31 July, 2014IndustriALL Global Union expresses its outrage over Syngenta’s long-standing punishment with unacceptable treatment against union leaders and members, ignoring local and supreme court rulings in Pakistan.
The case relates to IndustriALL’s affiliated trade union’s effort to ensure that local management of Syngenta respects Pakistani labour law and award 50 contract employees at the plant permanent employment status. These efforts triggered local management to call in paramilitaries to the factory and intimidated workers against supporting the union. The head of the plant level union was then sacked on 23 December 2010.
That fired trade unionist, Imran Ali, is also president of the Pakistan Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers (PCEM), affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union. Imran Ali was summarily sacked one week prior to the end of bargaining that would have brought a new CBA on 1 January 2011.
Even the High Court of Sindh in Pakistan's capital Karachi ruled in favour of the union.
Incredibly, the case of Imran Ali is still pending, and Syngenta has yet to implement the change in employment status of the 50 contract workers, in line with the High Court ruling.
IndustriALL General Secretary Jyrki Raina wrote to top Syngenta management in Switzerland:
“I am outraged to hear that your company’s vindictive treatment of its workers in Pakistan is continuing. I thought this case of core labour rights violation had been settled and by now your local management would be well on the way toward healing some of the damage made by over three years of union busting and breaches of international labour standards.”