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9 May, 2011
ICEM’s Asia Pacific Rubber Workers’ Unions held its second meeting on 22-23 April in Seoul, South Korea. The meeting was attended by 30 trade union representatives from Japan, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, and South Korea.
Two affiliates of the ICEM, the Federation of Korean Chemical Workers’ Unions (FKCU) and Korean Chemical and Textile Workers’ Union (KCTF) hosted this meeting of the Network, supported by the German Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES). The meeting also welcomed the ICEM Secretariat and the Japanese Affiliates’ Federation (ICEM-JAF) to Seoul.
“Given the growing importance of the Asia Pacific region in the rubber industry, our network has a very crucial role in unifying the unions of the sector,” said Toshiaki Hojo, President of Japanese Rubber Workers’ Confederation (GOMU RENGO), who chairs this Asia Pacific workers’ network.
“The meeting coincided with a very critical time in South Korea because of modifications to South Korean labour code have potential dangers on rights and freedoms,” said the FKCU Vice President Yoon Jinsoo. “Mobilizations at Kumho Tire’s two plants in South Korea gave us a burning need for solidarity in the rubber industry,” added KCTF General Secretary Im Youngguk.
The meeting also received a detailed report from ICEM-JAF General Secretary Yoshio Sato on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Sato thanked all ICEM affiliates who showed solidarity to Japanese unions by sending messages and donations.
ICEM Chemical and Rubber Industry Officer Kemal Özkan presented major developments and challenges in the global rubber industry and profiles on the multinational companies. The rubber industry did start to recover following the global financial crisis, but such recovery is no cause for celebration due to continued high unemployment and deteriorating pay and work conditions.
Participants then gave country reports. According to the report of GOMU RENGO, the Japanese rubber industry suffered severely from the economic crisis and now from the accident, reflected by automobile production dropping by 600,000 units, which now is causing extreme after-shocks in the global supplier segments.
In Indonesia and Malaysia, performing union activities is difficult. Representatives of China’s Chemical and Energy Workers’ Union reported that the union at Bridgestone successfully established a collective wage consultation system, in which in 2010 saw salaries increase by 16%. A Sri Lankan delegate spoke on organising against transnationals such as Trelleborg, Ansel, and Loadstar.
The Thailand report included review and dissection of problems at Michelin, Goodyear, Sumitomo, and Yokohama companies. Vietnam is also attracting investment in the rubber industry. The country’s national chemical company, Vinachem, operates five rubber factories, including two Vietnamese-Japanese joint ventures, Yokohama and Inoue. The Korean Metal Workers Union (KMWU) reported on its struggle with Kumho and thanked the ICEM for support. KMWU identified three areas of difficulty in Kumho in Korea, namely wage, bargaining, and disciplinary actions.
The meeting also produced an extensive discussion on the rising trend of Contract and Agency Labour. It was agreed that the network should continue to handle precarious employment issue as one of its main working areas.
Delegates broke into working groups according to their companies, with the Goodyear and Bridgestone working groups establishing details to continue further communications. Korean and Vietnamese participants agreed to closely cooperate on Kumho, since the Vietnamese operations are organized.
The meeting also adopted two resolutions: one to support Japanese workers in the aftermath of the great natural accident and the second to support the KMWU in Korea on its struggle at Kumho. Participants, most of whom are local level union representatives, collected symbolic donations for their Japanese sisters and brothers.
The next meeting of ICEM’s Asia Pacific Network is scheduled in 2013 in Malaysia.