News

May Day Salute to Workers

UNI americas Global Union joins in the celebration of this year’s May Day—a historic day for workers all around the world—and together with its members demands that world leaders and authorities create the necessary conditions for the economy to serve the interests of workers. On this special day for unions, we call for recognition of the contribution made by the men and women who have helped build society, in which the universal rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining, among others, are not yet fully observed. At this juncture, with companies dismissing workers and persecuting unions on account of the global crisis that was not caused by the workers, we must close ranks to jointly resist these attempts to undermine the grassroots of our organizations. Today more than ever we must go back to our true origins and reorganize ourselves so as to demand greater involvement in decisions made at the national level and promote an ongoing social dialogue in which unions may play a leading role. We pay tribute to those who gave their lives in defense of the trade union movement’s ideals, and we will continue to support those who in spite of threats and difficulties keep on fighting for a better future for all.

Rodolfo Benítez, UNI americas Regional Secretary: rodolfo.benitez@uniglobalunion.org



Graphical Workers in the Americas Celebrate May Day

Peru: With a large turnout at the rally called by CGTP and CUT, the workers of the Graphical Federation of Peru joined in the May Day celebrations. Brother Marvin Largaespada, Regional Director of the Sector, was present there.

Uruguay: Uruguayan graphical workers commemorated May Day with the publication of “El Obrero Gráfico” newsletter and a poster with the slogan “The crisis must not be paid by workers. Let’s find a democratic and productive way out of it.”

Chile: With banners and flags, the members of the Graphical Confederation of Chile (CONAGRA) massively attended the event convened by the Unitary Trade Union Center (CUT). They marched from their headquarters to the intersection of Alameda and Brasil Ave., where the main stage had been set up. Everybody was very enthusiastic. No incidents were reported.

Contact: marvin.largaespada@uniglobalunion.org



Thousands of Nurses Filled Public Squares in Peru

During the week that ended on May 1, thousands of nurses affiliated to the National Union of Nurses of the Health Social Insurance of Peru (SINESSS) gathered at the country’s public squares to protest a bill that aims at reducing their labor rights and promotes the radical transformation of the health care system by transferring it to the private sector, which, in practice, means fewer possibilities for Peruvians to have access to decent health care. The week of action concluded on Sunday, May 3 when these nurses successfully published a communiqué issued by the action front that supports them in national newspapers. The action front is made up of all Health Ministry nursing staff and all the staff of the armed forces and the police services of Peru.

Contact: jose.molina@uniglobalunion.org



Chilean Lottery Workers Question Layoffs

The workers of Polla Chilena de Beneficencia—a public institution that manages the lottery in Chile—have publicly questioned the labor policy being implemented by this state-owned agency, claiming that it contrasts with the approach of the Michelle Bachelet administration, which seeks to protect jobs and reduce layoffs in the current global economic downturn. In effect, the president has recently signed a National Agreement for Employment, Training and Job Protection, an initiative comprising six instruments to benefit 125,000 Chileans in the next twelve months. President Bachelet has stated that the Agreement seeks to protect jobs, reduce layoffs and maintain employment relationships. Additionally, it aims at creating the necessary conditions for workers to have more opportunities, for employers to opt for training rather than dismissals, and for companies facing difficulties to keep their employees and, at the same time, with the government’s support, offer quality training to improve their workers’ skills.

Contact: alberto.barrow@uniglobalunion.org



UNI says Donnelley must respect workers rights as it bids for Quebecor

UNI Global Union said today that printing multinational R.R. Donnelley & Sons must respect all the union agreements in place if it purchases competitor Quebecor World. Donnelley has made an offer to buy Quebecor for about $1.35 billion in cash and stock. UNI has a global agreement with Quebecor that ensures basic worker and union rights. UNI has a union network in Donnelley that connects workers around the world but so far Donnelley has refused to meet with UNI or its unions to discuss global issues. “We have a built good relationship with Quebecor and signed a global agreement and we will not accept any action from Donnelley that breaks unions or diminishes workers’ rights,” said Adriana Rosenzvaig, head of UNI Graphical. “During the financial crisis, customers will not accept union-busting tactics so we hope that any decisions Donnelly makes will be fair to all employees.” You can read Donnelly’s announcement of the Quebecor offer athttp://www.rrdonnelly.com/wwwRRD1/News/PressReleasesDoc.asp?RequestID=1287739

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Ramón Baldassini Re-elected at 59th FOECYT Congress

The 59th National Congress of FOECYT was held in the city of San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca from May 6 to 8. The delegates attending the Congress on behalf of the Federation’s member unions from all over the country unanimously approved the National Secretariat’s administration for fiscal year 2008 and, with 100% of votes cast, re-elected Ramón Antonio Baldassini as head of the Federation for the 2009-2013 period. The leadership team that will accompany Baldassini during this new term will be made up of: Omar Rodolfo Sans, Alberto Carlos Cejas, Juan C. Puglelli, Luis Ripari, Rubén Olivieri, Carlos Migoni, and José Del Giúdice. They will take office on May 14. UNI americas congratulates the new leaders of the Argentine postal workers and wishes them all the best in their positions.

Source: FOECYT prensa@foecytargentina.org



Ontario passes bill protecting temp workers

Temp agency workers will have more legal protections, including termination and severance pay, starting later this year after Ontario legislators passed a new law. According to the Labour Minister Peter Fonseca, the law will stop temp agencies from "unfairly" preventing workers from getting full-time jobs through fees charged when employers want to hire them and prohibit agencies from charging workers for help with resumés and preparing for job interviews. The legislation will also require agencies to provide workers with information about their assignment and employment standards rights. These new protections come into effect in six months. There are more than 700,000 people in Ontario working in temporary jobs, many through temporary help agencies. There are about 1,000 temporary help agencies currently operating in Ontario.

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UNI welcomes Quebecor World's wish to remain independent

On May 12, 2009, RR Donnelley & Sons Company announced an interest in acquiring all or substantially all of the assets and properties of Quebecor World Inc., currently in bankruptcy court reorganization proceedings, from Quebecor World’s debtors for about US$1.4 billion in cash and stock. The proposed combination of the two companies would create a global conglomerate with an estimated $16 billion in annual revenues, roughly eight times the size of the next largest competitor. The members of the UNI Graphical & Packaging Global Union, representing 150 graphic and printing labor organizations worldwide with a membership base of 828,000 workers, unanimously and vigorously support the emergence of Quebecor World from bankruptcy proceedings as an independent entity. A stand-alone, reorganized Quebecor World represents the best alternative for maintaining a competitive marketplace in the commercial printing industry, particularly in North America where RR Donnelley and Quebecor World combined represent about 50% of the market in a number of key product categories. In light of RR Donnelley’s poor history of collaboration with its employees, we strongly believe the existence of a viable competitor such as Quebecor World will ensure continued fair pricing for customers, free markets for regulators and improved job quality for workers.

For more information, please contact: adriana.rosenzvaig@uniglobalunion.org



Workers of Telefónica del Perú in Bargaining Process

The Single Workers’ Union of Telefónica del Perú (SUTTP) has reported that after a long struggle with the company, the Telefónica Multimedia Trade Union (STM) has recently signed a Collective Bargaining Agreement that is advantageous to the workers. SUTTP expects to successfully complete its negotiations. Other unions also expect to reach agreements: the Telefónica MOVISTAR Trade Union, SITTEPE in Atento, and SINNTEL in Telefónica for outsourced workers. A copy (in Spanish) of the signed collective agreement can be found in the Related Files tab.

Contact: cenise.monteiro@uniglobalunion.org



UNI americas Meets with Brazilian G Barbosa Retail Group

As part of the work program to be implemented in Cencosud Group, a UNI americas Commerce mission made up of, among others, Regional Director Márcio Monzane and UNI americas President Rubén Cortina, held a meeting with trade unionists from the Commerce sector on May 14 to talk about the importance of working in an integrated manner with other trade unions of Argentina, Chile, Peru and Colombia since the G Barbosa Group has recently joined the Cencosud Group—a Chilean multinational company that operates in these countries. During the second part of the mission, the UNI representatives visited the headquarters of G Barbosa Group, met with its President and invited him to maintain an ongoing dialogue with the unions to solve the current disputes and problems. A meeting will be held next week in Uspallata, Argentina, to set up the Hemispheric Alliance of Cencosud Group Workers.

Contact: marcio.monzane@uniglobalunion.org



New Attack on UNEB leaders in Colombia

On May 21, the leaders of the National Union of Bank Employees of Colombia (UNEB)—a fraternal trade union organization—reported a new attack against the Management Board, specifically a failed attempt to kidnap and almost certainly cause the disappearance of Bro. William Pareja, a UNEB leader and President of the Bank Workers’ Federation and prominent representative of the political party Polo Democrático Alternativo of Valle del Cauca. Once again, the Colombian trade union movement has fallen victim to paramilitary groups that spread distress and uncertainty, and by creating a situation of unsafety, prevent the exercise of democracy in Colombia. UNI reaffirms the need for Colombian authorities to definitely bring this situation under control and guarantee the free right of workers to organize in unions. The UNEB communiqué is available in Spanish in the Related Files tab.

Contact: marcio.monzane@uniglobalunion.org



Trade Union Observatory: Another Step towards Global Framework Agreements

On March 10 and 11, 2009, UNI americas launched activities and discussions with its affiliates in Panama City regarding the Trade Union Observatory of Spanish Multinational Companies. During the first joint activity, which was carried out with the support of ISCOD-UGT of Spain and its member unions, the need to continue encouraging the exchange of information and actions of both affiliates in the Americas and their counterparts in Spain was reasserted. The purpose of this project is to improve coordination in Spanish multinational companies that operate in the Americas, making it possible for Latin American unions to act swiftly to address potential problems and jointly come up with solutions. Unions from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Panama, Nicaragua and Guatemala representing workers in companies such as Endesa, Unión Fenosa, BBVA, Santander and Telefónica participated in this event. For more information, visit the Trade Union Observatory website at: www.observatoriosindical.org

Contact: marcio.monzane@uniglobalunion.org



Panamanian Postal Workers Draft Action Plan

On May 23, the Management Board of the Association of Post and Telegraph Employees of Panama (ASECOTEL) and numerous collaborators gathered on the premises of the UNI americas Regional Office to draft an Action Plan aimed at addressing the association’s future challenges under the new service provision policies. They worked in groups and discussed the most important actions to be undertaken by ASECOTEL, including an organizing plan to increase membership and find a place to set up an office where postal workers can meet whenever they need to do so.

Contact: cenise.monteiro@uniglobalunion.org



Panamanian Security Company Creates a “Company Union”

Urracá Security Agency, one of the many private security companies in Panama, has been repeatedly denounced by workers of the sector for a number of violations and abuses, such as charging workers for uniforms, not paying overtime as established by law, paying salaries late, and not complying with life insurance coverage requirements. The company has now set out to create a “company union”, that is, “a workers’ representation” controlled by management and serving the interests of the company. This is not the first time that this company tries to set up a union that defends its own interests. Already in 2008 it had submitted a “Direct Agreement” signed by a few dependable workers to the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development claiming that an understanding had been reached on a number of labor relations issues.

Contact: alberto.barrow@uniglobalunion.org



12 June 2009: 10 years fighting against Child Labour

The ILO reports that although much progress has been made during the last ten years, there is still a lot of work to be done, especially concerning the exploitation of girls in child labour. The organisation estimates that there are 100 million girls involved in child labour, and reports that these girls often endure additional hardships and face extra risks as compared to boys. The ILO also denounces that very often girls are required to work as unpaid domestic workers for their families as this form of work is traditionally allocated to girls, and also “to combine long hours of household chores with some form of economic activity outside the household presenting girls with a double burden. This can have a negative impact on any opportunity for school attendance and can present a physical danger to girls”. Many girls under the minimum age of employment around the world work in agriculture and in the manufacturing sector, frequently in dangerous conditions. The ILO states that “oftentimes this work is hidden from the public eye, leading to particular dangers and risks. The extreme exploitation of girls in the worst forms of child labour includes slavery, bonded labour, prostitution and pornography.”

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‘NEWS’ ALEARA’S Newsletter

We are pleased to present to you the Newsletter of the Gaming sector of the Americas administered by ALEARA. You can access the May 2009 issue of the publication entitled “News” by clicking on this news headline.

Contact: infointernacionales@aleara.com.ar



UNI CENCOSUD Union Alliance formed

On 28th and 29th May, 120 colleagues working in CENCOSUD form Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Peru met in Uspallata, Mendoza, Argentina to launch the regional UNI Commerce CENCOSUD Alliance. The Alliance will provide support for the ongoing negotiations with CENCOSUD for a global agreement and develop the capacity of the participating unions to build stronger unions by organising more workers and bargain collectively in order to improve conditions and workers’ right in all of CENCOSUDs’ workplaces. CENCOSUD is one of Latin-America’s largest public retailers of Chilean origin employing about 120.000 people and with a presence in Shanghai.

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UNI unions campaign globally for US Employee Free Choice Act

UNI’s member unions have started making visits to U.S. embassies around the world in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. Visits in Argentina and Japan in May will be followed with more visits planned all over the world in June. UNI is working with other Global Unions and the International Trade Union Confederation to provide global support to U.S. unions, who will only enjoy the same level of union rights as other democracies in the world when this bill is passed. On May 21 the UNI-Argentina Liaison Council visited the Embassy of the United States in Buenos Aires and met with Labour Attaché Heidi Gomez to express UNI and Argentine unions' support for the Employee Free Choice Act. The delegation was headed by the Liaison Council Coordinators Silvia Lopez and Eduardo San Roman and by UNI Americas President Ruben Cortina. NWJ (All NTT Workers Unoin of Japan, UNI affiliate) met with representatives from the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on May 28, where Tomoyasu Kato, President, NWJ urged the U.S. Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Robert F. Cekuta, Minister-Counselor, Economic Affairs at the U.S. embassy agreed to communicate this to Washington.

For more information on the Employee Free Choice Act, click here.



Contributions

Please, send your comments, suggestions, and contributions to the editor of Americas info via e-mail: mario.sanchez@uniglobalunion.org; via Fax (507) 317-0170; and by traditional post to P.O. Box 0819-06290, El Dorado, Panamá, Republic of Panamá.