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25 January, 2010
The 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) is demanding that the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina intervene on behalf of 1,250 workers in the northern city of Lukavac. The workers have had their pay slashed and are owed wage arrears by India-based Global Infrastructure Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of the Ispat Group, owned by the Mittal steel-making family.
The company is the minority owner but manages a coke-chemicals enterprise called Global Ispat Koksana Industtrija Lukavac (GIKIL), which sells to steel mills throughout Central Europe, Turkey, and in India. The local government of the Canton of Tuzla is majority stakeholder.
In a 21 January letter to Bosnia-Herzegovina Prime Minister Mustafa Mujezinovic and to Canton of Tuzla Prime Minister Enes Mujić, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda – together with International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) General Secretary Jyrki Raina – called on both the federal government and regional government to ensure that restoration of previous pay levels dating to 2003 are restored, that wage arrears are paid, and that the governments be more vigilant on potentially serious health risks existing inside GIKIL.
The ICEM, a Geneva-based global trade federation that numbers 467 affiliated trade unions in 132 countries, is pursuing justice for Lukavac workers on behalf of one of those affiliates, the Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
“The ICEM has probed Global Infrastructure Holdings, its parent, the steel-maker Ispat Group, and Pramod Mittal himself.” said Warda. “What we find is a history of depraved conduct placed on people in many countries and total disregard for global social standards, as well as statutes enshrined in European law.”
In Lukavac, workers have carried out lawful strikes twice in six months, laying claims to salaries owed them. Despite all workers taking membership in the union, GIKIL’s Indian managing director, Guttupalli Jagannadham, has bypassed the union in slashing pay to 55% of previous earnings. That level is below the minimum wage standard contained in the national collective agreement for chemistry and non-metals, and amounts to just above €200 per month (400 marka), putting it well under the minimum wage threshold for the sector in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Workers staged a strike from 6 January to 14 January after salaries had not been paid in October, November, and December 2009. During the strike, the October and November pay was made, but December salaries are still in remiss. A mediated agreement that ended a three-day strike in July 2009 called on GIKIL management to honour the collective agreement, and pay all wages due by 31 December 2009.
The ICEM and IMF also stated concern for workers’ health at GIKIL in the letter to the Bosnia-Herzegovina government. The Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers believes a number of workers have acute cases of cancer due to lack of safeguards around coke ovens.
In the joint letter, the combined 45-million-member ICEM and IMF cautioned the government not to lose oversight over labour-management relations at GIKIL. “We think this a mistake, considering the recent history of wage arrears, asset stripping, and general social depravation brought by Global Infrastructure Holdings.”
The ICEM cites a number of instances in the near past where Ispat and its Global Steel Holdings and Global Infrastructure Holdings subsidiaries have not met payrolls and displayed other social misconduct following privatizations and restructuring. Those cases have occurred in Nigeria, Libya, Bulgaria, as well as against Indian expatriate staff working abroad.
“We take the breach of contract, failure to engage the union in social talks, and wage issues very seriously,” said Warda of the conflict in Lukavac. “Either the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina corrects the wrongs imposed on workers, or we carry this dispute to different levels.”
For More Information, Contact: or Kata Iveljic, Tuzla Branch President, Independent Trade Union of Chemistry and Non-Metal Workers, [email protected], +387 35 279 081 (mobile: +387 61 894 385); or Dick Blin, ICEM Information and Campaigns Officer, [email protected], +41 22 304 1842 (mobile: +41 79 734 8994).