp; Aerospace Workers (IAM), the Office Professional Employees Union (OPEIU), and a security workers&rsquo; union, and comes four months before the March 2012 expiry of the current agreement. 
 
Journeymen workers will see a US$.60-per-hour rise in their base wage on 9 January 2013, with another US$.60 coming a short two months later on 11 March. Effective 10 March 2014, a US$.70-per-hour increase will occur. 
 
Workers will receive a one-off US$1,000 payment early in 2012 to forego a 2012 cost-of-living adjustment but the COLA will return in the other years. Workers will absorb some increases in their health care insurance coverage in the new pact. 
 
Huntington Ingalls is a major contractor to the US Navy and Coast Guard and besides Pascagoula, where it is responsible for 70% of US surface fleet, it operates the Newport News, Virginia, shipyards, where it builds both nuclear and non-nuclear ships and submarines for the US government. It also controls AMSEC LLD and Continental Maritime of San Diego (CMSD). 
 
Huntington Ingalls is currently partnering in Newport News with French nuclear specialist Areva in building a US$360 million facility for construction of heavy components used in nuclear reactors.

Shipbuilders at Pascagoula, US Mississippi, Ratify 3-Year Contract Extension

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Settlement was reached on 25 November to end the conflict between ICEM affiliated Sintracarb&oacute;n and Glencore subsidiary Prodeco SA in northern Colombia. ICEM reported two weeks ago the <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4783-Sintracarb%C3%B3n-Launches-Strike-at-Glencore-s-Calenturitas-Mine-in-Colombia">resounding vote to strike</a> by 1,200 miners after repeated efforts to bargain with company management toward a new collective agreement failed.&nbsp; 
 
The Calenturitas mine is located in Cesar department&rsquo;s La Jagua de Ibirico municipality. 
 
The strike lasted nine days, with all Colombian ICEM affiliates present at the picket, Sintraelecol, Fenaltec, Sintracarcol, Sintravidricol, USO and Sintracarbon. Worker unity, in face of concerted company efforts to intimidate and harass, led to agreement on a new contract set to last two years. Operations at Calenturitas were resumed in the afternoon of 25 November after the signing, while at the same time ICEM affiliates gathered for the ICEM Congress in Buenos Aires were planning international solidarity efforts to support the strike. 
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Prodeco Picket
Workers achieved a salary increase of 1.5% above the consumer price index and a settlement bonus of 1.5mn pesos (US$773) per worker. The agreement benefits all employees of Prodeco, strengthening their rights association, collective bargaining, and right to strike. And importantly the agreement improves job security. 
 
The effective strike caused the company to lose more than 30,000t/d of coal production, according to reports. 
 
As is almost always the case in labour disputes in Colombia, the Ministry of Labour made clear that if pushed they would declare the strike illegal, empowering the courts to disregard the collective will of mineworkers at Calenturitas. 
 
Calenturitas produces over five million tonnes of coal a year. Prodeco produced 10 million tonnes of coal in 2010 and aims to increase production to 19.9 million tonnes in 2013 and 20.7 million tonnes in 2015. 
 
For every 100 pesos of Prodeco&rsquo;s cost structure, only 5 pesos are spent on their payroll.

Colombia Prodeco Mine Dispute Settled

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The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Unions (ICEM) today signed a Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with Petr&oacute;leo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, the world&rsquo;s third largest energy company. The agreement, the 20-million-member ICEM&rsquo;s 16th since 1998, was signed at the Brazilian company&rsquo;s headquarters in Rio de Janeiro by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, and Petrobras Director for Gas and Industry, Maria Das Gracas Silva Foster, Executive Director for Human Relations, Diego Hernandes, and Joao Antonio de Moraes, General Coordinator of FUP (the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Unified federation of Brazil). 
 
A GFA is a social pact between a multinational company and a Global Union Federation that puts in place the very highest standards regarding trade union and human rights, health, safety, and environmental practices, and quality of work principles across all of a company&rsquo;s global operations. 
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ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda signs Petrobras GFA
&ldquo;This is ICEM&rsquo;s fourth such agreement with an oil and gas concern,&rdquo; said Warda, &ldquo;and it embodies many of the social principles that we expect companies in extractive industries to adhere to.&rdquo; The ICEM has previously negotiated GFAs with Statoil of Norway, Eni of Italy and Lukoil of Russia. 
 
The agreement was signed with approval from ICEM Brazilian trade union affiliate, the Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Unified Federation (FUP), whose leaders were present at the signing together with ICEM Latin America/Caribbean Regional Vice President Sergio Novais of Brazil. Support from both FUP and Sergio Novais was important in reaching the agreement. 
 
The agreement commits Petrobras to recognizing the right of freedom of association and to bargain collectively for all employees, as well as establishing formal dialogue channels between staff and management. It also promotes working conditions that are favorable to a balance between work, personal, and family life. 
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ICEM, Petrobras, FUP
The GFA states that Petrobras &ldquo;will strive to get all service providers to comply&rdquo; with nine labour relations points contained in the agreement, including health and safety and providing necessary equipment, permanent institutionalization of negotiation channels, and equal opportunities and promotion of training opportunities. 
 
The agreement also recognizes global standards contained in the ILO Tripartite Declaration on Principles for Multinational Corporations and Social Policy, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Corporations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN Global Compact. 
 
Warda and Petrobras CEO Jos&eacute; S. Gabriella de Azevedo initiated talks on the ICEM-Petrobras GFA as board members of the Global Compact some three years ago. 
 
Petrobras, 56% owned by the Brazilian government, has 80,500 employees and operates in some 30 countries. The company is a leader in exploration and production of oil, and operates 16 refineries as well as numerous petrochemical, biofuels, pipelines and other installations. The ICEM is composed of 255 national trade unions operating in 94 countries.

ICEM Signs 16th Global Agreement with Petrobras of Brazil

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How prevalent is CAL in Mauritius? 
 
The whole history of Mauritius itself is CAL history, so to speak. It is traditional to have seasonal workers for sugarcane plantations; it is accepted by everyone that this is needed for the economy to survive. But, with the introduction of the textile sector, came more and more workers employed in precarious work, including migrant workers recruited especially from China. 
 
The labour law was reformed in 2006 and migrants no longer have to follow a procedure &ndash; they come to Mauritius on tourist visas then search for employment. Protection against dismissal has been removed from labour law, so in a way all workers in Mauritius are CAL. There are no severance payments for workers under 60 years. Now, outsourcing even exists in the oldest spheres of the economy, and the way it is done is almost mafia-like. 
 
How does the law protect against abuse of CAL workers? 
 
The new legislation says that workers should not work more than 90 hours in a fortnight, but does not limit the number of hours per day or per week. There are situations where employers are making contract workers, migrant workers, and others work 20 hours in one day, without overtime. A complaint filed with the ILO got a favourable result in 2009 but despite this, Mauritius got the top African place in the World Bank&rsquo;s Doing Business Report, 2010. 
 
From 2006 until now, we have seen considerable economic progress. The official unemployment rate is not meaningful as it does not take into account the high numbers of workers in the informal sector. 
 
How do conditions differ for CAL workers? 
 
CAL workers are obliged to work on Sundays. For new recruits, the definition of a week is no longer Monday to Sunday, but can be any seven days in a row. CAL workers also have to be completely flexible with regard to their working hours and starting times. In addition, CAL workers are not protected against occupational health and safety hazards. People are being transformed into a commodity. 
 
Migrant workers do the same job but without the same pay. They receive no production bonus and no meal allowances. The Ministry of Labour will not deal with their complaints. Employers have the power to send away workers who complain, but so many are heavily indebted to labour brokers that they have no alternative but to accept their conditions. 
 
The exploitation of CAL workers is heavily supported through discrimination. The law itself states that old workers must remain in the same work conditions, but newer recruits have worse conditions. So employers fire old workers unjustly or for petty reasons. For example, simply to accuse them of becoming unproductive as they get older. 
 
Are there hostilities between permanent and CAL workers, and if so, how does your union deal with this? 
 
There is hostility between CAL and permanent workers in the construction and textile sectors. In these two sectors, many companies close and reopen under another name and then employ only migrant workers. There are some cultural differences. It took four-to-five years to break down the barriers, but in general now all are persuaded that we should be defending migrant workers&rsquo; rights. In practice, migrant workers cannot organise. 
 
What other action is your union taking on CAL? 
 
Since 2006, several forms of taxation have been reduced for the very rich. Unions have been constantly demonstrating against this, as it is unfair. In 2009, the government introduced a corporate social responsibility system where 2% of net profits must be paid as a tax to finance social projects. The CMCTEU has proposed that half of this new tax should go to the workers &ndash; corporate responsibility to employees should come before corporate social responsibility, especially for CAL workers who are exploited. This would be paid as a bonus every year and everyone, including migrant workers, would receive an equal part. 
 
We are hopeful that the government will agree to this and we have the full support of the media and civil society. 
 
The strength of the union is its capacity to hold members. CMCTEU started by analyzing worker behaviour and found that most workers are primarily concerned about servicing their debts: more than 70% of workers in Mauritius are in debt. The union created an Information Technology school, open to all workers and their families, a credit union with low interest rates, and we are currently developing a two-story building that will be put at the disposal of members for social gatherings. 
 
We are changing the view of workers, and they are becoming more interested in the union. We reduced the membership fee drastically and as soon as we did that we gained 3,000 new members. We&rsquo;ve also amended the union rules: now every woman is considered a working woman even if they work from their home. Construction was the sector with the second biggest membership gains, including membership in cement plants and petroleum distribution. In construction, 85% of workers are employed on fixed-term contracts and those who join the union have big problems. 
 
In the future, we will prioritise creating a severance allowance for workers based on one day&rsquo;s wages for every month worked. It was agreed by the ILO experts and now it is only the employers who are resisting, but I am sure we can win.

CMCTEU - the Chemical, Manufacturing, and Connected Trades Employees’ Union of Mauritius 



Interview with Reeaz Chuttoo of the CMCTEU of Mauritius

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How common is Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) in Mozambique? 
 
At the moment, we do not know how frequently this employment practice is used. In September, we discovered for the first time the use of contract workers in Maputo &ndash; in a factory with 1,700 workers, there were at least 800 on fixed-term contracts. We also discovered that at another factory, which produces washing powder, all employment comes through labour agencies. 
 
More companies are taking advantage of the new labour law of 2007, which says that it is possible to have three-month, six-month, and one-year fixed contracts. Permanent work was much more common with the old law. Many companies are functioning normally, but still making retrenchments. Fixed-term contracts and other types of employment practices are then brought in. 
 
The previous law was stronger and provided better protection for workers&rsquo; rights, but companies wanting to invest in Mozambique thought the law was too rigid. The new law cancelled many rights, for example holidays have been reduced from 30 days to between 12 and 20 days. Under the old law, there was a bonus payment for seniority, but not anymore. When workers were retrenched under the old law, they were entitled to three months salary if they had worked for two years. Now, they are entitled to only 21 days salary. 
 
What are conditions like for CAL workers? 
 
According to the law, every worker is entitled to the same benefits, salary, etc. However, employers often do not obey the law. There are never salary increases for CAL workers and social security payments are not taken care of. 
 
There was one case when an agency worker in a chemical factory had an accident when the sack he was carrying broke and chemicals burnt his skin. The worker asked the company to pay for his treatment, but the company said it was not responsible. When the worker asked the agency, they also denied responsibility. The worker eventually died from his injuries. 
 
We became aware of the health and safety issue to CAL after an ICEM workshop where workers said there were big differences. Permanent workers have all their health and safety rights respected, but CAL workers do not. Our union needs to investigate this more, but it is already clear to us that employers look at health and safety for all as an additional cost. The union is demanding check-ups for everyone, and the labour inspectorate is looking at these issues very seriously, especially in two new factories &ndash; one for textiles, one for glass &ndash; that are going to open. Our union is already there trying to make sure that the rights to negotiate, and to a healthy and safe working environment are respected. 
 
Even if the government is in favour of reasonable conditions, international investors would like less regulations and more flexibility. They have publicly announced that they would like another new law! The Mozambique Chemical and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union has rejected this, as the law was a result of heavy tripartite negotiations, and not something that we are going to do again. 
 
What actions has your union taken on CAL? 
 
Once we became aware of the problem &ndash; it was brought to our attention through the ICEM project which made us sensitive to the issue &ndash; we took action very quickly. We have had some success with changing the attitude of companies and getting them to accept contracts of longer duration for contract workers. 
 
It is difficult for us to get information about what is happening behind the scenes as the situation is very opaque, but we are trying to organise CAL workers. We have already started to invite them to come to meetings where we&rsquo;ve explained that they have the same rights as everybody else. It is difficult to access CAL workers so we invite them to come to our office. 
 
The constitution of our union is open and the labour law says that workers are free to have union activities in the workplace or outside if need be, so that is not a problem. LOFTF in Denmark has also assisted us a lot by funding the production of brochures and pamphlets to inform CAL workers about their rights. With the project funded by LOFTF, we have managed to provide free legal assistance to members who have paid their dues &ndash; this is a very powerful organising tool. 
 
What plans has the Mozambique Chemical and Allied Workers&rsquo; Union for the future, with regard to CAL? 
 
We want to research the extent of the contract, agency labour problem and to inform all workers about their right to join a union. We will also engage with companies and employment agencies so they recognise that workers&rsquo; basic rights must be respected regardless of whether they are employed directly or not. 
 
The trouble is that companies like to keep CAL workers ignorant about their rights, and union people are sent away. The more ignorance there is, the more exploitation there is. In the workshop organised by the ICEM, one worker said he was not sure if he could continue in his job because he had attended the workshop, but the labour inspectorate said they would follow up with him and intervene if needed. 
 
We are also planning to work with the labour inspectorate to investigate and correct working conditions. When we find a problem we create a &ldquo;mixed brigade,&rdquo; with representatives from the union and the inspectorate, to solve the problem. Unions need to be militant to encourage labour inspectors to work well, and to develop relationships with them.

Interview with Jorge Alberto Monjane, Deputy General Secretary, Mozambique Chemical Workers&#039; Union

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The ICEM&rsquo;s Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) Regional Seminar for Sub-Saharan Africa took place in Accra, Ghana, on 8-9 November. The seminar brought together ICEM affiliates from Senegal, Guinea, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Nigeria, Mauritius, Ghana, and Togo to discuss CAL developments in their countries. 
 
Representatives from SASK, the international arm of the Finnish national labour centre, which supports the Sub-Saharan Africa CAL project, and the ICEM CAL global and African coordinators also participated in the seminar. 
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Joseph Toe, CAL Sub-Saharan Africa Project Coordinator, at the Ghana seminar
Affiliates exchanged information on what steps they had taken in respect to their specific action plans developed during previous workshops. Many participants reported that dealing with the issue of short-term contract work or agency labour was becoming more and more challenging. This was the case expressed by those coming from Nigeria, where management attitudes are increasingly favouring the use of precarious employment. 
 
Although unions in Nigeria have been demanding that remuneration of contract staff should be determined by the industry in which the contract operates, so that workers receive equal pay for equal work, they have not managed to achieve this yet. 
<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="135" />
Matti Koskinen, from the Finnish Union of Salaried Employees, Toimihenkil&ouml;unioni (TU), made a presentation on how CAL is dealt with in Finland, and said that collective agreements mostly regulate the use of short-term labour. Matti also drew attention to the European Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation&rsquo;s second common demand for more secure employment, against precarious work. Joseph Toe, the Sub-Saharan Africa CAL Project Coordinator, presented a paper on membership recruitment, which participants said would prove to be very helpful in their CAL organising campaigns. 
 
Looking to the future, affiliates proposed that they should concentrate more on collecting facts and figures relating to CAL, and that they should prioritise the organising of CAL workers. Affiliates also suggested that dedicated funds should be raised for CAL workers, and that there should be more capacity building for dealing with CAL workers.

Africa Regional CAL Seminar Takes Place in Ghana

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The ICEM held, as part of its ongoing series of national and international events, discussions on Contract and Agency Labour (CAL, known as &ldquo;tercerizaci&oacute;n&rdquo; in Latin America), at an international conference in Montevideo, Uruguay, on 16-17 November 2010. Participants at this CAL campaign event, sponsored by Swedish LO/TCO and LO Norway, came from Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and ICEM headquarters. 
 
Judging by participants&rsquo; accounts, the problem of outsourcing and precarious labour seems to be at least as widespread in Latin America as it is in other parts of the world. It was said, for example, that it is not uncommon for up to 40-50% of the formal workforce in these countries to work for subcontracting companies, with outsourced workers often doing exactly the same work as permanent staff, but for a much lower salary. 
 
That said, in nearly all countries in the region there also were - in addition to a large number of bad practice examples - encouraging stories on how different unions successfully managed to deal with part of the problem. 
 
In the host country Uruguay, for example, some unions now have CAL workers as board members and, in the paper sector at least, most outsourced workers are union members. On the other hand, the country is also known for its omnipresent &ldquo;use&rdquo; of cooperatives, which seems to be a means in Uruguay to avoid unionisation. 
 
These cooperatives, which were said to employ great numbers of workers, very often are small, worker-owned and independent enterprises that cater to other, larger enterprises. As such, they have become part of the subcontracting chain and it is not unusual for an entire department of a company to be turned into an &ldquo;independent cooperative.&rdquo; 
<img alt="" src="" width="113" height="110" />&nbsp;&nbsp; <img alt="" src="" width="101" height="110" /> 
 
ICEM Latin American CAL Project Coordinators Rosane Sasse and Elias Pintado
During the last few years, Uruguay has adopted two new laws on temporary employment. The most recent one, adopted in 2007, introduces the idea of co-responsibility in case something goes wrong when workers are in a triangular relationship (i.e., when working for a &ldquo;third&rdquo; company, which is not the &ldquo;user-enterprise&rdquo;). 
 
This co-responsibility, which was mentioned by trade unionists from various countries as a key item, makes sure that workers can claim their salary, benefits, and/or social security from the user-enterprise in case &ldquo;their real employer&rdquo; fails to pay, or, as is fairly common, simply disappears. 
 
An interesting presentation was made by ICEM Project Coordinator Patricio Sambonino on the contract and agency labour situation in his home nation, Ecuador, a country where the government in 2008 adopted a new law that bans &ldquo;tercerizaci&oacute;n.&rdquo; 
 
According to a 2010 FES-ICEM research effort that looked into the effects of this new law, the success of the recent ban on outsourcing (the key point of the new law, which still allows exceptions for such jobs as catering, cleaning, security) has been mixed. Among the problems found by the FES-ICEM research was that workers that had to be rehired by the user-enterprise started at a lower salary than those that already had or have permanent jobs. Most workers also did not get lost rights, such as seniority or a decent pension. It was further pointed out that some companies have in the meantime found new ways of outsourcing.
<img alt="" src="" width="95" height="110" />
ICEM Project Coordinator Patricio Sambonino 
In the Ecuadorian mining sector, the level of informal work appears to be so high that the new law has not been able to make a difference. The study described the use of cooperatives in mining and in many cases, cooperatives are, in fact, just another form of bogus self-employment. In the oil sector, the new law has not brought the hoped for progress for workers. In the electricity sector in Ecuador, on the other hand, unions are very happy with the new law and the protection it brings, since many more workers now have direct and permanent contracts. 
 
In total, over 200,000 Ecuadorian workers have been made permanent since 2008. This must be qualified by stating that in many cases, the permanent status is only for one year, after which workers were dismissed again. This is the case for many oil workers. Still, a lot of workers were able to join the social security system for the first time and a few thousand &ldquo;subcontracting&rdquo; companies have closed their doors. 
 
Another important point is that, even though it was &ldquo;predicted&rdquo; by those opposed to the law, none of the major investors left the country as a result of the ban. Unions in Ecuador, who were not involved in the drafting of the law at the time, are now looking to dispel the negative consequences of what is, essentially, an excellent improvement for workers. 
 
Also noted is the fact that multinational companies in Ecuador seem to have accepted the new law much easier than most national companies. Reportedly, multinational companies were faster to calculate that the changes would not bring extra costs, and if any, certainly not in comparison to their total turnover.
<img alt="" src="" width="274" height="149" />
Participants at the Montevideo Seminar 
An interesting &ldquo;best practice&rdquo; example was provided by the representatives of Argentinean ICEM affiliate FASPyGP, the Federaci&oacute;n Argentina Sindical del Petr&oacute;leo, Gas y Biocombustibles. 
 
In each of their sectors (oilfields, oil refineries, and gas) good sectoral collective agreements exist. And each of these sectoral agreements also fully covers all outsourced workers. The result is that, even though the outsourcing rate is around 60%, all workers - CAL or not - receive the same salaries and the same benefits for equal work of equal value. 
 
Participants at the meeting in Uruguay were also informed about proposed legislation that is currently being prepared in Brazil by one of the national labour centres, CUT. If and when adopted, this proposal would strengthen earlier laws that deal with Contract and Agency Labour, which now already foresees co-responsibility in triangular work relationships. 
 
The new law would introduce, among other items, a ban on outsourcing core jobs, a strengthening of the co-responsibility, language to make sure that the union at the actual workplace can also represent the CAL workers, equal pay for equal work, and an obligation to inform unions in advance of any outsourcing plans. 
 
Finally, also mentioned at the seminar was a study by the Brazilian ICEM affiliate FUP, which showed that it would - all things considered - actually be cheaper for state-owned oil giant Petrobras to turn all its outsourced workers into direct workers. Knowing that, there still is a long way to go for Petrobras, as the company employs just over 70,000 direct employees, with almost 250,000 outsourced staff working on its assets.

Precarious Work Mounts in Latin America … But So Do Union Actions to Counter It

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The Finnish Parliament, in an interpellation or action to proceed to a motion of confidence over the government, voted on 19 November to challenge the government more vehemently on measures to ensure full-time, permanent work. Lawmakers from all political parties, left to right, voted 105 to 67 to challenge the government&rsquo;s job creation policies in a no confidence ballot aimed at stemming the grey economy. 
 
The vote was highly significant since it did garner cross-party support and was met with little employer opposition. It also sets the stage for better and more worker-friendly amendments next year to the Finnish law on the Contractor&rsquo;s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out. 
<img alt="" src="" width="132" height="81" />
The interpellation, initiated by Left Alliance Leader Paavo Arhinm&auml;ki, was supported by many parliamentarians of Finland&rsquo;s centre-right ruling government, and very likely will lead to legislation that goes beyond the requirements of the European Union&rsquo;s Directive on Temporary Agency Work. As well, any new legislation in Finland would likely limit the employers&rsquo; use of fixed-term contracts and prohibit employers from repeatedly using temporary workers when their need is a permanent workforce. 
 
One trade union leader in the country said lack of business resistance to the interpellation vote is a clear signal that employers realize productivity is better and Finnish society as a whole benefits when full-time employment is the norm. 
 
Last month&rsquo;s interpellation vote was preceded by the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) publishing a list of 25 proposals that should be contained in legislation to stifle the grey economy. One such proposal would give more power to the country&rsquo;s trade unions to enforce, through courts and other venues, nefarious work practices.

Broad Political Support in Finland to Erase Precarious Worker Abuse

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Broad Political Support in Finland to Erase Precarious Worker Abuse

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