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30 January, 2009
The ICEM fully supports the work of the National Federation of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Workers of Pakistan, an affiliate of the International Union of Food Workers’ Association (IUF). The 723 contract labourers at Unilever’s last directly-owned and operated Lipton Tea factory in Pakistan have organised to form the Unilever Mazdoor Union Khanewal. The newly organised workers, with the support of the IUF and ICEM, are preparing a new round of public action to press their case.
The ICEM and IUF call for international support for the cause of these contract workers to form their union. To support their struggle click here to send a message to Unilever. Tell corporate management that the Lipton Khanewal temporary workers must be given permanent employment status - and the way to implement this is through direct negotiations with the affiliated National Federation of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Workers of Pakistan.
Unilever's Khanewal factory employs 22 permanent workers, union members who are covered by a collective agreement. But another 723 workers are hired through six contract labour agencies. The union is assisting contract agency workers to file petitions in the Labour Court to secure their right to permanent employment.
The permanent workers receive a monthly base wage of PKR 18,000 - some US$226. The basic wage for non-permanent workers is PKR 6,000, if they are lucky enough to work a minimum 26 days per month. Otherwise the daily wage is PKR 232 - less than three US dollars a day. Where permanent workers receive double for overtime/holiday work, agency workers simply receive the basic hourly wage. Disposable workers have no annual or medical leave. From one week to the next, they do not know their assignments or work schedules - or whether they will have work. Through exploiting workers in this way, Unilever was able to send CEO Niall Fitzgerald into retirement with a £17 million golden handshake.
Unilever employees at the site are illegally blocked from becoming permanent workers, as national legislation states that after nine consecutive months employed under a temporary contract, an employee must be offered a permanent contract to stay. The majority of agency workers at the Khanewal site have been on the job for more than 10 years, with some there for as long as 30 years. But since they are not formally employed by Unilever, they are barred from joining a union of Unilever workers and bargaining with Unilever as their employer. The labour agencies who supply the temporary employees to the factory do not have any other client, and operate their offices inside the Unilever factory itself, clearly a false way of flouting labour law.
Two Lipton workers dismissed in August after 30 years of working at Unilever's Khanewal tea factory at minimum wage and received no social security, medical benefits or pension.
The Lipton workers are fighting for the right of workers everywhere to decent work - secure employment, a living wage, health and retirement benefits, and the right to join a trade union with a collective bargaining relationship to their real employer.
Copies of your messages will be sent to Unilever corporate and Pakistan management, to the union, and to the IUF secretariat.
You can give additional support by taking a moment to visit http://www.unilever.com/sustainability. Scroll down the page to a section on the lower right entitled "Sustainability during the credit crunch" There you can "vote" yes/no to the question, "Do you consider sustainability in your product purchasing decisions?" This is followed by "Please tell us what actions you are taking to make the world more sustainable," with fields for name/message. Please take a moment to send the following response, or a message of your own:
"Sustainability is about investing in sustainable jobs - over 700 workers at the Khanewal Lipton factory are disposable workers hired through labour hire agencies, with no employment security and inferior wages and benefits though many have worked continuously for decades. Make the Khanewal workers permanent through direct negotiations with the National Federation of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Workers of Pakistan!"