Metalworker actions against precarious work - September 30 to October 7

Argentina

The National IMF Committee, composed of AOMA, UOM, ASIMRA, will participate in a national demonstration for Decent Work, in the centre of Buenos Aires on October 7.

The UOM has circulated material to its affiliates and Eduardo Paladín gave a radio interview on precarious work, this Monday October 6.

Australia

AMWU

The AMWU mailed the posters and leaflets produced by the IMF to 10,000 of its activists. Posters are up in a large number of workplaces. In every major city activity will occur on October 7. In Australia horse racing is a very popular sport and the AMWU has sponsored a horse race in Adelaide which it has called "precarious work". The race and what it stands for will be broadcast nationally which will ensure that the message gets to a very large number of Australians. Meetings are being held concerning precarious work in each city. This is being directly linked to the demand for reform of the Australian labour laws to allow bargaining over the control of contract work and contracting out of work. Currently bargaining over these issues is illegal. The AMWU National Council met with more than 40 politicians of the governing Labor Party in the capital city Canberra in the last week of September to press the issues around labour law reform and made the question of the right to bargain to control contract work the top item on the agenda.

Belarus

REPAM

Pickets were scheduled, but permission to hold them was denied by the government. The union will find other means to protest against precarious work on October 7.

For more details on precarious work in Belarus see the Metal World feature here.

Brazil

CNM-CUT, CNTM-FS

IMF Brazilian affiliates have produced the IMF materials on precarious work in Portuguese and will be distributing the material as part of their campaign against precarious work. More information on CNM-CUT's support for the campaign can be found here: http://www.cnmcut.org.br/2008/verCont.asp?id=10450

CNM/CUT has also distributed the IMF booklet on Precarious Work to unions and workers, made information available on the CNM website and will join other organisations in a massive march on October 10.

CNTM/FS will join other organisations in a massive march for decent work on October 10. The São Paulo Federation of Metalworkers intensified its campaign against outsourcing and precarious work in the 2008 round of negotiations. Trade union leaders and employer representatives discussed how companies might provide full employment contracts to subcontracted workers and also how to avoid high labour turnover.

Bulgaria

Metalicy

The union, Metalicy, has produced a leaflet (see here and here) that will be disseminated to all members (the English translation of the leaflet's title is "Precarious Work - Global mobilisation for day of action"). The Federation has started organising meetings and seminars in different places. A poster is also being printed.

Chile

CONSTRAMET will join CUT Chile in a march through the streets of Santiago on October 7.

CONSFETEMA has organised a meeting on precarious work for contract workers in Illapel, Salamanca, Region IV on October 7.

Colombia

UTRAMMICOL has organised an internal campaign among members to denounce workplaces where precarious employment is used a lot. It will participate, with affiliates, in a national march in the Colombian capital on October 7.

It has also participated in debates, such as that in Medellin, on September 30.

It is also supporting sugarcane workers in the Cauca Valley region, in southwest Colombia, 800 km from Bogota, who are on strike against precarious work. 

FETRAMECOL organised a press conference on October 6 attended by 80-100 participants at Fetramecol offices, and addressed by Jorge Almeida. On October 7, the union will join a march through the streets of Bogota, organised by the country's three trade union centrals and civil society.

Czech Republic

OS KOVO

The OS KOVO Presidium adopted an appeal in Prague, August 27, 2008, appealing to:

Employers - to use for the work first of all the permanent workers and in necessary cases to cooperate only with those Temporary Work Agencies who are respecting the valid legislation

Temporary Work Agencies - to observe Labour Law and other regulations

The State - to control consistently and to fine the infringement of the rules and not to allow the escape of millions of Czech Crowns, which are so necessary to the Health service, School System or Pension System.

See a copy of the full appeal here.

Precarious Work Conference - Prague

OS KOVO is hosting a conference on precarious work in Prague on October 10-11. The conference has been organised in the framework of the EMF and IMF global mobilisation against precarious work.

Metalworker unions from Austria, Hungary, Germany, Slovenia will participate in the conference hosted by OS KOVO in Czech republic.

For more details on this conference and other activities being organised by OS KOVO, got to: http://www.oskovo.cz/Kovo/2008/Rizik/rizik.htm 

Dominican Republic

FENATRAMIM will co-organise demonstrations with three other trade unions in Puerto Plata, Barahona del Sur and San Pedro. The unions have handed over documents to Labour Ministry offices in these provinces.

EUROPE

EMF Precarious Employment Conference, October 6, 2008 in Brussels

This event has been CANCELLED.

France

FTM-CGT, FGMM-CFDT, FO-Metaux, CFTC, CFE-CGC

The five French metalworker unions affiliated to the IMF released a joint statement calling for global mobilisation against precarious work. The unions note that precarious work is affecting young workers, women and low-skilled workers and also increasingly white-collar workers, such as engineers. A copy of the statement can be found here.

Regional protest in Strasbourg

CGT Métallurgie is holding a large regional protest at 14:30 on October 7 at the Place de la République in Strasbourg. Metalworkers from ALCAN, BONGARD, DELPHI, FLENDER, GENERAL MOTORS, MESSIER BUGATTI, SAREL will be supporting and taking part in the action.

Germany

IG Metall

IG Metall will hold a big action in Hanover on October 7 as part of their major campaign on "Equal Work - Equal Pay" that started earlier this year, which is aimed at organising agency workers demanding equal pay and conditions for equal work. In addition to this, a number of individual activities are planned at local and regional level. To find out more about the campaign, go to: http://www.gleichearbeit-gleichesgeld.de/

GLOBAL

Global Unions/ACTRAV forum

Towards Social Justice: applying labour standards to precarious workers

ILO Room II

The Global Union Federations believe that there is an urgent need for the ILO to focus on the role of precarious employment in effectively excluding increasingly large numbers of workers from the protections of the ILO Conventions, including the rights to organise and bargain.

A Global Unions/ACTRAV forum to be held at the ILO in the lead up to the World Day for Decent Work will demonstrate how workers in all sectors and regions of the world are affected by precarious work and will propose concrete actions to ensure the rights of precarious workers are respected.

New publications from ICEM, IMF, IUF and UNI on precarious work will be available at the forum.

Honduras

FETRAMIMH has organised the following activities:

• Massive distribution of the leaflet: Precarious Work Affects Us All.
• Distribution of a report: Precarious Work.
• We disseminated the recommendations made by the Central Committee at its meeting in Brazil.
• We included the issue in our current trade union training programme.
• Speeches at trade union meetings.
• We will distribute a daily information sheet during the campaign, until October 7.

India

All IMF affiliates

At the regional meeting in South Asia, IMF affiliates planned for a series of activities to take place starting with press conferences on September 30, then seminars, gate meetings, area-wise meetings, then a Dharna or day long protest on October 4, before participating in mass rally with all national trade union centers on October 7.

Indonesia

FSPMI

On August 14, FSPMI in Indonesia held a mass protest of 10,000 workers against precarious work - see here for more details.

Lomenik

Lomenik will hold a public demonstration on the October 7 in Medan, Indonesia. Following that shop stewards will meet management of companies on the issue of precarious work.

Italy

FIOM-CGIL event on precarious work - October 2

FIOM-CGIL, an IMF affiliate in Italy, is holding a national assembly entitled "Il Lavoro precario colpisce tutti" on October 2 in Milan at which IMF and EMF general secretaries will speak.

Metalworkers initiatives in Turin

Fiat delegates held a meeting on September 4-5, at the initiative of FIM-FIOM-UILM, and held a public assembly - see here for more details. At meetings with other associations in Torino, FIM-CISL and FIOM-CGIL publicised the week of action from  September 30 until October 7.

FIM- CISL initiatives

Several initiative are organised  by local structures of the metalworkers of FIM : in Bergamo on September 30 on workers' rights in China; in Brescia on October 3 with a meeting with a Mozambican trade unionist; and in Rieti on October 3 with a meeting with trade unionists from Burma and Mozambique. They will also participate in the mobilisation for decent work promoted by the national centres CGIL-CISL-UIL

Kosovo

SPMK

The union, SPMK, plans to design some documents with the support of the Chamber of Commerce and on October 7 to organise a meeting with TV.

Macedonia

SIER

The union, SIER, will use the IMF campaign materials to increase awareness about this issue. It will organise an open session of the union council with the presence of the public and present IMF materials.

Malaysia

The IMF- Malaysian Council will hold a rally and forum on precarious work on October 7. Following the rally the council will hold a series of activities that include sending a memorandum to the government and highlighting the problem in the media.

Mexico

The National Council in Mexico, comprising affiliated trade unions, has organised a workshop for October 7 and a meeting on the issue of precarious work. It will issue an announcement about this.

Norway

Fellesforbundet

Fellesforbundet will hold a seminar on decent work on September 30, where the labour minister will make a presentation. In the run-up to the seminar the union will raise the subject with the national media.

In addition, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions in cooperation with the employers organisation and the foreign ministry held a major event on September 5, with ILO director Juan Somavia, WTO director Pascal Lamy and Norwegian Foreign Minster Jonas Gahr Støre amongst the prominent speakers. Decent work was the theme of the conference.

Pakistan

PWF

The Pakistan Workers' Federation has written to the IMF confirming that they will take action on October 7 on precarious work, see the letter here.

Peru

CEMETAL has organised a National Day of Struggle on October 7, which will include the campaign against precarious work. It has called on all its members to participate on that day.

Philippines

A newly formed union called Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines (MWAP), not affiliated to the IMF, will also participate in the campaign. They will hold demonstrations in front of the Japanese and Korean Embassies and also in front of the labour ministry and employers' association on October 7.

Russia

The Russian Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers will be picketing and distributing leaflets at the Head Office of the labour employment agency Adecco in St Petersburg and in Moscow in central squares. All branches of the union will be taking action.

Other unions will be joining the national centre to unite actions on Decent Work and against precarious work. They will distribute leaflets at the biggest metro stations and hold a joint meeting close to the White House. It is anticipated that 200 000 members of the Miners & Metallurgical Workers' Union of Russia will take part in meetings along with members of other unions.

AMUS

Following the debate on precarious work at the IMF Central Committee meeting, AMUS adopted a declaration at its Convention held on November 30, 2007 (see here) and initiated a campaign against precarious work. On October 7, they will organise a meeting and discuss a strategy to fight precarious work with special emphasis on informal employment.

Spain

UGT-Catalunya

In Spain, UGT-Cataluña has created a series of audiovisual materials as part of a campaign to denounce precarious work in Spain. Links to view these materials are listed below:

A Job Interview at a bar:  http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2I-8eudzkk 

Job Interview at a Clothes Shop: http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=12E5Ek1QsoU

Job Interview for a supermarket: http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=02xnwudnTfE

Precarious Unit-EUR 1,000 minimum: http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=dMUa-VwRQ-o

Precarious Unit Campaign: About labor accidents: http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=GN46vqYBPzM

Precarious Unit Campaign: About apartments and salaries: http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=0VxRFsUidRo

Precarious Unit Campaign: about the market basket's cost: http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=REEPwcOZcvs

mobbing - video 1: http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=DPKT_e9fs24

mobbing - video 2: http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=IwwAPo_d0QY

Precarious Unit Campaign's Blog: http://rrhh-confidencial.blogspot.com/  

South Africa

Numsa

Numsa has printed the IMF poster locally and included a copy in each bundle of Numsa news, which has been distributed to workplaces and Numsa's regional offices.

A short story about the campaign was published in Numsa News which can be seen here.

Sri Lanka

JSS

The union has already started a signature campaign in the EPZs to implement the circular on contract labour. Because of our agitation last year BOI (the EPZ regulatory Authority) agreed that EPZ enterprises will not engage contract, casual or outsourced workers for core work in factories and they issued a circular to all enterprises on this. Initially enterprises said they will respect this circular. But they continue with the practice of using these types of workers in all their core work. The union has started a signature campaign and will hand over the petition on October 7 after having a massive public meeting.

JSS Metal Federation will conduct a poster and leaflet campaign from October 1 -7 in the Colombo City. On the October 7 the union will have a demonstration in front of the "Colombo - Fort" Railway Station (Biggest railway station in Sri Lanka).

Also JSS Women's Wing will conduct a workshop in "Badulla" on Decent work

Sweden

IF Metall

At IF Metall, local unions at multinational companies have been asked to undertake research on precarious work and contract and agency labour within their companies. It is hoped that this information will be used in negotiations with management.

IF Metall website also features a story on precarious work and the World Day for Decent Work, which can be seen here. The report includes details on IF MEtall's long-term work for organising and using negotiation to ensure all workers have the same conditions at the workplace.

Thailand

TEAM

TEAM will hold a demonstration in front of the Labour Ministry on October 5.

Turkey

Birlesik Metal-Is

On October 7 Birlesik Metal-Is is organizing a demonstration on the subject of precarious work. The demonstration will have two basic titles:

• Our demands at collective agreement (because employers are insisting on flexibility, and we declared that it is a reason of strike for us; and
• Precarious work.

After October 7, the union's actions will continue on the collective bargaining process as it is related with its demands it will keep continuing to emphasize an end to precarious work.

Ukraine

There will be a large action involving youth organisations from 10:00-11:00 on October 7 - a young people's demonstration in downtown Kiev. There will also be a press conference and photo exhibition and the unions will approach the President about precarious work.

Venezuela

FETRAMETAL will organise meetings with affiliated unions in Valencia, Carabobo state. Sep 29, 2008 – Anita Gardner