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Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

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This attack on jobs and the dilution of the employment relationship is also an attack on unions and workers' rights. Employers, in many countries with the full support of governments, are attempting to divide working people. Trade unions are struggling with declining membership and a deteriorating collective bargaining environment.  Adverse trends include changes in industries, employment status and industrial relations (including a shift from industry and sector level bargaining to enterprise agreements or even individual contracts) as well as anti-union actions by governments and corporations.  In addition, unions have not adequately responded to this adverse environment and to the challenge to renew themselves and organise effectively.   The aggressive anti-union campaigns conducted by employers in certain countries with the help of outside consultants are playing a major role in the sustained assault on unions and collective bargaining.  Such union-busting activities are being exported to other countries and represent a serious threat to the rights of workers all over the world.

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

Throughout the world, people are meeting and mobilising against the destructive effect of unbridled capitalism, all-out deregulation and corporate abuses; they call for the promotion of democracy, human rights, and social justice.  Various social and political movements have rejected the neo-liberal consensus and are following a different path. The World Social Forum process that started in 2001 in Porto Alegre, Brazil is still the largest and most inclusive space where alliances can be built and joint initiatives taken with different social actors. In the last decade, real political change has taken place in some countries, most notably in Latin America, where democratic and progressive governments have come to power and have challenged the neo-liberal economic model by renationalizing their key natural resources and using its profits to benefit the many and not just the few. Numerous movements and networks that play an important role in local and global politics have emerged, creating spaces of dialogue and common action, and building broad-based coalitions. There is now a window of opportunity for the world's progressive social forces to get together and come up with alternatives to neo-liberal policies.  Alternatives dedicated to sustainable development, human rights, gender equity and the protection of individual and collective rights in the economy offer opportunities for solidarity and alliances for working people everywhere.

A globalised economy could benefit workers throughout the world and improve prospects for social progress and sustainable development.  However this will not happen by following a deregulation agenda.  The growing inequalities between and within countries generated by neo-liberal policies and free trade show that workers are not receiving an equitable share of the wealth they create in society.  Unsustainable commercial and production practices, spurred on by unregulated globalisation, have caused risks posed by industry, public health concerns, environmental preservation, and climate change to move to centre stage.  Climate change is a threat to sustainable development and will affect human well-being, industrial activities, and employment.  It is not just a concern for the developed countries, which still account for most greenhouse gas pollutants. The rapid, energy-intensive growth in China, India and other fast-moving industrialising economies is also contributing to the increase in green-house gas emissions. Global warming is now widely acknowledged to be the most critical environmental issue facing humanity.  There is strong scientific evidence that most of the warming observed is attributable to unregulated economic activities and consumption based on a massive and excessive exploitation of natural resources, which also results in widespread industrial pollution.  Fast growing emissions caused by transport, industries, and fossil fuel power plants are made possible by a globalisation that is promoted by neo-liberal policies, including a huge increase in free trade and the associated transportation costs. Production regardless of costs to the environment and the costs of recycling and disposal is prevalent.  There is a scientific consensus that immediate measures such as cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases, a stop to the destruction of forests (especially rain forests), and a change in agricultural production towards  biologically-based systems is essential.Furthermore, trade in dangerous wastes such as chemical and other industrial residues including nuclear power stations must either be strictly regulated, or should be stopped. Today, such wastes are often dumped by industrialised countries in developing countries.  The latter accept these practices for the short term and minimal income they provide.  There is much evidence that the receiving countries often cannot handle the wastes in a safe and proper manner. Frequently, they are stocked in open spaces where children and poor women go in search of the wherewithal for survival.The global fight for environmental protection must take employment implications and opportunities fully into consideration. Whilst environmental protection has a cost, there is a huge potential for job creation in metal industries, particularly in those related to alternative energies, construction, and fuel-efficient transportation. Creation of stable, safe, and good jobs must be put at centre of the response to the environmental crisis. These jobs must be based on production of goods and services that are useful and accessible to everyone in the community.  Because many environmental problems have their roots in the workplace, workers are in a unique position to contribute to solutions.  Moreover, the role of trade unions, especially industrial unions, needs to be strong at the sectoral level where special attention must be given to auto, steel, aluminium, aerospace and power generation, which are all  fundamental for the future of our economy.  Finally, these positive developments will only happen if trade unions all around the world and their allies fight against neo-liberalism and for effective national industrial development policies.Globalisation and its social impact is an important factor in the spread of HIV/AIDS and other new epidemics.  As a result, these epidemics. cannot be addressed as an isolated issue, but only in the context of trade, investments, the employment relationship, and social protection. Less developed countries with high levels of poverty and inequality are especially vulnerable. As a result of the policy pressures from international financial institutions, poverty amongst the most economically marginalized groups is deepening. This affects both the spread and the response to the epidemics.  Unions are key actors at the workplace; they can protect workers and develop agreements with employers to promote access to care and treatment, and to prevent discrimination.  Trade unions also play a wider social and political role within civil society, which seeks to alleviate poverty and deprivation by raising wages, living and social standards. A global arms race, which stirs up tensions and conflicts across the world, also threatens a sustainable future. World military spending has increased by 45 per cent since 1998. The struggle to secure access to vital supplies of energy and other raw materials is a major factor contributing to this military build-up.  At the same time these limited resources are depleted by wasteful and unnecessary production and growing populations. On the other  hand,  investment in much-needed education and health programmes, and in official development assistance has lagged behind.

GENEVA: The International Metalworkers' Federation joined with other global unions to organize a special forum during the International Labour Conference (ILC) to draw delegates' attention to the many abuses of labour rights suffered by precarious workers.Shin Seung-Chul, General Secretary of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions described how dispatch workers in Korea are prevented from joining a union and bargaining with their employer. Chair of the Korean Metal Workers' Union's Kiryung Branch, Kim So-Yun, then updated delegates on the situation in Kiryung Electronics where precarious workers have been on strike now for over 1400 days in a protracted, and at times violent, struggle for regular employment status. The experiences in Korea are typical of how companies are acting throughout the world to evade their responsibilities as employers and pass risks onto workers.  Jenny Holdcroft of IMF explained how IMF affiliates see the explosion of precarious work as a devastating threat to wages and working conditions as it undermines workers' rights to join a union and bargain collectively. She also briefed delegates on steps the global unions have taken to insist that the ILO give greater recognition to the situation of precarious workers in its work, including application of labour standards. Kirill Buketov of the IUF gave a further illustration of the damage wrought by this trend by presenting the employment practices of food multinational Unilever.  In factories producing Lipton Tea, up to 100% of the workforce are now casual or daily hire workers and have no right to join the union, nor to medical benefits, sick leave or annual leave.Jim Baker, Coordinator of the Council of Global Unions summed up the presentations by saying ''This is a key issue which will undermine or even destroy the ILO if it is not reversed.&quot;The ILC delegates present expressed their support for an increased focus on the rights of precarious workers and there was consensus on the need for the ILO to take stock of how Conventions 87 and 98 on the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining can be effectively applied in an employment environment dominated by precarious work.

At a side event to the International Labour Conference, unions showed how precarious workers are being systematically denied their rights to organize and bargain collectively.

Workers call on ILO to improve rights of precarious workers

GLOBAL: IMF representatives, senior government officials and industry representatives from major steel-producing economies met in Paris on June 8-9 at the OECD Steel Committee. Participants heard how in virtually all economies, the global economic crisis has led to a sharp contraction in steel production, consumption, prices, trade and employment.Most steel using sectors have experienced sharp output contractions over past months, especially the automotive sector, pushing world steel demand to its lowest level in several years. Demand for steel is particularly week in North America, Europe, the CIS and Japan, but is now showing more stability in some emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil. Risaburo Nezo, Chairman of the OECD Steel Committee stated that, &quot;there is considerable uncertainty as to the timing of the steel industry recovery. A moderate upturn might occur towards the end of 2009 but could well be delayed by a further six to nine months into 2010.&quot;Reacting to comments from industry representatives Rob Johnston, Director IMF Steel Department, informed participants that the trade unions did not believe that the burden of the current crisis such be put on workers through major job losses or cuts to benefits. Steel employers were slow to reward employees during the recent peak demand but have quickly tried to claw back benefits as a result of the current crisis. The crisis however is not a steel crisis as before but a financial crisis that has impacted on the steel industry, as a result there should be no forced job losses or closures.  The IMF's submission made it clear that trade unions had acted as guardians of the steel industry in the past and that was a role that they where prepared to take up again. Copies of all submissions made to the Committee, including the IMF's submission, are published on the OECD website at the following address: <a href="http://www.oecd.org/document/40/0,3343,en_2649_34221_42965160_1_1_1_1,00.html">http://www.oecd.org/document/40/0,3343,en_2649_34221_42965160_1_1_1_1,00.html</a>

Employers were slow to reward employees during peak demand but have quickly tried to claw back benefits as a result of the current crisis, states IMF.

IMF argues against job losses at OECD Steel Committee

Text / Alex IvanouA quick glance at Jyrki Raina's CV reveals a person with lots of experience in a rich variety of jobs including newspaper deliverer, carpenter's assistant, journalist and even court assistant (Raina was awarded Master of Laws in 1985). Jyrki, whose mother tongue is Finnish, also has impressive language skills covering English, Swedish, French, German and Russian. One of his hobbies is political and labour history.With great enthusiasm, Jyrki describes his favourite period of labour history, the time when the trade union movement first began. He cites as an example a story of London journeymen bookbinders who in the mid-1780s decided that their 14 hour working day was too long and should be shortened. &quot;The bookbinders met in pubs discussing the situation. Later, five of the leaders were arrested and one of them even died in prison before the story went up to King George III who, surprised with the length of working hours, agreed to the world's first reduction in working hours to 12.5 hours a day,&quot; he recounts.Jyrki is fascinated with this period of history and that of the more recent labour movement born in the late 19th century, a time when people found their courage and continued fighting despite being beaten, thrown into prison and even killed.Jyrki believes that we can learn many lessons from the past when considering how to assist unions fighting for their rights in developing countries today. Taking the example of Nordic countries, where the trade union movement developed into its present form within a century, Jyrki underlines that, &quot;unfortunately we don't have the luxury of a hundred years now in developing and emerging-economy countries, here we have to get the results more quickly.&quot;While keen on history, Jyrki is also fond of new technologies and sees their potential in bringing improvements to the IMF. One of his first steps as IMF General Secretary was to restart his account on Facebook in order to communicate with unionists all over the world in an open way. Jyrki believes that Facebook is a tool for IMF trade union work, where groups can be formed and one can share information and direct people to the IMF website for more information. In his address to the IMF Congress, Jyrki stressed that it is &quot;important to review the working methods of the IMF. A dynamic and results-oriented IMF has to be visible, transparent, and offer all affiliates the possibility to influence decision-making both globally and in the regions, and engage affiliates in joint action.&quot;The IMF is not Jyrki's first job with a Global Union Federation. In 1991 he worked for the International Chemical and Energy Workers' Federation as a researcher. Later, in 1995, he became the Energy Officer for the International Chemical, Energy and Mine Workers Federation (ICEM). In 2000 he was Director of Organisation at ICEM. Then in 2001 Jyrki moved back to Helsinki where he worked for Finnish industrial trade unions. In 2003 he was elected General Secretary of Nordic Metal coordinating activities of 14 Nordic (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland) trade unions with the European Metalworkers' Federations and the IMF.In 2006 Jyrki was elected as General Secretary of the newly formed trade union federation Nordic IN, coordinating the activities of 22 Nordic unions in three European and three Global Union Federations. From 2005, Jyrki was a substitute member of the IMF Executive Committee and took an active role in the IMF Action Programme committee, elaborating IMF's main policy that gives direction to the work of the organisation and its affiliates for the next four years.Jyrki is married. His wife, Jaana, also a Finn, is working in Sweden for the German company Bosch/Siemens and is a member of the Swedish trade union Unionen. He has a 14 year old daughter, Daniele. Aside from political and labour history, Jyrki's hobbies include philosophy, sports, chess, cooking and music. Find Jyrki on <a href="http://www.facebook.com">Facebook</a> by searching for Jyrki Raina.

Jyrki Tapio Raina (49) was elected as the new IMF General Secretary at the 32nd IMF World Congress in Gothenburg, Sweden in May 2009. During the next four years he will lead one of the oldest Global Union Federations uniting metalworkers all over the world.

Profile of Jyrki Raina Download pdf file with illustrations >>

&quot;We have to get the results more quickly!&quot;

Given past strategies of auto TNCs and the industry's globalized structure, the worldwide economic crisis has caused a dynamic that substantially escalates consolidation pressures. This presents many challenges and potential threats for workers. It is essential that trade unions are fully involved from the outset of any contemplated restructuring to guarantee that decisions represent the broad interests of workers and communities rather than narrow financial interests alone.At the close of 2008, the head of Fiat was widely quoted as saying that over the subsequent two years only a half dozen mass-volume auto companies would remain. While this specific view is not generally held across much of the industry or by many governments, a difficult and challenging process of restructuring and possible integration has begun to unfold involving a number of companies. Preliminary ground work for Fiat and Chrysler to integrate operations has been set in motion. General Motors is undergoing wrenching restructuring affecting workers across nearly every region and particularly in North America and Europe. Challenging issues have arisen for VW and Porsche, as well as for some commercial vehicle manufacturers. Other companies continue to enter into different types of limited forms of partnerships related to design, co-production and parts procurement. Supply chain consolidation is expected to accelerate. Even before the onset of the crisis, assemblers were pushing to reduce the number of direct suppliers while first tier companies tightened their rationalisation of production sites. Vast numbers of jobs are at stake. To avoid further damage, normal credit lines need to be restored and industrial policies implemented that upgrade supply chains and protect workers.<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=20066&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=20060&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../index.cfm?c=20068&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

The global crisis and restructuring in automotive and metalworking industries

Previously existing
restructuring pressures

Global downturn hits

Worldwide vehicle 
demand plummets

Effects transfer down 
the supply chain

Repercussions across metalworking

Widespread job loss and 
working hour reductions

Consolidations and mergers

Industrial policies and 
government measures

Download the pdf file of the special report with illustrations >>

Severe employment declines have affected metalworkers and their communities across all regions of the automotive sector. These have been most devastating in North America, where the crisis first erupted. Hundreds of thousands of automotive workers in the US and Canada have seen their jobs eliminated as scores of assembly and component manufacturing plants shutdown. European workers in many traditional metalworking areas have also experienced large scale employment cutbacks due to consolidations, plant closures and outsourcing, well before the global financial crisis hit. When the crisis did hit, workers across the region were forced to confront additional threats to their jobs and livelihoods. As global demand has slumped, so too has production for export. This has particularly affected workers in countries such as Japan that have a relatively high dependence on shipments of automotive products manufactured for final sale or as component inputs overseas.Workers in non-permanent jobs -- those on temporary and fixed-term contracts and those hired through dispatch labour agencies -- have shouldered a disproportionate burden thus far in the crisis. Automotive manufacturing is among the industries where precarious conditions had spread most, according to an IMF survey completed prior to the crisis. These workers have been the first to lose employment, often without income protection when out of work. Migrant workers face even greater difficulties and insecurities.Such widespread dismissals expose how the sector's employers abuse weak terms of employment and work relationships as &quot;flexibility&quot;. They have shifted responsibility, adjustment costs and risks that should be borne by principal employers onto the backs of workers whose jobs were made precarious. Effects are most pronounced in several Asia-Pacific countries where non-regular jobs came to account for a major share of total employment in the aftermath of the region's 1997 financial crisis. More recently, non-permanent jobs were on the rise in Europe's metal industry, though to a much lesser extent than in Asia.For many permanent workers, hours worked and compensation has declined due to extended plant shutdowns and down-days ranging from weeks to months. Elimination of shifts and reduced line rates has taken place in plants across regions. Paid time-off has been brought forward in some workplaces, while time-banking measures based on annualised hours have been stretched to their limits. Short-work time schemes have been implemented where such benefits are provided by collective agreements and/or government programs covering otherwise lost wages.Due to the prolonged downturn there's an urgent need to extend and strengthen income and social protections for workers. Also essential are effective stimulus measures boosting demand and industrial policies that safeguard employment and utilize productive capacity to meet and improve society's transport-related and manufacturing needs.<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=20065&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=20060&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../index.cfm?c=20067&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Widespread job loss and working hour reductions

As households and company fleets cut or delay purchases of vehicles, knock-on effects for workers in other metalworking industries have occurred. Steel and aluminium, mechanical engineering, electronics, and metal mining sectors have all seen falling demand from the global downturn, with both manual and non-manual workers affected. <ul><li>Global steel output has declined sharply from weakness in automotive, construction and household durable goods sectors. Orders from the motor vehicle industry account for about 13 per cent of global finished steel output with about two tons of steel on average used per motor vehicle built. </li><li>Machine tools and bearings were among the first mechanical engineering subsectors affected. The German-based mechanical engineering association VDMA reports that 30 per cent of Germany's machine tool production is for the automobile industry including component suppliers, citing the auto slump as a significant factor behind declining tool orders.</li><li>In electronics, companies such as Freescale, the leading supplier of semiconductors to the motor sector, and Infineon, Europe's largest, have cut working hours in automotive-related activities.</li><li>For metals, companies in South Africa have announced retrenchments in the mining of platinum, an essential material in automotive catalysts used for vehicle emission control technologies.</li></ul>Industrial inter-connections across branches of this kind and magnitude indicate the extent to which motor vehicle production has cascading effects across metalworking branches highlighting the sector's strategic position in manufacturing.<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=20064&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=20060&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../index.cfm?c=20066&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Workers in component manufacturing and ancillary companies confront even more intense restructuring pressures than those that generally exist in assembly operations. Automakers' use of just-in-time systems to cut costs and push efficiency gains means management keeps inventories tight and buffers lean to minimize working capital and increase returns. As final vehicle demand has slumped steeply, orders for auto parts have dropped in tandem. &quot;Demand-pull&quot; production systems more rapidly transmit effects of curtailed final demand across the whole value chain.For workers at suppliers large and small, employers have pushed to slash jobs, cut hours and consolidate plants. The further down the value chain, the less secure the terms of employment and the more strenuous the conditions of work, meaning the impacts of the crisis become harsher. At small and medium enterprises (SMEs) populating subordinate tiers of production chains, workers are least likely to benefit from social protections or collective agreements due to lower levels of union representation.Strategies of assemblers and major first-tier component companies have propelled supply chain consolidation in an incessant cost reduction drive to boost margins. Continued cuts in numbers of direct suppliers and a squeeze created by passing down costs while making contracts conditional on ongoing price reductions have fuelled a painful shakeout. The crisis-induced dive in parts orders combined with restricted credit availability has pushed many companies to the brink. Assemblers have been forced to extend to their suppliers financial assistance for working capital and in some cases to restore prior price concessions to keep them afloat. In the face of this, metalworkers and their unions have fought back to defend what is rightfully due to workers at companies such as Visteon, Delphi, Continental, Bosch and Valeo, among many others.<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=20063&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">&lt;&lt; back</a></td><td> </td><td><a href="../index.cfm?c=20060&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">beginning</a></td><td> </td><td align="center" valign="middle"><a href="../index.cfm?c=20065&amp;mwId=20047&amp;l=2">forward &gt;&gt;</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Effects transfer down the supply chain

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