English

Español

Français

Русский

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Action Plan 2021-2025

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

Women

Youth

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

&ldquo;The stronger the union, the safer the mine!&rdquo; 
 
 
 
We, representing miners&rsquo; trade unions from different federations and traditions, meeting in New Delhi from 28-30th October 2009, have examined the status of occupational safety and health in mines in India. We benefited from the presence of the representatives of ICEM, ILO, CIL, DGMS and CII. 
 
 
 
We declare that safety and health of miners is not an issue that divides us. We say: &ldquo;the stronger the union, the safer the mine!&rdquo; 
 
 
 
We are firmly of the view that ratification of ILO Convention 176 on safety and health in mines would provide real benefits for miners&rsquo; safety and health. The convention is a distillation of global good practice. It is a modern, relevant and achievable standard. 
 
 
 
India has been a member of the ILO since 1919, and is a leading member now. As the second most important mining country in the world, India should set an example by ratifying the convention 176. India was present at the debates in Geneva when the convention was drawn up, and participated in its development and the Indian delegation voted in favour of its adoption. 
 
 
 
The convention has been ratified by 23 countries, which represents more than 10% of the ILO&rsquo;s membership. 
 
 
 
Since 1995, when the convention was adopted at the International Labour Conference, the Government of India has repeated on several occasions that it is &ldquo;considering&rdquo; the convention. We believe that now is the time for action. Fourteen years is long enough. 
 
 
 
We repeat our request to the government of India to ratify the convention forthwith, or engage in a genuine and meaningful tripartite dialogue to identify those articles in the convention that appear to stand in the way of ratifying the convention and seek the advice of the ILO in overcoming them. 
 
 
 
In the absence of any meaningful dialogue, miners&rsquo; trade unions will launch a campaign in favour of ratification, and we will seek to negotiate the realization of the standards contained in the convention through collective bargaining with individual mining companies. 
 
 
 
&ldquo;The stronger the union, the safer the mine!&rdquo;

Declaration by miners’ trade unions on ILO Convention 176

Organization 
 
 
 
Miners&rsquo; national federations will review their own structures and develop national, company, area and pit safety committees. 
 
 
 
As safety and health is not an issue that divides us, these committees should seek to work together at all levels. 
 
 
 
Such &ldquo;union safety organization&rdquo; can work to empower and revive the existing safety structures, including Workmens&rsquo; Inspectors, Pit Safety Committees and company safety committees, as appropriate, in the coal and non-coal mines. 
 
 
 
They can also work to mobilize support amongst miners and the masses for ratification of the convention through education, pit meetings, colony meetings (including meetings aimed at the families of miners), posters, stickers, handbills, wall painting, etc. 
 
 
 
A joint national campaign 
 
 
 
At national level, the federations could come together to agree for joint movement in mining industry to pressurize the Government of India to ratify C. 176 
 
 
 
The federations could hold joint company level conventions to popularize the demand for ratification of C 176. 
 
 
 
A joint delegation of the five federations should visit the Minister of labour to demand ratification of C 176. 
 
 
 
The federations should demand the convening of the next national Conference on Safety in Mines, to discuss the issue of ratification of C 176. 
 
 
 
Signatures of 15 lakh mine workers and their families should be collected on a petition to demand ratification of C 176. 
 
 
 
The federations can also hold a demonstration before Parliament to submit the petition and meet the Lok Sabha speaker. 
 
 
 
Support 
 
 
 
The Federation shall seek assistance and help from National and Global trade unions and also from the ILO to organize campaign for the ratification of the ILO Convention 176.

Programme of action: “the stronger the union, the safer the mine!”

ICEM Women’s Bulletin No. 36/Boletín de noticias de las mujeres de ICEM No. 36

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
After earlier releases in a number of other languages (for more, please consult the ICEM&rsquo;s Contract and Agency Labour site <a href="http://cal.icem.org/index.php/en/icem-guide-on-cal">here</a>), the ICEM is now releasing the Croatian versions of the &ldquo;ICEM Guide on Contract and Agency Labour&rdquo; (CAL) as well as of the shorter and more practical &ldquo;Negotiators&rsquo; Guide on CAL&rdquo;. The Croatian translations have been made possible through the joint ICEM-IUF South-East European Project on Trade Union Modernisation. 

<img src="" width="140" height="70" alt="" />
This CAL guide describes numerous contract, agency and other precarious work situations from around the world - both in developing and developed countries. It contains a number of best practice examples, as well numerous worrying stories, including some of the terrible working conditions that many workers in precarious employment find themselves in. The guide also provides an overview of some of the more recent changes in national and international labour laws and standards, and further deals with combating this phenomenon at company level. 
 
The &ldquo;Short Guide for Negotiators on How to Deal with Contracting Out, Outsourcing and/or Agency Labour&rdquo; is an instrument to assist trade unionists at the plant level. It provides practical suggestions on what to do when (or before) the issue comes up.

ICEM releases Croatian versions of its Contract and Agency Labour Guides

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
A five-week strike at a BHP-owned manganese mine and smelter by members of the Kimberley branch of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa ended 5 October with a satisfactory one-year contract. 
 
The resolve came after global pressure was applied by ICEM mining affiliates, as well as attention given BHP&rsquo;s bargaining indifference at the recent statutory meeting of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), and at ICEM&rsquo;s Sub-Sahara Africa Region Meeting in Lagos, Nigeria, on 15 September. 
 
&ldquo;We were very fortunate to have international pressure and a COSATU focus on this strike,&rdquo; said NUM Kimberley Regional Coordinator Lucas Phiri. &ldquo;The arrogance of this company from the mine level to the Johannesburg office was something I have not seen in 12 years inside the NUM.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="102" height="111" />
The 920 miners and smelting-plant workers at BHP&rsquo;s Hozatel Manganese operation in the Northern Cape downed tools on 28 August. Their dispute was not just about wages &ndash; South African managers, in fact, were cancelling meetings both at the local level and with NUM national officers &ndash; but about parity between black and white miners, and for improved conditions for women in this remote mining region of the Northern Cape. 
 
With 90% of the 920 workers black, the NUM discovered that white workers at Hozatel got better medical assistance benefits, and received a transportation allowance of 2,000 rands per month, while blacks received 440 rands. Many miners live in hostels, but others travel from the village of Kuruman to the Hozatel operation. 
 
Due to outside pressure on BHP, local management finally got serious on addressing issues that caused the strike and called for talks on 5 October. Both sides agreed to an 8% pay increase effective 1 September, with a one-off 4,000 rand payment per worker for the period July-September 2009. A prior agreement expired 1 July, and the agreement reached on 5 October will last until 1 September 2010. 

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="103" />
Another key issue resolved related to NUM&rsquo;s ability to recruit into membership workers in higher-level classifications. BHP originally demanded a 66% vote, but the resolve reached in early October made that the standard 50% plus one, or a simple majority. 
 
Related to the parity issues, the two sides agreed to establish a separate bilateral forum to address and even out the disproportionate medical and transportation benefits between white and black workers. A deadline of 30 December 2009 has been put on resolving that. 
 
The same deadline holds for dealing with the employment equity between women and men, as well as the company&rsquo;s draconian policy of not granting maternity leave to women who have less than three years of employment service. 
 
The agreement &ldquo;was not all that we had hoped for,&rdquo; stated Phiri, &ldquo;but we are forever thankful for the outside pressure that moved a management that had before been so stubborn to address workers concerns.&rdquo; 
 
BHP operates Hozatel under its Middelplaats Manganese subsidiary, an asset it acquired with its partial buy-up of Semancor in the 1980s. The mine and ferrochrome smelting facility had originally been part of AngloAmerican.

Union Pressure Helps End BHP Manganese Strike in South Africa for NUM

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The Workers Activities Branch of the International Labour Office (ILO ACTRAV) organised a major International Symposium on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining, from 12 -15 October 2009 in Geneva. 

<img src="" width="326" height="190" alt="" />
The symposium brought together over 60 participants from trade union national centres, national unions, Global Union Federations and the ITUC, as well as labour academics and ILO officials. ICEM was represented by Jim Catterson and Phee Jungsun of the secretariat. Discussions centred on the fact that the right to organize and to bargain collectively has faced recent challenges stemming from falling trade union membership, increasing individualization of labour relations and the difficult quest for greater competitiveness and flexibility in the context of globalization. Trade unions need to be strengthened in order to face these challenges and enhance the right to organize and collective bargaining and other fundamental rights and principles such as the global platform rules governing the increasing globalization of the economy and the promotion of decent work for all. 

<img src="" width="328" height="194" alt="" />
Aims of the symposium: 
- To examine recent trends and developments in collective bargaining and the protection of the right to organize. 
- To discuss the relationship between collective bargaining and the social and economic objectives of Decent Work. 
- To identify policies and strategies that would strengthen the capacity of trade unions to organize and to bargain collectively. 
- To identify ways and means of achieving the universal application of the right to organize and to bargain collectively. 
 
One session of the meeting was devoted to Global Framework Agreements. Here after a general introduction by Dr. Michael Fichter of the Otto-Suhr-Institut of the Free University of Berlin, presentations were made of the ICEM GFA with Rhodia by Jacques Kh&eacute;liff of Rhodia and Jim Catterson of ICEM. The presentations generated a detailed and wide-ranging debate on the issue. 
 
See further information on the symposium <a href="http://www.ilo.org/actrav/what/events/lang--en/docName--WCMS_112409/index.htm">here</a>.&nbsp;

Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of ILO Convention No. 98

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
During an evaluation mission to Colombian cities Bogota and Medellin, representatives of the ICEM and of 2 Swedish ICEM affiliates (IFMetall and Pappers) were able to see first hand that the Swedish-funded ICEM project on Social Dialogue in Colombia is delivering excellent results. Throughout the two days of meetings and visits, all ICEM affiliates in Colombia unanimously praised the many different efforts and activities of the project. Participating ICEM affiliates are Sintracarbon (mining), Sintraquim (chemical, pharmaceutical), Sintracarcol (paper), Sintraelecol and Fenaltec (electricity) and Sintravidricol (glass, materials). New ICEM affiliate USO is to join the project&rsquo;s activities shortly. 
 
Efficiently run by project coordinator Carlos Bustos, in close cooperation with the members of the ICEM Colombia Committee (i.e. the ICEM affiliates), the project&rsquo;s main aim is to encourage more and better social dialogue between ICEM affiliated trade unions and (mainly multinational) companies in Colombia. And it seems to be succeeding quite well in this, looking at the year-long progress in the joint employer-union social dialogue efforts. 

<img alt="" src="" width="180" height="146" />
Carlos Bustos, ICEM Colombia Project Coordinator
A more recent indication of progress made is the fresh interest shown by a number of additional companies to participate in the project, including Drummond, Repsol, Votorantim, Cerromatoso, SCA, Smurfit Kappa, Ross International and Petrobras. The project&rsquo;s social dialogue activities include joint social dialogue conferences and joint training sessions on specific social dialogue topics. Companies that have been participating in the process for some time include Carbones de Cerrejon (Xstrata, AngloAmerican and BHP Billiton), Linde, Gas Natural, Owens Illinois and Endesa. 
 
Other areas where a great deal of impressive work has been done include the leadership training programmes (which are bringing rank-and-file, as well as both young and female trade unionists into leadership positions) and the discussions on creating a larger industrial union for most, if not all, ICEM sectors in Colombia. Yet another area of work has been around the issue of contract and agency labour (CAL). As in many other places around the globe, CAL is also an enormous problem in Colombia. A number of multinational companies, including from the energy sector, have become almost &ldquo;shell companies&rdquo;, outsourcing virtually everything. Working under difficult circumstances in Colombia, unions nevertheless spoke of a number of successes in organising CAL workers. 

<img alt="" src="" width="156" height="210" />
A worker / trade unionist at Ross International telling the story
Commended was also the communication between the project and the ICEM and other ICEM affiliates (including, for example, the USW in the United States), with virtually all Colombian ICEM unions noting positive after an international intervention. The affiliates emphasised the importance, and success, of this international support. One more positive aspect highlighted by almost all was the work done by the project on HIV/AIDS. 
 
Pointed out by several was also the fact that, since the project began to assist them, the collective membership of the participating unions rose from 1,500 to over 20,000.

ICEM Colombia Social Dialogue Project Doing Well

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The transition to a low-carbon economy must guarantee employment and result in the development of new, decent jobs, say participants at global industrial unions&rsquo; meeting on climate change. That was the message coming from&nbsp;14-15 October multi-trade union meetings in Bad Orb, Germany.
The meetings were conducted under the auspices of the ICEM,&nbsp;the International Metalworkers&rsquo; Federation (IMF), the&nbsp;European Metalworkers' Federation, and&nbsp;the European Mine, Chemical, and Energy Workers&rsquo; Federation (EMCEF) in a forum&nbsp;&quot;Cutting Emissions, Transforming Jobs.&quot; 

<img alt="" src="" width="370" height="110" />
The goal of the meeting was to discuss how industrial workers might present a common position at the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference in Copenhagen Denmark. The UNFCCC COP-15 conference, as it is called, is expected to propose a new set of agreements on greenhouse gas emissions targets to renew or replace those contained within the Kyoto Accord. 
 
Speaking at the meeting, IMF General Secretary Jyrki Raina said, &ldquo;Our industrial sectors are frequently seen as contributors to the current environmental crisis. Yet it is within these very industries that solutions already exist or are being developed. We want to reduce emissions, while at the same time increasing employment and protecting the environment.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="325" height="183" />
The industrial workers&rsquo; unions prepared a background discussion document taking into account work that had already been done, such as ICEM's recently-adopted policy on Sustainability. The meeting was structured around five panel discussions: environmental protection, sustainable development, sectoral concerns, sustainable job creation, and just transition. 
 
The lively discussion covered a vast territory, some of the points made include: 
- the environmental crisis is as much a failure of global capitalism as the recent and ongoing economic crisis 
- good jobs and a clean environment go hand in hand, we will have both; or we will have neither 
- developing countries must have their chance to develop. However, their development need not follow the same harmful paths as it did in developed countries that caused the environmental crisis in the first place. International institutions for capital and finance, resurgent protectionism, and restrictions on technology transfer, can create a new era of colonialism if we do not prevent it 
- trade unions must hold governments and employers to account, particularly regarding the social dimension of sustainability 
 
The delegates from all four organizations welcomed the opportunity to discuss the social and economic consequences of trying to solve the present environmental crisis. Overall, there was a consensus that industrial sector unions need to make our voices heard in Copenhagen, and particularly to be the champions of the social dimension of sustainable development. While there are certainly concerns within specific industries and regions, and therefore a need for strong Just Transition programs, there are also many opportunities for sustainable job creation. 

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="97" />&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" width="146" height="46" />&nbsp;<img alt="" src="" width="105" height="94" />
 
The ICEM, IMF, EMF and EMCEF will be reviewing the discussion document and comments received over the next couple of weeks. Following this review, we will finalize the materials we will bring to COP-15 in Copenhagen to make our points with the country representatives negotiating the new agreement. 
 
Following the meeting, Manfred Warda, ICEM General Secretary said, &ldquo;For industrial workers and their unions an important question for changing to a low-carbon economy is who pays for it and who benefits from the transition. We only have one planet and we all have an interest in protecting our future.&rdquo; 
All material from the meeting is available on the IMF website, <a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=21012&amp;l=2">here</a>.
Additional information about climate change and the position of industrial workers can be found on the following web links: 
 
<a href="http://www.imfmetal.org/climatechange">www.imfmetal.org/climatechange</a>
<a href="/en/97-Sustainable-Development-Health-and-Safety">/en/97-Sustainable-Development-Health-and-Safety</a>
<a href="http://www.industrialpolicy.eu/COP15">http://www.industrialpolicy.eu/COP15</a>

Cut Emissions, Transform Jobs

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Responding to the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Istanbul on 6-7 October, Turkish trade unions organized a manifestation in Taksim Square, in the centre of the city. The protest against the IMF and World Bank was organized by the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DİSK), the Confederation of Trade Unions of Public Employees (KESK), the Turkey Union of Chambers of Architects and Engineers (TMMOB) and the Turkish Doctors Association (TTB). Organisers of the event instructed those taking part to carry out a peaceful protest. Other groups who planned a non-peaceful protest were told to wait until after the trade union event in Taksim Square had finished, before they took their protest to the IMF meeting, in the district of Harbive. 
 
The General Secretary of DISK, Tayfun G&ouml;rg&uuml;n, also Vice-President of ICEM affiliate mineworkers Dev Maden-Sen, spoke first to the crowd of 5,000. However, before speeches could continue, police attacked first with tear gas and afterwards with firearms and water cannons, using tinted water so that protesters would be easily identified later. 

<img alt="" src="" width="360" height="240" />
Not only protesters but also journalists and passers-by were affected by the heavy tear gas, as police did not use the gas to disperse the crowd, instead surrounding the crowd, causing confusion. ICEM affiliates reported extremely heavy-handed behaviour from police, &ldquo;There was more police violence and more tear gas than at the last three May Days,&rdquo; stated Kivan&ccedil; Eli A&ccedil;ik, Director of International Relations at DISK. 
 
Around 100 arrests were made for peoples&rsquo; role in the protest. One man died of a heart attack in the violence, after it was very difficult to get him to the hospital, through police lines. 

<img alt="" src="" width="348" height="233" />
In other news in Turkey, Turkish trade unionist, Murad Akincilar, from ICEM Swiss affiliate UNIA, has been arrested in Turkey with no motive for the arrest communicated with his family. The ICEM is working with its Turkish affiliates to communicate with the country&rsquo;s authorities and demand a swift release or fair trial. 
<img alt="" src="" width="160" height="114" />
Murad Akincilar
International solidarity for the struggle of Turkey&rsquo;s trade unions was illustrated through a successful seminar in the city of Izmit, 8-9 October. Part of the ICEM &lsquo;Project of Capacity Building for Social Dialogue and Organising in Turkey&rsquo; funded by FNV Bondgenoten of the Netherlands, the seminar was supported by unions from France, Holland, Spain, and Brazil, exchanging trade union success stories from around the world. 

<img alt="" src="" width="290" height="187" />
Presentations included the &lsquo;Global Perspective&rsquo; by ICEM&rsquo; Kemal Ozkan, the &lsquo;European Perspective&rsquo; by FCE-CFDT&rsquo;s Sylvain Lefebvre, the &lsquo;Holland: National Example&rsquo; by FNV Bondgenoten&rsquo;s Mail Űrker and Patrick Van Klink, the &lsquo;Spain: National Example&rsquo; by Isidor Boix of FITEQA-CC.OO, &lsquo;Brazil: National Example&rsquo; by Nilton Freitas of Quimicos ABC-CUT, &lsquo;France: National Example&rsquo; by FCE-CFDT&rsquo;s Marc Blanc, and the &lsquo;Turkey: National Example&rsquo; by Uzeyir Ataman of Lastik-İş. 
 
The project aims to contribute to the ability of ICEM&rsquo;s Turkish affiliates to recruit new members, as well as to organize discussions on establishing a base to create a functioning industrial relations system, prioritizing fundamental human and trade union rights, together with good social dialogue.

Police Violence, Turkish Trade Unions Protesting IMF, World Bank Policies

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Whether or not the South African National Assembly passes legislation to ban labour brokers is a question likely to be answered early in 2010. But there is little doubt that the matter has fast become the hot-button employment issue in the country, judging from the current intensity of the debate. 
 
Following two days of raucous public hearings in Cape Town by the Assembly&rsquo;s Portfolio Committee on Labour in late August that firmly pitted political parties against one another, the debate whether to pass a ban or to impose tighter regulations on labour broking moved to four provinces in early October where parliamentary regional hearings were held. 

<img alt="" src="" width="146" height="66" />
And in between, the Congress of South African Unions (COSATU) weighed in strongly in favour of a ban at its Tenth National Congress and immediately launched a national campaign to ban the 25-billion-rand business in coordination with global labour&rsquo;s World Day for Decent Work (WDDW) on 7 October. 
 
In COSATU&rsquo;s congress declaration, the federation states, &ldquo;&hellip; as part of the struggle for decent employment, we call for the elimination of the practice of labour broking.&rdquo; At a press conference following the 21-24 September congress, General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said labour brokers often take up to 20% of a worker&rsquo;s wages in fees. 
 
Three weeks earlier, at the Assembly&rsquo;s Portfolio Committee hearings, Vavi called the system a &ldquo;social ill,&rdquo; likening it to &ldquo;HIV and AIDS or crime and corruption. It&rsquo;s an arrangement made to take advantage of the weak and most vulnerable in a society.&rdquo; 

<img alt="" src="" width="102" height="111" />
One of COSATU&rsquo;s WDDW activities occurred on 6 October where 400 members of the affiliated Communication Workers&rsquo; Union (CWU) rallied in front of a postal centre in Ormonde. There, some 80% of the total workers are supplied by labour brokers. A CWU representative said eight labour brokers are used and what&rsquo;s worse, he added, is that some of the postal managers are part-owners of the labour-broking agencies. 
 
One such worker abused by the system and involved in the protest said he earns a monthly salary one-quarter of that of a permanent employee in the postal centre, while another said working in precarious employment is no better than being unemployed. &ldquo;They use us like condoms. One mistake, you are out and they get another one in your place anyway.&rdquo; 
 
The ICEM affiliate, National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), called on parliamentarians of the African National Congress (ANC) to use its majority to pass a law banning labour brokers. NUMSA General Secretary Irvin Jim said under the latter-day apartheid employment system, the focus of employers is on labour agencies, not workers. &ldquo;In a society with high levels of inequalities, it is a crisis to allow this system to flourish,&rdquo; he said. 

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="102" />
The political lines have been drawn in the debate. While most ANC legislators favour a ban, the business-friendly Democratic Alliance (DA) is on the defensive and merely calling for regulating labour broking. The fledging Congress of the People (COPE), with little political power following spin-off from the ANC, has been relatively silent on the issue, but is believed to favour tighter regulation rather than an outright ban. 
 
The business lobby says 500,000 people in South African are employed through labour brokers, but it is believed the real number could be triple that. The lobby does admit that of 6,000 labour brokers in the country, only 3,000 of them are properly registered. 
 
In neighbouring Namibia, labour brokers were banned in 2008. But the industry and business lobby has now challenged that law on constitutional grounds, something South African business interests would likely do as well if a ban is passed. 
 
On 27 August, the Building and Wood Workers&rsquo; International (BWI), together with its South African affiliate, the Building and Construction Allied Workers&rsquo; Union, held a forum in Johannesburg entitled &ldquo;Multi-Sectoral Conference on Decent Work Towards and Beyond 2010,&rdquo; aimed primarily at work issues in preparation for South Africa hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup. 

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="103" />
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Construction Coordinator Isaac Ntshangase pointed out that 32% of the country&rsquo;s building and construction industry is carried out using informal workers. The conference passed a resolution calling for a ban on labour brokers and condemned the sub-standard wages and work conditions common in subcontracting arrangements. 
 
Whether or not section 198 of South Africa&rsquo;s Labour Relations Act of 1995 gets amended to ban labour brokers totally, or if a compromise is struck placing tighter regulations on the practice, is an open question right now. But there is little question that some form of legislative action will result, which will be good news to the global union forces that are now marshalling efforts to rollback non-sustaining work through labour-hire agencies and indirect employment.

Issue to Ban ‘Labour Brokers’ in South Africa Coming to a Head

Archive