Business and Trade Unions in Joint Plea for ‘Accessible Child-Care’

European countries are not investing enough in child-care, despite its benefits for employment and growth. This view and a call for action was expressed in a joint letter from European businesses and trade unions sent July 8 to EU Commissioner Vladimir Spidla. The letter emphasizes the critical role of child-care in promoting women’s participation in the labor market.

The letter urges EU member states to adopt measures to make child-care accessible and affordable to all as a way of “enhancing participation” in the labor market. The signers of the letter said they planned to offer other initiatives to make child-care more available to working families.

Women’s participation in the labor market is still low in many European countries. According to Eurostat data, about 57.2 % of European women were employed in 2006, well below the goal of 60% spelled out in the EU’s Lisbon Strategy for Jobs and Growth. Figures are particularly low in Greece (47.4%), Italy (46.6%) and Malta (34.9%). Female employment rates are among the highest in Scandinavian countries: Denmark (73.4%), Sweden (70.7%) and Finland (67.3%)

Auto Workers in Iran Launch Strike to End Use of Contract Work

Thousands of workers at the Iran Khodro auto manufacturing plant are protesting the exploitation of temporary workers and demanding better wages and working conditions. What began as a hunger protest on June 28 has grown to a full-scale strike with thousands of workers at the Khodro, the country’s largest auto manufacturer, walking off the job to fight for improvements.

Their demands include an end to mandatory overtime; an increase in productivity benefits; wage increases in line with the cost of living, and security guards banned from entry to work stations. They want workers to be hired on a permanent basis and not through temporary contracts.

Many contract and temporary employees have worked at Khodro for as long as ten years without being offered full-time jobs. The workers are seeking a halt to the growth of subcontracting companies and they want their representatives to participate on committees making key company decisions.

Philippines Are Under ‘Active Scrutiny’ for Labor Rights Violations

The Philippines will remain under “active scrutiny” by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) because of unabated violations of labor rights and killings of trade union leaders. As a result, the Arroyo government is in danger of losing some of its international trade benefits.

The ruling was prompted by a complaint filed by the International Labor Rights Forum in June 2007, seeking an inquiry on whether the country was complying with the Freedom of Association requirement. The complaint cited the killings of trade unionists from 2001 to 2007 and efforts by the government to deny workers the freedom of association by enforcing a “no union, no strikes” policy in the Special Economic Zones and by assuming jurisdiction to end labor disputes.

U.S. law requires that a country must afford its workers “internationally recognized worker rights,” including the right of freedom of association, to qualify for benefits for its exports to the United States.

Union Threatens Strike at Brazil’s Main Oil Fields

A key Brazilian oil workers’ union has threatened to shut down the Petrobras oil fields in the Campos basin that produces over 80 percent of Brazil’s oil, for five days, starting July 14. Jose Maria Rangel, coordinator of the Campos basin oil union, said the strike in all 42 Campos basin offshore platforms was called to press the state-run oil company to count the day workers leave the platform for the shore as a working day.

In 2001, there was a five-day nationwide strike at Petrobras, which seriously reduced output and forced Brazil to import additional oil. But the unions and the oil company had resolved their differences without hurting production. A year ago, unions called off a five-day work stoppage plan after accepting a sweetened company proposal on job promotions.

The company’s profits have been rising the past few years, helped by soaring world oil prices and new production. Unions want an equitable share of the profits. “We want at least 18 percent of what is paid to the shareholders, while they are proposing a maximum of 12.8 percent,” said Jose Genivaldo Silva, a union official. Negotiations are expected to continue until the strike deadline.

260,000 Temporary Swiss Workers Win National Collective Contract

Wage increases, medical insurance and health and safety improvements were won for 260,000 temporary workers in Switzerland under a historic national collective agreement. After a year of negotiations, Unia, an affiliate of the International Metalworkers’ Federation, and Swissstaffing, an umbrella organization for labor agencies, have agreed on the first ever collective contract for temporary workers.

If approved by the government, the three-year contract, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2009, will secure a uniform set of rights and standards for approximately 70 percent of all temporary workers in the country. The new contract will raise the minimum rates of pay for some 180,000 temporary workers in over 100 different job professions. Under the agreement, temporary workers will now receive medical insurance, paid medical leave, health and safety improvements and opportunities for training.”

“This is a significant step for workers in Switzerland,” said Marcello Malentacchi, IMF general secretary. “For the first time, temporary workers throughout the country will have a national agreement to protect them and ensure them a uniform standard of rights and conditions. Unions around the world must strive to do the same if we are to avoid precarious work and its devastating impact on workers and their communities.”

India’s Bank Employees Use e-Mails to Shareholders for Negotiations

An “e-union” was formed last month in India by the employees of BPO (a global network of banks and financial companies) who do not plan to fight companies and managements in the conventional way; that is, through strikes and sloganeering on the streets. Instead, the e-union plans to talk directly to shareholders, so that it can affect stock prices.

BPO Union also expects to engage clients of companies they are up against and tell them how these companies are repressing their employees. “Clients should know the negative PR against the vendor could spill over to their own brand. Also, it could affect them if we ever suspend work with the vendor," says the chief of the BPO Union, who prefers to withhold his name.

The union is already involved in an online campaign against Keane, India, a BPO which recently laid off 400 employees, “A lot of Keane employees are showing us support and there is a growing feeling of discontent which may need to be addressed by a show of strength,” the union leader said. The self-funded group is not yet scouting for membership. But with the BPO industry workforce currently at 800,000 people, it sure wouldn’t be a problem when it dues.

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