Tenaris Workers' World Council meets in Romania

ROMANIA: The participants at the Tenaris Workers' World Council meeting assessed the action plan approved at the last meeting in Brazil in 2010. They recognized the effectiveness of the World Council responding in solidarity with workers in other countries. An example of that solidarity was the action taken around the world when a Brazilian trade unionist was disciplined by management for publicly denouncing the "blame the worker" health and safety policy of the company. The pressure exerted on Tenaris management at the Cartagena plant in Colombia was bearing fruit. The union is currently bargaining its first collective agreement.

During the meeting delegates discussed the results of a survey on employment and workers' rights. The research showed that women employed by Tenaris are still mainly performing office work. The Council stated they should be supported to work in any position in the plant. Although the number of women workers within the company worldwide is low, the participants believe that  women representation should be encouraged in the Council.

The Council also debated the issue of contracting out and outsourcing at Tenaris facilities around the world. It concluded that this is company policy to reduce cost, increase flexibility and weaken trade unions. This issue should be addressed at international level as part of the IMF global campaign against precarious work.

The Unity Pact "Building Global Trade Union Power in Tenaris" adopted in 2008 was reviewed, and council members reconfirmed their commitment to work together for the improvement of working conditions and dignity of Tenaris workers around the world.

The action plan for the next year includes:

• Solidarity support to Canadian workers at the Calgary plant facing restructuring of the shifts and the threat of outsourcing;
• Supporting each other during bargaining;
• Finalizing compilation of collective agreements and circulating the data to the members of the network;
• Establishing a research group to carry out a comparative analysis of production, type and range of products, employment, health and safety, and other information in each of the plants;
• Declaring once more April 28 as day of health and safety in Tenaris. As in previous years, leaflets will be prepared and distributed locally;
• A quarterly newsletter in multiple languages.

The next Council meeting will be on September 2012 in Cartagena, Colombia.

The Tenaris Workers' World Council meeting was hosted by the local union of the IMF Romanian affiliate METAROM and benefited from the financial support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The meeting ended with a visit of the Tenaris Silcotub plant in Zalău. 1,000 people work in the plant, 85% of them organized.