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20 October, 2008
Global Labour’s “World Day for Decent Work” two week ago presented a vast swath of economic, social, and neglectful work rights and gender issues assailing societies in all corners of the world.
Workers’ representatives throughout the world, however, spoke with a unified voice in the days leading up to and following 7 October. That voice called for a dramatic shift to a new globalisation that includes stable and quality jobs, broader social protections, and the assurance that every worker has the right to form and join a trade union, as well as the right to bargain collectively with employers.
Activities of one manner or another occurred in over 100 countries, and those activities were as diverse as how to achieve decent work is wide. A sampling of those activities follows in this report.
In Finland, the Council of Industrial Unions TP used 7 October to issue a statement aimed at all Finnish multinationals. That statement called on MNCs Stora Enso, UPM, Botnia, Kemira, YIT, Outokumpu, Kone, Metsä, and Konecranes to begin discussions toward signing Global Framework Agreements with respective trade unions in Finland, and Global Union Federations.
The 12-member council’s statement expressed concern “that the reputation of (Finnish) companies will suffer in the long run if they continue doing business … with disrespect for the ILO’s core labour standards.” The statement added: “When a company has a negative attitude towards the organisation of personnel in its foreign units, (that) company dampens any enthusiasm for collective bargaining in Finland as well.”
The statement said other Nordic countries are more advanced than Finland, with companies based elsewhere more apt to sign global agreements.
In Norway, the national centre LO commended a seven-point strategy put forward by the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion for Decent Work, strategies placed before legislative bodies shaping the 2009 State Budget. In addition to seven points built around global workers’ rights, the Ministry’s statement includes ethical guidelines for the government pension fund to “include conditions for workers in the companies in (the fund’s) investment universe.”
“We are very happy about this,” said LO Chairman Roar Flåthen. “It shows that our government puts an emphasis on this issue, and that they want to strengthen workers’ rights on many fronts.”
The motto “social inclusion” took a different tone in Canada. There, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) used 7 October and the run-up to federal parliamentary elections to call attention to the lack of rights for 200,000 labourers in the country, classified as “temporary foreign workers.” The CLC says 59% of those workers are women.
“Most of these women don’t see Canada as the land of equality and opportunity,” read a CLC statement. “Their status breeds abuse, exploitation, and social exclusion.”
One of the symposiums held in London’s Congress House – home to UK’s Trades Union Congress (TUC) – was a forum on women’s work issues, particularly issues relating to the informal economy. This workshop saw inequality and the gender gap as major roadblocks to implementation of the ILO’s decent work agenda.
Presenters included NGOs who champion labour rights for women: Women Working Worldwide, the National Group on Homeworking, the Central American Women’s Network, and Homeworkers’ Worldwide. The session was moderated by the Women in the Informal Economy Globalising and Organising (WIEGO).
In Ireland, an opinion piece published in newspapers by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) cited the number of low-wage, non-secure jobs created in the country between the year 2000 and 2006. The vast majority of those jobs are filled by youth between the ages of 15 and 24 who have a secondary education or less.
“With such a tremendous downward pressure on pay and standards at home and abroad,” said the ITUC, World Day for Decent Work “marks a timely and much-needed attempt to reverse that trend and exert a countervailing upward pressure.”
French manifestations on World Day for Decent Work focused on the global financial crisis. The erosion of savings, pension investments, and loss of well-paying jobs was the battle cry at marches held in Paris, Marseille, Nantes, and Lyon, with some 90 separate protests organised by unions nation-wide.
above and below: 3 October rally in Moldova
In Moldova, ICEM affiliate, the Federation of Chemical and Energy Workers’ Unions of Moldova (FCERWUM), together with the Construction and Materials Workers’ Unions federation, held a rally on 3 October in Chişinău entitled “Decent Work – Decent Remuneration.” The goal was to bring public attention to the human need for proper work life that does not strip people of their dignity, but rather ensures full development of working potential.
FCERWUM President Nicolae Stratila addressed the rally and stated workers in Moldova must exert greater vigilance against the use of contract and agency labour. On 7 October, FCERWUM took part in a roundtable discussion organised by the nation’s National Trade Union Confederation in which the issue of precarious employment was focal.
Three national labour centres in Russia conducted meetings and seminars in several cities. In Moscow, some 72 trade unionists picketed 56 metro stations during morning rush-hour commuter traffic on 7 October. They held placards and passed handbills that linked a decent wage to indexation, pensions at no less than 40% of wages, and collective agreements that contain social standards.
In Serbia, the ICEM was part of a multi-country, week-long youth conference in the town of Bela Crkva. Sponsored by ICEM affiliate Nezavisnost, the conference saw young trade union leaders take part in workshops and discussions on the different aspects of decent work. What’s more, the conference – now an annual event – stressed Balkan unity; trade unions from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia sent leaders-in-formation.
Bela Crkva, Serbia
In Romania, four national labour centre federations came together for a rally in Bucharest that drew 7,000 trade unionists. They called for pay increases across all work sectors, as well as for the government of Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu to get serious about workplace safety. The rally was staged in front of the National Parliament.
The Pakistan Workers’ Federation conducted symposiums and meetings in eight cities on 7 October. In Lahore, at the Bakhtiar Labour Centre, a large gathering included government labour officials and representatives from employers’ groupings. There, the call for amendments to Pakistan’s labour code rang out, as did the harm that privatisation of the country’s electric supply systems would bring.
Other forums occurred in Karachi, Hyderabad, Quetta, Sukka, Multan, Faisalabad, and Peshawar.
One of ICEM’s affiliates in New Zealand, the Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), on 7 October highlighted its national advertising campaign, which is entitled “They Stand for greed/We Stand for Decent Work.” An EPMU statement called the growing trend of contract and agency labour a serious affront to decent wages and living standards.
“They call it flexibility, but it’s a device to disempower workers,” stated EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little. It’s an effort “to make it harder for them to negotiate with the real users of their labour.”
In Mauritius, the ICEM's African Regional Coordinator Fabian Nkomo took part in affiliate's Chemicam, Manufacturing, and Conected Trades Workers' Union unveiling of a monument signifying the union's campaign against COntract and Agency Labour.
The sculpture was dedicated on 7 October.
Unveiling of Monument (rear) Dedicated to Fight Against Contract and Agency Labour in Mauritius
In Brussels, following the presentation by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) of a petition to the European Commission on 7 October, EU Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla did make a statement. He told trade union leaders that 80% of the world’s workers do not have adequate social protection.
Spidla did promise that the Commission’s renewed social agenda, put forward in July 2008, would attempt to improve work-life circumstances for all EU workers. He also noted that all EU member-states have ratified the ILO’s core labour standards.
In Kenya, ITUC-Africa Secretary General Kwasi Adu-Amankwah sounded a different alarm. He said at a Decent Work conference in Nairobi that Economic Partnership Agreements must be challenged in order to preserve jobs. Governments in developing countries, he stated, must “put employment creation at the centre of all trade and investment policies that affect Africa.”
Kwasi Adu-Amankwah also cited a UN report, issued only in September, which states African trade liberalisation policies have shown an export market-share drop from 6% to 3% of world trade over the past 20 years. This roughly matches the same period in which structural adjustment programmes have been imposed by world organisations on African nations.
In Mauritania, the situation is worse. Six unions called for an afternoon demonstration on 7 October in support for safe working conditions and against the military junta now running the country. The manifestation was banned and riot police were out in force, preventing trade unionists from assembling.