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Issue No. 141 | 21 June 2002 |
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Bitter Pills
Interview: The Fels Guy Solidarity: Life or Death? Unions: Back to Basics International: Global Terror History: Sorry Business Technology: Future Active Satire: Executive Presents PowerPoint Eulogy at Mother�s Funeral Poetry: Santa Claus Was Coming to Oz Review: Dial 'M' For Minority Report
The Soapbox The Locker Room Week in Review Bosswatch
 Tanya IncTom Bites BackRoot Canal Therapy
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International Global Terror
*************** Oil workers in Colombia went on a 48-hour strike on Tuesday to complain about the latest killing of one of their union's officials. Cesar Blanco, an official of the union, was killed on his way home from work - and the government released a statement of condolence. On the same day - half a world away - the Brussels-based International Confederation of Free Trade Unions issued their annual survey of violations of trade union rights. The ICFTU survey noted that in 2001 there were 223 cases of murdered or 'disappeared' trade unionists - 201of these were in Colombia. The ICFTU report said that that more than 80% of the Colombian cases were a direct result of the victim's union activities and noted that to just join a trade union in that country you had to be brave - that's why union membership in Colombia was down to almost nothing. The Colombian oil workers' union responded to the government's sympathy when in statement they said: " We don't want condolences from a government under whose rule the killing of union leaders has increased geometrically. We demand punishment for the killers of our colleague Cesar Blanco, and an end to crimes against those who fight for the people." The ICFTU annual survey, which received quite a deal of publicity in Europe, argued that global liberalisation of trade and investment is directly linked to attacks on workers' rights and trade union repression. The 223-page annual report catalogues abuse of union members in many different countries. And Australia does not escape its notice. Worldwide more than 4,000 trade unionists were arrested last year, 1,000 injured and 10,000 sacked, according to the survey. The ICFTU says autocratic governments in China, Burma, Belarus and elsewhere continue to repress workers and their trade unions. The Cost Of The Struggle For Democracy The Chinese trade unionist Yao Guisheng, sentenced to 15 years' forced labour based on totally false accusations, ended up losing his mind after having been beaten and confined to a cell. In China, any attempt to create a free trade union can be rewarded with huge prison sentences and even life-imprisonment, interspersed with unbearable conditions of detention. Burma, where independent unions are forced underground or else risk incurring heavy prison terms, and where the military junta sack, imprison or even torture protesters, is another blatant example of the clear link between increased violations of union rights and the fear of certain regimes of the key role unions can play in helping democracy take root. Similarly, on the African continent, where there is a serious democratic deficit, the incipient war between the public authorities and the unions has also led to many arrests, intimidation and even the loss of lives. This has been the case in Zimbabwe where three strikers from a steel firm were murdered. But Swaziland is also in the running for the title of African champion of anti-union repression. The situation has been comparable in Belarus, where President Lukashenko's consolidation of despotic methods has inevitably led to an aggravation of anti-union repression. And then there are many countries where the unions are still totally banned, particularly in the Middle East. The Cost of Accelerating Global Liberalisation On 2 May 2001 in Bangladesh, the General Secretary of the Jatiyo Sramik union, Iqbal Majumber, was shot dead when leaving his office. He was a pioneer within the union movement in Bangladesh and at the forefront of the struggle against privatisation and deregulation. Throughout the world, workers have been hit hard by the negative impact of the down-turn in the global economy coupled with structural adjustment measures, but where they have expressed their discontent governments have been quick to respond with repression. In Argentina, the "cocktail" of an acute economic crisis, privatisation of public services and unbridled flexibility has thrown thousands of workers onto the streets. The response has been a large increase in strikes and demonstrations, which have in turn led to many violent confrontations with the police. In Colombia, where over 200 trade unionists were assassinated or reported missing in 2001, amounting to a 25% rise in murders and disappearances compared to 2000, unionists from the public services have been the hardest hit, suffering about 65% of the violations, particularly as a result of their determined stance in political talks on fiscal adaptations and privatisation. The report also condemns the impunity enjoyed by most of the authors of these crimes, as well as the serious flaws in protection programmes for Colombian trade unionists. In Central and Eastern Europe, though the report notes some legislative improvements on core unions rights, privatisation and liberalisation are associated much too often with violation of union rights. In the Czech Republic, for instance, despite the coming into force of a new Labour Code there has been no let-up in anti-union discrimination. And, like others in the region, the country has had a good share of harassed, sacked, relocated or threatened trade unionists. When Nothing Can Stop Employers... When trying to set up a union in a textile factory in Pakistan in June 2001, Naddem Dar was intercepted by the owner of the factory. When he refused to give up his plans, despite being threatened at gunpoint, he was tortured. To force the other union leaders to resign, the management threatened to relocate the factory and to hire hit-men to deal with any "recalcitrant elements". The report shows that the race for profits and the associated bitter competition on the global market have encouraged employers to disregard laws where possible and to use brutal force where necessary. In Indonesia, the assistant manager of a car factory in Jakarta paid thugs armed with knives, iron bars and guns to break a strike conducted by 400 workers last March. The result was two deaths and ten people seriously wounded. In several Asian countries, employers have shown no scruples in hiring hit-men, often current or former members of the armed services, to repress or attack their workforce, particularly when the latter go on strike or hold a sit-in. This has been especially common in China, Indonesia and South Korea, a country where more than 200 union leaders were sentenced to prison terms and heavy fines in 2001 and where, at the end of the year, 50 were still languishing in jail. In Latin America, which has been the deadliest region for trade unionists, some sectors have been particularly strong on anti-union repression. In Costa Rica and Guatemala, the situation is especially bad in the banana plantations (unionised workers have been sacked, harassed or blacklisted, thus losing their chances of future recruitment) and in export processing zones (EPZs). The report notes that the EPZs around the world, which are an advanced post of globalisation, are generally zones where workers have no rights. When International Union Solidarity Makes A Difference... In Central Africa the union leader Th�ophile Sony Col� (USTC) was arrested on 17 June 2001 at the airport, on his way back from a union meeting in Nairobi organised by ICFTU-AFRO. The regional organisation alerted a maximum number of regional and international leaders, and this eventually led to his release. In El Salvador, thanks to the combined pressure of unions, the press and solidarity groups, the workers at the Taiwanese textile factory Tainan El Salvador S.A. managed to gain recognition for their union, the union of textile workers (STIT). This was a first in the country's EPZs, which are otherwise totally bereft of union rights. Thailand, Ghana, Belize ...Various international campaigns, often orchestrated with other groups fighting for human rights, helped promote the release of imprisoned trade unionists in 2001, as well as the resolving of conflicts, the reinstatement of sacked trade unionists or the recognition of trade unions.. Australian Workers Rights To Collective Bargaining Undermined In the five-page section on Australia the ICFTU annual report notes the way employers have used the Workplace Relations Act to undermine the right to collective bargaining and promote individual agreements. The report looks at eight 2001 industrial disputes as case studies in how employers have become more militant in campaigning against their workforce. The Australian case studies include: � The BHP-Billiton attack on workers in the Pilbara region is highlighted; � The union-busting tactics used during a lockout of LHMU members at the Mirotone company; � Qantas' training off-shore of management staff in ground service work; � The intransigence of the South African-owned Taubmans paint company; � The use of police against LHMU cleaners employed at the Wonderland theme park; � Telstra's anti-union email urging managers to favour workers on individual contracts and � The Federal government's phone-tapping of MUA officials involved in the Tampa affair. You can read all of the ICFTU Survey by going to: http://www.icftu.org/survey/
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