Jul 9, 2024
For the first time in Iraq’s Hawija District, women were elected to leadership positions in a new union they helped organize and form.
In May, 185 male and female agricultural workers in Iraq’s Hawija, located in Kirkuk Province, voted to form the Farmers’ Union for the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI). Four women won leadership positions, including president, secretary to the president, vice president and financial secretary.
Formation of the union followed participation by members of the FWCUI in a Solidarity Center organizing training in October 2023. Training participants began educating workers and organizing workers’ committees.
Women played an essential role in organizing and raising awareness. Marginalized in their work, subjected to wage exploitation and excluded from social security and occupational health and safety education, many women saw belonging to a union as their best chance for representation and protection from workplace abuses.
Women workers faced many injustices compared to their male coworkers, including termination for taking maternity leave, long working hours and exposure to harmful chemicals and fertilizers without health and safety training or protections. The FWCUI and the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) held seminars with women to address their concerns and educate them about union organizing to advocate for their rights as workers. These discussions on gender-based violence and harassment, cultural and social barriers, and social security and occupational health and safety raised interest among women in organizing a union to give them a voice to advocate for fair treatment and safer working conditions.
The impact of climate change and the environmental stress of extreme heat also led workers to organize their union. Iraq is experiencing a heatwave, with temperatures rising above 50 C (120 F), exacerbating already strenuous working conditions for agricultural workers. High temperatures and water scarcity have also led to land desertification, reducing job opportunities for agricultural workers.
Before occupation by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Hawija district was a prosperous agricultural center. It produced wheat, barley, corn, vegetables and fruit that fed people in all corners of the country. Most of its approximately 450,000 residents were small farmers and owners of small agriculture-related businesses.
The ISIS occupation led to widespread human suffering and destroyed Hawija’s infrastructure and the livelihoods of its residents. Farmers lost most of their tools and essential crops at the height of the conflict.
In September 2017, the district was finally reclaimed from militant control. Facing the destruction wrought by the conflict and lacking other job opportunities, most of the population returned to agriculture to make a living and provide for their families.
Jun 26, 2024
Guatemalan union leader Anastacio Tzib Caal was shot and killed on June 15 in a targeted murder in the municipality of Villa Canales, outside of Guatemala City. Anastacio dedicated his life to improving working conditions in Guatemala’s apparel sector. He was recently elected general secretary of the SITRATEXPIA II union at SAE-A Trading’s Texpia II apparel factory, which produces garments for several global brands, including Gap, Carhartt, Target and Walmart. The murder comes after a resurgence in calls for violence against labor leaders at the factory three months after the union had initially engaged with the company management to respond to earlier threats.
The ITUC has again rated Guatemala as one of the 10 worst countries in the world to be a worker, with more than 111 murdered trade unionists since 2004.
Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau offered this statement:
“The Solidarity Center condemns the June 15 murder of Anastacio Tzib Caal and extends its deepest condolences to his family, the two children he leaves behind, and his union sisters and brothers in SITRATEXPIA II.
“The assassination of General Secretary Tzib Caal comes after repeated death threats against union leaders at the factory. The Solidarity Center stands with the leaders of SITRATEXPIA II in calling for a robust investigation of the perpetrators of this heinous crime under the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against Trade Unionists.
“Threats against union activists and violence against elected union leaders stand in direct contradiction to the principles of worker rights and empowerment.
“The Solidarity Center urges buyers like Gap and Target to redouble their commitments to freedom of association and collective bargaining with their suppliers; support the union’s proposed labor-management plan to counter the perception, brought on by the assassination, that union activism is synonymous with death; and maintain their commitments to creating good jobs in Guatemala in partnership with SAE-A Trading.
“The support we are seeing across the global labor movement for the new Arévalo administration’s commitment to workers’ human rights gives us hope for a future where workers can exercise their rights without fear of violence.”
Jun 24, 2024
Over 200,000 members and allies of the LGBTQIA+ community in Quezon City, Philippines, marched to push for passage of the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) anti-discrimination bill.
The proposed measure seeks to ensure the fundamental right of all Filipinos to access essential services, job opportunities, health care, safety and legal recourse.
BPO Employees Gays, Lesbians and Allies for Genuine Acceptance and Democracy (Be Glad) joined the protest for equality, along with several call center groups, various human rights organizations and youth, government and faith-based networks.
The group also pushed back against the legislated push for economic constitutional reform, which may allow 100% foreign ownership of strategic industries, including the booming business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, which includes call centers.
Be Glad shared in a statement, “BPO workers are at risk with the changes made in the constitution through charter change, as this will allow for unbridled race-to-the-bottom wages in the BPO industry and in other industries as well.”
May 7, 2024
Garment workers in Cebu province’s economic processing zones face an uphill battle in their fight for better working conditions as their factories push back using anti-union tactics, including the firing of union leaders.
Globalwear Manufacturing, Inc., terminated Alan Esponga, Association of Globalwear Employees’ Union PIGLAS (AGSEU-PIGLAS) president, citing excessive absences. Esponga says he was denied leave during a personal emergency to create an excuse to dismiss him.
AGSEU-PIGLAS and its sister union, Globalwear Employees’ Union PIGLAS (GEU-PIGLAS), represent over 2,000 workers manufacturing for brands like Nike and Under Armour.During two certification elections, management also used unfair tactics to try to sway the vote against the union, including offering financial incentives to vote against the union and threatening factory closure if the unions won.
The overt attempts to undermine union organizing and bargaining create fear among the workforce., Victorio Evaribto, union president at Vertex1 Apparel Phils., Inc., another Under Armour supplier, says, “Our young workforce, many of whom support families back home, fear losing their jobs if they join the union.”
Evaribto says the company’s human resources department has discouraged new employees from joining a union, warning them against exercising their right to freedom of association.
However, union leaders remain hopeful in the thick of challenges and persistent in inviting co-workers to orientations on the benefits of unionization.
“We want to dispel the myth that unions are bad or illegal,” said Lucil, president of a budding union at another garment factory in Cebu, emphasizing the goal of creating a more balanced relationship between management and workers.
“Understanding our rights empowers us to fight for them,” added Erlinda Bardenas, GEU-PIGLAS president. “Together, through our union, we can achieve this.”
May 6, 2024
More than 200 Filipino app-based delivery riders banded in a unity ride around Cebu province in late April, protesting 150M pesos (approximately $2.6 million) in wage theft.
Riders from Cebu filed a case against the multinational delivery app, Grab, in March, citing reductions in benefits and pay for deliveries due to “double bookings,” when a rider picks up more than one order but is only credited for a single delivery.
“Grab isn’t paying the proper income they rightfully owe us. This is wage theft,” said Naohde Vayson, National Union of Food Delivery Riders (RIDERS-SENTRO) Cebu president. “We’re fighting for respect and decent jobs.”
RIDERS-SENTRO launched its seventh chapter in the province in April. Nationwide, its members are working to be recognized and negotiate with Grab and other multinational delivery app companies for decent wages and benefits.
Many delivery and ride-hailing companies continue to use “partnership” agreements as a loophole to avoid providing comprehensive social insurance and benefits to its workers.
As one of the largest chapters of RIDERS-SENTRO in the Philippines, Vayson said they aim to grow membership. The union’s subchapter for riders delivering for Foodpanda, another multinational delivery platform, is expected to launch later this year.
“We continue to encourage more riders to join our union for a stronger voice against Grab’s unfair practices,” Vayson added.
