Global Unions Offer G-20 Meeting a 5-Point Economic Recovery Plan

In a push for action by G-20 governments to pull the global economy out of recession, trade unions around the world on March 28 are delivering a common set of demands to their national governments. The five-point union plan, which includes detailed policy proposals, sets out the action needed to tackle the crisis and build a fairer and more sustainable world economy for the future. The plan will be formally presented to G-20 representatives when they meet in London on April 2.

Recovery and sustainable growth can be achieved, according to the union “Declaration,” but only if the focus is on job creation and public investment, active labor markets, extending social safety nets and special measures for developing and emerging economies. The trade unions also put forward an eight-point specific action plan for global financial regulation, with immediate action to nationalize insolvent banks.

“Financial regulation is essential, but it is not enough. The new global governance must be based on a strong pillar of social rights, including the ILO’s core labor standards,” said Guy Ryder, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). “The real economy, decent work and poverty reduction can no longer be left at the fringe of global policy. The G-20 should not limit its horizons by simply making marginal changes to a discredited system. It needs to lead a complete overhaul in the way the world economy is run. Those who think we can return to business as usual are seriously mistaken,” Ryder said.

Angry French Laid-Off Workers Kidnap Bosses, at Least for a Day

Bosses across the world are having to break bad news to employees as their companies cut jobs or shut down. But that can be a risky business in France, where some furious workers have taken to holding their managers hostage to demand better payoffs. In the latest outbreak of ”bossnapping,” workers at a pharmaceutical factory on March 25 held their boss in his office for a second day to force him to improve their severance packages.

“This action is our only currency. But there is no aggression,” said union representative Jean- Francois Caparros from the plant, owned by the U.S. conglomerate 3M in the central town of Pithiviers. The detention came less than two weeks after the workers held the boss of Sony France hostage for a night and barricaded their factory entrance with tree trunks. They freed him only after he agreed to reopen talks on their severance pay.

There is a growing sentiment, here as elsewhere, that the business elite caused the crisis, but it is the workers who are paying. “This sort of thing will inevitably happen again,” said Bruno Lemerle of the CGT union in the Peugeot car plant in Sochaux , France’s largest factory. “Those who sow misery reap fury. The violence is done by those who cut jobs, not by those who try to defend them.” he said.

Russian Unions Urge Putin to Raise Wages

At a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FITUR), Mikhail Shmakov, urged the Russian government to encourage pay raises across the economy as part of its anti-crisis package. Higher salaries could stimulate demand, Shmakov said, adding that the minimum monthly pay must rise by one quarter, or about 1,000 rubles ($30).

The minimum monthly salary was doubled in January from last year’s level to 4,330 rubles ($129.59) a level that serves as a basis for calculating payments to unskilled workers. The unemployment rate at mid-March was 2.6 percent or two million people, according to government figures, Another 560,000 are scheduled to be laid off this year.

Putin said the government is planning to create one million temporary lobs and retrain 222,000 people or assist them in setting up a business The federal budget will spend 43.7 billion rubles ($1.3 billion) on the efforts this year, he said. He also urged unions to cooperate with management to increase efficiency, even if it takes job cuts.

Croatian Unions to File Lawsuits To Protest Government Pay Cuts

The Croatian public services unions are preparing to file lawsuits to stop a cabinet proposal that reduces the pay of 100,000 employees by six percent. Instead of canceling the collective contracts, the Cabinet has now decided to offer a law that reduces salaries, and in that way, theoretically avoids a conflict with the unions. Now, the unions do not have a valid reason for a strike, says the Cabinet.

However, the unions claim that the Cabinet can only reduce the base salary by canceling the collective contracts, and they are convinced that the Cabinet will be sued for its move. “We will certainly win the lawsuits,” says the vice president of the Croatian unions, Victim Rubik.

Polish Workers on a Rampage at Protest Rally in Warsaw

About 1,000 Polish workers marched through central Warsaw on March 26, setting fire to tires and shooting off firecrackers to protest against the government’s handling of the economy. The protesters, including coal miners and shipyard workers, also waved banners reading “We won’t pay for your crisis.” “The policy of this government targets all of us. We are being destroyed by the government. We are its victims,” said Boguslaw Zietek, head of the small, radical Sierpien 80 union.

Poland has avoided large-scale, violent protests seen in some European countries during the global economic crisis. Unlike most other European member states, Poland still expects modest economic growth this year, despite recession in key trade partners, such as Germany.

And in contrast to nearby Hungary or the Czech Republic, Poland’s center-right, pro-business government remains stable and popular, with the support of about half of the Poles, according to opinion surveys. However, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has ordered spending curs to control the budget deficit, annoying trade unions and opposition parties that favor a big stimulus to get the economy moving again.

Brazilian Oil Workers End 5-Day Strike in Deal with Giant Company

After reaching a favorable deal with Petrobras, the state-owned giant oil company, Brazilian workers ended their five-day strike on March 27. Four days of talks between oil workers’ umbrella union FUP and Petrpbras ended after the energy company made concessions on all of the workers’ key demands. FUP strike coordinator Joao Antonio de Morais said. “We have just had a productive meeting with Petrobras and because of this, the strike will nort continue.”

Moraes said that Petrobeas would scrap a proposal to reduce workers’ profit share and would guarantee payment for bank holidays worked, as well as improve safety and health procedures. It would also keep some or all of the contractors it had sacked or was about to. It was agreed that workers would return to their jobs on Friday or that weekend.

Petrobras is Latin America’s largest, publicly-traded oil company. with operations around the world. The company announced in January that it would invest $174.4 billion from 2009 to 2013 and expects to raise output by more than 50 percent

Women Cabin Crew at Argentine Airline Win Improved Maternity Rights

An agreement between the recently nationalized Argentine Airline’s new management and union representatives contains better maternity rights for women cabin crew members, The ITF-affiliated union (AAA) lobbied for the maternity rights of mothers working for Airlines Argentines and Austral with children under the age of two be properly enforced.

Under the collective bargaining agreement, women have the right to work only for short periods away from home, enabling them to be close to their young children. The union also won an extra benefit in the form of a “stand by” rule that will enable mothers to rely on a more stable working pattern. Mothers who have recently given birth but who are unable to afford to take unpaid leave, if they are single, are set to benefit the most.

The national legal framework stipulates 90 days’ leave when workers give birth and an unpaid optional six-month period of leave after the end of the 90 days. Cabin crewmembers are already entitled to paid leave during pregnancy under the CBA

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