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The National Garment Workers Federation of Bangladesh (NGWF) organised a hunger strike on 8 July in the capital city of Dhaka. The hunger protest was done due to appalling conditions for workers in the industry, and focused on four current disputes. 
 
The NGWF is a highly active member trade union of the International Textile, Garment &amp; Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF). 
 
NGWF President Amirul Haque Amin reports that the four on-going disputes are all occurring in Dhaka. At Onyx Knitex, a knitwear manufacturer, management arbitrarily closed the plant on 14 June, with no prior discussion or warning to the union or to the government. The 250 workers at the plant are now jobless and they received no salaries or overtime pay due them for the months of May and June. Onyx Knitex paid no compensation for the factory closure. The NGWF filed a complaint to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on 15 June, and are awaiting action toward a resolution. 
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NGWF President Amirul Haque Amin
The second conflict is at Benson Apparels, a clothing manufacturer supplying markets in North and South America. The company sacked 97 workers on 14 March. The NGWF lodged a complaint with the BGMEA on 25 March, but the company management has rejected calls for negotiation with BGMEA or the union. 
 
A similar story occurred at Hong Kong-based Riz Fashion, a manufacturer selling mainly in Eastern Europe. On 14 December, management of Riz Fashion in Dhaka fired 28 workers. Following an official complaint by the NGWF, negotiations were conducted with the company director via the BGMEA. Negotiations reached a solution, whereby management would pay outstanding wages, overtime, and compensation. However, those payments have never been made. 
 
On 24 December, management of Indian manufacturer ADITI Apparels fired 27 workers. Similarly to the Riz Fashion case, talks at the BGMEA in the presence of ADITI management, concluded that management must pay outstanding wages, overtime, and compensation. Again, compensation due has not been made. 
 
These four labour-abuse complaints have been brought to the government&rsquo;s attention. The ICEM and the ITGLWF is hopeful that the government of Bangladesh will pressure employers to respect labour rights, instead of allowing companies to abuse workers with impunity.

Bangladesh Garment Workers’ Take Hunger Strike Actions over Delinquent Employers

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The Mexican government of President Felipe Calder&oacute;n Hinojosa ordered the army and police to use brute force to take over the country&rsquo;s second largest electrical power distributor, Luz y Fuerza del Centro (LyFC) in October 2010 via an executive decree. This unilateral decree also meant shutting down the 95-year-old Mexican Electrical Workers&rsquo; Union (SME) and sacking 44,000 workers. 
 
The Calder&oacute;n administration has conducted a multifaceted campaign to destroy the SME, one of only a handful of independent trade unions in Mexico, as part of the government&rsquo;s systematic plan to eliminate any workers&rsquo; group which stands in the way of business interests and unencumbered markets. In July 2010, SME members reelected General Secretary Mart&iacute;n Esparza, but Calder&oacute;n&rsquo;s regime has refused to certify the election, citing bogus voting irregularities. 
 
The SME has had its union bank accounts frozen, 13 union activists are political prisoners in jail, and now arrest warrants have been issued for the SME leadership. This shocking campaign of state violence against a trade union must be combated with global solidarity. 
 
The ICEM encourages affiliates and trade union supporters to be heard on this matter. Click here for a <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/SME-CARTA%20DESPLEGADO%20%20(2).doc">model letter</a>, in Spanish, to Calder&oacute;n and his cronies. Put the letter on your organisation&rsquo;s letterhead, or individually with your name, and <a href="mailto:pp_mdo@yahoo.com.mx; aidesparzasosfuturo@gmail.com">send it electronically</a> to SME here.&nbsp; 
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Letters Needed to Aid Mexican Electrical Workers’ Union, SME

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The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) voiced fierce opposition to government&rsquo;s decision to bail out the authoritarian and illegitimate Swaziland rule of King Mswati III. On 3 August, South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced a R2.4 billion (US$354 million, &euro;259 million) loan to the repressive regime to offset revenue shortfalls from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).
&ldquo;This decision by the South African government to give King Mswati&rsquo;s regime a financial bail-out is a direct assault on our solidarity efforts to free and liberate the people of Swaziland from this hyena&rsquo;s tyranny,&rdquo; said NUMSA in a statement, making direct reference to Mozambique&rsquo;s 1987 Nkomati Accord with South Africa&rsquo;s apartheid regime.
Then, African National Congress (ANC) President Oliver Tambo said &ldquo;our brothers and sisters in Mozambique have hugged and kissed the most hated hyena in the world.&rdquo;
The South African loan to Mswati&rsquo;s absolute monarchy comes when all political parties have been banned, trade unionists are jailed, and a bureaucracy surrounding Mswati that has proven corrupt and ineffectual in tending to the needs of the impoverished country of 1.2 million. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party also oppose the loan.
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<div>Swaziland had gone to the European Union, the African Development Bank, and the World Bank for loans but turned down Africa&rsquo;s last absolute monarchy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has refused to extend credit for what it calls blatant irresponsibility in handling budgetary processes.</div>
The first instalment of South Africa&rsquo;s loan is to be paid out late this month, the second in October and the final in February 2012. South Africa is to recoup payment over five years through Swaziland&rsquo;s share of SACU revenue sharing. 
Although there are some conditional requirements to the loan, none are readily transparent. Vague &ldquo;confidence-building measures&rdquo; by the Swazi regime, adherence to fiscal and technical reforms by the IMF (reforms that failed in past loans), and capacity-building support by the South African government are listed as those conditions.
COSATU was point-blank in its assessment of South Africa&rsquo;s loan: &ldquo;So long as there are no strict conditions to compel the regime to concede democratic reforms and to share the country&rsquo;s wealth among the people, the loan will simply be used to perpetuate the status quo. Mswati&rsquo;s lavish lifestyle and the royal family&rsquo;s extravagance, impunity and lack of accountability will continue unabated, while the conditions of misery for the majority get even worse.&rdquo;
NUMSA said the loan essentially squanders the &ldquo;hard-earned money generated through taxes&rdquo; of South Africans while continuing Mswati&rsquo;s &ldquo;order to unleash state terror and starve the people of Swaziland.&rdquo;

NUMSA Opposed to South Africa’s Non-Transparent Swaziland Loan

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Further industrial actions in Queenland&rsquo;s rich coal fields happened over the weekend and early last week as three Australian unions &ndash; joined together as the Single Bargaining Unit (SBU) &ndash; continue months-long efforts to gain a fair collective agreement with the world&rsquo;s number one exporter of metallurgical coal, the BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA).
Mineworkers led by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), and the Australia Manufacturing Workers&rsquo; Union (AMWU) and Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU), this weekend took 12-hour work stoppages at BMA&rsquo;s Gregory Crinum and Blackwater mines in the Bowen Basin, while similar rolling 12-hour strikes occurred from 7-9 August at the Goonyella Riverside, Saraji, Peak Downs, and Norwich Park mine sites.
The protected actions are in preparation for SBU-BMA talks this week, 18-19 August. Some 4,000 miners have been stymied by the coal-producing enterprise belonging to the two multinationals since December 2010 over a fair collective agreement. (See prior <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4506-Stop-Work-Meetings-Raise-Stakes-in-Queensland-Coal-Talks">ICEM report</a> from June.)
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SBU Picket at Goonyella Riverside Mine, July 
Despite BMA publicly boasting of high miners&rsquo; salaries and its own pay offer in these drawn-out talks, the dispute has little to do with money but rather work conditions and quality-of-life issues. The SBU is resisting unwanted extensions on work rosters, which will negatively affect family life, and they oppose BMA&rsquo;s desire to gain flexibility over contracting out, an obvious job security threat. BMA wants to move from a five-day weekly roster to a seven-day one, and seeks greater rule over operators&rsquo; jobs.
Since industrial action began following a 2 June ballot that saw a 92% support, the strength of miners of the three unions has only grown. That was visible at a mass picket at the Saraji mine that was set up on 6 August.
BMA is a ten-year joint venture that extracts 58 million tonnes annually of coking coal from the Bowen Basin and exports it from its wholly-owned Hay Point terminal on Australia&rsquo;s east coast.

CFMEU Still Seeking Australian Coal Agreement with BHP Billiton/Mitsubishi

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Union members of US affiliated Teamsters Union (IBT) used a broadening corporate campaign to win reprieve over job losses at a BMW auto-parts warehouse in California. IBT Local 495 and North American bosses of German auto-maker BMW agreed on 9 August to a six-month extension of a collective agreement that was to expire 31 August.
BMW North America had given notice in June that it would terminate the agreement at a parts distribution warehouse in Ontario, California, then and outsource the 68 Teamster jobs to a third party logistics company. The IBT nationally then ramped up a pressure campaign on both sides of the Atlantic (see prior <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/4570-US-Teamsters-Ardently-Resist-BMW-s-Auto-Parts-Outsourcing">ICEM news article</a> here) and there is little question that adverse publicity on the luxury auto producer caused management to re-consider.
<div>Last week, just as dockworkers belonging to unions affiliated with the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) organised informational pickets at nine ports in 10 countries on behalf of the California warehouse workers, BMW North America sat down with Local 495 in Southern California and agreed to extend the contract for six months to allow the two sides to work out a mutually acceptable solution that addresses long-term employment for Teamster members.</div>
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<div align="center">Dockworkers picket in Bremerhaven, Germany, on behalf of US Teamsters</div>
<div align="center"> 
&ldquo;We sent a clear message to BMW with our campaign actions that outsourcing these jobs is unacceptable,&rdquo; said Teamsters Joint Council 42 Public Affairs Director Ed Rendon. &ldquo;We won&rsquo;t be happy until we get a full agreement, but we&rsquo;re highly optimistic this will happen and BMW will better run their business with our members&rdquo; maintaining direct employment.</div>
Added IBT Local 495 Secretary-Treasurer Bob Lennox, &ldquo;I am confident that BMW will honor its promises to find a solution to keep their long-time, dedicated workforce and ensure that these jobs remain good, middle-class jobs.&quot;
Teamster members and supporters protested at a 6-7 August weekend event called &ldquo;Bimmerfest&rdquo; in the state of Maryland where BMW enthusiasts annually turn out to celebrate ownership of the German car. Thousands of handbills were distributed and a Teamster-hired airplane flew overhead with a banner emblazoned &ldquo;BMW: the Ultimate Misery,&rdquo; the campaign&rsquo;s slogan.
And on 8 August, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sent a letter to BMW North America CEO Jim O&rsquo;Donnell telling him that members of the International Longshore &amp; Warehouse Union (ILWU) were about to picket the Port of Los Angeles, and reminded him that the company received monetary assistance during the 2008-09 financial crisis from the US federal government.
The 68 Ontario warehouse workers themselves had spent their weekends handbilling BMW dealerships in California, Oregon, and Washington state, telling consumers about on BMW&rsquo;s intended social dumping.
The Ontario, California, warehouse is one of six parts depots in the US, supplying and distributing BMW parts to auto dealerships and auto-supply outlets in the western region of the US.

Campaign Action Wins US Teamsters BMW Contract Extension

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An unbroken chain of solidarity and staunch resolve by all 157 members of Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 2228 staved off contract concessions in Canada recently. On 8 August, union members ratified a three-year agreement with Sandvik Materials Technology Canada, a subsidiary of Swedish industrial giant Sandvik AB, with an 80.6% vote, ending a successful strike that began on 13 July. 
 
On 9 and 10 August, CAW members returned to their Arnprior, Ontario, factory knowing they bested the company&rsquo;s mid-July &ldquo;last, best offer&rdquo; of pension reductions, cost-of-living (COLA) rollbacks, and contract language deletions. After Sandvik made some modifications in its original proposals in talks on 29 July, changes that CAW members saw as insufficient and which they rejected. The company returned to bargaining in early August with more revisions that essentially left a prior labour agreement intact. 
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<div>26 July Protest in Mississauga (CAW President Ken Lewenza, kneeling, center, giving an early prompt how strike would end)</div>
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There will be no changes to the roll-in effect of the COLA, no changes to job security, and pension benefits will remain the same. In addition, there were some benefit improvements and strengthened contract language regarding layoffs. A 1% wage increase is also due at the beginning of the third year. 
 
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m humbled by the level of support the membership ha shown in their first-even strike, in the facility&rsquo;s more than 30-year existence,&rdquo; said CAW Eastern Ontario Area Director Harry Ghadban. Local 2228 Unit Chairman Derek Mosley said: &ldquo;We could not have done it without the unwavering support from the membership and the support from the national union. 
 
&ldquo;We are proud of the solidarity of our membership in fighting back concessions and holding tough until a negotiated settlement was reached.&rdquo; 
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On 26 July, hundreds of CAW members turned out to manifest at Sandvik&rsquo;s Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario. 
 
And on Local 2228&rsquo;s blog after the 8 August ratification vote, one union member stated: &ldquo;We can all hold our heads high as we return to work knowing we sent a message to management saying we will not accept your final offer, we go back on our terms. I cannot express how proud I am.&rdquo; 
 
Sandvik Materials Technology in Arnprior manufactures stainless steel and nickel alloy speciality tubing used in the nuclear, aerospace, automotive, and oil and gas industries.

Canadian Auto Workers Win 27-Day Strike at Sandvik Metals

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The ICEM affiliated trade union in Botswana, the Diamond Sorters and Valuators (BDSVU), reacted angrily to the government renewing the diamond industry&rsquo;s classification as an essential service in June that would effectively deny workers and trade unions of the sector their legitimate rights.</div>
The union, under the leadership of General Secretary Jacob Mpasopi, was particularly incensed that they heard of the decision for the first time through local media, and were never consulted. The BDSVU is the main stakeholder of the industry in the southern Africa nation.
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<div>The Minister of Labour and Home Affairs had been advised by parliament to consult relevant stakeholders before making a decision. However the union was never given an opportunity to voice its position.</div>
Mpasopi points to the ILO Committee of Experts&rsquo; definition of essential services as services in which &ldquo;the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population.&rdquo; Indisputably, this definition cannot be applied to the finished diamond sector of Botswana.
The BDSVU has struggled hard to achieve recognition agreements with several employers in the sector, formalizing negotiation, and dispute resolution procedures. All of these gains are put at risk by the unilateral decision by Peter Siele, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs.
The ICEM fully supports its affiliate BDSVU in its call for this determination to be reversed.

Botswana Diamond Sorters Balk at Government’s Industry Re-Classification

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ICEM-affiliated United Mine Workers&rsquo; of America (UMWA) members ratified a front-end loaded and pattern-setting US national coal collective agreement on 17 June. The contract with the Bituminous Coal Operators&rsquo; Association (BCOA) was ratified by 70% of miners voting at 125 UMWA local branches, and comes six months before expiry of an existing national contract. 
 
The five-and-a-half-year agreement replaces the existing one and takes effect on 1 July. It will cover 10,000 miners and preserves the long UMWA tradition of providing excellent salaries, pension benefits, and health care coverage to US miners and retired miners. 
 
The US$6-an-hour wage increases over the life of the contract will now serve as a national pattern in union and non-union mines across North America. More importantly, that pattern is extended to include pension benefits &ndash; including health care benefits &ndash; for tens of thousands of retired miners and for workers and retirees of many coal and energy companies outside of the BCOA. 
<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="139" />
UMWA President Cecil Roberts
&ldquo;Our members will receive the largest pay increase in the 121-year history of our union,&rdquo; said UMWA President Cecil Roberts. &ldquo;In addition, we were able to preserve full health care benefits for active and retired members and their dependants, as well as preserve pensions for current and future retirees with no cuts in benefits.&rdquo; 
 
The national accord includes two US$1-per-hour increases in the first six months of the new agreement, on 1 July and again on 1 January, which is an average 8.2% increase over current wages. Wages will be increased by US$1-per-hour on 1 January in each successive year until 2016. 
 
The UMWA preserved health care benefits for active and retired miners with no cuts. The agreement preserves a pension plan that sees a company-contributed US$5.50-man-hour-worked into a pension fund that ensures the benefits are paid in full. 
 
The UMWA posted several other improvements in the proposed agreement, including pay increases for shift work, increased sickness, accident, vision and dental benefits, and better life insurance terms. 
 
The ICEM termed the new collective accord exemplary on several fronts. &ldquo;This contract again is verification of the tremendous power that UMWA holds for a social America,&rdquo; said General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;It deserves attention and wide applause.&rdquo;

UMWA Wins Excellent Terms in US National Coal Talks

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The ICEM CAL Mini Guide to Dealing with Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) is now available in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, and Bahasa Indonesian. 
 
The guide gives an overview of what the ICEM and its affiliates around the world are doing to promote permanent, direct employment and at the same time to promote better conditions for CAL workers. It also suggests ways in which unions can build relations with CAL workers, for example by creating a dedicated precarious workers&rsquo; section or representative, or introducing different membership fee levels and/or an alternate methods of dues collection. ICEM affiliates are encouraged to initiate a discussion on CAL within their own unions, and the Guide suggests a number of questions which may help to get these discussions started. 
 
The CAL Mini Guide in <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20CAL%20French.pdf">French</a> is available here. 
 
The CAL Mini Guide in <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20Spanish%20HQP.pdf">Spanish</a> is available here. 
 
The CAL Mini Guide in <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20CAL%20Portuguese.pdf">Portuguese</a> is available here. 
 
The CAL Mini Guide in <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20CAL%20Hindi.pdf">Hindi</a> is available here. 
 
The CAL Mini Guide in <a href="http://cal.icem.org/images/documents/ICEM%20Mini%20Guide%20CAL%20Bahasa.pdf">Bahasa Indonesian</a> is available here.

ICEM Mini Guide to Dealing with CAL now in multiple languages

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On 8 March, to coincide with International Women&rsquo;s Day, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) released a report exploring the gender dimensions of the increasing move towards contract, agency and other types of precarious work. Entitled &ldquo;Living with Economic Insecurity,&rdquo; the report analyses global employment trends, including the global economic crisis, and concludes that the crisis has had a particularly far-reaching, but under-acknowledged effect on women. This has been exacerbated by the fact that women are over-represented in insecure forms of employment. 
 
There are no global figures regarding the number of women in precarious employment, but the report details a number of studies which illustrate the over-representation of women in insecure employment. In industrialised countries, where the female employment rate in 2009 was 53.1% versus 68.4% for men, women are more likely to be employed in part-time jobs. In Japan, women represent two-thirds of all non-regular workers and 80% of the female workforce are in temporary jobs. In some developing countries, female employment is predominantly in export-orientated manufacturing sectors, characterised by low wages, insecurity and denial of trade union rights. 
 
According to the report women are increasingly working in the outsourced public sector jobs, for example as cleaners and care-workers, where they are denied access to social protections and receive lower wages than their permanent counterparts. Jobs in the care sector are highly precarious and low paid. Many workers in the sector do have contracts that guarantee a set number of hours, and work on an &ldquo;upon request&rdquo; basis. Workers in the cleaning sector suffered due to the cutbacks brought on by the crisis, such as in Belgium where many office cleaning contracts were reduced from once a day to once a week, with negative impacts for the predominantly female, precarious workforce. 
 
According to the ITUC, women suffer from a &ldquo;double pay deficit,&rdquo; firstly from gender discrimination and secondly as a result of lower pay for precarious work. In Korea, for example, 70% of female workers are in precarious employment and earn only 43% of the salaries of regular male workers. 
 
The overrepresentation of women in precarious employment has become a key factor contributing to the global pay gap between men and women, and according to the report &ldquo;Job insecurity, far from being compensated through higher wages, actually tends to go hand in hand with low pay.&rdquo; 
 
The ITUC has prioritised getting women out of precarious and informal jobs in the following ways: 
 
1. Shifting policy focus to the creation of quality jobs, including by ensuring that the employment relationship is legally secure. 
 
2. Implementing the gender equity agenda, including through investment in public services and taking steps to promote the employment of women in all sectors. 
 
3. Providing universal access to social security through the implementation of a social protection floor for all, regardless of their employment situation. 
 
4. Taking up the challenge of organising workers in insecure forms of work by removing legal obstacles and broadening collective bargaining strategies. 
 
The <a href="/wp-content/migration/icem/ITUC%20report%20-%20women%20and%20precarious%20work.pdf">full report</a> is available here.

Gender and CAL: ITUC’s Women in Precarious Work Report

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