May , 2014

UNI Americas beats the drums in the Property

Services Sector

In Bogota, on the 26th and 27th of March, the Property Services Sector was formally established in the Americas as a result of a process of consultation and dialogue with the region’s affiliates.

There were over one hundred participants at the Regional Conference of this sector of ongoing growth. Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, United States, Colombia, among others, gathered at this meeting, full of enthusiasm and persistence for growth.

During these two days of deliberations, the sector established its priorities and work plan and joined in solidarity a demonstration outside Prosegur. This mobilization set the tone of UNI Americas Property Services: present in the struggles of its affiliates and in their workplaces. Christy Hoffman, UNI’s Deputy General Secretary, said she was excited about the sector’s new phase in the Americas, a sector with exponential growth, with unacceptable conditions for workers and extremely precarious, as noted in the situation in Paraguay, Brazil and Colombia.

“I encourage the pursuit of global framework agreements with large employers and their implementation by putting pressure through global campaigns like Prosegur, and action plans based on the power of solidarity to find strategies that allow us to move forward in G4S, Brinks and Securitas, and cleaning companies operating locally and regionally" said Christy Hoffman. Meanwhile, Alice Dale, Global Head of the Sector, said the objectives in the sector are to command respect for the rights, to ensure the right to freedom of association in global agreements, and negotiate agreements to raise standards: permanent jobs, reasonable working hours, good benefits and decent wages.

Adriana Rosenzvaig, UNI’s Regional Secretary, reaffirmed the region’s commitment to develop work in this sector. "We are the invisible workers, our work is only seen when it is not done. But we are committed to fighting for the dignity of these workers, whose task is essential in all our communities".

After two days of discussions carried out in four groups, the Conference adopted a

work plan, which among other things established:

a) Union growth.

b) Union training and education.

c) Active participation at the meetings on the 28th of April, World Day for Safety and Health at Work, 1st of May, 15th of May, International Day of Fast food, 15th June, International Day of Justice (although postponed for the 16th of June due to the start of the World Cup), 25th of November (International Day of No violence against Women).

d) Platform for internet campaigns (forums, social networks).

e) Annual meeting to evaluate this work plan.

f) Comprehensive research in different companies on common issues facing these sectors.

Marvin Largaespada, Regional Director, congratulated participants on their work plan and said it was time to get down to work.

The Conference adopted a structure, consisting of one President and two Vice Presidentes. Rocio Saenz, SEIU-United States, was elected unanimously as President, and Moacyr Pereira of Fenascon Brazil and José Boaventura of CNTV Brazil, were elected unanimously as Vice Presidents.

"This is a great day for a sector that needs, perhaps more than any other, global action and international solidarity," said Rocio Saenz.

International demonstration against Prosegur abuses of its Colombian employees

More than 100 workers and trade unionists from the private security and cleaning sectors in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Paraguay, Costa Rica and Colombia will protest today in front of Prosegur’s Colombian headquarters in Bogotá.

• The Spanish company, and is Colombian management, are accused of not respecting the rights of its Colombian employees and committing criminal offenses.

• In 2013, UNI Global Union has denounced the actions of Prosegur in Colombia to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for failing to meet its requirements for multinational companies.

The Colombian branch of Spanish private security company Prosegur, will be the

subject of an international demonstration of more than 100 workers and trade unionists today at its headquarters in Bogotá.

In 2010, Prosegur was accused of paying a bonus of $4 million Colombian Pesos (US$ 2,000) to non-union workers to sign a "pacto colectivo", excluding its unionized employees. In 2014, Prosegur renewed the pacto colectivo and is accused of paying another bonus of $2 million Colombian Pesos (US$ 1,000) to non-union workers.

A pacto colectivo is a form of collective labor contract in Colombia for workers who do not belong to a union. After 2011, it became a criminal offense to offer a pacto colectivo superior to a collective agreement negotiated by a union. According to Article 200 of the Colombian Penal Code, managers of companies with pacto colectivos that are superior to union negotiated agreements could face one to two years in prison.

Currently there are two criminal complaints against Prosegur managers related to the use of Pacto Colectivos.

“It’s time for Prosegur to demonstrate some leadership in the private security sector and treat its workers with dignity. The workers and unions here today will not give up”, said Christy Hoffman Deputy General Secretary of UNI Global Union.

Adriana Rosenzvaig, Regional Secretary for UNI Americas said, “We are here today to say to Prosegur that we will continue to fight for the union and labor rights of Colombian workers. We believe in social dialogue, but if they will not listen we will continue fighting”.

17th Meeting of UNI Americas Steering Council On the 25th of March, the 17th Meeting of UNI Americas Steering Council was held in Bogota, Colombia, with the attendance also of the Presidents of all sectors.

Christy Hoffman, UNI Global Union’s Deputy General Secretary participated in the event and congratulated UNI Americas for the hard work and the progress made so far.

The meeting started with the evaluation of the 2013 work plan and the analysis of the achieved objectives. The Regional Secretary, Adriana Rosenzvaig, was first to take the floor, followed by the sector directors who presented their reports to the steering council.

Subsequently, there was a presentation of cases that exemplify the work of the

regional office and its affiliates. Representatives of unions and the corresponding regional directors spoke about the experience of CONANTRACOPS - Chile, the campaign developed in PROSEGUR and the consolidation of the Commerce Union of Colombia.

Then, the priorities for the current year were discussed and the work plan for 2014 was presented.

Finally, the preparations were adjusted for the 17th meeting of UNI Americas Executive Committee, and the agenda was set for the region’s participation at UNI’s World Congress in Cape Town, to be held in December this year.

A new milestone in Brazil: UNI signs global framework agreement with Banco Itaú

UNI Global Union and its affiliates from the Americas have signed an historic global agreement with the largest private bank in Brazil, Banco Itaú. Banco Itaú is a powerhouse in the Brazilian and Americas financial market and employees over 80,000 staff. UNI now has 51 global framework agreements with multinationals and leading companies around the world.

UNI Global Union’s General Secretary Philip Jennings said, “This global agreement is a significant breakthrough for our work in the finance sector. We have worked hand in hand with our affiliates and can be proud of our efforts.

Jenning was in Brazil last week to sign the agreement with the company.

The largest operations of the bank are located in five countries in South America: Brazil , Argentina , Paraguay , Uruguay, and Chile where the company recently purchased assets of the bank CorbBanca which has a branch in Columbia. Banco Itaú is also present in the USA, Portugal, Japan and Austria.

The affiliated unions from the five key countries - AEBU ( Uruguay ) , Union of Employees of Itau ( Paraguay ) , La Bancaria ( Argentina ) , SNTBI and CSTEBA (Chile ) , Contraf - CUT ( Brazil ) , Contec ( Brazil) celebrated this event as an extended family together with the UNI delegation including Adriana Rosenzvaig (UNI Americas Regional Secretary), Marcio Monzane (Head of UNI Finance) and Marcio André Luís Rodrigues (Director of UNI Americas Finance).

It took UNI and its affiliates nearly two years of intense negotiation with the company to reach this agreement which will now secure the fundamental rights of the ILO Convention, including the freedom of association and the right to organize as unions to conduct collective bargaining.

The agreement also guarantees non-discrimination on the basis of gender or race, while creating positive incentives for hiring indigenous people and disabled people.

The recognition of social dialogue is at the cornerstone of the agreement and now we have to put that that agreement to work.

The UNI Americas Finance Union will meet in June in Lima, Peru to look at the next stage of our work to achieve agreements with Latin American banks.

UNI Americas visits Chile’s new Minister of Labour A delegation comprising the President of UNI Americas, Ruben Cortina, the Director of the Commerce Sector, Eduardo San Roman, the President of Conatracops, Claudio Sagardías, and International Relations Secretary, Claudio Aravena, met with the new Minister of Labour, Ms. Javiera Blanco, part of President Michel Bachelet’s government which recently took office.

During the meeting, Ruben Cortina, described the regional and global work carried out by UNI. Among UNI’s objectives, he pointed out the relevance of the signing of the Global Framework Agreements with multinational companies. He highlighted the growing presence and expansion of retail companies with Chilean capital in the Americas. At the close of the meeting, a commitment was established between the two parties to finding proposals that promote the deepening of social dialogue between workers, employers and government. Also, Conatracops committed to presenting proposals on specific issues that are present in the new government’s work agenda.

"We must highlight the willingness of the Minister to continue working with UNI on concerns with the Chilean labour situation in all the sectors we represent", said Eduardo San Roman, Director of Commerce, UNI Americas.

UNI Graphical & Packaging and Kimberly-Clark Corporation Renew "Joint Statement"

The organizations agreed to extend their global dialogue another year based on the progress made in strengthening their relationship, with a goal of further strengthening regional union/management networks in 2014.

Members of UNI Graphical & Packaging and the K-C Union Network met with Senior Management Representatives of Kimberly-Clark in Atlanta. Representing UNI Graphical & Packaging were Andy Snoddy (Head of Department UNI G & P) and Marvin Largaespada (UNI Americas). The K-C Union was represented by: Michael Bolton, (USW); Tim Elliott and Adam Quinn (UNITE); Amnuay Lemraksa (Thailand); Franklin Angulo (Venezuela); Marcelo da Silva Cavalheiro Mendes and Pedro Flores de Oliveira (Brazil); Omar Martin (Colombia). Kimberly-Clark was represented by Bill Bombardier, Director Global Labor Relations and HR Vice President Ramiro Garces; Labor Attorney Jennifer Farley, and Brenda Page, Marie Ferrer, Paulo Henique, and Calvin Lyngdoh HR Directors.

The parties reviewed progress over the last year and again affirmed their commitment to maintaining a productive relationship based on proactive sharing of information and finding solutions to issues and opportunities associated with Corporate Social Responsibility and Workplace Rights. Additionally they agreed to set goals and track progress over the next year in the areas of supplier social compliance, regional representation, freedom of association and collective bargaining. The parties had previously met on seven occasions, since July 2008.

3 years failing to comply with the Obama-Santos Labour Action Plan

"Of the 37 measures that the Colombian government agreed to adopt (prior to the signing of the FTA with the US), 7 have not been implemented yet, and of the other 30 that were adopted, several can be classified as partial and insufficient" reads the report-assessment on the Obama-Santos Labour Action Plan presented this morning at a press conference by the Colombian union confederations, CUT and CTC, and the AFL-CIO, the main union confederation of the United States, with the technical support of the National Union School (ENS in Spanish) and the Colombian Action Network on Free Trade (Recalca in Spanish).

The report, which will also be presented at midday today to the US Congress by several Democratic legislators who are following up compliance with the LAP, clearly states that the Colombian government has been more interested in ingratiating itself with the US Government and Congress, than in adopting true public policies to transform the terrible labour and union situation in our country, which stands present with high levels of informality, outsourcing, job precariousness, union busting practices, union violence and impunity for crimes against unionists (73 murders during the LAP). These issues have persisted unchanged in the past 3 years, and even some setbacks have occurred.

In sum, the LAP has been of little benefit to Colombian workers and their unions.

The report is accompanied by a political statement that apart from the aforementioned union confederations, it is signed by the Workers' Union Confederation (USO in Spanish), IndustriALL-Americas, UNI-Americas UITA-Americas, ISP-Americas, the Colombia-Europe-United States Coordination, the Colombian Platform for Human Rights, Democracy and Development Chapter Colombia, Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), Latin America Working Group (LAWG), International Labour Rights Forum (ILRF), and Viva la Ciudadanía Corporation.

Read an executive summary of the report and the political statement here (only in Spanish):

http://ens.org.co/apc-aa-files/45bdec76fa6b8848acf029430d10bb5a/FOLLETO_DECLARACI_N_RESUMEN_EJECUTIVO.pdf

Read the full report here (only in Spanish):

http://ens.org.co/apc-aa-files/45bdec76fa6b8848acf029430d10bb5a/plan_de_acc_n_informe_completo.pdf

In the next report you will find the statement from the president of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka, and some reactions of U.S. congressmen.

Colombia: The birth of a union in Papeles Familia Sancela (SCA)

On the 22nd of February, 2014, a group of workers of Papeles Familia Sancela, a company owned by the Swedish multinational SCA, decided to form a union as a tool for defending their labour and social rights, and thus exercising the constitutional right to freedom of association.

This process has been accompanied by SINTRAPULCAR (National Union of Paper, Pulp and Cardboard Workers), UNI Global Union, and Industriall.

Industriall and Swedish SCA signed a Global Agreement through which the company undertakes to respect freedom of association and collective bargaining.

The Escuela Nacional Sindical (National Union School) is assisting with all legal and training actions of the workers’ representatives.

"We hope the company does not react as they do commonly in Colombia, with retaliation against workers; we want them to act with tolerance, sound judgement, and especially with social responsibility, as they do in their country of origin" said Marvin Largaespada and Carlos Bustos, representatives of UNI Americas and Industriall respectively.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the new union called on workers to massively join this new organisation in order to have strength and bargaining power.

"A few months ago we signed a collective agreement with Kimberly Clark in Colombia, and now we have taken the first step to organise Papeles Familia. This falls under UNI Americas’ decision to improve the lives of Packaging workers and their families by building strong and representative unions", said Adriana Rosenzvaig, Regional Secretary of UNI Americas.

Meeting of Commerce workers in Walmart Brazil On 7 May last, the Walmart Brazil network held another meeting. The venue this time was the headquarters of SENTACOS in Sao Paolo. Participants included representatives from CUT/Contracts, UGT, Força Sindical and CNTC, the National Federation of Commerce Workers. This was the first time CNTC attended such a meeting and they were given a very warm welcome.

Representatives from UNI Americas and UNI Global also attended the meeting: José Luís Oberto, President of UNI Americas Commerce; the UNI Regional Organising and Campaigns Director Benjamin Parton; and Trina Tocco, the UNI Global campaigns coordinator for Walmart.

Luis Hamilton, Vice President of UNI Americas Commerce and host of the meeting, welcomed participants. He was followed by the President of the sector, brother José Luis Oberto, who emphasised the importance of the network and the work it was doing en Brazil to unify the combat for the rights and interests of workers employed by the largest retailer in the world.

Key issues discussed during the meeting included: an evaluation of the implementation of the 2014 work plan up to the present date; the drawing up of a plan of activities for the next six months, as well as the planning of the World Alliance meeting to be held in Sao Paolo on 26 and 27 August of this year.

After the presentation of the status report, and the definition and discussion of the issues involved, sister Trina Tocco, the global campaigns coordinator for Walmart gave a presentation based on the figures presented by Walmart for its global business and the activities developed by UNI in various campaigns that are run each year. She also underlined the participation and solidarity shown in each instance by the UNI Walmart Brazil network.

Training of young union promoters: For more Decent Work

From the 26th of May to the 25th of July, the distance course for young union members will be held.

The course will be developed by ACTRAV from the ILO Regional Office and the ILO International Training Centre in Turin, in coordination with CSA and UNI Americas Youth.

The purpose of this course is to disseminate and promote the concept of Decent Work in young union members, so they know their rights and responsibilities, thereby promoting a society that is more just, democratic and with more solidarity, bringing youth and future workers closer to the unions.

As this is a distance learning phase to be developed virtually with the support of the technological platform for union distance training of ACTRAV-ILO and "Decent Work Schools", the participants must have basic computer skills.

Start of the Tutoring program for UNI women union members

On the 14th and 15th of April, in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the first Tutorial program for Women Union Members was held. This program’s objective is to build a strong network of young union members in the regions and increase the number of young women in unions.

This initiative falls in line with the resolution adopted at Nagasaki, with UNI’s commitment to reach 40% female representation in all decision-making structures, and aims to achieve the same in affiliated unions. It also seeks to promote women leadership and organise more women in unions, in line with the objectives of the "Breaking Through" 2014 - 2018 strategic plan.

The meeting’s opening words were spoken by UNI Americas Women’s President, Alejandra Estoup, Verónica Fernández Méndez, Head of UNI Equal Opportunities, and Adriana Rosenzvaig, UNI Americas Regional Secretary.

The program proposes working in teams, or groups of two women from each union, one sister with local and international union experience, and a young sister from the same union who wants to be trained in the international union field and undertakes to work long-term in the program.

Some of the main topics discussed during the first day were: UNI Global Union and the international labour movement, international organisations and the situation of unions nationwide. On the second day, additional materials were given and dates of future meetings were set.

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