15 September, 2010
The Americas Regional Contract and Agency labour (CAL) conference was held in Recife, Brazil, on 27 June 2010. The conference was attended by ICEM affiliates from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Uruguay, as well as by ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, the ICEM Vice-President for Latin America, Sergio Novais, the ICEM Women’s Officer and Latin America Contact Person, Carol Bruce, and Ashling Seely, the Global CAL Project Coordinator.
Affiliates at the conference spoke about how CAL is being used to undermine freedom of association, for example with Sintracarbón in Colombia, the ICEM’s Mine Workers’ affiliate. Representatives from that union told how trade union activists are being transferred from permanent positions into what are known as “rubbish contracts.”
CAL Project Coordinator for Latin America - Rosane Sasse
Another ICEM affiliate, Sintravidricol, the Colombian Glass Workers’ Union, spoke about how workers at Owen-Illinois are being dismissed and replaced by agency workers. Affiliates also spoke about the problems of triangular employment relationships, with CAL workers not being clear on who is ultimately responsible for their working conditions.
Participants exchanged information on the increasing efforts being made to halt the outsourcing of employment and abusive use of short-term contracts. For example, the Union of Rubber Workers of São Paulo, representing 26,000 workers, is attempting to negotiate a collective agreement clause prohibiting outsourcing in the manufacturing sector.
In Brazil’s oil sector, more than two thirds of the workforce is outsourced. The Single Federation of Oil Workers (FUP) has held several debates, regional and national meetings in various regions of the country, to raise awareness of the negative impact of CAL. The umbrella federation of oil workers’ unions at state-owned Petrobras has also worked with its affiliated organisations to encourage them to restructure in order to improve the full involvement of outsourced workers in their unions.
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda
ICEM’s Warda concluded the meeting, saying that governments must be made aware that ILO Conventions apply equally to contract and agency workers, and that, where there are obstacles to full rights for CAL workers, these should be tackled with legal actions. Warda also spoke about the need to work against the practices of the World Bank and the IFC, organisations which are still advising governments that they need to create more “flexible” labour markets.
Affiliates agreed that the day 28 July would become a day of action on outsourcing.