ITUC-CSI-IGB - ILO - News

ITUC – FTUM Statement on the Lifting of EU Sanctions on Myanmar

2013-04-24T07:20:08Z

On April 26, 2012, the European Union (EU) agreed to suspend for one year its restrictive measures on Myanmar, while signalling several important issues where the country needed to make further progress. The EU has now decided to permanently lift those sanctions. Important steps have been made in the intervening year. However, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Federation of Trade Unions – Myanmar (FTUM) believe that much work remains to be done. Read the full (...) / Global economy , Human and trade union rights , nologo, Burma, ILO , News , Western Europe-Global

Fundamental Rights at Work in the Republic of Korea

2013-02-21T08:54:43Z

The Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) of the EU-Korea free trade agreement released an opinion on “Fundamental Rights at Work in the Republic of Korea”.

The Group comprises trade unions, employers' organisations, civil society organisations and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). The Group's mandate is to advise the EU on the implementation of the Sustainability Chapter of the free trade agreement. A similar Group is established in Korea.

The opinion identifies areas in which the national legislation fails to implement fully the rights enumerated in the ILO Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and proposes amendments in the areas in which the national legislation fails to respect them. Particularly, the opinion states that the government of Korea should ratify ILO Conventions 29, 87, 98 and 105 and narrowly define the scope of obstruction of business as well as resolve a series of cases of the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association.

The paper treats several practices that do not comply with the Conventions including the government's refusal to grant the Korean Government Employees Union (KGEU) and the Migrant's Trade Union (MTU) recognition. Another covered issue is the grim situation of Korean dispatched and temporary workers. To this end, the DAG's recommends that the government of Korea takes measures to prevent abuses of subcontracting as a way to evade the exercise of their trade union rights by precarious labour.

The report was prepared by the ITUC member of the EU-Korea FTA DAG.

For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on: +32 2 224 02 04 or +32 476 621 018

photo: Gillo D

ILO Workers' Group Priorities

2013-01-31T14:31:45Z

This document is the result of consultations held by the Chair of the Workers' Group with members of the Group, its Secretariat and the ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV). See the full document / Child labour/Forced labour , Global economy , Migration , Human and trade union rights , Decent work , ILO , News , World-Global

Colombia: Finally Bavaria agreed to negotiate a collective agreement with its unions

2013-01-28T12:38:45Z

After a nine-month standoff blocking any talks dealing with the list of demands presented by the unions, Bavaria has finally agreed to collective bargaining negotiations, which should be opened by 11 March 2013 at the latest if all goes to plan.

The trade unions Sinaltrainbec and Sintraceba signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bavaria, in which the company undertakes to recognise the trade union organisations and to open collective bargaining negotiations, which the company had been blocking by means of legal subterfuge and a policy of systematic persecution and hostility targeted at its unionised employees.

The ILO, it should be underlined, played an important role, exerting pressure and taking an active part in securing this agreement through the Special Committee on the Handling of Conflicts referred to the ILO (CETCOIT).

Bavaria, owned by the South African multinational SABMiller, employs close to five thousand direct workers and over six thousand subcontracted workers at its six plants in Colombia.

For more information, (in Spanish)

United States Calls on Bahrain to Make Progress on Labour Rights

2013-01-08T14:24:59Z

The ITUC is urging the US government to follow through on a US Department of Labor report which has found that Bahrain violated labour commitments made under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries.

The long delayed report, issued on December 20, made a series of recommendations to be taken up in formal consultations between the two governments, including enacting substantial labour law reforms, ensuring that workers be unconditionally reinstated with back pay, reviewing all criminal cases against trade unionists and dropping charges where appropriate and refraining from any further activities that would undermine trade unions, including the national trade union centre GFBTU.

“The U.S. government now must demonstrate that the consultations comprise a serious effort to address Bahrain's blatant disregard for the trade agreement's labor chapter, including punishing people at work for their peaceful participation in democracy marches,” according to the AFL-CIO, which filed the original complaint under the FTA in April 2011.

In February 2011, Bahrainis took to the streets to demand economic and social justice and democratic reforms. Trade unions, including the GFBTU (General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions), played an important role in the protests and at one point called a general strike. The government's reaction to the protests was swift and harsh, resulting in serious and widespread human rights violations. In light of this crisis, the AFL-CIO filed a complaint under the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in April 2011 calling on the United States to withdraw from the pact and, at the very least, to initiate consultations under the labour chapter regarding the sacking of thousands of trade union members and the arrest and prosecution of union leaders.

“In 2012, an ILO-led process produced important but incomplete progress in achieving justice for those who were victims of the labour repression committed by the government in response to the protests. That process has now stalled due to a lack of political will by the government and, indeed, it is again backsliding on its international commitments. This includes the recent sentencing of trade union leaders to lengthy prison sentences for their union activity,” said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.

“The US Department of Labor has issued an important report that could provide the leverage necessary to resolve the on-going labour rights crisis in Bahrain. The formal consultation process also provides the United States, which has maintained a muted public response to the human rights crisis in Bahrain, an opportunity to show that it can and will put human rights first in the Middle East. We urge the United States not to conclude the consultation process until each of the recommendations is fully met,” urged Burrow.

For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on: +32 2 224 02 04 or +32 476 621 018

Photo: Cajie

Greece: The Greek anti-labour austerity reforms condemned by the ILO

2012-12-04T11:56:07Z

After the Council of Europe last month, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) considers that the measures adopted by Greece under pressure from the Troika (European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF)) erode workers' most fundamental labour rights, seriously undermine the position of trade unions and might endanger social cohesion and peace, this by radically overhauling the established Greek industrial relations system.

During its last meeting, the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA) recognized that “there were a number of repeated and extensive interventions into free and voluntary collective bargaining and an important deficit of social dialogue”. It recalls “that legislation should not constitute an obstacle for collective bargaining at industry level [as it] may severely impede bargaining at higher level”.

Furthermore, it warns that “the elaboration of procedures systematically favouring decentralized bargaining of exclusionary provisions that are less favourable than the provisions at a higher level can lead to a global destabilization of the collective bargaining machinery and of worker's and employers' organizations and constitutes in this regard a weakening of freedom of association and collective bargaining contrary to the principles of Conventions Nos 87 and 98”. The CFA calls on the government to “engage in constructive dialogue with the workers' and employers' organisations”.

The CFA report responds to a complaint brought in 2010 by the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE), the Civil Servants' Confederation (ADEPY), the General Federation of Employees of the National Electric Power Corporation (GENOP-DEI-KIE), the Greek Federation of Private Employees (OIYE), and supported by the ITUC, denouncing the anti-labour austerity measures agreed by Greece as conditionality of the international loan mechanism with the Troika.

Along with GSEE, the ITUC strongly denounces this austerity measures that weaken free collective bargaining. Most reforms were not conducted within the context of a constructive and open social dialogue that could have arrived at alternative solutions. Taken under the pretext of the enhancement of the competitiveness of the Greek economy and the fiscal consolidation, those measures will only deepen the recession, increase unemployment and increase precarity especially for young workers that are now excluded from collective agreements in force and whose wages have been reduced.

“The ITUC welcomes the CFA decision which confirms the trade union movement's claims that the measures imposed on Greece by the Troika pose a threat to basic democratic rights and social cohesion. There is a need for a real and true social dialogue, based on freedom of association and collective bargaining. The CFA conclusions should be examined carefully and taken into account by the multilateral organisations and in particular the IMF and European Union.” says Sharan Burrow, the ITUC General Secretary

“This is a very significant moment. We have been struggling together with the ITUC since June 2010 to defend and reclaim labour rights in Greece. The workers remain persuaded that to be sustainable, the answer to the crisis can only be based on an economy which produces employment and which is respectful of the pillars of the ILO's decent work agenda. GSEE will continue to defend workers' rights and fight for decent living standards for the people of Greece to ensure that they are not sacrificed at the altar of neo-liberal orthodoxy” says Yannis Panagopoulos, GSEE President.

The ITUC and GSEE expect the Greek government to follow the CFA's recommendation when it “considers that this is a matter of utmost importance that the Government and the social partners urgently come together to review all the […] measures and their impact not only on labour relations in the country but also on the hopes for economic development and social cohesion”.

In a decision made public in October 2012, the Council of Europe already rightly condemned Greek labour law reforms implemented under the Troika Memorandum of Understanding. Its Social Rights Committee ruled that two reforms contravened the European Social Charter and should be repealed. The Committee's President clearly stated that budgetary readjustments necessitated by the global economic crisis should not lead to an erosion of workers' rights enshrined in the European Social Charter.

For further information:
See the 366th Report of the Committee on Freedom of Association
ILO press release
ITUC letter to the Greek Government

For further information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on: +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 62 10 18

Photo: Third Eye3

ILO, Employers and Unions Joint Call for Jobs-centred Crisis Response

2012-11-20T15:36:13Z

During its 316th Governing Body held last week in Geneva, the ILO called for crisis-response measures strongly focused on decent and productive employment opportunities and social inclusion making full use of social dialogue and respecting rights in the workplace.

A statement issued by the Officers of the ILO Governing Body at the end of the session pointed out that “The latest forecast predict further challenges to economic growth over 2012 and in 2013 which will deepen the global jobs gap that worsened with the 2008 crisis. There is a high risk of the world economy sliding into a period of prolonged low or negative growth that will exacerbate the already bleak outlook for poverty alleviation, social cohesion, sustainable enterprises and employment, particularly of young people.”

“We are pleased that employers and governments are supporting this agenda at the international level. Social dialogue is a key means to handle the crisis effectively and get back to job-creating growth,” said Luc Cortebeeck, spokesperson for the Workers' Group at the ILO. “We need the global and regional financial institutions to recognise this too, as must national governments.”

See the full Officers' statement on the crisis

In another development at last week's ILO meeting, the Workers' Group of the Governing Body of the ILO issued a statement regarding the sentencing by the Kenyan High Court of Justice on 10 October of Francis Atwoli, General Secretary of the (COTU(k)) and member of the Governing body and the statement regarding Chad (in French)

For further information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on: +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 62 10 18

ITUC Supports ILO Call on Greece to Bring Its Labour Relations System Back to Fundamental Rights

2012-11-15T14:59:20Z

In this year's November session, the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association – the supervisory body of the International Labour Organization (ILO) that examines cases concerning employers' and trade unions' rights to organize, collective bargaining and social dialogue – examined an extensive deficit of social dialogue in austerity measures taken in Greece and highlighted the need for ILO assistance in the country.

The ITUC supports the ILO call on Greece to bring its labour relations system back to fundamental rights. Urgent action is needed in Greece.

See the ILO Press Release

For further information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on: +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 62 10 18

World Bank's Doing Business 2013: Unfounded claims about deregulation

2012-10-23T08:49:32Z

The 2013 edition of the World Bank's Doing Business report, released today, makes unfounded claims that weakening labour regulations will stimulate job creation. It states that countries that reduce dismissal notice periods or severance pay “are addressing one of the main factors deterring employers from creating jobs in the formal sector”. (Doing Business 2013, p 100)

This claim contradicts one of the finding of the Bank's World Development Report 2013, launched earlier this month, which stated, “New data and more rigorous methodologies have spurred a wave of empirical studies over the past two decades on the effects of labor regulation…. Most estimates of the impacts on employment levels tend to be insignificant or modest.” (WDR 2013, p 261)

ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow called on the World Bank, under President Jim Yong Kim, to develop a new balanced approach to labour market issues and in favour of decent work inspired by the recommendations of the WDR 2013, and to remove the theme of labour from Doing Business once and for all.

Burrow expressed surprise that Doing Business has reverted to promoting elimination of workers' protection rules: “We were hopeful that with WDR 2013 the Bank would finally recognize that labour regulations play an important role in providing protection to workers faced with job loss or exploitation by employers. Instead, the Bank's highest-circulation publication is again claiming that labour market deregulation creates jobs, an assertion which the Bank's own Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) already declared to be without foundation in a study it did on Doing Business in 2008.”

The World Bank followed up on the IEG report in 2009 by ordering Bank staff to stop using the Doing Business “Employing Workers Indicator” for policy advice or loan conditions. Doing Business 2013 mentions neither the staff directive on the failings of its labour indicator, the IEG report, nor the findings of WDR 2013.

“I find particularly reprehensible,” said Burrow, “that Doing Business2013 condemns Sub-Saharan Africa for ‘its very restrictive approach' by requiring 3.67 months' severance pay on average for workers who permanently lose their jobs, because it is above the average in rich countries. The Bank knows fully well that with the exception of South Africa, state-provided unemployment benefits are practically non-existent in Sub-Saharan Africa, contrary to the situation in high-income OECD countries.”

Doing Business 2013 makes the further erroneous claim that “only 4 of the 188 ILO conventions cover areas measures by Doing Business” (p 127). In fact, more than 30 of the ILO's 189 Conventions deal with the labour regulations measured by Doing Business, which concern hours of work, minimum wages, employee termination conditions, weekend work, night work and paid holidays.

Doing Business 2013 also asserts that its labour regulation measures “are consistent with the conventions of the ILO”. Burrow stated, “I would be astounded that any ILO ‘seal of approval' of Doing Business exists. There is certainly no ILO convention that states that minimum wages must be less than 25 per cent of value added per worker, which is the level Doing Business deems acceptable.”

For further information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on: +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 62 10 18

Photo: Aarin Web

Bahrain Bans Entry of Trade Union and ILO Observers

2012-09-28T13:41:30Z

The ITUC has condemned the Bahrain government's refusal to allow at least seven representatives of the ITUC, national trade union organisations and the United Nations' ILO to enter the country to take part in the Congress of the country's trade union centre GFBTU.

“The government of Bahrain is running a campaign to vilify and undermine the legitimate trade union movement in the country. Denying visas for international observers to the union Congress is intended to restrict information about what is going inside the country. If the authorities think this will stop the global union movement supporting working people in Bahrain, they are totally wrong. Our support is unwavering, and we will continue to tell the world what is happening in the country,” said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.

Read the ITUC statement on the situation in Bahrain

For further information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on: +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 62 10 18

Photo: Moonlight and celluloid