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International Employment Relations Network List
(IERN-L)
A Miscellany of International Employment Relations News
Miscellany 11, 2013
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Moderator IERN-L at [email protected]
_______________________________________________________________
Contents
Main Stories
Australia: Building watchdog quits before change
Bangladesh: Bangladesh garment workers stage biggest wage hike protest
Bangladesh: Bangladeshi factory workers locked in on 19-hour shifts
China: Guangzhou sanitation workers get support from students and civil society
Myanmar: The new union movement in Myanmar
In Brief
Argentina: Disertación de Estela Díaz, secretaria de Género e Igualdad de
oportunidades de la Central
Australia: Health union faces further investigation
Nigeria: Labour Issues 21-day Ultimatum to Diamond Bank
2
South Africa: COSATU demands action to end motor strike
UK: TUC support for firefighters in pensions dispute
Labour/Employment Law/Codes
Singapore: Labour law review moves to further protection for ‘vulnerable’
workers
What the Unions Say
Nigeria: Call the Minister of Health to Order
South Africa: NEHAWU supports the struggle for freedom and democracy in
Swaziland
Publications
Journals, Conferences, Seminars, Symposia
Other Sites
________________________________________________________________
Main Stories
Australia: Building watchdog quits before change
IR/Australia/ Construction/Regulation
The Australian, 25 September at http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-
affairs/policy/building-watchdog-quits-before-change/story-fn59noo3-1226726524495
THE Labor-appointed head of the federal building watchdog, Val Gostencnik, has resigned
ahead of moves by the Abbott government to seek to reinstate the Australian Building and
Construction Commission. But the Coalition's workplace policy plans face substantial delay,
with Labor leadership candidate Bill Shorten yesterday vowing to side with the Greens in the
Senate to vote down proposed legislation to replace the Fair Work Building and Construction
inspectorate with the more powerful ABCC.
3
He also signalled that if elected opposition leader he would support Labor voting with the
Greens to disallow regulations foreshadowed by the Coalition to crack down on union-
friendly workplace deals on government-funded infrastructure projects.
In response to questions from The Australian, Employment Minister Eric Abetz's spokesman
said Mr Gostencnik had quit as the inspectorate's director yesterday. "Mr Gostencnik offered
his resignation to the minister and the minister has accepted it," the spokesman said. "The
minister will announce an appointment to any vacancy at Fair Work Building and
Construction in due course."
Mr Gostencnik, who declined to comment, started as the inspectorate director on August 5
and will remain a deputy president of the Fair Work Commission. "Mr Gostencnik's
longstanding experience in the workplace relations space and stature in the legal fraternity
have been and will continue to be of ongoing benefit to the Fair Work Commission and to our
nation," Senator Abetz's spokesman said.
The government intends to introduce a bill to reinstate the ABCC, with its powers to stop
unions holding construction projects to ransom, in the first parliamentary sitting week. But
given the position taken by the ALP and the Greens, the bill is unlikely to pass while the
current Senate remains in place until next July.
As part of the Labor leadership contest, the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union
wrote to Mr Shorten and fellow contender Anthony Albanese seeking a series of
commitments, including opposition to the return on the ABCC and increased restrictions on
the availability of temporary foreign workers. In a written response yesterday to the union's
national secretary, Michael O'Connor, Mr Shorten said he was opposed to the ABCC as it
"represented some of the worst ideological excesses of the Howard government and Work
Choices".
During the campaign, Senator Abetz vowed to enforce a strengthened national construction
code to police conditions that apply to workers on government-funded projects. Changes to
the code can be done before next July through regulation rather than legislation.
But a spokeswoman for Mr Shorten said, if elected leader, he would be inclined for the ALP
to vote with the Greens in the Senate to disallow passage of regulations that represented an
ideological attack on workers.
Master Builders Australia chief executive Wilhelm Harnisch said the return of the ABCC and
its strong powers was needed to "suppress unlawfulness" on construction sites. "The ABCC
was established to deal with industrial thuggery and intimidation in the building and
construction industry," Mr Harnisch said. "It was introduced before Work Choices and was
never part of Work Choices legislation. Mr Shorten should know better than to attempt to
conflate the two."
In his letter to the CFMEU, Mr Shorten says he would support action to broaden the
requirement for labour market testing to apply to all classes of 457 visa holders.
4
A spokesman for Mr Albanese said the release of his letter to the union was a matter for the
CFMEU. Mr O'Connor said the responses from Mr Shorten and Mr Albanese showed they
had both taken the union's concerns seriously. He said information would be passed on to
union members who were also ALP members voting in the forthcoming ballot.
___________________________________________________________________________
Bangladesh: Bangladesh garment workers stage biggest wage hike protest
IR/Bangladesh/Garment Workers/Protest/Working Conditions
Reuters, 21 September 2013 at http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/21/us-bangladesh-
garment-protest-idUSBRE98K06J20130921
About 50,000 garment industry workers held their largest protest so far in the Bangladeshi
capital of Dhaka to demand an increase of more than 1-1/2 times in the minimum wage,
police and labor officials said on Saturday.
"Our backs are against the wall, so we don't have any alternative unless we raise our voice
strongly," Nazma Akter, president of the United Garments Workers' Federation, which
groups 52 garment worker's groups, told the peaceful protest.
"We will not hesitate to do anything to realize our demand."
Bangladesh's $20-billion garment export industry employs roughly 4 million workers who
earn about 3,000 taka ($38) a month, or half what Cambodian factory workers now earn.
They want a raise to 8,000 taka ($103) per month.
"We are not the object of mercy, the economy moves with our toil," Akter added.
Although the factory owners earlier agreed to a raise of just 20 percent, the workers refused
this, calling it "inhuman and humiliating".
The four-hour protest ended at 1200 GMT. "It is the largest gathering of its kind to realize
their demand for raising wages," said Dhaka Metropolitan Police Chief Habibur Rahman.
Earlier more than 300 factories in an industrial zone near the capital shut production as
workers came out in support of the same demand, blocked a highway and damaged several
vehicles.
At least 10,000 workers from different garment factories took to the highway, said Mosharraf
Hossain, assistant superintendent of industrial police in Gazipur, 30 km (18 miles) north of
the capital.
5
Joined by workers from adjacent factories, they vandalized several factories, he added, which
prompted the owners of more than 300 units to halt production for the day, fearing more
vandalism. The workers later joined the Dhaka rally.
The government is in talks with labor groups and factory owners on a new minimum wage.
Bangladesh last hiked its minimum garment-worker pay in late 2010, almost doubling the
lowest pay.
This time, wages are unlikely to go much higher as factory owners, who oppose the raise, say
they cannot afford higher salaries as Western retailers are used to buying cheap clothing.
In July, Bangladesh approved a labor law to boost worker rights, including the freedom to
form trade unions, following the April collapse of a factory building that killed 1,132 garment
workers and sparked debate over labor safety and rights.
Bangladesh faced pressure to adopt better labor laws after the European Union, which gives
preferential access to the country's garment industry, threatened punitive measures if it did
not improve worker safety standards.
Tax breaks offered by Western nations and low wages have helped turn the garment sector
into Bangladesh's largest employment generator. Sixty percent of exports go to Europe.
________________________________________________________________
Bangladesh: Bangladeshi factory workers locked in on 19-hour shifts
ER/Bangladesh/Garment Workers/Working Conditions
Richard Bilton, BBC News online, 23 September 2013 at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24195441
It's the middle of the night and I am lying on the floor of a van in the sweltering back streets
of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
I'm outside a factory making clothes for a western supermarket.
I can see dozens of workers inside. They've been in there since 07:00.
We've been told this factory - Ha Meem Sportswear - works incredible hours; we're hiding in
the shadows to get the proof.
There's a guard sitting in front of the main gate. He hasn't spotted us.
He's about to do something shockingly dangerous.
At 01.15 - with workers still busy inside - he locks the main factory gate and wanders away.
6
Worker Four million people work in Bangladesh's garment industry
This place had a fire a few weeks ago and they're commonplace in the industry. If anything
goes wrong tonight, the workers are trapped inside.
The shift finally ends at 02.30. That's a nineteen and a half hour day.
One worker agrees to talk. He earned about £2 for the shift and he's exhausted. He has to be
back at work again for 07:00.
He says: "My feelings are bad and my health is too. In the last two weeks, approximately, it
has been like this for eight nights."
Two days later, I return to Ha Meem Sportswear. I am going undercover as a buyer from a
fake British clothing company.
I want to hear what the factory owners say about shifts.
We are shown around. The factory is old and cramped. One woman is working under a table.
The managers show us the order they're working on: 150,000 pairs of jeans and dungarees for
the discount supermarket Lidl.
I ask about working hours and I'm assured the factory closes at 17:30.
I ask about whether gates are ever locked: they say they are always open.
It's clear the buyer is told what he wants to hear.
They even provided timesheets for the night I watched the factory. They say the shift ended
at 17:30.
The paperwork looks convincing. If I hadn't seen it myself, I would never know that workers
were being forced to work such long days.
Ha Meem Sportswear is far from the only clothing manufacturer pulling this trick.
Kalpona Akter, from the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, says many factories hide
the truth about working hours from Western retailers.
"The factory owners, they keep two different books. So one they show to the buyers, the
other they show to the worker. These retailers' so-called audits really don't work."
Codes of conduct demanded by Western retailers to improve conditions are worthless if
double books mean there's no way of monitoring worker hours.
Lidl said our findings were "concerning" and showed how important it was to improve
conditions in Bangladesh.
"Change, however, takes time and constitutes not only a challenge for Lidl but for all active
companies in the retail industry."
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The supermarket said it had invested more than £6m to improve the living and working
conditions in Bangladesh.
Ha Meem Sportswear denied that workers were forced to work 19-hour shifts or that they
were locked inside. It said there was a second gate at the factory that was open and that there
hadn't been a fire, just "some smoke".
The company said our allegations about timesheets were "false and baseless" and that it
worked legally and "does not deprive workers of their rights".
I went to other factories where British retailers face criticism.
Richard Bilton Richard Bilton visited various factories in Bangladesh.
Tazreen Fashions is on the outskirts of Dhaka.
It's a burnt-out shell. The metal bars on the windows are still twisted and warped - melted by
the fire that swept through the factory last November killing more than 100 workers.
I met Mohammad Abdul Jabbar who lost his wife and sister-in-law. He couldn't tell me his
story without crying: "The day she passed away I talked to her at lunch. I had a long chat
with her. But after a couple of hours when I came back I saw she is no more. I was watching
the fire blazing with my own eyes, but there was no way to save her."
But a UK company is being accused of not paying compensation to the families of the dead.
We were shown photos of boxes of Edinburgh Woollen Mill clothes taken inside Tazreen
Fashion following the fire last November.
The company says that rejected clothes and sealed samples were stored at Tazreen without its
knowledge or prior approval.
So we dug deeper. We were handed documents which appear to show that Edinburgh
Woollen Mill clothes were manufactured at Tazreen.
They include specific product codes and have details of Edinburgh Woollen Mill T-shirts and
polo shirts indicating they were being made and inspected inside the factory.
The product codes on the documents match the product codes for clothing currently on sale in
the company's shops.
We also spoke to former Tazreen workers who said they had been working on Edinburgh
Woollen Mill products for months before the fire.
But the company strongly objected to those claims. It says the paperwork was "inaccurate or
fabricated" and that documents and clothes that had been stored at the factory were scattered
around after the fire to imply that Edinburgh Woollen Mill products were made there.
Edinburgh Woollen Mill still denies its clothes were made at the factory, but now says it has
offered financial assistance.
8
In Bangladesh I saw an industry that was transforming the nation - providing money and jobs
for millions.
The majority of factories are safe and modern - but hundreds of thousands still work in
dangerous and illegal conditions to provide clothing for Western High Streets.
________________________________________________________________
China: Guangzhou sanitation workers get support from students and civil
society
IR/China/Nature of Labour Protest
China Labour Bulletin, 17 September 2013 at http://www.clb.org.hk/en/content/guangzhou-
sanitation-workers-get-support-students-and-civil-society
Students and civil society activists in Guangzhou are continuing to highlight the low pay and
poor working conditions of sanitation workers in the city.
A survey by 15 college students from five universities in Guangzhou showed that despite
promised pay increases of up to 40 percent in April this year, the vast majority of sanitation
workers in the city were still not satisfied with their pay and working conditions.
The survey, published in the local Yangcheng Evening News on 12 September, revealed that
even after the April pay increases, average wages were still just 2,442 yuan per month in the
central districts of Guangzhou and 1,718 yuan per month in the suburban district of Panyu.
Nearly 70 percent of the 80 workers interviewed said the wage increases had failed to meet
their expectations.
The Southern Metropolis Daily had reported in April that the monthly salary for sanitation
workers should reach as high as 3,033 yuan.
The students’ survey also showed more than 90 percent of the workers complained that there
were no rest stations on their routes; and almost half of them said they had to bring their own
drinking water from home.
The survey followed a well-publicised campaign earlier in the year by Sun Yat-sen
University student Chen Weixiang who issued an open letter on 30 January urging the city to
conduct a comprehensive survey of the street cleaners’ wages, saying that: “The cleaners’
salary is a test of the city’s conscience.”
Students have also been working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are
actively supporting the sanitation workers. Zheng Zhifan, another student from Sun Yat-Sen
University, interned at the Panyu Worker’s Service Centre and described its work promoting
labour rights by providing sanitation workers with training sessions and seminars on
collective bargaining and negotiating techniques with employers.
9
As individuals, workers are usually in a weak position compared to their employer when it
comes to the protection of their rights. It will only be possible for them to have a balanced
bargaining power when they unite. As a NGO that serves the workers, the Centre is well
aware of this. So instead of dealing with each and every single case, the NGO is shifting its
focus towards cultivating leaders among workers.
And at a training session in Hong Kong just last month, a group of Guangzhou sanitation
workers discussed standing for election in their trade union so that they could better protect
their co-workers interests over the long term.
___________________________________________________________________________
Myanmar: The new union movement in Myanmar
IR/Myanmar/Trade Unionism
Ross Wilson, Global Labour Column, at http://column.global-labour-
university.org/2013/09/the-new-union-movement-in-myanmar.html
The past year has seen the birth of a new union movement in Myanmar, after 50 years of
brutal suppression of labour rights. More than 670 labour organisations have now been
registered under the Labour Organisation Law, mostly small unions at enterprise level and
concentrated in the agricultural, manufacturing and transport sectors, and with an estimated
total membership of close to 200,000 workers.
Given the history of oppression and the continuing hostility from many employers, this is a
remarkable achievement, and reflects the determination of workers to exercise their new
rights to associate, organise and negotiate. Many of them are young factory workers
struggling to improve their wages and conditions of employment which, for many, are at
exploitative levels.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) quickly developed a programme to promote and
support the new freedom of association rights which includes an awareness raising campaign
with education and advice for workers, government officials and employers. However, the
core of the programme has been bi-partite training workshops for the leaders of the new
unions and their employers.
The new union leaders have taken up the opportunity to learn with enthusiasm, from the first
major workshop in July last year attended by almost 300 people. To date more than 2,000
10
people have attended ILO workshops, with the two key leaders from each union being
provided with the opportunity to attend the two-day basic training workshop.
The first real steps as a national movement
The new leaders took their first real steps as a national movement when they came together at
the Labour Organisation Leaders’ Forum in Yangon at the end of April. More than 363
registered labour organisations were represented, along with more than 100 related
organisations, at this historic event organised by the ILO and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation
(FES). It was the largest conference of elected worker representatives in more than 50 years.
Not surprisingly, there was some suspicion about hidden agendas and tension around the
process for election of the Worker Delegate to the 2013 International Labour Conference. A
substantial portion of the plenary sessions were spent debating and deciding the rules to
govern the election of the Worker Delegate. It was, at times, a bruising debate which resulted
in the Federation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (FTUM) delegation leaving at one point, but
the conference delegates became increasingly confident in this process of democratic
decision making. Five of the six key rules for the election process were agreed by consensus
with the issue of whether candidates had to be an existing member of a registered labour
organisation going to a secret ballot of accredited delegates from registered labour
organisations.
The ballot itself, conducted in the conference hall, was a moving process with many delegates
participating in such a democratic vote for the first time in their lives. They decided
decisively (220 to 101) that only members of registered labour organisations would be
eligible to stand. A further secret ballot was held the following day to elect the Worker
Delegate to the 2013 International Labour Conference.
In working together to make these key decisions by democratic process the new union leaders
of Myanmar took their first steps as a national movement. This was undoubtedly the most
valuable outcome of the conference. There is a long way to go in building a national union
movement but the 2013 Forum delegates can feel proud that they agreed the ground rules for,
and participated in, a democratic decision making process.
Only accredited delegates from registered labour organisations took part in the ballots,
although leaders of other related organisations were able to take part in the debates. These
included the Agriculture and Farmers Federation of Myanmar (AFFM), FTUM, the 88
11
Generation, the Labour Rights Defenders and Promoters Network (LRDP) and Action Labour
Rights (ALR).
The election outcome gave some indication of the strength of the groupings within this
nascent movement. AFFM president Daw Than Than Htay was elected Worker Delegate with
176 votes, followed by FTUM sponsored candidate U Than Swe with 110 votes, and the
secretary of the University Teachers Union, Dr Sai Khaing Myo Tun, taking the second
adviser position with 48 votes with support from a broader group of unions.
670 enterprise unions
670 enterprise unions will not provide the workers of Myanmar with the collective strength
they need to shift the political economy of Myanmar to a focus on Decent Work objectives.
The ILO education workshops have encouraged the new union leaders to think critically and
strategically about how they might help to build a union movement which will do that.
Overwhelmingly the feedback has been that they want recognition and respect from their
employers for their role as the voice and negotiators for the workers they represent and they
are keen to learn new knowledge and skills. The keen interest in the April Forum workshops
on organising skills, collective bargaining and workplace health and safety was an example of
this.
There is also some support among union leaders and employers for a development model
which builds constructive dialogue, including collective bargaining, at enterprise, industry
and national level between the new unions, business and (where appropriate) government.
This would be a model for building value, profitability and workers’ incomes as a common
objective, with union participation in industry development programmes which are
benchmarked to labour standards, skill development and skill-based pay systems.
The more likely scenario is that the new industrial relations system in Myanmar will drift
towards a conflict model. The new law was greeted with a wave of strikes in the industrial
estates around Yangon in 2012, and began to increase again earlier this year as factory
workers, frustrated with their poor wages and working conditions and the lack of respect
from their employers, exercised their right to strike.
At present most employers have been ignoring the new law and many of them have been
actively hostile with a large number of workers being dismissed for labour organisation
activity. The law has been found to be weak in providing legal protection against this sort of
discrimination and, in particular, has no effective penalties against employers who have
12
directly challenged the authority of the Arbitration Council by refusing to comply with its
orders reinstating workers who have been unlawfully dismissed. Union leaders also complain
that employers do not give them the recognition that the law requires and few genuinely
engage in collective bargaining.
Workers Frustration and Anger
Workers are becoming increasingly frustrated and angry. The risks have been highlighted by
cases like the Taw Win Timber products case where the employer’s refusal to comply with
reinstatement orders provoked consequential action by workers and the arrest of young
leaders of the labour organisation.
Despite the urgent need to strengthen the legal protection for workers and to introduce an
enforceable good faith requirement to ensure collective bargaining can get some traction, the
government has apparently decided to amend the law. In doing so it is effectively endorsing
the status quo which is likely to move industrial relations towards the conflict model we have
seen in other countries like Cambodia.
Myanmar workers deserve, and want, better than that. But it will require a deliberate strategy,
actively supported by employers, workers, and their organisations, to build a modern
industrial relations system based on democratic industry/sector structures, which will lift the
skills and pay of workers as an integral part of industry development.
To do that will be a major challenge. The ILO core labour standards, as a minimum, should
be implemented in practice as well as in law and the ILO tripartite supervisory processes will
continue to address that. The ILO will also be expanding its current Freedom of Association
Project education and training work to support the development of social dialogue, including
collective bargaining. But employer and worker organisations, both locally and
internationally, will need to work together to ensure local employers and workers are
provided with the opportunity to understand and support this industrial relations model. And
the reality is that the current laws will need to be amended to actively support the formation
of strong, democratic, well-resourced industry unions.
Debate and decide difficult issues democratically
The experience of the past 18 months has shown that Myanmar workers are keen to learn
about international labour rights and how they can assist workers to be involved, through
democratic industry-based unions, in the development of their country. The April Leaders
13
Forum demonstrated that they want to, and can, debate and decide difficult issues
democratically.
The farmers’ unions being mainly self-employed small farmers have particular issues, such as
land security and modernising their farming practices, but it is important that greater
understanding and unity is built between them and industrial unions.
A process of democratic discussion is needed so workers and their leaders can decide the
model of industrial relations they prefer. And organisations like the AFFM, the FTUM, the
LRDP and the 88 Generation locally, and the ITUC and Global Union Federations (GUF)
internationally, can play a key role in jointly supporting such an initiative. The discussion
should include a consideration of whether the government and employers will support law
change and the respect for both the law and labour organisations necessary for the
development of a Social Dialogue model.
The choices are clear enough. On the current trajectory in Myanmar the conflict model may
win by default. Workers and employers should be given the information and the support from
government and social partners so they can make democratic choices for a better future.
__________________________________________________________________________
In Brief
Argentina: Disertación de Estela Díaz, secretaria de Género e Igualdad de
oportunidades de la Central
IR/Argentina/Gender /Trade Unions
CAT, accessed 30 September 2013 at http://www.cta.org.ar/?lang=es
La CTA en una charla sobre mujer y participación syndical
En el marco de la muestra “Sociedad de trabajo, una historia de dos siglos, montada en la
Casa del Bicentenario, la Secretaria de Género de la CTA disertó ayer jueves en una mesa
debate sobre mujeres y participación sindical.
___________________________________________________________________________
Australia: Health union faces further investigation
IR/Australia/ HSU/ Fair Work Commission
14
The Australian, 20 September 2013 at http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-
affairs/policy/health-union-faces-further-investigation/story-fn59noo3-1226723116239
THE Fair Work Commission has launched a fresh investigation into the Health Services
Union, probing potential rule breaches by the union's Victorian branch. The investigation
follows a complaint by the branch's assistant secretary, Leonie Flynn, who ran against
Victorian secretary Diana Asmar in union elections last year. The commission said the
investigation would focus on potential rule breaches relating to finances or financial
administration.
__________________________________________________________________________
Nigeria: Labour Issues 21-day Ultimatum to Diamond Bank
IR/Nigeria/Bank Union/ Victimization
This Day Live, 19 September 2013 at http://www.thisdayonline.com/ (abridged)
Organised labour Wednesday handed down a 21-day ultimatum to the management of
Diamond Bank Plc to recall its sacked workers or risk industrial action.
The National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE),
accused the bank’s management of refusing to recognise the fundamental right of workers to
collective bargaining. It accused the management of Diamond Bank of deploying its
resources to harass union executives and keep them in detention for over two weeks.
“Diamond Bank sacked over 100 workers, including all the union executives following
demand for their rights as some of the union executives were remanded in Ikoyi prison after
they were arrested and arraigned by the police,” it added.
Meanwhile the National Industrial Court (NIC) in Lagos yesterday told the bank that it would
look at the status in validity of the strike that the bank was asking it to stop workers from
embarking on.
___________________________________________________________________________
South Africa: COSATU demands action to end motor strike
IR/South Africa/Motor Transport/Strike/Mediation
COSATU, 21 September 2013 @ http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=7823
15
The Congress of South African Trade Unions is shocked and angry at the unnecessary delay
in reaching a settlement in the motor sector strike, because of the intransigence of the
employers.
NUMSA has consistently, before and during the strike, attempted to reach a settlement of the
workers’ reasonable claims, and has always made itself available to negotiate in good faith.
Each attempt has however ended in failure because of the employers’ obstructive and
delaying tactics.
The latest news is that the employers are not prepared to reopen talks until Wednesday, 25
September 2013 because of the Heritage Day holiday!
This is totally unacceptable. This dispute should be resolved without delay. COSATU
therefore requests the Minister of Labour to convene an urgent meeting with unions and
employers to resolve the dispute and demands that Business Unity South Africa intervene to
broker a speedy solution to this damaging dispute.
If however no solution has been negotiated by the beginning of next week, COSATU will
consult its members in the affiliates, taxi associations and others, to organise solidarity action
in support of the motor trade strikers.
___________________________________________________________________________
UK: TUC support for firefighters in pensions dispute
IR/UK/Disputes/Firefighters/TUC
TUC, 25 September 2013 at http://www.tuc.org.uk/industrial/tuc-22628-f0.cfm
Commenting on the dispute over pensions which will see members of the Fire Brigades
Union (FBU) out on strike later today (Wednesday) for the first time in a decade, TUC
General Secretary Frances O'Grady said:
'There are many reasons why the government shouldn't be pressing ahead with these unfair
and ill-thought out changes, with concerns about the likely impact on safety surely top of the
list.
_______________________________________________________________
What the Unions Say
16
Nigeria: Call the Minister of Health to Order
Nigerian Labour Congress, 26 August 2013 at
http://www.nlcng.org/search_details.php?id=392
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has watched with concern the spate of violations of
collective agreements by the Federal Government leading to avoidable industrial crisis. The
latest being that of the health sector by the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu,
who has flagrantly observed in the breach not only an agreement reached with the Joint
Health Sector Union (JOHESU), but the ruling of the National Industrial Court (NIC) leading
to the on-going strike in the health sector.
Congress is dismayed that the Minister did not only violate, dishonor and abandon a ruling by
a competent court as the NIC, but repudiated an earlier agreement with the unions that both
parties will be bound by the outcome of the court ruling, and was at the forefront of taking
the case to court through the Minister of Labour.
One of the hallmarks of any democracy is respect for the rule of law. Violation of this time-
honoured value constitutes not only a breach of trust, but an invitation to anarchy.
It is all the more worrying when this violation is done by a Minister of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria who ought not only to hold out himself as the Chief Physician of the country, but a
key ambassador of the Jonathan Administration.
We will recall that the dispute between the Joint Health Workers Union (JOHESU) became
an issue for litigation in the first place because of observance in the breach of agreements
reached between the Minister and the unions.
The Minister is advised to stop playing politics with the health of Nigerian people, especially
poor working people that do not have the wherewithal or access to slush funds to patronize
private hospitals and go for routine foreign check-ups.
Rather than embark on a campaign of calumny against the unions and a laborious appeal
process with dire health and industrial consequences to the country, Congress advises the
Minister to immediately toe the path of honour by recognising the court judgment and
implementing the demands of the unions which include the following:
Those earlier appointed as Health Consultants would continue to enjoy the status with all
benefits and the withdrawal of their letters of appointment is irregular, null and void. They
should immediately be returned to their hitherto status with full pay arrears.
17
That skipping of CONHESS 10 is legal and the purported circular by the Ministry of Health
and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation stopping it is illegal, null, void and of no
effect whatsoever. Members of the unions who were adversely affected by the Minister's
decision should be appropriately placed with accrued arrears from the date they were reverted
paid to them.
That negotiations should commence towards the review of shift duty, call duty allowances
and other allowances.
We commend the prompt intervention of the Minister of Labour which would have brought
about the desired industrial harmony, but for the arrogant and uncompromising attitude of
the Minister of Health. He did not only abort the a meeting called last week by the Minster
of Labour for both parties to hold discussions, but offered no regrets for his conspicuous
absence
The Congress is saddened by the fact that for most of his tenure, Professor Chukwu has been
embroiled in intra sector disputes instead of growing the sector, and urge President Jonathan
to call the Minister of Health to order before he does incalculable harm in the health secto
Abdulwahed I. Omar
President
___________________________________________________________________________
South Africa: National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union
(NEHAWU) supports the struggle for freedom and democracy in
Swaziland
IR/ South Africa/ Swaziland/ Role of Trade Unions
COSATU, 19 September 2013 at http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=7813
NEHAWU condemns the arrest of the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) Deputy General
Secretary,Cde Musa Dube by the Swaziland Police’s special unit. We call for his immediate
release from this illegal detention.Cde Dube was arrested for participating in peaceful pro-
democracy work and not seditious activities as alleged by the Swazi prosecutors. His case is
about persecution rather than prosecution.
Mswati is continuing with his use of coercion and fear to intimidate and subjugate the people
of Swaziland. He is hell-bent on continuing with his looting of the state resources to feed
18
himself and his rapacious crime family. This is happening at a time when the Swaziland
economy and its health system is collapsing and poverty levels have escalated.
Our union calls for the unbanning of all political parties and the release of all political
prisoners in Swaziland. All exiled political activists should be allowed to return home and
democratic structures should be allowed to develop a new democratic constitution.
The 10th national congress of our union mandated us to intensify our solidarity work in
support of the struggle for a free and democratic Swaziland. Therefore, NEHAWU working
with all progressive formations in South Africa and beyond will support the struggle for
freedom and democracy in Swaziland by conducting a demonstration this Friday, 20
September 2013 from 07h00am at the ( Jeepes’s Reff) Matsamo border gate between South
Africa and Swaziland.
The sham elections organised by the Mswati regime due to take place on 20th September
remain undemocratic under the present political environment, with banned political parties,
and leaders of political parties jailed. We support the democratic political forces and civil
society’s call for their total boycott. We invite the media to cover the action and expose
Swaziland as a forgotten shame spot of Southern Africa. The people of Swaziland deserve
decent education, health care, jobs and housing like all people in a normal society.
________________________________________________________________
Publications
The Transformation of Employment Relations in Europe: Institutions and Outcomes in the
Age of Globalization (2013) edited by James Arrowsmith and Valeria Pulignano, Routledge
___________________________________________________________________________
Comparative Employment Relations in the Global Economy (2013) edited by Carola Frege
and John Kelly, Routledge
__________________________________________________________________________
Trade Unions in Western Europe: Hard Times, Hard Choices (2013) by Rebecca
Gumbrell-McCormick and Richard Hyman, Oxford University Press.
__________________________________________________________________________
Workforce Development and Skill Formation in Asia (2013) Edited by John Benson,
Howard Gospel and Ying Zhu at http://www.routledge.com/catalogs/asianstudies/1/3/
19
___________________________________________________________________________
Older Workers In An Ageing Society: Critical Topics in Research and Policy, (2013) edited
by Philip Taylor, 288 pp. Hardback 978 1 78254 009 0, Edward Elgar.
___________________________________________________________________________
Reflexive Labour Law In The World Society (2013) by Ralf Rogowski, 352 pp. Hardback
978 0 85793 658 5, Edward Elgar
__________________________________________________________________________
Social Capital in Europe: A Comparative and Regional Analysis by Emanuele Ferragina
Edward Elgar, 2012. ISBN 978-178100-021-2.
___________________________________________________________________________
Henrik Lindberg and Nils Karlson (2012) eds. Labour Markets at a Crossroads: Causes of
Change, Challenges and Need to Reform at http://www.c-s-p.org/ .
___________________________________________________________________________
Martin Kahanec and Klaus F. Zimmermann (2011) eds. Ethnic Diversity in European
Labour Markets: Challenges and Solutions. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK.328 pp. ISBN
978 1 84844 559 8.
__________________________________________________________________________
Applebaum, L. D. (2012) ed. Reconnecting to Work: Policies to Mitigate Long-Term
Unemployment and its Consequences, Kalamazoo, Upjohn Institute. ISBN 978-0-88099-
406-4. 177 pages.
__________________________________________________________________________
Markovitz, Y. (2012) The Committed Workforce: Evidence from the Field at http://www.c-
s-p.org/
__________________________________________________________________________
Susan McGrath-Champ, Andrew Herod and Al Rainnie, eds. Handbook of Employment
and Society: Working Space, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK. 507 pp. ISBN 978 1 84720
054 9.
__________________________________________________________________________
20
Ludgetr Deitmer, Ursel Hauschildt, Felix Rauner and Helmut Zelloth eds. (2013) The
Architecture of Innovative Apprenticeship, Springer, Heidelberg, New York and London.
__________________________________________________________________________
Jan Cremers, Michael Stolit, and Sigurt Vitols, eds. (2013) A Decade of Experience with the
European Company at http://www.etui.org/
___________________________________________________________________________
Toms, S. (2012) The Impact of the UK Temporary Employment Industry in Assisting
Agency Workers since the Year 2000 at http://www.c-s-p.org/
___________________________________________________________________________
ILO (2012) EuroZone job crisis: trends and policy responses at
http://www.ilo.org/global/research/publications/WCMS_184965/lang--en/index.htm
The study provides the latest trends on the employment situation in EU countries and
examines the labour market reforms adopted by various governments.
__________________________________________________________________________
Gardawski, J. and Mrozowicki, A. (2012) Trade Unions in Poland, at
http://www.etui.org/Publications2/Reports/Trade-unions-in-Poland
___________________________________________________________________________
ILO (2012) Confronting Finance: Mobilizing the 99% for economic and social progress at
http://www.ilo.org/global/publications/ilo-bookstore/order-
online/books/WCMS_176189/lang--en/index.htm
___________________________________________________________________________
ILO (2012) Effective Protection for Domestic Workers: A guide to designing labour laws at
http://www.ilo.org/travail/areasofwork/domestic-workers/WCMS_173365/lang--
en/index.htm
___________________________________________________________________________
ILO (2013) World of Work Report 2013: Repairing the economic and social fabric
at http://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/world-of-work/lang--en/index.htm
___________________________________________________________________________
21
ITUC (2012) Report for the WTO General Council Review of the Trade Policies of the
People’s Republic of China at http://www.ituc-csi.org/report-for-the-wto-general-
council,11476.html
_________________________________________________________________________
ILO Employment Sector (2012) Global Employment Trends at
http://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/global-employment-
trends/WCMS_171571/lang--en/index.htm
___________________________________________________________________________
Pierluigi Rausei, Michele Tiraboschi (2012) Work: a reform in midstream at
http://www.bollettinoadapt.it/acm-on-line/Home.html
________________________________________________________________
Proceedings of the 27th
AIRAANZ Conference at
http://www.mngt.waikato.ac.nz/departments/Strategy%20and%20Human%20Resource%20
Management/airaanz/conferenceproceedings.asp
_________________________________________________________________________
Baird, M., Hancock, K. and Isaac, J. eds. (2012) Work and Employment Relations: An Era
of Change at www.federation.press.com.au
__________________________________________________________________________
ETUI Magdalena Bernaciak (2012) ‘Social dumping: political catchphrase or threat to
labour standards?’ Working Paper 6 at http://www.etui.org/News/The-complex-reality-of-
social-dumping
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Rogowski, R , Salais, R. and Whiteside, N. (2012) Transforming European Employment
Policy, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar at www.marston.co.uk
___________________________________________________________________________
Unison (2012) The Hidden Workforce: Final Project Report at
http://www.unison.org.uk/acrobat/20611.pdf
___________________________________________________________________________
22
ILO (2012) Working towards sustainable development: Opportunities for decent work and
social inclusion in a green economy at
http://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_181836/lang--en/index.htm
__________________________________________________________________________
ILO (2012) EuroZone job crisis: trends and policy responses at
http://www.ilo.org/global/research/publications/WCMS_184965/lang--en/index.htm
___________________________________________________________________________
International Labour Review Vol. 152 (S2) European labour markets in economic crisis at
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/revue/
_________________________________________________________________________
Japanese Working Life Profile, January 2013, The Japan Institute for Policy and
Training at http://www.jil.go.jp/english/jwl.htm
___________________________________________________________________________
Workplace Bullying and Harassment, 2013 The Japan Institute for Policy and Training
Seminar on Workplace Bullying and Harassment JILPT REPORT No. 12 at http://www.jil.go.jp/english/reports/documents/jilpt-reports/no.12.pdf
___________________________________________________________________________
JIL (2013) Labor Situation in Japan and its Analysis
at http://www.jil.go.jp/english/lsj.html
__________________________________________________________________________
International Labour Review and the ILO: Milestones in a shared history, Special
Supplement
at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/revue/index.htm
___________________________________________________________________________
ILO: EuroZone job crisis: trends and policy responses
at http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---
dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_184965.pdf
__________________________________________________________________________
23
Singapore: SNEF Employment Practices of Foreign Employees, 2013
Details at http://www.sgemployers.com/public/publication/publication.jsp
___________________________________________________________________________
Journals, Conferences, Seminars, Symposia, Meetings
______________________________________________________________________________
E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies at
http://adapt.it/EJCLS/index.php/ejcls_adapt
__________________________________________________________________________________
Associazione per gli Studi Internazionali e Comparati sul Diritto del lavoro e sulle Relazioni
industriali (ADAPT) Bulletin at
http://www.adapt.it/englishbulletin/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32
___________________________________________________________________________
Economic & Labour Relations Review (ELRR) at www.asb.unsw.edu.au/elrr
___________________________________________________________________________
Indian Journal of Industrial Relations (IJIR) at http://www.srcirhr.com/ijir.php
___________________________________________________________________________
International Labour Review (ILR) at
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/revue/m_scripts/index.htm
Manuscripts to: the Managing Editor, International Labour Review, International Labour
Office, 4, route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. Email: [email protected]
__________________________________________________________________________
International: The E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies
Find the current issue at http://www.adapt.it/currentissue
___________________________________________________________________________
Japanese Journal of Labour Studies 2013 at http://www.jil.go.jp/english/lsj.html
___________________________________________________________________________
24
Japan Labor Review at http://www.jil.go.jp/english/JLR.htm
___________________________________________________________________________
Korea: The Korean Journal of Industrial Relations (KJIR)
Korean Industrial Relations Association at
http://www.lera.uiuc.edu/news/Calls/2007/Korean%20Journal%20of%20Industrial%20Relati
ons.htm
___________________________________________________________________________
Korea Labor Review (KLR) at
http://www.koilaf.org/KFeng/engPublication/bbs_read_dis.php?board_no=144
__________________________________________________________________________
Labour and Industry at http://www.airaanz.org/labour--industry.html , Correspondence to:
Editors, Labour & Industry, Department of Management, La Trobe University, Bundoora
3086, Australia, or e-mail: [email protected]
__________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Australia: Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand
(AIRAANZ) Conference at http://www.airaanzconference2014.com
___________________________________________________________________________
Australia: CR3+ New Horizons Conference. Call for abstracts: Gender Equality and CSR,
Melbourne, 26-28 March 2014. Theme Organisers: Kate Grosser, Rosaria Burchielli, La
Trobe University mailto:[email protected]
___________________________________________________________________________
Australia: The Fair Work Commission released a Request for Tender at
http://www.fwc.gov.au/index.cfm?pagename=admincontracts on Monday 23 September for
an external provider to undertake research to assess and improve the public value of the Fair
Work Commission (Commission) to the Australian community.
_________________________________________________________________________________
25
Canada: CIRA 2014 in conjunction with the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Theme Borders Without Boundaries.
2014_CIRA_ACRI_Call for Papers_Appel de communications.pdf
___________________________________________________________________________
UK: International Labour Process Conference at
http://www.ilpc.org.uk/NewsFeed/tabid/7008/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1147/ILPC-
2014-Call-for-Streams-Papers.aspx
___________________________________________________________________________
UK: The UK Coalition Government and Employment Relations One-day Conference
details at
http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/faculties/portsmouthbusinessschool/events/title,176466,en
.html, contact: [email protected]
___________________________________________________________________________
Other Sites
The International Institute for Labour Studies (IILS) at http://www.ilo.org/
___________________________________________________________________________
International Labour and Employment Relations Association at
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/iira/
___________________________________________________________________________
UK: Working Lives Research Institute at Subscribe to the WLRI mailing list for regular
news updates, WLRI electronic-newsletter, and WLRI press release mailing list
