americas info Electronic Bulletin
UN Global Compact Summit: UNI bangs the gong for Global Agreements
New York. UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings spoke at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in New York to mark the Global Compact’s 10th anniversary. Jennings told business, government and civil society leaders at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit that engagement with trade unions is part of the sustainability solution that corporate executives are looking for. He said that to take the principles in the compact and put them into practice, multinational companies should sign Global Agreements with the Global Unions to ensure basic workers’ rights and union rights across all of the company’s operations around the world. Read More>>>
Contact: philip.jennings@uniglobalunion.org
“More of the same” election results in Colombia
Bogotá, June 21st (IPS) – The former Colombian Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos was elected president with only a 30% of the eligible voters on the electoral rolls while abstention percentages surpassed a 55% in this South American country living in a state of internal war since 1964. However, Santos won 69, 6% of the votes cast on Sunday 20th, during the second round of the presidential elections. With this result the current official model prevailing since 2002 has been consolidated. More than 9 million Colombian citizens supported Santos, surpassing the number of voters who re-elected the current right-wing Alvaro Uribe in 2006. Read More>>>
Source: IPS http://www.ipsnoticias.net/nota.asp?idnews=95712.
USA: Young people struggle for environmental justice
Detroit, USA. The commitment of young people and adolescents in the movement in favour of environmental justice is one of the new elements emerging from the 2010 USA Social Forum, which gathered around 20.000 activists at this city. On Wednesday, a group of young activists from the Western city of San Francisco described their struggle against multinational corporations which create pollution in areas inhabited by racial minorities. “Pollution has no limits: Black, Chinese and Latino youth Organising for Environmental Justice in San Francisco” was the subject of the workshop aimed at environmental issues in the Eastern Coast of the United States. Read More>>>
Source: IPS http://www.ipsnoticias.net/nota.asp?idnews=95750
Creation of UNI americas Panama Women’s Network
Panama City. UNI americas Equal Opportunities continues to promote the formation of women’s networks in the region. This was the main objective of the meeting of union leaders from different organisations held in Panama City. The Head of UNI Equal Opportunities, Verónica Fernández-Méndez, accompanied the Regional Coordinator Briceida González, and together with a group of delegates they held a meeting at the Regional Office in order to create UNI americas Women’s Network in Panama. Read More>>>
Contact: briceida.gonzalez@uniglobalunion.org
USA: Obama promotes Federal Immigration Reform
Washington, USA. President, Barack Obama criticized this Thursday the “ill-conceived” Arizona Immigration law and made a call on the opposition to support a reform to be applied throughout the country. The immigration reform has become an urgent issue in Washington, due to the fact that some States have individually passed their own immigration laws. On April 23rd, south-western Arizona passed law SB 1070, through which the permanence of illegal immigrants in the territory is considered a crime, and allows the State Police to arrest them in case of “reasonable suspicion” that they should not have their residence permits in order. “States like Arizona have decided to take matters into their own hands. Given the level of frustration throughout the country, this is understandable, but it is also ill-conceived” said Obama in a speech at the American University, at Washington DC. Many critics sustain that Arizona law will encourage racial profiling. Read More>>>
Source: IPS http://www.ipsnoticias.net/nota.asp?idnews=95809
Uruguay: Women in the parliamentary trenches
Montevideo, June (IPS). Beyond Partisan colours and in spite of the criticism of their party colleagues, Uruguayan legislators joined their forces and achieved the necessary votes to approve laws in favour of gender equality, and others including rights which had been denied for years. It all started in 2000, when the few women who had been able to get a place in the Lower House of Parliament found out that together, they would have the chance of doing something in favour of the women’s agenda regardless of their partisan colours. That is how they created the Women’s Caucus, which in 2005 became the Women’s Bicameral Caucus (BBF), when some of them gained their way to the Senate. This is how laws promoted by the BBF were passed o gave support to others, so that women should be able to choose a person to be present during childbirth, so that domestic violence should not be described as “crimes of passion”, about sex education in primary school, equality of labour rights of domestic employees and penalising sexual labour harassment. Read More>>>
Contact: cenise.monteiro@uniglobalunion.org
Regional Secretary visits Paraguay
Asunción. With the aim of reporting on UNI americas development plans, Regional Secretary Raul Requena visited Asunción, Paraguay, on July 1st and 2nd , and talked to representatives from the local affiliates FETRABAN, SETWAPY, SINTRAPOP, SITRAMIS and SOGP, and also with Raul Monguelos Schneider, Vice-Minister of Labour and Social Security, and Deputy Aida Robles, President of the National Congress Labour Commission. The meeting held on July 1st at FETRABAN headquarters, enabled to obtain important information from the affiliates, to inform on the objectives and priorities of the Breaking Through plan and on the III UNI World Congress; and also to reactivate UNI-Paraguay Liaison Committee. Read More>>>
Contact: raul.requena@uniglobalunion.org
Public complaint of Bancaria Argentina
Buenos Aires. Asociación Bancaria Argentina, AB, affiliated to UNI's finance sector, has sent us a public comploaint, published in the media, concerning non-compliances by the banks, unfair taxes on workers' salaries and the unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of Bancaria. Simultaneously, the union has sent the complaints to the trade union center, Confederación General del Trabajo, CGT; UNI Global Union; the International Trade Union Confederation, ITUC; and the International Labour Organization, ILO.
Source: AB bancaria@bancaria.com.ar
UNI “breaks through” on list of most influential in Switzerland
Nyon, Switzerland. “My inclusion on this list is recognition of the work done by all members of UNI and we are pleased to see that people are taking notice,” Jennings said. The magazine said Jennings and UNI Global Union are powerful advocates for workers at the Swiss, European and global levels. UNI’s inclusion on the list adds a more progressive cast to the round-up and will help spread the UNI message to the business community in Switzerland, an audience that doesn’t often hear our name. Jennings carries the banner for working families and trade unions on the list. Read More>>>
Contact: rachel.cohen@uniglobalunion.org
Telecommunication Workers Protest in Jamaica
Kingston. DOZENS of LIME employees stayed off the job this morning after a late night meeting over wage disagreements between the company and representatives from the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) ended with flared tempers. According to Lambert Brown, president of the UAWU, the workers - mostly technicians - decided to withdraw their services after queries raised by them in the meeting, which ended about 1:00 this morning, went without favourable responses. “We have a case of double standard in the company; the company is not prepared to pay the workers who are doing the bulk of the work - the work critical to customer relationships,” he said. Contact: Saddler, Lillieth: Lillieth.saddler@time4lime.com
International Cooperation for Work, Health and Environment
Buenos Aires. In the framework of the collaboration agreement subscribed between UNI americas and the Secretary of Environment and Sustainable Development of Argentina (SAyDS), members of the Argentine Young Workers Network of UNI americas, participated in a journey aimed at exploring alternatives for cooperation as regards training, education, scientific research and technical assistance for workers. Read More>>>
Contact: Juan Martín Sánchez jmsanchez@redsocialfuva.org.ar
Chilean Commerce workers protest against discrimination
Santiago. Claudio Aravena, Vice-President of the Chilean National Confederation of Commerce, Production and Services, CONATRACOPS, expressed during a TV interview that the sector he represents considers the approval of the law declaring Friday 17th and Monday 20th, September 2010 a national holiday for the Bicentennial Celebration, a discriminatory act towards commerce workers, who will not be benefitted by this measure. “It is a complete setback. Laws are made for some workers in this country but a certain group developing their duties in commercial centres are discriminated or treated like second-or third rate workers” he ends by pointing out that his demand lies not in the number of holiday days for the commerce activity, but they consider that “they should have legislated on equality grounds so that everybody would be in full possession of the right to rest”
See video of the interview (in Spanish)
Source: Channel 13 TV www.canal13.cl
Contact: marcio.monzane@uniglobalunion.org
Workers receive ILO Commission during meeting in front of the Ministry
Bogota. The image illustrates the meeting carried out on July 7th in front of the Ministry of Social Protection in Bogota by 300 workers to publicly disclose the problems the labour movement is facing in Colombia before an ILO Commission present in that city this week. Workers from the health sector, communications, transport, universities, bank employees, attended the meeting, among others. Some of their slogans dealt with anti-union violence and the government’s labour persecution, the attitude of the companies in trying to eliminate unions and prevent Colombian workers from exercising their right to freedom of association.
Source: ENS informacionlaboral@ens.org.co
Contact: leonor.sierra@uniglobalunion.org
Mobile communications will be the basis of the sector’s growth in Latin America
Latin America market is a strong market for the telecommunications industry. In fact, at a global level, mobile subscriptions totaled 88.2% of the region's population in 2009, compared to 55.2% in Asia Pacific, 90.4% in North America; and in Middle East and Africa 55, 2 % and 50, 6%, respectively. The largest mobile telephone markets in Latin America are Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, with mobile subscriptions numbering 169.7 million, 83.3 million and 49.1 million respectively in 2009. And figures could be even more impressive. Read More>>>
Source: America Economía
In Colombia there is a wage discrimination against Women, says study
Bogotá. A survey made by Great Place to Work Institute (GPW) about the perception between men and women about salary, the payment in Colombian companies depends on the employee's gender. The companies that participated in the study wanted to be part of the measurement, 36 percent are leaders in the labor market and 24 percent have a significant role as employers. These features allow estimating that these companies consider they are doing things right or, at least, are willing to improve situations that make women feel disadvantaged in their job. Read More>>>
Taken from: www.portafolio.com.co
Reporting obligations to the ILO
The deadline for submitting comments to the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) under article 23 of the ILO constitution is approaching, and as per previous practice, the ITUC has sent around a circular (attached) explaining the procedure and its importance, as well as a report of the discussions at the 99th International Labour Conference in the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS). Read More>>>
The ITUC Department of Human and Trade Union Rights htur-l@forum.ituc-csi.org
Wal-Mart still interested in entering Peruvian market in short term
Washington, USA. At a meeting held in June this year with Peruvian Ambassador in Washington, Wal-Mart’s highest representatives reaffirmed their intention to enter Peru in the short term as a result of the country’s economic consolidation, stated Ana María Deustua, Peruvian trade advisor in the USA. Even if they haven’t yet set a specific date, Deustua said that Wal-Mart executives have already decided to invest in Peru, and that this is expected to take place during 2011, and at that moment Wal-Mart presence will expand into this country apart from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, where they currently operate. Read More>>>
Source: América Economía
Request to Panama President
Panama City. UNI Global Union, representing 20 million affiliates at the International level with 1000 union organisations in 150 countries, condemns the violent police repression against workers who participated in the strike at Bocas del Toro province, in which colleague Antonio Smith lost his life and dozens of workers were wounded and detained. We demand the necessary investigation process to be carried out in order to clarify the causes of the deaths and the establishment of criminal and administrative responsibilities. UNI supports the legitimate request of the Panamanian Labour Movement which demands the repeal of law 30. UNI is respectful of the sovereignty of the people, and even if we respect the governments’ decisions, we may not share them. That is why we will remain, together with the international labour movement, in a state of alert and solidarity with Panamanian workers to denounce the acts of violation of freedom of association and expression, before the appropriate international organizations. Read More>>>
Contact: raul.requena@uniglobalunion.org
UNI Affiliates demand cessation of repression in Bocas del Toro
Panama City. Panamanian UNI affiliates joined a demonstration carried out on the afternoon of July 9th, 2010 which began at “Nuestra Señora Del Carmen” Church, parading through the cities’ main arteries and ending in “Andrés Bello” Park, where a vigil is being held by environmental organizations and the Panamanian civil society. The objective of the demonstration is to demand the government the cessation of the repression suffered by the Bocas del Toro banana sector’ workers, and the ACP (Panama Canal Authority) building in Colon, where a death has been reported: Antonio Smith, affiliated to SITRAPBI Union, part of Convergencia Sindical (Union Convergence); among hundreds of reported wounded workers, the colleague Rebeca Barboi, Secretary of Gender Equality of SITRAIBANA, union affiliated to CTRP, is currently hospitalized. Read More>>>
Contact: marvin.largaespada@uniglobalunion.org
Anti-Union repression actions in Panama
Brussels, 13 July 2010: The ITUC, together with its affiliated organizations in Panama, firmly condemns the violent repression of the strike movement by workers in the Bocas del Toro Province that has resulted in killings, more than 100 people injured and at least 300 arrests. According to information received by the ITUC, several acts of repression took place on 8 July in the Province, in which six people lost their lives. These unacceptable acts were targeted against banana workers and construction workers from the Panama Canal in Colón. Leaders of the SUNTRACS and CONATO trade unions were arrested. The striking workers were protesting against the decision by the Government of Panama to impose Law 30, which undermines fundamental rights, such as the right to strike and freedom of association. Law 30 also penalizes workers who take their protests to the streets, an offence which can result in up to two years in prison.
Source: ITUC
Chilean Bank workers solidarize with colleagues dismissed from Santander USA
Santiago. In the early morning of July 14th, leaders of the Confederation of Bank Unions, CSTEBA - the only Chilean multi union organization of the financial sector - carried out a protest in front of Santander headquarters, in the heart of Santiago de Chile, to express solidarity with the workers dismissed from Santander Bank in Boston, USA. Workers from the bank operating in Chile, unfolded cloth banners and distributed flyers with information denouncing that: “In just a year and a half since Santander bought USA Sovereign bank, 2700 positions have been cut. That is a 27% of the workforce! “Many workers have been reduced to part-time and as a consequence they have lost part of their income and benefits”.
CSTEBA National Committee
Technical Secretary sec_tecnico@123.cl
Contact: marcio.monzane@uniglobalunion.org
Interference against union freedom
Buenos Aires. The statement expressed that the principle of freedom of association has been damaged by one of the State’s powers, when a court of the National Labour Chamber adopted an unprecedented measure in relation to the Bank Union, by appointing an informant or permanent supervisor with control over all the activities and fields of action of the union organisation, with intervention in political affairs dealing with the worker’s interests in economic, financial and contractual issues. The statement ends by declaring that the measure is not only irrational but also excessive and that the CGT completely rejects this interference and publicly expresses its solidarity with bank workers and the Bank Union, warning that the pertinent measures will be taken, including the denunciation before the Committee on Freedom of Association of the International Labour Organisation, ILO. In “related files” you can see the complete Spanish version of this press release.
Contact: fernando.mcmaster@uniglobalunion.org
ITUC/TUAC Evaluation of the G8 and G20 Summits
Please find attached the ITUC/TUAC Evaluation of the G8 and G20 Summits in 2010, held on 25-27 June 2010 in Ontario, Canada.
Source: ITUC/TUAC
UNI- FES Seminar: Organising in Telefonica, America Movil and Telmex
Mexico City. With the funding of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation of Mexico, FESMEX, the Seminar “Organising in Telefonica, America Movil and Telmex” was carried out at the Federal District on July 14th, 15th and 16th, 2010. The aim of the activity was to share SINTETEL organising experiences in Telefonica Brazil, and STRM experience in America Movil and Telmex in Mexico; to train leaders from UNI Americas Telecom affiliates for a better use of the Global Framework Agreement subscribed between UNI and Telefonica and to elaborate a specific action plan to organise workers in America Movil and Telmex in Latin America. Read More>>>
Contact: cenise.monteiro@uniglobalunion.org
Excluded from the store
Lima, Peru. During 2009, Ripley had an income of 880 million dollars in Peru, an amount which is also the result of the effort of 7684 workers. But instead of encouraging them by improving their labour conditions, the Chilean chain of department stores refuses to increase their salaries; arbitrarily changes working hours, does not pay extra hours, threatens not to renew temporary contracts and wages war with the union. While in Lima a group of workers from Ripley risked their jobs by demanding the company the payment of extra hours, the establishment of new working hours and to become permanent staff, in Santiago de Chile, Leandro Cortez, leader of one of the 40 Ripley unions in the neighbour country, signed a new collective agreement with more than 28 clauses improving workers’ conditions. Why is it that Ripley negotiates and responds to Chilean worker’s demands and ignores Peruvian workers?. Read More>>>
Source: 18/07/2010 Edition La Republica
Contact: marcio.monzane@uniglobalunion.org
Child labor is as a priority in the trade union agenda
Buenos Aires. Argentina Youth Network has sent a report which establishes the issue of child labor as a priority in the trade union agenda. The report makes reference to the elimination of child labor as one of the relevant issues for international trade union movement. The report provides numbers indicating a reduction of the problem in Latin America and the Caribbean. However, despite the progress much remains to be done. That is why from the point of view of trade union development cooperation, the effective abolition of child labor is one of the most urgent challenges of our time. Read More>>>
Source: Encuentros Bulletin - ILO/IPEC
New Postal law enacted in Paraguay
Asunción. The Union of Postal Workers of Paraguay (SINTRAPOP), affiliated to UNI, informed UNI Americas Post and Logistics, that Law 4016 creating the National Direction of Post in Paraguay was enacted, and is full force since July 14th, 2010. This important aspiration of postal workers has come true after a 15 year struggle. Now universal post will be regulated by an independent body according to the rules of the Universal Postal Union (UPU). Read More>>>
Contact: cenise.monteiro@uniglobalunion.org
ANEBRE is committed to gender equality
In the recent National Assembly of Asociación Nacional de Empleados del Banco de la República, ANEBRE, trade union of the Colombian banking sector, the delegates applied the new statutes by establishing that in its Executive Committee integrated by 10 members, should be included the representation of women and their concerns. The elected Committee for the period 2010-2012 designated Sister Rubi Jenny Montaño, as Secretary of Training and Sports. Among her many responsibilities, Sister Montaño is also member of the UNI americas Women's Network in Colombia, she is also the Coordinator of the ANEBRE Women’s Committee, and the only woman on the Executive Committee of the Federación Nacional de Sindicatos Bancarios, FENASIBANCOL, association that organize trade unions of the Finance Sector like UNEB. Read More>>>
Contact: briceida.gonzalez@uniglobalunion.org
Globalising Strugle
Montevideo. Raul Requena, Regional Secretary of UNI Americas, considers that binding instruments created at the international level to denounce anti-union practices “must be used” to counteract the employer’s strategy of appropriating those spaces. From UNI he is promoting the subscription of global framework agreements with global companies with in order to guarantee the fulfilment of the Conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). “Even if they are not strictly speaking collective agreements, with these conventions we create a better ground for the development of the relationship of transnational companies and unions”, declared the Chilean leader. Read More>>>
Contact: raul.requena@uniglobalunion.org
Largest Latin American companies’ ranking dominated by Brazil
Brazilian corporation’s expansion sets the trend in this new ranking edition. The tendency is irrepressible. Brazil, the powerful South American country, once again proves its corporations’ advantage compared to those in the rest of the region. This is because this new edition’s ranking of the 500 Top Latin American Companies shows Brazilian companies’ unquestionable leadership. First, as regards quantity: 226 Brazilian companies this year (14 companies more than in 2008) represent a 45% of the total corporations in this ranking. If we compare the sales volume, Brazilians get a 48% of the total, almost 9% more than the previous year. Read More>>>
Source: América Economía
UNI and the first IBM mission in Latin America
Buenos Aires. In the framework of an International Mission to Latin America carried out by UNI Professionals Group (PM&S) headed by PM&S Head of Global Department Gerd Rodhe, UNI Americas Regional Director Jose Molina and the World President of PM&S Christer Forslund from UNONEN-Sweden, on July 3rd an important meeting was held in CEPETEL headquarters in Buenos Aires, with the union of IBM workers in Argentina. This is the first IBM union created in Latin America. The meeting enabled to get information on the hard situation of IBM workers in Argentina, especially due to the lack of union recognition on the part of the multinational as well as the Ministry of Labour. Read More>>>
Contact: jose.molina@uniglobalunion.org
5th UNI Americas Commerce Steering Group Meeting
Rio de Janeiro The 5th UNI Commerce Americas Steering Group Meeting was carried out on July 21st 2010 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All the members of the group attended the meeting: Márcio Monzane, Regional Director of the Sector, Raul Requena, Regional Secretary, Alke Boesiger Commerce Sector Head of Department and Ruben Cortina, President of UNI Americas. The meeting was presided over by the Sector’s President Ricardo Patah. Natalia Duque and Juan Moreno from Wal-mart Chile, Olinto José Teonacio from Wal-Mart Brazil, José Luis Oberto, Eduardo Pérez de San Román, Ramón Fernándes, Willian Pedro Ruiz and Gil Castro from Sentracos attended the meeting as guests. Ricardo Patah declared that due to professional reasons and as a result of his responsibilities as the President of UGT, one of the major union centrals in Brazil, he could not continue in his position as the President of UNI Americas Commerce Steering Committee and he proposed Otto Mataroma to take his place; the Committee unanimously approved the motion. Otto immediately assumed his position as President and headed the meeting until it was closed.
Contact: marcio.monzane@uniglobalunion.org
Public Postal services threatened by Canada-EU trade negotiations
Trade Justice Network Releases Secret Draft of Canada-European Union Free Trade Agreement, Makes Demands of Canadian and European Governments. Public postal services threatened by Canada-EU trade negotiation.
Canada and the European Union are currently negotiating a trade agreement. The draft Canada-EU agreement was a well-guarded secret until its release earlier this month by the Trade Justice Network, a coalition of groups which includes CUPW. This draft reveals that the federal government may be putting public postal service and other public services at risk.
Draft raises major concerns.
The postal and courier section of the draft agreement sets up a system to facilitate competition for all postal and courier services liberalized under the agreement. You can obtain information about the draft Canada-EU agreement by going to:
http://www.tradejustice.ca http://www.tradejustice.ca/ Read More>>>
Contribution
We thank our readers for sending their comments, suggestions and collaborations to the editorship of UNI americas info, through E-mail mario.sanchez@uniglobalunion.org; Fax (507) 317-0170, and/or by mail, to: Apartado Postal 0819-06290, El Dorado, Panamá, República de Panamá.