The IUF has prepared the following briefing (which can also be downloaded as a 2-page PDF here) for trade unions engaged either directly or indirectly in collective bargaining with transnational companies (TNCs). It highlights the right to information as a right embodied in international treaties and conventions. Trade unions should not have to ask for information needed to collectively bargain, trade unions have a RIGHT to it!
One of the challenges faced by unions representing workers in transnational companies is the lack of information about the company’s financial situation and business plans at local, national and global levels. Without this information unions will approach the bargaining table at a serious disadvantage. Basically they end up relying on local management as the only source of information (and often this is just verbal or just a ‘snapshot’).
UPDATE 8 October 2008: “Tourist resort staff will now receive new employment rights after a parliamentary vote on Monday narrowly averted an industry strike threatened for Tuesday if legal changes were not in place.” Minivan News 7 October 2008
UPDATE 1 October 2008: In response to the announcement by the Tourism Employees Association of Maldives (TEAM) to strike from 5th October 2008 over the exclusion of hotel and resort workers from the Employment Act, government and parliamentary representatives have indicated that the law will be changed on 6th October. Given this, TEAM has stated that the union will not strike on 5th October and will monitor events on 6th October to ensure the Employment Act is amended. Should the promised amendment not occur TEAM will begin protest actions on 7th October 2008. A 30 September 2008 press release from TEAM is available here.
Despite having a reputation as one of the most exclusive and beautiful holiday destinations in the world, for decades Maldives’ citizens lived under the yoke of a paternalistic and authoritarian government. The hotel and resort industry of the Maldives accounts for more than 30 percent of the country’s national income yet workers in the industry have been excised from the law which governs employment relations and denied basic rights.
In response to this ongoing suppression of fundamental human righs, hotel and resort workers, organised through the Tourism Employees Assocation of Maldives (TEAM), have announced an indefinite strike in hotels, resorts, airports and other tourist enterprises from 5th October. TEAM has demanded that basic labour rights for hotel and resort workers be enshrined in the laws of the country.
The IUF-affiliated Pakistan Hotels, Restaurants, Clubs, Tourism, Catering and Allied Workers’ Federation released the following statement in relation to the 20 September 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. An IUF statement on the bombing is available here.
Ghulam Mehboob, General Secretary of Pakistan Hotels, Restaurants, Clubs, Tourism, Catering and Allied Workers’ Federation has condemned the terrorist attack at the Marriott Hotel Islamabad where more than 60 people died. In a statement he said that responsibility lies on those who are the enemy of Pakistan, its people and democracy. These elements have no concern for the lives of people and actually are the enemy of humanity.
Dismissed for trying to join a trade union, Unilever workers in Pakistan rally to each other’s cause
The Dalda factory produces Unilever’s Blue Band magarine under contract. When workers at the factory, which is owner by former Unilever managers, sought to join a trade union, 266 were dismissed en masse in one day in May. Further dismissals have occurred since then of workers who have tried to defend their rights (see here for more information).
Court rules 8 Jakarta Gran Melia Hotel workers unfairly dismissed, orders reinstatement and back-pay
Below is a summary translation of an Indonesian-language article which appeared on the website Bisnis Indonesia on 31 July 2008. To send a message in support of trade union rights at the Jakarta Gran Melia Hotel, click here. The Jakarta Gran Melia Hotel is managed by the global hotel chain Sol Melia, headquartered in Spain.
Jakarta City Industrial Relations Court has upheld the claims of eight Gran Melia Hotel Workers in a case against PT Suryalaya Anindita International (the company which owns the Jakarta Gran Melia Hotel).
During the verdict session, the judges panel, led by Hakim Heru Pramano, ordered the Gran Melia Hotel management to reinstate the eight workers to their original positions at the hotel.
Below is a slightly amended version of an article which originally appeared in the August/September 2008 issue of “Land Worker” the newspaper for rural, agricultural and allied workers of the IUF-affiliated UNITE-T&G of Britain. The article discusses the IUF Global Meat Workers Conference, which was held on 23-24 June 2008 in Eastbourne, Britain, and hosted by UNITE-T&G.
Meat workers from all over the world met to discuss a global organising strategy for their industry, in the union’s Eastbourne centre. It could not have been more timely with news of the takeover of UK poultry firm Moy Park by Brazilian company Marfrig, and the takeover of the Grampian Country Food Group by Dutch company Vion. Workers from 15 countries compared wages, conditions, and health and safety, then launched a campaign to improve them everywhere by supporting each other.
The IUF has produced a manual on the union fightback against outsourcing and casualization in the food and beverage industry. The publication is designed for trade unionists who are confronting the growing prevalence of fixed-term contract employment, agency labour, outsourcing and other forms of precarious employment relationships. It grew out of our work with unions in the food and beverage sector worldwide struggling against casualization and outsourcing and the resulting destruction of permanent employment and erosion of union organizing and bargaining strength.
The seven year campaign for justice, rights and reinstatement of the Karachi Pearl Continental (PC) Workers’ Union continues, despite police harassment and intimidation. On 29 July 2008 a two-person peaceful rally outside the Karachi Pearl Continental Hotel was attacked by police.
At around 5pm two dismissed workers stood with a protest banner in front of the hotel. Two union officers also stood with them as protection, including Mohammad Nawaz, Social Secretary of the PC Karachi Union. Mohammad Nawaz is one of two union officers who has been suspended indefinitely from his job at the hotel.
On the 7th of August 2008, the Los Angeles radio station KPFK (part of the Pacifica Radio Network, whose broadcasts are carried on more than 100 stations across the USA) interviewed Ma Wei Pin, IUF Asia/Pacific Regional Secretary. The interview covered a range of issues, including the background of the IUF, its activities and current campaigns.
To listen to the interview, press the 
[play] button above (the interview begins at 12min30sec). To download the interview, right-click the link below and choose “Save Target As…”
KPFK interview with IUF Asia/Pacific Regional Secretary Ma Wei Pin
“Blue Band” margarine is one of the “Billion Dollar Brands” identified by global food and personal products corporation Unilever as the key to its future growth and profits. Yet, in Pakistan the management of the factory which produces this “Billion Dollar Brand” of margarine is engaged in a direct assault on the right of workers to be in a trade union.
In Pakistan, Blue Band is manufactured in an outsourced factory, previously owned directly by Unilever and now owned by former Unilever Pakistan managers.
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