...the call of the millions...

we are nothing and we should be everything....this is the call of the millions

THE QUESTION OF POWER

55 MILLION VERSUS CAPITAL

FEATURES: IndustriALL - the merger of all mergers p2; the miners tale p3; core standards p4 the millions in action p5; organising p6; solidarity interview p7; international women p9

...the call of the millions...

ITGLWF + ICEM + IMF = INDUSTRIAL

The union merger is a phenomenon we have grown used to at national level think of all the organisations that make up today's Unite the Union in the UK.
At the international level these mergers are rarer. But we are witnessing the birth of a massive new one, bringing together three global union federations that represent 55 million workers across the manufacturing sector of the global economy in the textile and garment, chemical, energy, mining and metalworking sectors. These are all big goals, that will require On paper that's a formidable force to pit against industriALL to combat the interests of the multinationals plus all the governmental organs the world's multinationals. So what are the committed to the neo-liberal agenda. Their possibilities? founding action plan recognises this political challenge, and calls for another model of Their founding congress in June 2012 globalization to provide economic and social identified some key priorities: justice and solidarity.

ORGANISING TO DOUBLE THEIR NUMBERS CAMPAIGNING AGAINST PRECARIOUS WORK CREATING A COUNTERWEIGHT TO THE POWER OF GLOBAL CAPITAL FIGHTING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.
ARGUING FOR A LIVING WAGE
July 2012: Garment workers protest in Turkey against dismissal for joining industriALL affiliate Deri-Is.

Obviously their opponents aren't going to hang around until industriALL gets bedded in. The multinationals and neo-liberal governments are on the attack all the time. Look at the case of the mining sector. We find miners under attack from Spain to Mexico....................................

..the call of the millions...

....THE MINERS TALE

All readers of COTM will know of the epic 20 percent of globally struggle of the UK miners against the Thatcher government in the 1980s. In today's manufactured products are now made in China. global economy with its neo-liberal policy framework, miners everywhere are coming 326 million pairs of shoes were under pressure to defend their rights and made at Yue Yuen, the world's futures...... In Spain, coalminers walked out on 31 May in response to the removal of government subsidies that threaten thousands of jobs. Victims of worldwide austerity measures, the miners have mounted a determined resistance across areas of the country, in the face of state repression. One impressive feature of the strike was the outpouring of international solidarity in the UK see http://smscuk.blogspot.co.uk/. (For photos of the struggle see page 5) In Mexico, the copper miners of the Cananea region have been engaged in a long-running dispute with their employer Grupo Mexico. There is a lengthy story here, involving concerted state and employer actions against the miners union, Los Mineros, culminating in the exile of their leader in Canada. It is now into its fifth year, one of the longest running disputes ever in the Americas.
For the full story see David Bacon's report http://www.inthesetimes.org/working/entry/13220/fighting _for_the_right_to_a_union_and_to_stay_in_mexico/

THE WORLD OF WORK IN NUMBERS

largest footwear manufacturer in 2011. But who has heard of them?

0 trade unions have ever been

established in the Filipino Mactan Economic zone since its establishment in 1979. Sadly this isn't the only special production zone where this unhappy statistic is true.

2.4 million children are still living

under the curse of child labour in the Philippines.

65 / 34 sums up the plight of

Adidas workers in Indonesia. They work up to 65 hours per week, for as little as 34 pence an hour......

20

years have passed since the

last collective bargaining agreement in the Nicaraguan banana industry. A new one was signed by the Chinandega Banana Workers Union Federation in April this year.

..the call of the millions...

Core standards
The world now relies on gadgets ipad, iphone, ipod, iwhoknows.
Apple Inc, leading player in mobile IT equipment, has recently become the world's most valuable company through the 'gadgetisation of everyday life'. Is this simply a story of innovation and technical excellence? You know it isn't: for every high-tech leap forward in the Silicon Valley there are millions of low tech assemblers of iproducts, sweating away in the Foxconn factories on mainland Fast forward to 2012 and problems remain. China. SACOM uncovered evidence of the forced hiring of unpaid students (as 'interns') and the The Apple story isn't your average sweatshop continuation of long shifts where workers must saga. The expose of the Foxconn regime in stand up at all times and cannot talk. 2010 revealed a number of worker suicides at their factories, people unable to stand Stung into action Apple announced an (literally) their punishing labour regime. independent audit of its suppliers by the Fair Anti-suicide netting was even put up to deter Labor Association. You can read about this at others! http://makeitfair.org/en/the-facts/news/investigationinto-apple-supplier-foxconn-confirms-abusive-labourconditions

Latest investigations by SACOM still show the long overtime culture in force, health and safety concerns, and abusive management practices for the islaves. ....and one more thing..... It is thanks to the Hong-Kong based NGO SACOM that we know of the situation in the Apple supply chain. They have produced a number of reports, which you can find at http://sacom.hk/

'workers everywhere have the right to a safe and fair work environment'.
So says Tim Cook, new Apple CEO. If workers had the right to form their own trade union in China, we might even believe him.

the millions in action

images from SPAIN 2012

..the call of the millions...

International solidarity is a great aspiration 'workers of the world unite'. But what in concrete, practical terms does it involve?

There have been many battles and organising struggles along the way.
Most recently the alliance has had a notable success at the DMI auto-parts plant in Mexico, where a FAT affiliate, STIMAHCS, has successfully won the right to represent the workforce., supported by UE action.

There are many actors and organisations practising international solidarity global union federations, NGOs, national union federations, single union projects, cross-border alliances and web-based networks. Equally there are a number of strategies and tactics in operation international framework agreements, supply chain organising, corporate campaigning, email actions, capacity building. At COTM we will be looking at all these. As a start, let's look at the long-standing crossborder strategic alliance of two small independent union bodies America's United Electrical and Radio workers (UE) and Mexico's Authentic Labor Federation (FAT).

FAT and UE members share concerns during their recent meeting at DMI. ( Photo: UE News summer 2012)

ORGANISING AND CROSS-BORDER SOLIDARITY

The case of the UE and FAT
A visit from STIMAHCS members to their DMI UE They have been working together for 20 years now to support each others organising efforts on Local 715 colleagues in Ohio took place this year. Grass-roots exchanges are central to the alliance: both sides of the border.

The mainspring for this whole project was the increasingly global nature of capitalist production and the shifting of work across the border, bound up with the onset of NAFTA. Rather than turn to protectionist responses 'the Mexicans have stolen our jobs' US unions like the UE set out to build a common platform of workers rights and solidarity with Mexican workers, linking up with the FAT.

In the Ohio DMI plant they make the same auto parts as we do in our plant in Mexico, said Hilario Maldanado of STIMAHCS. On this visit we saw that we shared many things, above all common problems, Maldanado continued. We could also see the differences that exist between workers at the same company but in different countries. This helped us to understand that workers should be united and that companies should not be able to play games with our needs in different countries.

...the call of the millions...

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

We are featuring a leading internationalist in each edition of the call of the millions. Here's Peter Hall-Jones from New Unionism: WHY DOES INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MATTER?

Above all else, because it's what members want. This is not an optional extra. International solidarity has been right at the heart of the union movement since the first wave of new unionism of the 1880s, and it's never been stronger than it is today. The New Unionism Network ran a global survey of union values for five years, from January 2007 to January 2012, asking people to identify their Top 10 values for the movement. Solidarity was identified as the primary value by far (78% of respondents). Perhaps more importantly, when you looked at the rankings, it's absolutely clear that people are wanting their union to look across the group, rather than catering for the narrow interests of individuals. And with globalisation, of course, the group doesn't stop at border. Other studies have confirmed this. Genuine solidarity is the key to becoming a truly representative and democratic union. Union officials who promote business unionism aren't getting this, even though history has been hammering them for it since the 1980s. They promote the financial benefits of union membership as if they were running an ailing small business... People who ignore internationalism are missing the main lesson of globalisation (as well as betraying their members). The real challenge for unions today is get past the formalistic internationalism that developed during the 20th century. We need to restructure around deeper international links at the membership base, rather than just sending the occasional union official off to a conference. Its about building associational forms along network lines, rather than piling up more levels on our organisational base. On the bright side it's happening anyway, thanks to the revolution in social networking. Union officials may not be leading the charge, but you can bet they are watching and learning. I think Dan Gallin of the Global Labour Institute put it best when he said "The network is the vanguard".

HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED?

I grew up in New Zealand during the great kiwi experiment with neo-liberalism. It was a tough time. I was very lucky to become involved in the unemployed workers' movement, and through that met a lot of great activists, especially the Maori members, who really knew what solidarity was. It was about sharing your chips without being asked, as well as protesting against apartheid. It was about helping each other keep some crappy car on the road, or letting friends-of-friends crash in your lounge after they'd been evicted. From there to organising for economic democracy is quite a small step, actually.

YOU ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON THE NEW UNIONISM PROJECT HOW DO YOU SEE ITS FUTURE PROSPECTS?
At present there are only about 700 of us from 50 countries - but it's an inspiring group. I think this is because we've come together around what we are FOR, rather than what we are against. As a result, we don't have those hoary old arguments about reform vs revolution and the like. Nor do we pretend to represent the one true path. We are united on wanting to see work democratised, for instance, but that doesn't mean we need a formal policy on wildcat strikes or social partnership. And because its a network rather than an organisation, I don't pretend to speak for any other member, or vice versa. This means we tend to come together around projects, rather than programmes. We've built a global unions database (www.younionize.info) and we've got (I believe) the world's largest database on union membership. The next step is to find the killer app - the project that brings together the potential of networking with the concrete needs of union organisation.

the call of the millions... WHAT ARE THE MAJOR OBSTACLES TO INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY?

Thomas Pynchon once said "If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." The dominant narrative has it that unions are in decline. Convinced by this, union officials in rich countries have spent a whole generation trying to shore up their structures along commercial lines. "How can we ensure that union membership is worth more than the cost of fees?" It's the wrong question, and it leads to a kind of business unionism that workers don't particularly care for. For a start, as the New Unionism Network has proven, if you look at the union movement internationally it has been growing for most of this century. The real problem for rich countries is how to organise a transformed work force. Again and again, the question needs to be "What do workers want?" And, of course, a part of this question is "What do the members want"? Network member Richard B Freeman has done lots of brilliant work in this area, across a number of countries, but unions need to make this question their own. International solidarity needs to come from this discussion, rather than policy discussions at board level.

CAN THE WORKERS OF THE WORLD RECLAIM THEIR RIGHTS?

Reclaim? I think we tend to think of the labourism of the 20th century as if it were some kind of default setting. In reality, it was an anomaly resulting from a series of horrific wars. Let's go back a bit further. The French revolution did a fairly good job of launching social and political democracy, but it didn't democratise economics. Instead, they took wealth from the aristocracy and handed it over to the rising investor class. A rights-based approach doesn't bring this into question. Nor does it seek to change the master-servant relationship at work. At heart, it's an argument for fair and equal exploitation, rather than occupational citizenship. Now, I don't mean to imply its not a worthy and critical struggle! A lot of our members have invested their lives in this, and they deserve our utmost respect, because rights are crucial markers. But in the struggle for rights, it's the struggle that is most significant.

ANY ADVICE FOR ACTIVISTS LOOKING TO GET INVOLVED IN INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY?

The most important thing? Join a union! It amazes me how many people on the left forget this most fundamental step. This is your necessary contribution to building the base. It's the bottom line. However, we also need to admit that, in itself, this probably wont be enough for a lot of people. So hey, join the New Unionism Network too! Do some research on the Occupy phenomenon. Become a correspondent for Labourstart. Find an NGO that fits you. Start a new one. Sign up to a political party. Set up a group on Change.org, use MeetUp to build a local presence. Remember Gallin's words: "The network is the vanguard". Find as many places and as many ways as you can to link to the network. In doing so, you'll be making the whole labour movement stronger. The rest is just time and algorithms

...the call of the millions...

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN MARTHA OJEDA

Who are the role models for female trade unionists today? Too often when we think of this, reference is made to long departed figures. But there are contemporary equivalents and Martha Ojeda is one of them. Duly removed from her position, Martha began organizing an independent union at the plant, and forced the running of an election to decide which union would represent the Sony workers. The insurgents won or so they thought. CTM leaders then declared themselves the winners prompting a strike by the enraged workforce Cowed back to work by state violence, the workers returned except Martha who was now being hunted for her activity, and had to flee across the border to Texas, hidden in a car. From the USA Martha continued her work, supporting the rights of the Sony workers to gain independent union representation. She then became the first Mexican to lead the Coalition for She began her union activity in the Justice in the Maquiladoras, a workers Sony factory at Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, rights organization active throughout and rose to become head of the CTM the US - Mexico border region. local, winning a number of improvements for workers at the plant. Here she ran Pretty impressive we think. into opposition from the union Find out more via the CJM website leadership, who had established a http://coalitionforjustice.info/home/ series of 'protection contracts' with local employers, where they guaranteed and in David Bacon's book 'The Children labor peace in exchange for a place on of NAFTA'. the payroll.