1

we are nothing but we should be everything: this is the call of the millions...
Issue 3: Dec 2012

Tackling The Big Guns

Features:

Chinese Workers P2 At A Wal-Mart Near You P4 The Millions In Action P6 Solidarity And Global Frameworks P7 International Women P8 Anti-Austerity Pictureboard P9

1 the call of the millions...

An Eye On China
Made in China? 20% of all manufactured goods are, including over a half of PCs and mobile phones. We've heard the stories of shocking working conditions in its garment,toy and IT assembly plants. So what about the Chinese workers then is theirs only a tale of woe? Or can the new proletarians of this economic powerhouse do anything about their situation? Thanks to the series of reports from the Hong Kong based NGO China Labour Bulletin, we have an unparalleled eye on events unfolding.....

The workers and the unions The new Chinese proletarians are mostly migrant workers over 150 million people now work outside their home county. For some this is a transient state of affairs: they shift between factory and field as economic fortune dictates. Others are fully urban based, but retain migrant status under the 'hukou' household registration system, which denies residency rights to those of rural origin. It is the young urban strata of this mass, 'second generation' migrants, that are leading the recent labour protests. Better educated than their parents, with no agricultural ties, they are less tolerant of employer abuses and make good use of new ICTs to coordinate and publicise their struggles. Economic downturn and recurrent labour shortages have amplified their voices. And labour protests are on the rise. New waves of conflict have swept across the export processing zones in the last decade, made most vivid to us in the Honda dispute of 2010 and the recurrent problems at Foxconn, but going far wider. Longer running disputes in the state owned enterprise sector, concerning privatisation and job losses are still simmering too. Strikes, walkouts and road blocks are the favoured forms of protest.

the economic boom town of Shenzen

First a bit of background. China has changed massively over the last 30 years. The old collective economy has been dismantled and privatised, displacing millions of workers and peasants, who have migrated to the cities and the eastern seaboard to find work. Here they function as a huge surplus labour pool for incoming foreign capital in the 'export processing zones' open to super exploitation, harsh labour conditions and restrictions on residency. These changes have stripped workers and peasants of their old securities and social supports, leaving them 'naked before the market' and increasingly desperate enough to fight back. China is now the second largest economy in the world, but its success has been built on the sweat of a newly formed proletariat. Economic recession has created extra instability: the price of china's reintegration into the capitalist world economy.

Construction Workers

2 the call of the millions...

An Eye On China
These struggles are occurring outside the control and influence of China's official and sole trade union federation, the ACFTU. Although 209 million members strong, the ACFTU is not able to represent workers effectively, operating under the strict control of the state and acting more as a agent of social containment. It has no genuine plant-level presence and undertakes no collective bargaining. Instead it signs agreements with private companies to set up 'enterprise unions' that fall under management control. Workers confronting exploitation and abuse on a daily basis are forced to take matters into their own hands and bring their concerns to the attention of the local authorities, through mass actions like roadblocks, to get their grievances heard.

So what does the future hold?

Real progress has been made over the last decade by Chinese workers, even without the legal rights to strike, bargain collectively or organise outside of the ACFTU. Through their independent action they have won some significant improvements in pay and conditions proving that manufacturers can accommodate large wage increases, and are vulnerable to disruption along their supply chains (especially in the automobile industry). Enterprise unions are now being rejected, with workers electing their own representatives and engaging in plant-level bargaining. In some instances they have won big gains (e.g. at Nanhai Honda and Atsumi Metal). This action has laid down the basis for the genuine plant-level collective bargaining currently missing from the Chinese economy. Workers need their voices to be heard, through democratically run grassroots unions, if the current power imbalance between capital and labour is to be shifted in their favour.

Strikers At Nanhai Honda 2010

The state and the future The Chinese state has itself made some shifts in its policy of maintaining social control in the face of the protests. Strikes and demonstrations have been tolerated, and the use of coercive force reserved for more serious 'mass incidents'. Co-optation is evident, as local authorities increase minimum wages to try and buy off low-paid workers, and also intervene in disputes to help workers win wage arrears. Labour conflict is reflected in official media a move forced on the party by the rise of social and commercial media.

For much more on Chinese labour struggles, look up the China Labour Bulletin at www.clb.hk.org

3 the call of the millions...

Wal-Mart : From Warehouse Blues to Black Friday

Globalisation is generally reckoned to be bad news for workers and their unions: the global rearrangement of production across far-flung supply chains proving difficult for nationally based trade unions to contest. But the new system has its own vulnerabilities, especially at its key distribution points. Such as the modern warehouses through which millions of tonnes of goods pass from the global south to western consumers. Unions have been looking at how best they can organise these strategically important groups of workers. They are up against some big opponents none bigger than the mega retailer Wal Mart.

Organising for justice

One current project dedicated to supporting this workforce is Warehouse Workers for Justice, an Illinois-based workers centre. They have been at the centre of a dispute that rocked Wal Mart and boosted the belief that workers united can stand up to the largest multinationals and win.

At the Elwood warehouse (Wal-Mart's largest), WWJ members walked out in September for a 3 week strike against wage theft and retaliation against workers daring to protest and organise around their working conditions. With support from local community and labour organisations the WWJ group even managed to shut down the warehouse and force Wal-Mart to agree an end to its practice of illegal retaliation. Around the same time in the Inland Empire workers struck another Wal-Mart warehouse, then staged a 6 day 'Walmarch' to Los Angeles.

Aerial view of the Inland Empire zone near LA

Interesting times were ahead.

In America, massive clusters of warehouses outside Chicago and Los Angeles now serve as national import centres for the likes of Wal Mart, Cosco, Home Depot and Target. These structures can handle up to an incredible 70,000 containers a day and cover an area of 1 million square feet. In the Chicago area there are around 150,000 warehouse workers now, with half a billion square feet devoted to the storage and transmission of goods. Clearly these are vital cogs in modern corporate supply chains.
Victorious WWJ members

4 the call of the millions...

Wal-Mart is the largest employer in the US (over 1.3 million workers) and the biggest obstacle to trade union organising. Efforts by the retail union UFCW to organise stores (there are over 4000 across the country) have failed in the face of employer opposition. An antiunion culture is deep-rooted within WalMart. Extensive workforce monitoring, a dedicated 'labour relations' staff and the dismissal of pro-union workers have all kept the corporation union free. Unions and their allies have had more success blocking the spread of Wal-Mart stores to particular areas and cities.

Black Friday

All that was only a prelude to 23 November, Black Friday. OUR Walmart called for a one day nationwide walk-out of all stores. And that is exactly what they got, despite the employer trying legal manouevres to ban the protests as illegal picketing. An estimated 1000 protests covering 46 states took place although Wal-Mart put the numbers rather lower, claiming only 26 protests involving a total of 50 workers. Check out the Our Walmart Flickr page to judge for yourself: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ourwalmart/

So the events of 2012 have proved historic. Wal-Mart workers (known as 'associates') set up their own organisation last year, 'OUR Walmart', and have built support steadily. Hot on the heels of the warehouse disputes, the 'associates' themselves sprung into action and walked out of a number of stores in October. Their list of discontents is long: forced unpaid overtime, erratic scheduling and insufficient hours, plus company retaliation against those who dare to speak out against existing wrongs.

What happens next then? The employer dismissed the protests as having no impact on its usual sales, and retaliations against Wal-Mart protesters continue. Well we can't be sure, but the Wal-Mart 'associates' now have shown their power. We will be following up on this in future issues; in the meantime look up Our Walmart at: http://forrespect.org/

'

5 the call of the millions...

The Millions In Action: Chinese Workers Protests 2012

Many Thanks To China Labor Watch For The Photos. See More At Www.chinalaborwatch.org

6 the call of the millions...

International Solidarity And Global Frameworks

In the repertoires of cross-border
union activity, the global framework agreement (GFA) is one of the most ambitious and far-reaching. They are a set of rules regulating a corporation's labour practices, agreed between a multinational and national / international union bodies. Most have appeared in the last decade and are especially associated with the work of the global union federations (GUFs). The most recent of these, IndustriALL, has around 40 live agreements. (check out their website for full details: http://www.industriall-union.org/) GFAs look to commit employers to follow the International Labour Organisation's Core Standards, to cover all employees within a multinational's supply chain, and include monitoring mechanisms to track their effectiveness. Although they fall short of being a genuine collective bargaining agreement, they are seen as significant in creating a space for unions to organise, campaign and negotiate with the employer on the ground over the regulations their agreement contains. were conducting an organising drive just after IndustriALL had signed a GFA with the company. One of the GUFs, the International Union of Food workers (IUF) has sought additional concords around trade union rights so-called 'Labour Recognition Agreements' with multinationals in its sector to address these obstacles. Whatever their current shortcomings, COTM welcomes these initial efforts at global agreements between trade unions and the most powerful economic forces in today's global economy. We hope to report on the achievement of stronger, more encompassing frameworks in future.

Protesters in Disguise: Spanish Telefonica Workers

Its fair to say, not everyone is convinced

of the effectiveness of these new mechanisms. Some feel they are too weak. The GFA does depend heavily on the efforts of lower-level unions to deliver its promise. In certain areas of the world economy, where multinational affiliates are hostile to trade unions (the likes of Latin America) this is a major issue. Even in the US, agreements with multinationals are prone to subversion as seen in the recent struggles with Siemens's union busting in their Maryland plant where the United Steel Workers

7 the call of the millions...

International Women: The Honduran Womens Collective

There aren't many good news stories on labour rights in Honduras. The same is true of womens rights. Which makes the tale of the Honduran Womens Collective one to tell.... This group has its origins in the rapid growth of the country's maquila economic zone, where garment production has boomed in recent times. Conditions for its young female workforce are tough the familiar mix of long hours, dangerous work, sexual discrimination and harassment. Ultimately the collective found itself acting on the national stage of law and policy, aiming to bring about fundamental changes to the whole situation. Pioneering proposals to reform the country's Labour Code to recognise the rights of women's health and safety at work were brought forward to the national Congress. In 2009 the political coup in the country led to the collective becoming more involved in issues of national politics, as part of the widespread opposition. Along the way the women of the collective have won the respect of trade unions in the country, and built international support for their cause, including alliances with the GMB union and War on Want in the UK.

The collective (known as CODEMUH) came together to challenge this but found little support for the cause of womens occupational health and safety in a deeply patriarchal culture and society. So, in time honoured fashion, they set about fixing it themselves... The history of the collective is one of gradual progression from building women's self esteem to wider action. Efforts to win redress for violations of working women's rights have been at the heart of HWC, as has a commitment to put the members of the collective themselves in the driving seat of campaigning, research and negotiating with employers and official bodies.

Read their full story at: http://www.waronwant.org/about-us/publications (look for Women's Rights Women's Resistance)

8 the call of the millions...

Anti-Austerity Activism: November 15 2012

And finally.....we couldn't let this issue go without acknowledging the historic anti austerity strikes and protests across Europe on November 15. Here's a few images of this unprecedented international workers action....

9 the call of the millions...