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13 July, 2009
The International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers' Association (IUF) scored a victory in its ongoing struggle for the rights of workers at Unilever in June, by reaching a settlement with the multinational to permanently employ members of a union Action Committee at the Rahim Yar Khan plant in Pakistan.
Permanent positions were created for workers, who had previously been employed precariously. Unilever dismissed those workers after they protested against status as fixed-term contract workers.
In October 2007, the IUF began a concerted campaign against the mass dismissals, supported by the National Federation of Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Workers of Pakistan, which was conducted in the country’s courtrooms, as well as on streets. The Action Committee was then formed to fight for rights for permanent jobs.
Last month’s negotiated settlement was agreed to through mechanisms of the OECD, including applying standards of its Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, which require companies to ensure that all its subsidiaries conform to global labour standards, including ILO Conventions 87 and 98.
The 120 new positions were created at the Rahim Yar Khan plant as of 24 June 2009. All Action Committee members were appointed to these posts. Under the terms of the agreement, these workers are to suffer no discrimination or victimization, and will be free to organize and bargain collectively.
Implementation of the agreement will be continuously monitored by the IUF and Unilever.
Despite this positive settlement, Unilever continues its policy to employ large numbers of CAL workers. There has been no improvement to the rights of workers at the Lipton tea factory in Khanewal, Pakistan, which was reported here by the ICEM in January 2009.
“I am encouraged by the news of a just settlement at the Rahim Yar Khan plant,” said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. “This is a step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go before we succeed in ending the anti-union employment strategies of Unilever.”
The Khanewal factory employs just 22 permanent workers, with another 723 hired through six labour agency companies.