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Trade Union Actionsto Promote
Environmentally SustainableDevelopment
Publication does not constitute endorsement by the ILO. You are invited to copy, excerpt,adapt, and translate the materials for non-commercial purposes, and to make them ap-propriate for your education and training activities. The ILO, however, does not acceptresponsibility for such republication.
Please acknowledge the source and send a copy of the reprint to the ILO Bureau forWorkers’ Activities.
While every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders for materials repro-duced herein, we would be happy to hear from any unacknowledged source.
Photographs: ACTRAV “Workers’ Education and Environment” Project unless otherwisestated.
Design and printing: International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin, Italy
For more information, please contact:
International Labour OfficeBureau for Workers’ Activities
4, route des Morillions1211 Geneva 22
SwitzerlandFax 41 22 799.6570
E-mail: [email protected]
”Workers Education and Environment” ProjectINT/93/M12/NOR
Find us on the Internet at:www.ilo.org in ACTRAV/Activities/Environment
ii
PrefaceThis booklet was developed as part of the In-ternational Labour Organization’s Bureau forWorkers’ Activities Project entitled “Workers’Education and Environment” (INT/93/M12/NOR), which was started in 1990 with the sup-port of the Norwegian Government.
Since this project on “Trade Unions and Envi-ronmentally Sustainable Development” be-gan, dozens of case studies have beendeveloped which show how environmentallysustainable development issues have been in-tegrated into trade union work. Trade unionshave drawn the attention to issues as diverseas occupational health and safety, the trans-portation of hazardous cargo, water pollutioncontrol, coalition building, and reforestation,to name a few. The variety of the subjectsstudied shows that environmental issues arecoming to the forefront at workplaces aroundthe world, thanks to dedicated trade unionmembers and the knowledge this project hashelped spread.
One objective of the Project was to put the co-operating trade unions in a position to partici-pate in the formulation and implementation ofnational environmental and sustainable devel-opment policies which reflect the specialneeds and concerns of the workers and theirorganizations. The other major goal of theProject was to increase trade union represen-
tation on relevant environmental advisory anddecision-making bodies at the bi- and tripar-tite level. Since the beginning of the Project,trade unions have become involved in formu-lating and implementing environmental andsustainable development policies at all levels.Additionally, trade unions are networking be-tween one another and forming alliances onenvironmental issues.
The Project developed materials entitled“Trade Unions and Environmentally Sustain-able Development” and “Using ILO Standardsto Promote Environmentally Sustainable De-velopment”, which have since been translatedinto several languages. Using these materials,workshops have been held throughout Africaand Asia since Phase two of the Project beganin 1994, training over 2600 members how todevelop trade union policies and action plansto be carried out in their workplaces and com-munities. In addition, through cooperationwith ITSs and through the ILO network, theProject has reached even more members, bothin Asia and Africa, and in countries in theAmericas, the Caribbean, and EasternEurope.
Country to country, the needs and priorities oftrade unions and the workers they serve differgreatly. The case studies chosen for this book-let seek to highlight the different kinds of work
iii
trade unions have done in different places toeffect change on environmental issues. Thesecase studies are exemplary lessons on coali-tion building, collective bargaining, fact-finding, direct action, and training, to name afew.
Results from case studies, campaigns, work-shops, etc., can be difficult to measure and re-sults can take time to develop. With the casestudies sampled here, we hope to illustrate thediversity of approaches, methods used, andresults obtained on different topics in differentregions by different trade unions. The idea isnot to show that one method or case is betterthan another, but to learn and exchange expe-riences.
There were many other successful actions car-ried out in cooperation with this Project.Given space and time limitations, we couldnot list them all in this booklet, but insteadhave chosen a representative few. Thank youto all of the cooperative partners who com-pleted case studies and please accept our ap-
preciation of the fine work done by allinvolved. The reporting of your efforts, suc-cesses and shortcomings have given this proj-ect much to be proud of. Thank you also toMs. Kristi Bascom, who wrote and edited thecase study summaries presented in this book-let, and to Ms. Annie Rice, who also lent herinput.
We hope that you find these case studies inter-esting to read, and that they lead you to thinkabout how your trade union could be active inenvironmentally sustainable development is-sues. The ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activitiescontinues to be interested in your input ontrade unions and environmentally sustainabledevelopment, your feedback on these casestudies, and in keeping the flow of informationgoing with trade unions around the world. Itwould be most appreciated if you could findtime to keep ACTRAV informed about yourtrade unions’ involvement with environmentalissues.
Else-Marie OsmundsenChief Technical Adviser, GenevaILO/ACTRAV November, 1999
trade unions have done in different places toeffect change on environmental issues. Thesecase studies are exemplary lessons on coali-tion building, collective bargaining, fact-finding, direct action, and training, to name afew.
Results from case studies, campaigns, work-shops, etc., can be difficult to measure and re-sults can take time to develop. With the casestudies sampled here, we hope to illustrate thediversity of approaches, methods used, andresults obtained on different topics in differentregions by different trade unions. The idea isnot to show that one method or case is betterthan another, but to learn and exchange expe-riences.
There were many other successful actions car-ried out in cooperation with this Project.Given space and time limitations, we couldnot list them all in this booklet, but insteadhave chosen a representative few. Thank youto all of the cooperative partners who com-pleted case studies and please accept our ap-
preciation of the fine work done by allinvolved. The reporting of your efforts, suc-cesses and shortcomings have given this proj-ect much to be proud of. Thank you also toMs. Kristi Bascom, who wrote and edited thecase study summaries presented in this book-let, and to Ms. Annie Rice, who also lent herinput.
We hope that you find these case studies inter-esting to read, and that they lead you to thinkabout how your trade union could be active inenvironmentally sustainable development is-sues. The ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activitiescontinues to be interested in your input ontrade unions and environmentally sustainabledevelopment, your feedback on these casestudies, and in keeping the flow of informationgoing with trade unions around the world. Itwould be most appreciated if you could findtime to keep ACTRAV informed about yourtrade unions’ involvement with environmentalissues.
Else-Marie OsmundsenChief Technical Adviser, GenevaILO/ACTRAV November, 1999
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PAGE
Actions
Eritrea Introducing Occupational Health, Safety, and EnvironmentCommittees in the Workplace: A Goal of the NCEW inEritrea
1
Korea A Korean Trade Union Spreads Environmental Awareness inAsia
7
Philippines An Environmental Disaster Motivates Trade Union Actions inthe Philippines
13
India Trade Unions in India: Solidarity for EnvironmentalProtection
21
Ghana Replanting Their Future: Trade Unions’ Reforestation Projectin Ghana
25
Philippines Greening Workplaces throughout the Philippines 31
SouthernAfrica
Export Processing Zones in Southern Africa:a New Challenge for Trade Unions to Advance theRights of the Worker and the Environment
35
India Trade Unions Bring Clean Water to a Community in India 40
Guatemala Promoting Worker Involvement:The IUF Researches Pesticide Use in Guatemala,and Plans Worker Training Among Affiliates
47
Appendix I Reference Materials 51
Appendix II List of Abbreviations 53
Appendix III Guidelines For Final Reporting on a Case Study 55
Table of Contents
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Introducing Occupational Health, Safety, andEnvironment Committees in the Workplace:
A Goal of the NCEW in Eritrea
ProjectTitle:
The Establishment ofOccupational Safety,Health, and EnvironmentCommittees in theWorkplace
ProjectCompletedby:
The NationalConfederation of EritreanWorkers (NCEW)
About the Organization
The NCEW is probably the youngest nationalcentre in Africa, established in 1994. Tradeunionism, however, is not new to Eritreanworkers. The struggle for improved living andworking conditions has been going on in Eri-trea for decades.
The NCEW is composed of five federationscovering industries as diverse as Food, Hoteland Tourism, Mining and Chemicals, ServiceIndustries, Textile and Leather, and Transportand Communication. The NCEW has a mem-bership of over 17,000. The Confederationhas six branch offices, which carry out thetasks of the National Centre in addition to as-sisting the five federations carry out their re-sponsibilities.
Introduction
The practice of occupational safety, healthand environment in Eritrea can be describedas being at its infancy stage. Following inde-pendence, Eritrea inherited poorly managedand run-down factories. The conditions pre-
sented right after independence, therefore,were not conducive for reinforcing or institu-tionalizing safety and health practices.
With the privatization of former governmentfactories underway, the promotion and institu-tionalization of safety and health practices, es-pecially among the privatized enterprises, isbecoming increasingly necessary. Techno-logically advanced machinery and dangerouschemicals are entering the country and expos-ing workers and the environment to all sorts ofhealth hazardous and environmentally un-friendly situations.
NCEW visits of two newly established factories inEritrea were carried out and showed that even inthe newly constructed factories, appropriatesafety and health practices were not being fol-lowed. For instance, in one of the factories vis-ited, a hazardous chemical was being usedwithout the workers’ knowledge of its harm. Inanother newly constructed factory, the safetysigns were only written in English. Visits to twoolder factories showed deplorable working con-ditions. Most of the machines were run-downand dangerous to use. Waste materials weresimply let into the main stream, where neigh-bouring residential areas' water supply couldeasily be polluted. The NCEW was very con-cerned about these findings which demonstratedthe urgent need to institutionalize rules and regu-lations on health and safety practices.
Following a workshop in cooperation with theILO/ACTRAV “Workers’ Education and Envi-ronment” Project in 1995, the participantsstrongly supported their National Centre, theNCEW, to get involved in environmental is-sues.
Action Eritrea
1
With the help of these workshop participants,the NCEW drafted their environmental poli-cies and action plan. Their successful ap-proach was even used as an example in thetraining materials developed in the ACTRAVProject (“Trade Unions and EnvironmentallySustainable Development”, Guide to theBooklets, Page 44).
In order to implement their environmentalgoals, the NCEW proposed a project to be im-plemented in cooperation with the ACTRAVProject, which would:
l promote awareness and concern on envi-ronmental issues;
l administer regional and local trainingseminars;
l prepare the relevant educational materi-als for the training programme, includingthe development of a training video andthe translation of relevant ILO trainingmaterials into Tigrigna and Arabic, whereappropriate.
Project Description
The training workshops proposed by theNCEW aimed at bringing together workersand employers to discuss the possibility offorming occupational safety, health, and envi-ronment (OSHE) committees in their work-places. Specifically, the workshops providedthe opportunity to:
l exchange experiences, ideas and materi-als on existing activities on OSHE;
l identify constraints in establishing OSHECommittees and develop strategies formeeting these constraints;
l collaborate on proposed ideas and de-velop a potential working structure for es-tablishing OSHE Committees at theworkplaces;
l determine the most suitable structure forforming a bipartite relationship surround-ing the issues of OSHE;
l train participants on how to form OSHECommittees in their respective workplace,whereby trained participants would be ex-pected to hold a workshop on formingOSHE Committees for their co-workers;
Action Eritrea
Eritrea, Massawa
2
l provide information kits to participants onOSHE Committee structure and policy for-mation;
l discuss and identify follow-up activities.
Project Implementation
The following groups were identified to partici-pate in the project:
l Union members and particularly workersat workplace level
l Union Leaders
l Management
l NCEW
l Representatives of different ministries andorganizations involved in environmentalissues and legislation
Workshops
The workshops were held in the Eritrean citiesof Asmara, Assab, and Massawa. In each ofthese cities, an area-wide workshop was con-ducted, in addition to multiple follow-up work-shops at specific workplaces. At theworkplace workshops, both trade unions andmanagement attended. In total, more than750 members participated in this programme.
Fact Finding
Through a series of surveys and interviews, theNCEW looked at the current practices ofOSHE in the workplace in Eritrea. The NCEWexamined the awareness of workers, trade un-ion leaders and management of OSHE prac-tices. They also identified unsafe practicesand acknowledged the challenges of monitor-ing and maintaining health and safety proce-dures. Combined with site visits, the interviewsand surveys provided information on whatneeded to be done in order to make OSHECommittees effective. The NCEW used the
findings of the study in conjunction with “Oc-cupational Safety and Health AwarenessWeek” in April 1998 in order to draw attentionto the need to adopt OSHE practices and pre-vent workplace injuries.
Material Development
During the progress of the project coopera-tion, a number of materials were producedand translated, including the ILO/ACTRAVmaterial on “Trade Unions and EnvironmentallySustainable Development" and the earlier Discus-sion Booklets on “Workers' Education and the En-vironment” in Tigrigna. In some regional centres,however, translation of the materials were pre-pared in other local languages including Arabic.The materials prepared for this project were de-veloped through the participation of the work-ers and resource persons.
Action Eritrea
3
?
Campaigning
In addition to the surveys and workshops, a fullrange of other activities were undertaken, in-cluding photo-exhibitions, poster design andcreation, writing and publishing newspaperarticles and conducting radio interviews. TheNCEW developed an awareness-raisingvideo, entitled “The Role of Workers’ and Envi-ronmentally Sustainable Development,” whichhighlighted the need for workers to be active insafeguarding Eritrea’s natural resources.
Results and Reactions
Workshop participants concluded that OSHECommittees were needed in Eritrean work-places. Workers and management agreedthat OSHE Committees in the workplaceshould serve multiple purposes:
l an organizational framework for problemsolving;
l an internal responsibility system;
l a mechanism for the exchange of informa-tion;
l the means through which employee par-ticipation is increased;
l a system through which to put in placehealth, safety, and environmental proce-dures;
l a pooling of knowledge and expertise.
Overall, it was agreed that the main objectiveof the OSHE Committees should be the pro-motion of cooperation between employersand employees in the investigating, develop-ing, and carrying out of measures to ensure asafe and healthy working environment.
The workshop recommendations went on tospecify the membership and structure of OSHECommittees, the committee’s role and activitiesthe committee should and should not under-take. There was also the acknowledgment thata bipartite OSHE Committee could provide theday-to-day oversight at the workplace level thatyearly inspections are not in a position to do.
The workshop participants also identified chal-lenges that were likely to be faced in establish-ing OSHE Committees in the workplace. Thesechallenges included the acknowledgment thatEritrean enterprises are not bound by law to es-tablish OSHE Committees, there is limitedknowledge about establishing OSHE Commit-tees among workers, employers, and govern-ment, old machinery at many factories in Eritreado not lend themselves well to security in safetyand environmental protection, and there is anabsence of national health and safety stan-dards to refer to.
The workplace-level workshops conducted inthe three regions served to establish the spe-cific OSHE Committee at that workplace,which was a very successful approach.
Discussion Points
1. What policies has your union de-veloped on environmentally sus-tainable development issues?
2. How have these policies been im-plemented?
3. How have the different actionplans your trade union has devel-oped, reached the workplaces?
Action Eritrea
4
The NCEW case study is an excellent exam-ple of how training and education can leadto successful capacity building. Because of along history of civil war, Eritrean workers ingeneral received limited education, their op-portunities taken from them by decades ofcivil unrest. In spite of these challenges, theNCEW’s efforts to establish OSHE Commit-tees at the workplace was very successful.
Regional workshops conducted in Asmara,Assab, and Massawa brought forth strate-gies and recommendations from both em-ployers and workers. The networksdeveloped in this project between the re-gions of Eritrea were very important andthe initial establishment of the OSHE Com-mittees in the workplaces was successful.However, the unfortunate fact is that con-tinuing war-like conditions in the countrymake it difficult to know if the efforts haveendured.
The success of this project is a credit to theNCEW and its dedicated members. Theserious enthusiasm shown by the NCEW toimprove the living and working conditionsof their members is impressive, and itspeaks volumes about their commitment tothe future of Eritrea.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Mr. Tekeste Baire, General Sec-retary, Mr. Tseggai Moggos, Deputy GeneralSecretary, and Mr. Ammanuel Negassie,Head, International Relations Department, allof the NCEW for their commitment to this proj-ect.
Action Eritrea
For information on this case studyor other environmentally
sustainable development-relatedprojects of the NCEW, please
contact
National Confederation of EritreanWorkers,P. O. Box 1188, Asmara, Eritrea.
Tel. (291) 1 116 187
Fax (291) 1 126 606
5
A Korean Trade UnionSpreads Environmental Awareness
in Asia
ProjectTitle:
ICEM/ILO/FKCUWorkshop on TradeUnions, the Environment,and SustainableDevelopment in Asia
ProjectCompletedby:
The Federation of KoreanChemical Workers’ Unions(FKCU) and theInternational Federation ofChemical, Energy, Mine,and General Workers’Union (ICEM)
About the Organizations
Some 20 million workers worldwide are or-ganized within the ICEM, the InternationalFederation of Chemical, Energy, Mine andGeneral Workers Unions. The ICEM is anindustry-based world labour federation dedi-cated to practical international solidarity. TheICEM’s main focuses are providing support formember unions during industrial disputes andunion-building programmes in countrieswhere unions are weak or non-existent. TheICEM also provides information and expertiseon topics ranging from collective bargainingto health and safety standards and offers skillstraining and development work with trade un-ion cadres and rank-and-file union members.The Federation of Korean Chemical Workers’Union is an affiliate of the ICEM in Asia.
A Korean Trade UnionSpreads Environmental Awareness
in Asia
ProjectTitle:
ICEM/ILO/FKCUWorkshop on TradeUnions, the Environment,and SustainableDevelopment in Asia
ProjectCompletedby:
The Federation of KoreanChemical Workers’ Unions(FKCU) and theInternational Federation ofChemical, Energy, Mine,and General Workers’Union (ICEM)
About the Organizations
Some 20 million workers worldwide are or-ganized within the ICEM, the InternationalFederation of Chemical, Energy, Mine andGeneral Workers Unions. The ICEM is anindustry-based world labour federation dedi-cated to practical international solidarity. TheICEM’s main focuses are providing support formember unions during industrial disputes andunion-building programmes in countrieswhere unions are weak or non-existent. TheICEM also provides information and expertiseon topics ranging from collective bargainingto health and safety standards and offers skillstraining and development work with trade un-ion cadres and rank-and-file union members.The Federation of Korean Chemical Workers’Union is an affiliate of the ICEM in Asia.
7
Action Korea
FKC
U,Kore
a
Introduction
In September 1997 the ACTRAV “Workers’Education and Environment” Project, in con-junction with the ICEM, held a workshop inSeoul, Korea for members of the Federation ofKorean Chemical Workers’ Unions. Partici-pants from many different factories attendedthe course, representing a range of industries,from chemical, paper and pharmaceuticals, togas and glass production.
The aims of the workshop were to:
l identify a list of priority environmental con-cerns;
l develop a strategy to deal with these con-cerns and promote sustainable develop-ment;
l identify further local work;
l outline ideas for a wider project to cam-paign for sustainable development.
The workshop used the ILO Project manual,“Trade Unions and Environmentally Sustain-able Development,” which was developed fortrade union educators and researchers. Themanual contains ideas and activities to helptrade unions carry out their own environmentalwork after the workshop. Activities includedconducting surveys, environmental audits, fu-ture workshops, points for bargaining on envi-ronmental issues, etc.
Project Description
Identifying a list of priorityenvironmental concerns
During the three-day workshop, the partici-pants identified environmental issues relevantto the trade union and examined priorities forthe union regarding these issues. Among oth-ers, the participants identified the deteriora-tion of working conditions as a result ofemployment policies as the main hindrance tosustainable development, mentioning longworking hours and occupational hazards intheir work. They drew attention to the “3DPhenomenon” their union members oftenfaced: difficult, dirty, and dangerous jobs.
The group also looked at education and train-ing as an important issue, drawing attention topriority problems such as lack of education onoccupational health and safety in addition tobasic environment and development issues.
From their discussions, the participants de-fined these priorities that were of concern tothe union members and colleagues:
l improving working conditions and organ-izing occupational safety, health, and en-vironment (OSHE) committees at theworkplace;
Action Korea
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FKC
U,
Kore
a
l awareness-raising, campaigning, andtraining of OSHE officers;
l promoting international issues of tradeand solidarity between industrialized anddeveloping countries and their unions.
Developing an action plan
During the plenary discussion of possiblestrategies, it became obvious that developingenvironmental awareness of trade unionmembers and local residents should be a start-ing point for any campaign.
Strategies were discussed and a workable ac-tion plan produced. The overall goal was toraise awareness, so the first step was to chooseprioritiy issues to use as a focus for anawareness-raising campaign. It was decidedthat workplace surveys should be conducted inorder to determine the status of the environ-ment at several local workplaces, and thattrade union members should be consulted ontheir impressions of environmental issues attheir worksite, including, but not limited to,health problems, fish and wildlife, waste dis-posal and water pollution.
Furthermore, it was suggested that environ-mental inspection teams (EITs) be developedto carry out the surveys and interviews. TheseEITs would also be responsible for observingand monitoring environmental problems atworksites.
Identifying further work
The participants decided that further actionplans should be developed that are based onthe results of the surveys, but that the plansshould include:
l producing a video to use for awareness-raising;
l developing training sessions for union en-vironmental inspection teams;
l including environmental demands in Col-lective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs);
l lobbying Government to ratify relevantILO Conventions.
Additionally, the participants sought the sup-port of the Federation through regular cover-age of environmental issues in the unionmagazine, and decided to contact relevant lo-cal, national and international organizationsconcerned with the environment.
Action Korea
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FKC
U,
Kore
a
FKC
U,
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a
Results and Reactions
The participants summed up their feelingsabout the workshop and likelihood for successwith ? - ! - OK . This statement reads thatprior to the workshop, participants knew verylittle about environmental issues and how theywere relevant to trade unions (?), the work-shop was an eye-opener (!), and that after theworkshop, given their knowledge, commit-ment, and conviction that they will receive sup-port from trade union members and leaders,their campaign on environmental issuesshould be a success (OK).
Following the workshop, the participants an-nounced their efforts with a press conference,outlining their plans to make Korean industriesand communities more environmentallyaware.
To begin their efforts, surveys were conductedat various worksites. Survey results came in
from all sectors of the Federation’s organiza-tional jurisdiction, including food processing,paper, general chemical, pharmaceutical andconcrete, to name a few.
To summarize the survey results, the biggestenvironmental problems found in these sectorswere water pollution (56%), air pollution(24%), and noise and vibration (19.4%).When survey respondents were asked if theythought the trade union should have an inter-est in environmental issues and adopt it as oneof the principle policies, 75.2% answered“yes”, 21.1% answered “agree but prema-ture”, and only 0.9% opposed. When askedwhether trade unions should collaborate withenvironmental groups, 80% of the respon-dents expressed approval. As to the questionof whether environmental issues should be apart of collective agreements, 67.3% agreedand 27.4% agreed, although thought it is diffi-cult to do in realistic terms.
Action Korea
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a
Following the analysis of the survey results, anEnvironmental Monitoring Team was formed,which met to discuss the related environmentalactivities of trade unions. The Team workedout a plan for water sampling and further vis-ited two workplaces to conduct monitoring ac-tivities with regard to water quality. The Teamalso reviewed the direction of the Federation’senvironmental activities, discussed the crea-tion of an official Federation EnvironmentCommittee, and reviewed a draft model“green agreement” for collective bargaining.
This first attempt at a model agreement con-tains the joint efforts of labour and manage-ment to prevent pollution, disclose informationon polluting materials, guarantee time for en-vironmental education at the workplace, andto allow the formation of an environment com-mittee at the workplace, among others.
The next step for the union, which is expectedto take place over the next year, is to conduct
an analysis of collective agreements in orderto assess the degree to which the Federationmodel “green agreement” was used by the af-filiated trade unions in their negotiations.
In addition to the successes of the MonitoringTeam and the model agreement being devel-oped, FCKU also developed a video which isbeing used to raise awareness on environ-mental issues in communities and workplaces.The 26-minute video, produced by FKCU’sLabour Film Group “Hope”, touched on someof the detrimental impacts of industrial pollu-tion. The video examined the closing of anelementary school due to nearby industrialpollution, the impacts on people who live nearpolluting industries, the cadmium poisoning ofa factory worker, the increase in ovarian disor-ders among women workers exposed to indus-trial solvents, and other workplace hardships.
The video includes fascinating footage of in-terviews with workers, community activists and
Following the analysis of the survey results, anEnvironmental Monitoring Team was formed,which met to discuss the related environmentalactivities of trade unions. The Team workedout a plan for water sampling and further vis-ited two workplaces to conduct monitoring ac-tivities with regard to water quality. The Teamalso reviewed the direction of the Federation’senvironmental activities, discussed the crea-tion of an official Federation EnvironmentCommittee, and reviewed a draft model“green agreement” for collective bargaining.
This first attempt at a model agreement con-tains the joint efforts of labour and manage-ment to prevent pollution, disclose informationon polluting materials, guarantee time for en-vironmental education at the workplace, andto allow the formation of an environment com-mittee at the workplace, among others.
The next step for the union, which is expectedto take place over the next year, is to conduct
an analysis of collective agreements in orderto assess the degree to which the Federationmodel “green agreement” was used by the af-filiated trade unions in their negotiations.
In addition to the successes of the MonitoringTeam and the model agreement being devel-oped, FCKU also developed a video which isbeing used to raise awareness on environ-mental issues in communities and workplaces.The 26-minute video, produced by FKCU’sLabour Film Group “Hope”, touched on someof the detrimental impacts of industrial pollu-tion. The video examined the closing of anelementary school due to nearby industrialpollution, the impacts on people who live nearpolluting industries, the cadmium poisoning ofa factory worker, the increase in ovarian disor-ders among women workers exposed to indus-trial solvents, and other workplace hardships.
The video includes fascinating footage of in-terviews with workers, community activists and
56%
19.4%
24%
Main environmentalproblems
Waterpollution
Airpollution
Noise andvibrations
11
Action Korea
?union members, and shows drastic examplesof water and air pollution caused by industry.The video concludes with footage from a me-morial ceremony for a worker who died as aresult of mercury poisoning. The narrator ofthe video finishes the story by asking workersto think about whether they want to continue towork in existing conditions and suffer or pur-sue their right to live and work healthily.
The video continues to be used to raise aware-ness on the plight of communities and workersfaced with industrial pollution, and to encour-age action to prevent future damage.
For the Future
Experiences from this case study will be used inthe ICEM’s work, especially in the Asian re-gion. Additionally, information from the studyhave been integrated into ICEM’s general pro-gramme on environmentally sustainable de-velopment and have been helpful indeveloping a broader perspective on how todeal with environmental issues at the trade un-ion level.
Discussion Points
1. How could your trade union de-velop tools for increasing aware-ness on environmental issues inyour community and within yourunion?
2. What issues at your workplace de-serve attention? What kind ofmonitoring could your trade uniondo on environmental issues at theworkplace?
3. How effective has your trade un-ion been in implementing the re-sults/recommendations from aworkshop? Were your efforts suc-cessful? What could be done dif-ferently?
12
Action Korea
The Korean Federation of Chemical Work-ers’ Unions participants who attended theILO/ICEM workshop were a dedicated,motivated group. It is encouraging to seethe recommendations developed at aworkshop implemented in such a timelyand persuasive manner.
The ICEM has been very active on environ-mental issues to date, especially in the min-ing and chemical sectors, and has beeneffective in integrating environmental issuesinto their existing occupational safety andhealth programmes. It is hoped that theFKCU will receive additional assistance fromthe ICEM to ensure that the video continuesto be used as an educational tool, the moni-toring team continues to function and re-ceive training, that the “green agreements”are adopted in Korean workplaces, and thatthe unions are empowered to lobby Govern-ment to adopt relevant ILO Conventionsconcerning workers and their working envi-ronment.
A special thank you to the participants ofthe ILO/ICEM workshop who were instru-mental in affecting change at the FKCUand at their communities, trade unions andworkplaces.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Ms. Annie Rice, Consultant andWorkshop Coordinator, and Mr. Phee Jung-sun, Regional Representative of the ICEM,who provided information and reports for thiscase study summary.
For information about this casestudy or on other environmentallysustainable development-related
projects of the FKCU, pleasecontact
The Federation of Korean ChemicalWorkers’ Unions,
3f FKTU Building, 35, Yoido-Don,Youngdeungpo-ku, Seoul,Republic of Korea.
Tel. (82 2) 761 8251, 761 8214,E-mail: [email protected]
For information on otherenvironmentally sustainabledevelopment-related projects of theICEM, please contact
ICEM, Avenue Emile de Beco 109,1050 Brussels, Belgium.
Tel. (32) (2) 626-20-20,Fax (32) (2) 648-43-16.E-mail: [email protected]
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Action Korea
An Environmental DisasterMotivates Trade Union Actions
in the Philippines
ProjectTitle:
Case Study on the 1996Mine-RelatedEnvironmental Disaster inMarinduque
ProjectCompletedby:
International Federation ofChemical, Energy, Mine,and General Workers’Union (ICEM) andNational Mines and AlliedWorkers’ Union(NAMAWU), Philippines
About the Organizations
Some 20 million workers in 404 trade unionsacross 113 countries are organized within theICEM, the International Federation of Chemi-cal, Energy, Mine and General Workers Un-ions. The ICEM is an industry-based worldlabour federation dedicated to practical inter-national solidarity. The ICEM focuses on sup-port for member unions during industrialdisputes and union-building programmes incountries where unions are weak or non-existent. The ICEM also provides expertise ontopics ranging from collective bargaining tohealth and safety standards and conductsskills training and development work withtrade union cadres and rank-and-file unionmembers.
The NAMAWU, an affiliate of the ICEM, is anational federation to which the MarcopperEmployees Labour Union (MELU) has been anaffiliate since 1972.
Introduction
Marinduque Island is located in the centralPhilippines and has a population of nearly120,000. Farming and fishing are the twomain sources of family income. While theCatholic Church is an influential presence onthe island, non-governmental organizationsand community organizations are becoming anotable force in the province as well.
The Marcopper Mines Company (MMC) is lo-cated on Marinduque Island. The mining ofcopper on Marinduque began when PlacerDome Development Limited of Vancouver,Canada initiated the development of theTapian open pit during the mid 1960s.
While open pit mining is considered to be anenvironmentally-unfriendly economic activity,it is, however, an economic activity which pro-vides raw materials for industry and jobs forthousands of miners. An acceptable trade-offbetween the need for mineral extraction andprocessing for economic growth and the needto preserve the environment had to be found.When a disaster occurred on Marinduque Is-land, such as the one described below, thecosts became unacceptable to the unions interms of environmental and social conse-quences.
At the start of mining operations in 1969, thecompany constructed a tailings pond whichwould serve to hold the undesirable waste by-products generated by the mining activities. In1975 the Government approved a proposalby Marcopper Mines to discharge their minetailings by submarine outfall off the island atCalancan Bay. Over time the dischargecaused the massive destruction of coral reefs
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and fish sanctuaries in the area. In spite of theobjections from church, community and envi-ronmental groups, the sea dumping contin-ued.
Eventually, the company developed anotherplace to hold the tailings, which was to use thenow mined-out Taipan pit for waste storage.The old pit was sealed and used as a tailingspond until a long-term solution could be de-veloped. In 1996, a plug on the pit’s drainagetunnel gave way and mine tailings spilled intothe nearby Makulapnit River, at one pointreaching a discharge of 10 cubic meters ofmining waste per second. The spillage contin-ued for seventeen days, polluting and siltingthe Makulapnit and Boac Rivers with an esti-mated 1.5 million tons of mine tailings.
Immediately after the spill, the Marcopper Em-ployees Labour Union called for a stoppage ofMarcopper operations until the Boac River
could be cleaned up. The union also issued astatement that in this situation, the workers’ in-terest could give way to environmental protec-tion measures. In addition, some of the unionofficers were visible in various community ac-tions against the Marcopper Mines Company.This was a radical departure from the union’sactions in the past, where they had usuallysided with the MMC in the interest of protect-ing jobs.
The spill was indeed an ecological disaster. Itreduced fish catches and destroyed other ma-rine life, dislocated residents and disruptedcommunity life, and dislocated workers. Thenearby community of Boac was angry at theMMC, fearful of the health impacts of the minetailings, fearful of the potential flooding of theclogged Boac River, and became increasinglyinterested in the environmental impacts ofmining on their island.
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Aims and Objectives of the Project
Several studies had been made regarding thisenvironmental mining disaster in Marinduque.However, none of these studies considered theworkers, especially the union, as a stake-holder. Since the views and perspectives ofthe workers had not been examined up to thispoint, this case study was conducted to fill thegap.
The case study aimed at assessing the impactof the Marcopper disaster from the point ofview of trade unions and at formulating policyrecommendations from the lessons learnedfrom the disaster. Specifically, the study ex-pected to:
l contribute in determining the extent of en-vironmental and social damage caused bythe spillage;
l contribute in determining preventivemeasures which need to be undertaken toprevent similar occurrences;
l contribute to the development of policiesregarding the disposal of mine waste atthe national, industry and workplace lev-els;
l enable the NAMAWU to mobilize at alllevels on environmental issues using par-ticipatory research methods and to inte-grate environmental issues into itsongoing mines safety and health project;
l outline possible courses of action that canbe undertaken by the NAMAWU and othermining unions to protect the environmentand to promote safety and health not onlywithin the working environment, but alsothe living environment, by negotiating a“green” Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Project Description
Among other things, the case study sought to:
l document the events before and after theMarcopper tailings spill of March 1996;
l document the activities of the union(MELU) before and after the spill;
l evaluate the perceived and actual impactsof the Marcopper tailings spill on the un-ion, the communities and other stakehold-ers;
l evaluate the responses of the union, thecommunities and other stakeholders to thedisaster;
l identify the legal, management, technical,and institutional weaknesses which con-tributed to the Marcopper disaster;
l analyze the role of the MELU — in particu-lar — as stakeholders and the mine work-ers — in general — in environmentalprotection at Marcopper;
l make recommendations to strengthen theeffective participation of mine workers inenvironmental protection in mining op-erations.
The trade union used two methods for the datagathering and surveys. Firstly, an environ-mental audit approach was adopted to reachan objective assessment of the legal, manage-ment, technical and institutional failures lead-ing to the spill. After reviewing relevantmaterials, the research team, with a preparedquestionnaire and guidelines, gathered infor-mation on the Marcopper disaster from key in-formants.
Focused group discussions were held and in-terviews conducted with the many interestedparties. These included the management ofthe mine, officers and members of the union,the personnel of concerned national govern-ment agencies, local government officials,community leaders and residents, non-
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governmental organizations and experts in thefield of mining and the environment.
The study provided information on possiblecontributory factors to the disaster and a sur-vey of the extent of the damage to the sur-rounding ecosystem. In addition, policyrecommendations at the national, industryand workplace levels were developed by theunion. These recommendations aimed atminimizing and/or eliminating the risk of simi-lar occurrences. Also developed was an out-line of possible courses of action that could beundertaken.
Union Recommendations andResulting Actions
From the information compiled, theNAMAWU was able to make several propos-als for increased worker involvement and rec-ognition. Described below are therecommendations developed by the unionalong with the actions currently being taken.
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Recommendation Action Taken by Union
Workers can be an asset forenvironmental protection. They canundergo training on environmental
legislation, the environmentalcommitments of the company, andgeneral environmental standards.
The NAMAWU has integrated a moduleon mining and the environment in itsexisting safety and health education
programme.
Workers should be recognized in futureenvironmental impact assessments as
stakeholders.
The NAMAWU has made this proposal tothe Philippine Mines and Geosciences
Bureau, the government agencyconcerned with mines.
Workers should bargain for the right tostop work on the basis of unsound
environmental conditions.
The NAMAWU is currently lobbying for thePhilippine Government to implement the
ILO Convention 176 provision on the rightto stop work in dangerous mine sites.
Once this battle in won, it is felt that theGovernment will be receptive to accepting
this recommendation.
Workers can set up a structure such as“safety circles,” where workers can speak
freely on the environmental impacts ofmining operations.
There are existing study circles in theNAMAWU’s unions. One of the topics inthe “Mine Safety and Health” module is“Mining and the Environment,” where
such topics are discussed.
Workers should bargain for an “economicdisplacement fund” or “environmental
guarantee fund” to be provided for in caseof a similar event in the future.
A policy paper has been drafted and acampaign is soon to be planned.
Workers should be aware ofenvironmental management tools and
work for their adoption and support theirimplementation in mining operations.
These tools include multi-partitemonitoring teams and environmental
audits, among others.
The NAMAWU is in the process ofimplementing this recommendation.
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Other Developments
In November 1997 the NAMAWU’s nationalpresident signed a Memorandum of Under-standing together with leaders from both theTrade Union Congress of the Philippines(TUCP) and the Labour Advisory ConsultativeCouncil (LACC), committing itself to pursuingthe goals of environmentally sustainable de-velopment. This is a substantial accomplish-ment.
While this project has certainly strengthenedthe bipartite cooperation of workers and em-ployer through its participatory approach, ithas also led to advances in trade union repre-sentation on environmental advisory bodies.The President of the Marcopper Employees La-bour Union has been made a member of theMarinduque Council on Sustainable Develop-ment, a multi-partite body which includesNGOs, local government, the Church, and la-bour.
Another benefit of the Marcopper case was tomotivate local union officials in Philex Mines inthe northern part of the Philippines to take partin the company’s environmental promotionprogramme. They have had dialogues withGovernment and Labour-Management Coun-cils and have brought environmental issues tothe attention of management. At the time ofpublication, they were campaigning for im-provement in pollution controls of the compa-ny’s power plant.
In addition to these formal developments, theNAMAWU’s efforts for this Marcopper casestudy have produced other beneficial results.The awareness of union members on environ-mental issues has increased, the union itselfhas been strengthened, and also relevant na-tional laws which will help industry avoid suchaccidents in the future have been influenced.
Discussion Points
1. What environmental problemsdoes your industry face that couldinspire union involvement?
2. To what degree are workers inyour industry trained in occupa-tional safety, health, and environ-mental (OSHE) issues?
3. How are members of your unionin a position to negotiate im-provements concerning OSHE is-sues at the workplace?
4. What can your union learn fromthis specific case study?
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The ACTRAV “Workers’ Education and En-vironment” Project started its cooperationwith the trade union confederations in thePhilippines in 1992 by conducting a seriesof workshops aiming at assisting in the de-velopment of trade union policies and ac-tion plans.
Since then, the workshop participantsformed a “working party,” which has actedas a reference group for project coopera-tion in the country. One of the members ofthis working party is from NAMAWU andhas been instrumental in sustaining theirinvolvement in environmental issues.
I am very appreciative of the professionalwork and continued efforts of theNAMAWU on this case study. Although itis unfortunate that this environmental dis-aster had to occur on Marinduque Island,a positive outcome did develop. TheNAMAWU was able to use this regrettableincident, with the successful participatoryapproach to the situation, to invoke exten-sive trade union engagement in environ-mentally sustainable development issues.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Mr. Benjamin Basquinas, Na-tional Vice President, and Mr. Rolando Li-brojo, Asst. General Secretary, both ofNAMAWU, who provided information for thissummary. Thank you also to the ICEM for pro-viding their report of the case study.
For more information about thiscase study, or other
environmentally sustainabledevelopment-related projects of the
NAMAWU, please contact
NAMAWU,Unit 201-A Dunville Condominium,Castilla Corner and ValenciaStreets, New Manila, Quezon City,Philippines.Tel. (632) 415 5582,Fax (632) 726 5070.E-mail: [email protected]
For information on otherenvironmentally sustainabledevelopment-related projects of theICEM, please contact
ICEM, Avenue Emile de Beco 109,1050 Brussels, Belgium.Tel. (32) (2) 626-20-20,Fax (32) (2) 648-43-16.E-mail: [email protected]
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Action Philippines
Trade Unions in India: Solidarity forEnvironmental Protection
ProjectTitle:
The Creation of the TradeUnion Partnership forEnvironmental Protection(TUPEP) in India
ProjectCompletedby:
A coalition comprised ofthe AII India Trade UnionCongress (AITUC),Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh(BMS), Centre of IndianTrade Unions (CITU), HindMazdoor Sabha (HMS),and Indian National TradeUnion Congress (INTUC)
About the Organizations
There are five Central Trade Union Organiza-tions (CTUOs) which constitute TUPEP. Al-though each may have different religious,political, or other interests, they are united intheir concern about and commitment to work-ers’ rights and environmental protection. Thestated missions of the organizations rangefrom securing workers’ rights at the workplaceand safe working and living conditions, to or-ganizing employees with a view to ameliorat-ing their economic life standard, to the overallgoals of protecting the life and health of theworkers and raising the standards of living ofthe Indian people.
Collectively, these organizations represent ap-proximately 20 million workers in over 17,000affiliated trade unions. They represent affili-ated unions in all major industries, includingmanufacturing, agriculture, banking andcommerce, construction, transportation, ironand steel, power, chemicals, textiles, mining,pulp and paper, and engineering, to name afew.
TUPEP itself is not an independent, structuredorganization, with its own directors and staff,but an informal forum set up by the CTUOs toraise awareness and promote bi- and tripar-tism in regard to environmental policies in In-dia.
Introduction
During the Chief Technical Adviser’s (CTA)mission to New Delhi in 1991, the mainCTUOs agreed to hold joint workshops aim-ing at collaborative policies on environmentalissues. From these joint workshops emergedthe understanding that a common approachto environmental questions would be benefi-cial to promoting the cause.
Another important reason for collaborationbetween the CTUOs was the attitude of theMinistry of the Environment, who had refusedto accept trade unions’ (and employers or-ganizations’) participation in the NationalCouncil for the Environment and the state-level Pollution Control Boards. The nationalcommittees had been established worldwideby the mandate of the Earth Summit Confer-ence in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. Spe-cifically, the Agenda 21 agreements adoptedin Rio stated that “Governments, business andindustry should promote the active participa-tion of workers and their trade unions in deci-sions on the design, implementation andevaluation of national and international poli-cies and programmes on environment and de-velopment.”
In spite of the Agenda 21 agreement, the Min-istry of Environment had only invited membersof non-governmental organizations (NGO’s)to participate on advisory bodies, arguing thatNGO’s could also be considered to representthe workers’ perspective.
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In order to facilitate their representation onadvisory bodies, the different CTUOs recog-nised the need to act with one voice on priorityenvironmental issues. Individually, althoughsome of the CTUOs had been requestingtrade union representation on advisory bod-ies, it became apparent that in order to havethe most effective representation, a commonapproach on environmental issues should bedeveloped. Therefore, in 1994, the CentralTrade Union Organizations joined together oftheir own initiative to form the Trade UnionPartnership for Environment Protection(TUPEP). The formation of TUPEP was quite anaccomplishment, especially in a country likeIndia where trade unions often have had con-flicting views and approaches.
Since its creation, TUPEP meetings have ro-tated between the headquarters of the differ-ent member organizations and costs paid bythe hosts. The aims and objectives of TUPEPhave been to develop and advance a commonposition on environmental issues and to lobbyfor bi- and tripartitism in the field of Environ-mentally Sustainable Development.
Project Description
Since its creation in 1994, TUPEP hasmounted numerous campaigns, includinglobbying for a ban on toxic waste imports intothe country and pressuring the Delhi StateGovernment to address trade union concerns
about industrial closures on account of envi-ronmental problems, among others.
The members of TUPEP meet on an informalbasis to discuss current environmental issuesand to determine what sort of approach isneeded from the trade union perspective. Themembers who attend TUPEP meetings are thetop leadership of each individual CTUO,which enables TUPEP members to discuss is-sues and decide on strategies to implementtheir policy at the meetings. At that point, eachof the individual CTUOs will bring the TUPEPrecommendations back to their organizationand the group can act accordingly.
Results and Reactions
Members of TUPEP have approached the Min-istry of Environment & Forests to give due rep-resentation to trade unions in thegovernmental committees designed to dealwith environmental issues, in particular on theNational Council for the Environment (theAgenda 21-mandated national environmentcommittee) and the state-level Pollution Con-trol Boards.
The new Government has assured a positiveresponse in this regard, although there is stillno representation for trade unions on the Na-tional Council (neither is this advisory Councila very active body at the moment). In thatsense the demand for tripartitism in environ-ment matters still remains unachieved. As a
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member of TUPEP explained, “environmentalissues have taken root in India, but official ac-tion on the issues is grossly neglected. The ad-visory committee that has been formed by theMinistry of Environment is not meeting regu-larly, and its functioning leaves much to be de-sired.”
Despite upheavals caused by new economicpolicies in industrial relations since 1993-94and political disturbances such as mid-termelections to the Parliament, TUPEP has contin-ued to function since its creation. The fre-quency of the meetings have varied, due to thead-hoc nature of TUPEP, but the partnershiphas helped the trade unions unify and speaktogether with one voice.
Through the commitment of the organsationsinvolved in TUPEP, trade union leaders are re-alising that environmental issues have a greatpotential to empower trade unions at theworkplace and in the community.
At present, the agenda before the members ofTUPEP is:
l continuing to press the Government to ac-cept tripartitism in regard to environ-mental policies;
l advocating for the right to informationfrom the Pollution Control Boards so thatthe workers are made aware of the stepsto be taken by the industry to control pollu-tion;
l requesting ILO support for TUPEP activi-ties in order to continue efforts to raiseawareness among the unions on the envi-ronment and health protection at work-place; and
l collecting information from the variousmember unions on the initiatives beingtaken to promote environmental protec-tion and workers’ health at the trade unionand workplace level.
It is felt by members of TUPEP that awarenesson ILO Standards relating to the environmentamong trade union leaders is slowly increas-ing. TUPEP is hoping to build upon this focus,and several ILO Conventions can support un-ion demands regarding issues such as collec-tive bargaining and workers’ health andsafety.
In other countries, however, the success ofTUPEP has been admired and replicated. Inplaces such as Malaysia and the Philippines,the structure of TUPEP has served as an exam-ple for trade unions with differing perspectivesto come together to create a united front on is-sues of environmentally sustainable develop-ment. In fact, the coalition that was formed inthe Philippines between two main groups,LACC and TUCP, has been successful inachieving trade union representation on thePhilippines National Environmental Commit-tee.
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?Discussion Points
1. If there is more than one nationaltrade union centre in your coun-try, what do you think you couldlearn from the cooperative struc-ture of TUPEP?
2. How do you think trade unionscan contribute a valuable per-spective to environmental advi-sory bodies?
3. Do you see other ways of coop-eration with other groups in thismanner?
4. What ILO Standards do you thinkcould be helpful in this work?
Acknowledgments
This information contained in this summary wasexcerpted from the consistent and thorough re-ports written by Mr. Arun Kumar, former Informa-tion and Research Officer for HMS.
Although TUPEP has run into some roadblocksalong the way, I believe that this is an excellent ex-ample of the power of working together towardsa common goal. The CTUOs which cooperatedto form TUPEP all had differing political, cultural,and/or religious backgrounds. Given these dif-ferences, I think it shows great strength that thegroups were able to collaborate in such a closemanner. Pooling resources, sharing ideas, andorchestrating discussions on the topics of workers’rights and environmental protection helped eachorganization be more effective in their individualand collective efforts.
Additionally, although TUPEP members still strug-gle for representation on relevant national com-mittees, I am very happy to report that despiteoccasional setbacks, they are still continuing theirefforts. It can be difficult to hold together an infor-mal organization such as TUPEP that has no offi-cial structure, but the Indian CTUOs havesucceeded. Congratulations to all of the membersof TUPEP for realising their vision of cooperationand solidarity.
For more information about TUPEP, please contact
Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), 120, Babar Road, New Delhi 110 001, INDIA,Telephone number (91) 011-3315519, Fax number (91) 011-3310438.
For information about the environmentally sustainable development-relatedprojects of any of the other organsations involved in TUPEP, please contact
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), Ram Naresh Bhavan, Tilak Gali, Paharganj,New Delhi 110 055, INDIA, Telephone numbers (91)(011) 7524212and 7520654, Fax number (91)(011) 7520654.
All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), 24, Canning Lane, New Delhi 110001,INDIA, Telephone numbers (91) (011) 3387320 and 3386427,Fax number (91) (011)3386427.
Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), Shramik Kendra, 4, Bhai VeerSingh Marg, New Delhi 110 001, INDIA, Telephone numbers(91) (011) 3747767 and 3747768, Fax number (91) (011) 3364244.
Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), 15, Talkatora Road, New Delhi 110 001, INDIA,Telephone numbers (91) (011) 3714071 and 3723825, Fax number (91) (011) 3355856.
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Replanting Their Future: Trade Unions’Reforestation Project in Ghana
ProjectTitle:
TWU Reforestation andEducation Programme –The Kokoago Project
ProjectCompletedby:
Timber and Woodworkers’Union, Ghana (TWU), andthe InternationalFederation of Building andWoodworkers (IFBWW)
About the Organizations
The International Federation of Building andWood Workers, IFBWW, is an InternationalTrade Secretariat (ITS) which was establishedin 1934. The IFBWW seeks to unite and rep-resent all free and democratic trade unions inthe building, wood, forestry and allied indus-tries. The IFBWW currently organizes 281trade unions with over 11 million membersthroughout 121 countries in Africa, the Ameri-cas, the Asia/Pacific Region and Europe.
One of the IFBWW’s affiliates is the Timberand Woodworkers’ Union, Ghana (TWU).Founded in 1958, the TWU has 22,000 mem-bers.
Introduction
Ghana has a population of over 16 millionpeople. Ghana’s Forest Sector contributes 6 -8 percent of the total gross domestic product(GDP), about 11 percent of the export value.The forest is also the principal source of en-ergy. About 70 percent of the population liveand work in the rural areas with agricultureand forestry as their main source of livelihood.The country had 23 million hectares of forests
resources before independence in 1957, butcurrently does not have more than 8.3 millionhectares left. Excessive exploitation of forestresources for both timber and wood fuels hasimposed great constraints on the sector andcreated unbearable environmental problems.In recent years the growing concern about thesurvival of the tropical forests has become animportant issue on the political agenda.
The management of the forest and the longterm supply of timber has economic, environ-mental, and social impacts, and is of centralconcern for the IFBWW and its affiliates. Themanagement of the forest. Workers in the for-est and wood processing sector face dailyrisks, receive inadequate training and often donot have the security of permanent employ-ment. The long term future of the industry is injeopardy as unsustainable logging rapidly de-pletes the remaining forest resources. Influ-enced by the above factors and seekingpractical action, the Timber and WoodworkersUnion in Ghana decided to initiate a refores-tation programme with the support of the localcommunities in order to enhance Governmentpolicy on sustainable forest management.
Aims and Objectives
l To raise environmental awareness andsensitize workers and the general public tothe need for protection, conservation andrestoration of the environment, with par-ticular reference to forestry.
l To raise awareness of the importance offorests to workers and the general publicthrough seminars and workshops.
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l To demonstrate the potential for and vi-ability of reforestation throughout the dif-ferent regions in the country.
l To initiate a campaign for the sustainablemanagement of forest resources and envi-ronmental resources in general.
l To collaborate with the Ghana Trade Un-ion Congress (GTUC), IFBWW, ILO, non-governmental organizations, local com-munities and national unions on forestand environmental issues.
Project Description
Teak plantations in Ghana were first estab-lished in 1948 by the Forestry Department.These plantations proved very successful andhave been harvested for timber productionboth for local consumption and for the exportmarket. Plantations have generated a greatdeal of enthusiasm among private entrepre-neurs, individuals, and communities to estab-lish teak plantations on both small and largescale. In the past, forestry had tended to bethe exclusive domain of the Government. Re-cently, the involvement of local communities in
forest management has been accepted as abetter approach for the sustainable manage-ment of the forest. Given this trend, the TWUbegan to get involved and to see how properforest management can protect the very re-source they depend on for their livelihood.
The Kokoago Project was started in 1995 andwas the continuation of a pilot project at Akim-Tafo in the Eastern Region. That project wasan activity initiated by the National SawyersAssociation, a branch of the Informal SectorWorkers affiliated to Timber and Woodwork-ers' Union. The Kokoago Project was done incooperation with the ACTRAV “Workers’ Edu-cation and Environment” Project.
The project was organized into these main ac-tivities:
l orientation and sensitization workshop onforestry and the environment;
l establishment of tree nurseries, wood lotand teak plantation;
l strategic planning workshop on forestryand the environment;
l campaigns and advocacy.
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The union’s reforestation project proceededas follows:
Empoweringthe Union
Since a reforestionprogramme is an issue
outside conventional trade unionfunctions, the first step TWU tookwas to seek a constitutionalamendment empowering the lead-ership to enter into such activity.
Acquiringthe Land
Realising that one can-not start a reforestation
effort without the property to plant,the TWU set out to acquire landfrom the Chiefs and people of theTechiman Traditional Council on99-year lease.
EstablishingFunding
Once the land was ac-quired, the union set
up a forestry project fund and es-tablished a Forest ManagementCommittee.
LeadershipTraining
Next, two workshopswere organized for the
leadership of the union and the lo-cal community.
Actual TreePlanting
Following the work-shops, one acre of
land was cultivated into a nurserywith different kinds of commercialspecies, including teak, cassia,mahogany, wawa, and cashew.
Hiring Workers The TWU employedfive nursery workers
and also entered into negotiationswith local farmers for them to helpmaintain the newly planted trees.
Educating andCampaigning
Throughout the pro-cess, the TWU
mounted various levels of cam-paigns through the electronic andthe print media on the importanceof tree planting.
Managingthe Project
The project is beingmanaged by the TWU
National Secretariat through theunion’s newly-formed Forest Man-agement Committee. The projectalso has a Technical Forestry Offi-cer seconded to them by the For-estry Department.
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Challenges and Difficulties
There were many obstacles to surmount withthis project. The union faced natural chal-lenges such as deforestation, shifting cultiva-tion, and bushfires. There was also the socialchallenge of involving communities in themanagement of the project. Additionally,there were the technical challenges of learningtree planting, harvesting, and maintenancepractices. Finally, there were also the practicalchallenges, such as the need for irrigationequipment, obtaining water during the dryseason, finding adequate transportation, andsecuring financial support.
Project Achievements
By 1998, the TWU had established a total of60 hectares areas of plantation, made up ofmainly Teak, while Cassia and Cashew hadalso been planted along the boundaries of theplantation. Cassia seedlings had also beenplanted to be used as fuelwood by the com-munities. The area is serviced by two rivers, theRiver Subin and River Biriko. The TWU haveinter-planted Mahogany and Wawa along thebanks of these two rivers.
The project has established connections withthe community. For example, the Sunyani For-estry School has expressed their commitment
to participate in the project by training the in-digenous people in forestry extension nurseryestablishment, silviculture and forest manage-ment. The Chiefs and the traditional authori-ties have also expressed their keen interest inthe project since the life-blood of the ruraleconomics are heavily dependent on the forestresources.
The farming communities have expressed theirinterest in the project and have participated byproviding inter-crop food crops in the planta-tion at the early stages of the project. They alsoparticipated in the sensitization and awarenessworkshop organized by the union in October1995. There is also collaborative action ap-proach with other tree growers associationswithin the districts. Networking has also ex-panded to the General Agriculture Workers'Union in Ghana since they are also engagedin similar activities.
Besides the union, there are many people andgroups who are benefitting from the project inmany ways. Among them are the communityliving in and around the project area, who areemployed by the project and receiving a shareof the proceeds from the plantations, and theGhana Timber Industry, who will benefit fromfuture sustainable supplies of timber.
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Conclusions
It is intended that this 240 hectare of timberplantation, when fully developed, will be anexample of community based forestry. It isplanned that the community will eventuallyshare in the revenue from the plantation,which would be paid into a general fund forrural development and support of indigenousforest-based enterprises.
The project is a long term investment, and allof the objectives of the project cannot bemeasured yet. It is felt, though, that the unionhas been able to create the necessary aware-ness within the trade unions circles in Ghanaand the local community around the projectarea to sustain the project. The Kokoago Pro-ject has been well recognized and appreciatedby the Government of Ghana. This has beenshown by the interest of the President ofGhana when he personally commissioned theproject on July 3, 1998. The union was alsoawarded a Certificate of Honour when thecountry was celebrating Ghana Forestry Weekin 1998.
It is also significant to note that the Govern-ment’s Lands and Forestry Department hasrecognized the union as a stakeholder, whichhas led to their involvement in decisions per-taining to the formulation of new legislation
and regulations on forestry issues. Ininternational circles, it can also be said thattheir activities are recognized. The TWU wasextended an invitation by the ICFTU to nomi-nate one person to join the 25-person ICFTUdelegation participating in the UN Commis-sion on Sustainable Development (CSD) meet-ing in New York in 1998. The union’s DeputyGeneral Secretary represented the TWU andtalked about the project, which received totalacclamation from the audience.
At the community level, due to the union’sawareness raising efforts, tree planting hasnow become a household word. Many eco-nomic activities have sprung up in the area asa result of the maintenance of access roadswhich has led to the easier chartering of goodsand services.
As far as education is concerned, the union iscontinuing to provide training workshops out-side of the “Workers’ Education and Environ-ment” project cooperation. The union wasable to organize two additional workshops (inlate 1998 and early 1999) in order to increaseawareness on basic tree growing methodol-ogy, sustainable forestry, and waste minimiza-tion techniques. The two workshops were wellattended and built on the ongoing efforts ofthe TWU towards promoting resource sustain-ability.
Discussion Points
1. What activities can your union be in-volved in to create employment?
2. Does your industry rely on a natu-ral resource which must be re-plenished? How could your tradeunion be involved?
3. What negotiation channels existso that trade unions can partici-pate in social dialogue at differentlevels?
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At the time of the ACTRAV “Workers’ Edu-cation and Environment” Project imple-mentation, the IFBWW already had a trackrecord of working on environmental issues.Therefore, this cooperation was plannedas a direct action programme, aimed atimplementing IFBWW policies in the field.
In spite of the ambitious nature of this proj-ect, the fact that it was planned and pro-posed in a step-by-step manner made itfeel achievable. This becomes an impor-tant factor when trying to engage partici-pation and support for a project. If isseems too big or unrealistic, it is more diffi-cult to attract enthusiasm.
The project also shows the benefit of creat-ing support networks. The union had thesupport of the landowners, who allowedthem use of the property for the project,and they had the support of the authorities,who supplied skilled personnel to assist theproject. The support of others outside theunion greatly helped with the TWU’s ef-forts.
Also important in this case is the fact thatthe project was planned and implementedin view of being able to sustain the projectafter the funding from the ILO had con-cluded. That the project can hopefully becontinued with self-supported means andcontinue independently is a real accom-plishment.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to the TWU, who supplied the activ-ity reports used to develop this summary.
For more information about thiscase study, the Timber and
Woodworkers’ Union in Ghana, orother environmentally sustainabledevelopment-related projects of
the IFBWW, please contact:
IFBWW, 54, route des Acacias,P.O.Box 1412, CH-1227 CarougeGE, Switzerland,Phone (41 22) 827 3777,Fax (41 22) 827 3770,E-mail: [email protected]
30
Action Ghana
A.
Ram
ella
Greening Workplacesthroughout the Philippines
ProjectTitle:
Trade Union andManagement Partnershipin Greening theWorkplace
ProjectCompletedby:
The Philippine SocialInstitute - Federation ofFree Workers (PSI-FFW)
About the Organization
The Philippine Social Institute was founded in1973 as a training and education departmentof the Federation of Free Workers. The Insti-tute conducts training for organized and unor-ganized workers and basic sectors, in additionto policy workshops and research. Thecourses range from awareness-raising ontrade union and workers rights, gender con-sciousness, to various activities relative to un-ion involvement. Lately, new courses havebeen developed to respond to the new andemerging needs and situations of workers.
Introduction
This case study examines the efforts by PSI-FFW to engage the management of three un-ionized firms in the Philippines in a partnershipto promote environmental consciousness andto formulate bipartite environmental policiesin the workplace. This attempt in “greeningthe workplace” was test-piloted in three firmsin the Manila-area.
The project aimed at bringing together the un-ion and management of three firms in order todevelop a workable plan of action to addressenvironmental concerns in each workplace.
Aims and Objectives
l To develop general labour and manage-ment cooperation in promoting environ-mental consciousness and formulatingbipartite policies and programmes in theworkplace.
l To establish and mobilize links with appro-priate government and non-governmentinstitutions in order to strengthen the ca-pacity to advocate for environmental pro-tection.
l To arrive at a labour and managementagreement to pursue viable and sustain-able programmes on environmentalawareness and protection.
Project Description
Three unionized firms were selected to partici-pate in the PSI-FFW project. The companieswere chosen because of their relatively stablelabour/management relations, the fact thatthere are critical environmental concerns intheir workplaces, and the fact that they were inclose proximity to the metropolitan Manila-area, which facilitated project coordination.
The three firms selected were:
l The Superior Gas and Equipment Co.(SUGEDO) – a firm engaged in the refill-ing, distribution, and manufacturing ofhousehold, medical, and commercial gas.
l The United Pulp and Paper Co. (UPPC) – afirm which produces industrial papergrades.
l Adamson & Adamson – a firm which spe-cializes in the manufacture and distributionof personal, health, and baby care prod-ucts.
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The main activities of the project at each of thethree firms involved:
l Project Conceptualization and Develop-ment: Developing and refining the projectconcept and strategies as pertains to eachworkplace.
l Focused Group Discussions: Organizedin each firm, involving representativesfrom the union at the workplace, manage-ment, and PSI-FFW.
l Networking: Linking with other agenciesspecializing in environmental issues at theworkplace.
l Joint Training Workshops: Conductingtwo workshops per firm in order to raiseawareness of both labour and manage-ment on environmental issues.
l Labour-Management Planning Sessions:Discussing the results of the workshopsand possible labour/management plansfor environmental protection.
l Formalizing the Green Agreement: Sign-ing the agreement, which contains the vi-able policy and programme commitmentsof both parties, and setting up the struc-ture to ensure smooth implementation,monitoring, and evaluation.
l Evaluation: Assessing the strengths andweaknesses of the process.
Results and reactions in the threeworkplace efforts
What has been achieved in theUPPC Case?
The management is conscious of the need toprotect and preserve the environment. This ismanifested in their different programmes onwaste minimization and recycling, goodhousekeeping and health and safety. Theirmotivation is the need to increase efficiencyand productivity, improve community rela-
tions, and to comply with governmentalstandards on environment.
The project intended to establish labour-management partnerships in advocating forthe environment. At UPPC, labour coopera-tion is limited on industrial relations issues,particularly collective bargaining and disputessettlement. In the past, union members wereneither interested nor aware of the environ-mental issues and programmes in the com-pany. In fact, there were even workerviolations of the company’s health and safetyprocedures at times.
The project facilitated greater consciousnesson environmental issues, particularly by theunion officers and members. There was alsorealization that cooperation plays an impor-tant role, not only on industrial relations is-sues, but also in implementing environmentaland health and safety programmes for greaterefficiency and social responsibility. Both la-bour and management began advocating forcompliance on environmental standards bypolluting companies in the province, improv-ing government's inspectorate system and initi-ating environmental projects by government,non-government organizations and the indus-trial partners.
However, more consciousness raising activi-ties could have ensured the continuity of initia-tives even after the term of the project. Followthrough initiatives after the signing of the“green agreement” should have been inte-grated in the overall project strategies to allowfor monitoring of activities and to pursue in-corporation of environment issues in collectivebargaining agreements.
Other than education and training and advo-cacy, the project could also have explored set-ting up some concrete project initiatives thatinvolve the communities. Labour and man-agement partnerships with the community,where there are concrete project interventions,may improve further.
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Other benefits of the project include:
l demonstrating that it is possible to pursuea labour/management partnership out-side of traditional industrial relations pa-rameters;
l the development of project materials, aswell as new networks established in the im-plementation of the project, which will beuseful in the environmental training pro-grammes of other trade unions;
l the transformation of labour/manage-ment relations at UPPC, allowing the part-ners to tackle other labour and socialissues, and hopefully institutionalize themin collective bargaining.
What has been achieved in theSUGEDO Case?
The union was convinced of the importance oftackling the environment issue. They felt thatthe threat to their employment resulting from arecent industrial accident, and the consequentpressures by the community to close the com-pany, might be resolved by finding coopera-tion on the issue of the environment andminimizing the possibilities of another acci-dent. The project prompted the resolution ofthe two-front issues confronting labour andmanagement: the pressures from the commu-nity and the threat to employment.
However, despite efforts to raise awareness,the disputes between the union and the com-pany and the company and the community re-mained distinct and separate. The union wascompelled to use the mechanisms establishedin resolving traditional labour relations issues,but the management responded to the issuesof the community alone.
In the project administration, while the strategywas focused on establishing partnership be-tween labour and management, the initiativewas already unstable in the first place, consid-ering the afore-mentioned threats and the fail-ing relations. Things could have beendifferent, but definitely not easy to approachthe issue as a multi-interest initiative betweenthe local government, the community, labourand management. In this way, the employ-ment issue, rather than just becoming anotherlabour dispute issue was raised on the leveloutside of traditional industrial relationsmechanisms with possible consequence reso-lution that complements the interests of allparties.
The project did provide a good backgroundand experiences to draw on for future pro-grammes on education and training, policydevelopment and advocacy, both on environ-mental issues and others.
Action Philippines
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ILO
,J.
Maill
ard
?
What has been achieved in theAdamson & Adamson case?
It was the first time both labour and manage-ment tackled the environmental agenda. Thecompany had a recent worksite accident, anoil spill, which prompted various environ-mental concerns. In addition, the companywas preparing to relocate their operations to anew site, which offered a good opportunity toreview the company’s impact on the environ-ment. Prior to the introduction of the project,this review had not been planned.
The project not only facilitated consciousnessraising on environmental issues, but also es-tablished joint responsibility in ensuring thatmechanisms are in place as the company relo-cates to a new plant site.
The partners have defined the steps to takeand mechanisms to establish in order to en-sure that the company and its operations areenvironmentally compatible. The project wasinitiated towards the latter part of the PSI-FFWproject, but the results are already encourag-ing.
However, a follow-through project that couldmonitor and ensure continuing awarenessraising initiatives for the partners and the newcommunities surrounding the new plant wouldenhance project impact. Also, the relocationwould be an opportunity not only to makingthe company and its operations environmen-tally compatible, but also for initiating con-crete socio-economic and environmentallyviable projects for the communities.
The case of Adamson and Adamson, espe-cially with the planned relocation, could betargeted for “model-building" of greening ini-tiatives by labour and management in col-laboration with local government unit, non-governmental organizations, and the support-ing communities.
Discussion Points
1. How can your union arrive at“green agreements” at work-places?
2. What industries among yourmember organizations do you re-gard to be important to improvethe environment?
The commitment by PSI-FFW, trade unions,and management at these three workplaceshave been admirable. They have demon-strated concrete ways to discuss, negotiate,and formalize bipartite environmental poli-cies for the workplace, resulting in “greenagreements.” When implemented, theseagreements can prove to be a very successfultool in ensuring management cooperationand participation in providing a safe, healthy,and environmentally-friendly workplace.
Acknowledgments
This information contained in this summarywas excerpted from the detailed and informa-tive reports written by PSI-FFW.
Action Philippines
For more information about thiscase study, or other
environmentally sustainabledevelopment-related projects of
the PSI-FFW, please contact
The Philippine Social Institute -Federation of Free Workers,FFW Building, 1943 Taft Avenue,Malate, Manila, Philippines.Tel. 63-2-526-39-70 or
63-2-526-94-35.
34
Export Processing Zones in Southern Africa:a New Challenge for Trade Unions to Advance the
Rights of the Worker and the Environment
ProjectTitle:
Export Processing Zones,Environment andSustainable Development
ProjectCompletedby:
The Southern AfricanTrade Union CoordinatingCouncil (SATUCC)
About the Organization
The Southern African Trade Union Coordinat-ing Council (SATUCC) is a sub-regional tradeunion body which encompasses eleven coun-tries, including Angola, Botswana, Lesotho,Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa,Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zim-babwe. The SATUCC has over 3.5 millionmembers.
Following an Organization of African UnityCouncil of Labour Ministers meeting in 1982,which approved the formation of a sub-regional trade union organization, theSATUCC was formally launched in March1983 in Botswana, where the organizationhas its headquarters.
Introduction
Free Trade Zone? Free Economic Zone? Ex-port Processing Zone?
What do these words really mean? These anda number of other terms have been used todescribe specially designated areas for the es-tablishment of export processing ventures. Themost commonly used term, Export ProcessingZone (EPZ), is most easily defined as a “deline-
ated, enclosed and policed area of a countrywhich has an industrial estate specializing inthe production of manufactured goods for ex-port.”
Since the 1960's, Export Processing Zones(EPZs) have increasingly been introduced indeveloping countries as part of export-oriented industrialization strategies. Govern-ments of countries which have establishedEPZs are hoping that EPZs will make theircountries more internationally competitive andalso address the country’s employment needs.
Many countries adopting EPZ programmeshave high unemployment rates in urban areas,high proportions of their populations engagedin agricultural work, low levels of foreign in-vestment, low levels of technological know-how and general economic stagnation.
In 1996, there were about 200 EPZs in sixtycountries worldwide: 50% of them in Asia,40% in Latin America, and 10% in Africa.These numbers are steadily growing. At thetime of these statistics, EPZs either already ex-isted or had the potential to be developed inseven countries in Southern Africa, and werebeing introduced in several others.
The initial trade union reactions to EPZs weretriggered by the suspension of labour laws orthe weakening of trade union rights that oftencomes with the development of an EPZ. How-ever, it became evident to trade unions thatthe implications of EPZs for workers andeconomies in Southern Africa extended be-yond labour law issues into concerns abouthealth, the environment, resource manage-ment, gender, social development and eco-nomic development.
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Aims and Objectives of the Project
Over a two-year period, this project hoped toachieve several goals:
l to identify, analyze and discuss with unionsaffiliated to the SATUCC key policy, legaland institutional issues and options withrespect to the implications of the develop-ment of Export Processing Zones;
l to examine the experiences of unions inSouthern Africa with respect to EPZs andtheir response to the issues raised forworkers and unions;
l to discuss options for more effective moni-toring and articulation of positive andnegative features of EPZs and more effec-tive advocacy by national unions;
l to build an information and advocacy pro-gramme with the involved unions and withthe SATUCC that will enhance negotiationof union policy on environment and sus-tainable development in EPZs;
l to link unions with professionals, research-ers and research institutions in their re-spective countries to inform and supportunion work on EPZs;
l to prepare materials to support union ad-vocacy on environmental and sustainabledevelopment issues connected to EPZs tobe used to influence the Southern AfricanDevelopment Community (SADC).
Project Implementation
In cooperation with the ACTRAV “Workers’Education and Environment” Project, theSATUCC members participated in a couple ofregional workshops that aimed at generalawareness raising on environmental issuesand developing plans for trade union action.
In early 1996, the SATUCC and its affiliatesheld another regional workshop to examinethe implications of newly forming EPZs for re-gional development and trade unions. In ad-dition to the regional workshops, theSATUCC, in cooperation with the Training andResearch Support Centre (TARSC) in Zim-babwe, did substantial research on EPZs andheld a series of national workshops in selectedcountries in Southern Africa.
The aim of the national workshops was to ex-change information and experiences relatingto EPZs and regional sustainable developmentin countries around Southern Africa. Therewas also an exchange of participants betweenthe national workshops. For instance, follow-ing the workshop in Mozambique, two of theparticipants were sent to the upcoming na-tional workshop in Malawi. This helped to es-tablish an effective network between national
Action Southern Africa
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centres and to allow unions to share experi-ences and learn from each other.
At these national workshops, the SATUCCaimed to educate trade unions and developkey trade union policies on EPZs which werethen discussed at the next regional workshop.Out of the discussions came a serious tradeunion position on EPZs developed from care-ful research and the involvement of membersthroughout Southern Africa.
Once their policies were developed, theSATUCC aimed at advancing the trade unionperspective on EPZs and influencing the SouthAfrican Development Community Employmentand Labour Sector, which is a major decision-making body in the development of EPZs.
The work undertaken in this project built onprevious research done on the issues of EPZsby numerous groups, including The Interna-tional Labour Resource and InformationGroup (ILRIG),the Centre for Southern AfricanStudies, the Faculty of Law at the University ofCape Town and research centres in CentralAmerica and Asia. Their work has focused onissues of trade, labour migration, economicintegration and labour standards.
Project Accomplishments
The project provided a framework for sharinginformation and experiences and the buildingof capacity within the unions to develop andnegotiate policy on EPZs. Since the conceptsof the environment and sustainable develop-ment are issues that covers economic, legal,gender, health, social welfare and organiza-tional issues, the project was able to integratethese issues into existing trade union activities,programmes and structures.
Specifically, the project:
l developed informational materials for na-tional workshops on EPZs based on thematerial compiled for and presented at aSATUCC/ILO/TARSC regional workshopand the issues raised at that workshop;
l supported research at the national leveland discussed and identified union workon the impact of the implementation of theEPZ policy and its implications;
l involved in national activities and work-shops participants from other nationalcentres on an “exchange visit basis” toshare experience and draw informationfor their own national programmes;
l held national-level workshops in coopera-tion with the trade union centres to exam-ine the experience of EPZs in differentcountries in terms of the environment andsustainable development;
l coordinated this project with other proj-ects in the area also covering the issue ofEPZs;
l used information obtained from the na-tional research, information and trainingprogrammes and from communicationwith affiliates to compile a technical reporton EPZs. The SATUCC then held a four-day regional level workshop to discuss theoutcome of national programmes on EPZsand to prepare their input to the SADC.The results were presented at the 1997
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SADC Employment and Labour SectorMeeting along with the SATUCC resolu-tion on EPZs;
l disseminated materials developed in theproject, including an information sheet onenvironment and sustainable develop-ment issues in EPZs, to relevant national,sub-regional and international fora;
l developed a resource pack aimed at sup-porting discussions at national and work-place level on EPZ policies and discussingand defining the economic, employment,social, legal and environmental policiesthat will build a more sustainable develop-ment path. The resource pack used a par-ticipatory approach in national and localworkshops to discuss EPZs. The pack in-cluded modules which were designed toprovoke discussion of current experienceswith EPZs, identify key problems and is-sues, discuss those problems and issues,and identify possible solutions.
Input from trade union members, collectedthrough the national and regional workshops,helped the SATUCC formulate a policy onEPZs, which they brought to the attention ofthe SADC Employment and Labour Sector.
The SATUCC’s resolution on EPZs makesmany strong points, with the main messagebeing that:
“Unions believe that EPZ's are a weak and in-efficient strategy for economic investment andgrowth whose costs to national economies andpopulations and to regional integration greatlyoutweigh any perceived benefits. Unions notethat the impact of EPZs in the SADC region willbe to deepen division and competition be-tween the SADC member states and to under-mine the essential and difficult process ofregional economic integration.”
“Trade unions reject the use of concessions onlabour, environmental and health standards asincentives to investment, as has emerged inEPZs everywhere. No economic measures, in-cluding those of EPZs, should undermine la-bour, environment and health standards, andthe sustainable management of domestic re-sources.”
Thus, it is the SATUCC’s position that existingEPZ policy is not only a substantial threat to in-dustrial democracy and sustainable develop-ment within the Southern African region, butestablishes a competition between the SADCmember states for investment that will not onlylead to a downward spiral of labour and envi-ronmental standards, but can also lead tocompetition on concessions and to retaliatorytariff, transport and trade measures. It is feltthat such measures will undermine the climateof political and economic cooperation neces-sary for regional economic integration.
However, the SATUCC conceded that shouldEPZ policies be implemented, they believe thatthe SADC Employment and Labour Sectorshould monitor and seek reports from memberstates on the measures put in place to applylabour, environmental and health laws inEPZs. The SATUCC asserts that the SADCshould further monitor and report on the realimpact of such EPZ policies on regional eco-nomic and trade integration.
With the trade union position made known tothe SADC, the SATUCC was successful in get-ting recognition for their concerns. In fact, us-ing the training manual/resource pack thatwas developed for SATUCC affiliates, tradeunions have managed to negotiate for the in-clusion of minimum labour standards in EPZs.
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?Discussion Points
1. If you are affiliated to a sub-regional or regional trade unionorganization, in what mannerdoes your organization partici-pate in bi- and/or tripartite bod-ies?
2. What can you learn from this proj-ect in order to improve the re-gional organization’s influence onenvironmentally sustainable de-velopment policies in the region?
3. Is your trade union representedon any national advisory ordecision-making bodies? If no,what can be done to change thisfact? If yes, how can this casestudy help you improve your influ-ence?
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Dr. Rene Loewenson of the Trainingand Research Support Centre for all the time andwork she put into this project, and to the other re-search centres, whose helpful cooperation con-tributed to the project’s success. Acknowledgedalso are the former SATUCC Secretary-General,Mr. M. Tsvangirai, and his colleagues.
The short-term aims of this project were to facili-tate national-level activities and discussions onEPZs, to influence the SADC policies, and to in-fluence and negotiate the rights of the workersand the environment in newly established EPZs.SATUCC’s efforts on these were, by and large, asuccess.
Unfortunately, the SATUCC does not have themeans to continue the training aspect that wascarried out in this project or to utilize the resourcepack they developed to its fullest potential. How-ever, we can see the positive impacts that thisproject has had which will hopefully endure.
This project was especially effective in that thetrade unions, instead of being in position to reactto a challenge posed by industry or government,they were in the position to initiate action to posi-tively influence their working and living condi-tions. The SATUCC was able to foresee anupcoming dilemma with EPZs, coordinate theproper research on the issue, and play a pro-active role in policy formation which reflectedtrade union concerns.
Another highlight of this case study was thestrengthening of the trade union network inSouthern Africa through the project, the capacitybuilding between national centres, universitiesand research institutes, which took place, and theexchange of information across trade unions,countries and across continents.
Action Southern Africa
For information on this case study orother environmentally sustainabledevelopment-related projects of
SATUCC, please contact
Southern Africa Trade UnionCoordinating Council,5071 Kabelo Way, Extension 10,P.O. Box 601557, Gaborone, Botswana,Tel. (267) 301 449,Fax (267) 584 453.E-mail address: [email protected]
For information on the TARSC,please contact
Dr. Rene Loewenson, Training andResearch Support Centre,47 Van Praagh Avenue, Milton Park,Harare, Zimbabwe.Tel. (263) 4 705 108,Fax (263( 4 737 220.
39
Trade UnionsBring Clean Water
to a Community in India
ProjectTitle:
Fight for a CleanWater: A Case Study ofTrade Unions' Initiatives
ProjectCompletedby:
Hind Mazdoor Sabha(HMS)
Introduction
Ratlam, a relatively small town in WesternMadhya Pradesh in India, has over theyears emerged into a major industrial area.Its natural resources and its base of pre-independence industrialization (the town isfamous for brass utensils, weighing scalesand perfumes), combined with its strategicpositioning near the borders of Rajasthanand Gujarat, led the town to become aprime junction on the Western Railway.Thousands of passengers and wagons passdaily through the town. Since 1953, Rat-lam has served as the divisional headquar-ter of the Western Railways. Out of apopulation of about 300,000, Railway em-ployees and their families number nearly35,000 people.
Most of the railway workers are organizedin the Hind Mazdoor Sabha affiliated West-ern Railway Employees Union (WREU) . Thepresence of such a large contingent of un-ionised workers proved to be a boon to therest of the Ratlam people in their fightagainst industrial pollution. This case studyshowcases the efforts of WREU to fight thepolluting industries in Ratlam for a supplyof clean water.
About the Organization
HMS, a national trade union confederationin India established in 1948, gives priorityto securing workers’ rights at the work-place, including safe working and livingconditions. Not affiliated to any politicalparty, HMS has affiliates in numerous eco-nomic sectors, including Transport (such asRailways, Seafarers, Port and Dock Work-ers, Air Transport), Coal, Chemicals, Tex-tiles, Mines, Engineering, and Steel.
Trade UnionsBring Clean Water
to a Community in India
ProjectTitle:
Fight for a CleanWater: A Case Study ofTrade Unions' Initiatives
ProjectCompletedby:
Hind Mazdoor Sabha(HMS)
Introduction
Ratlam, a relatively small town in WesternMadhya Pradesh in India, has over theyears emerged into a major industrial area.Its natural resources and its base of pre-independence industrialization (the town isfamous for brass utensils, weighing scalesand perfumes), combined with its strategicpositioning near the borders of Rajasthanand Gujarat, led the town to become aprime junction on the Western Railway.Thousands of passengers and wagons passdaily through the town. Since 1953, Rat-lam has served as the divisional headquar-ter of the Western Railways. Out of apopulation of about 300,000, Railway em-ployees and their families number nearly35,000 people.
Most of the railway workers are organizedin the Hind Mazdoor Sabha affiliated West-ern Railway Employees Union (WREU) . Thepresence of such a large contingent of un-ionised workers proved to be a boon to therest of the Ratlam people in their fightagainst industrial pollution. This case studyshowcases the efforts of WREU to fight thepolluting industries in Ratlam for a supplyof clean water.
About the Organization
HMS, a national trade union confederationin India established in 1948, gives priorityto securing workers’ rights at the work-place, including safe working and livingconditions. Not affiliated to any politicalparty, HMS has affiliates in numerous eco-nomic sectors, including Transport (such asRailways, Seafarers, Port and Dock Work-ers, Air Transport), Coal, Chemicals, Tex-tiles, Mines, Engineering, and Steel.
Action India
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Aims and Objectives
The battle for a clean environment has beenlong, often riddled with dilemmas and de-bates, but also one that has borne many fruitsand lessons. This case study was completedwith the goal of sharing this information aboutpolluting industries in Ratlam and the roleplayed in it by the union. The case study ob-jectives were the following:
l illustrate the delicate balance between work-ers’ need for employment and the responsi-bility of employers and workers to ensure ahealthy living environment, which sometimesresults in the closing of factories to halt haz-ardous environmental conditions;
l raise awareness of the workers’ on envi-ronmental issues;
l develop an understanding of the role ofthe trade unions in keeping the industrialenvironment clean;
l develop future strategies on how to checkindustrial pollution and prevent the clo-sure of workplaces.
Project Description
The Government and the private owners whoset up factories in the wake of new industrialpolicies in India paid scant or no attention tokeeping the environment clean and safe forthe workers and people living nearby. Long
before the Bhopal gas tragedy struck, when alarge number of people were still unaware ofthe absolute necessity of adhering to certainmeasures of keeping the environment safeand clean, HMS-affiliated WREU was amongthe first few to raise its voice against such mal-practice.
Pollution of Air and Water: TheAlcohol Plant and the WREU
At Ratlam, the entire water requirements of theRailways (for the sheds, for wagons, passen-gers, station staff and railway colonies) aremet by the reservoir made at the River Kurel,13 miles away from Ratlam.
According to the unions’ report, on the west-ern side of the Ratlam-Ajmer meter gauge line,about a mile to the north of the Ratlam Station,is an Alcohol Plant. This Plant was set up in1963 and used molasses from the sugar fac-tories to make alcohol. The effluents of thisplant were discharged into the open fieldsaround the meter gauge railway line. Theseopen fields form the catchment area of theRiver Kurel. During the rainy season the dis-charged effluents of the alcohol plant flowedinto the river.
The constant flow of the polluted water notonly contaminated the water of the River Kurel,but with time, the pollutants seeped below theearth’s surface. As a result, the ground waterin the wells and handpumps began to take on
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a reddish-brown tinge with a strong foul smell.Also, the usage of this water brought on skindiseases and a number of other related seri-ous health problems. On absorbing the poi-sonous substances, the quality of the soilbegan to deteriorate. As a result, the plantsand the vegetation also withered.
l Action taken by the WREU: 1975 - 1977
The union demanded an immediate halt to thepractice of letting the pollutants simply flowinto the river. They collected samples of waterand had them examined at the Railway’s Wa-ter Treatment Plant. The water samples werefound to be unsuitable for human consump-tion, and, on further investigation, it was foundthat there were several other industries respon-sible for the pollution of the River Kurel. Theunion demanded an inspection by the authori-ties. The official inspection report revealed thesame problems discovered by the union.
l Building pressure on the management
The union took up the matter with the railwaymanagement, asking the Divisional Superin-tendent to take appropriate measures to en-sure the supply of clean water. A series ofrepresentations and protest meetings were
held by the unions. The pressure on the man-agement led to them issuing a circular whichnamed and recognised the problem of waterpollution and the river’s consequent scarcity ofclean water.
The WREU Ratlam wrote to the union head of-fice located at Mumbai to initiate action attheir level and to make the problem widelyvisible to the different workers and the man-agement cadres.
l Arranging meetings
Alert union members were also responsible forpaving the way for joint meetings between thePollution Control Board, Bhopal, PublicHealth Department, Ratlam, and the manage-ments from the polluting industries. However,when these meetings made little or no head-way, the union arranged periodical liaisonmeetings with the the Government of MadhyaPradesh and the Divisional Superintendent ofthe Western and South Eastern Railways. Thesuggestion of constructing water lagoons tocontain the flow of effluents was considered,but the cost of 600,000-700,000 rupees (ap-proximately $13,800-$16,100 at today’s ex-change) was pointed out to be against thenational economic stringency. The closure ofthe Alcohol Plant was ruled out because of theshortage of methylated spirit which was ur-gently needed in other fields. The GeneralManager of the Alcohol Plant finally acceptedthat, as a temporary measure, an earthenboundary would be provided to check the flowof effluents from spreading too far out.
As it turned out, this boundary was ineffectiveas the heavy monsoon rains broke down themud walls. Moreover, such unlined evapora-tion ponds cannot prevent the leaching of pol-lutants into the ground soil and water.
l Workshops & Seminars
While the union negotiated with the manage-ment, it also organized a number of local andregional workshops and seminars to educateand inform the railway employees about theproblems of the polluted environment.
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The non-closure of the factory, while seemingto be to the benefit of the workers was used asa cover to evade the larger issue of followingstricter safeguards for the pollution spreadingthrough the city. Still, the expenditure of600,000 to 700,000 rupees to adopt cleanerproduction technologies was considered toohigh, even in light of the irreparable environ-mental damage that was taking place.
l Looking to the Law for Remedial Action
In 1977, the union was finally able to force theRailway administration, Western Railway, Rat-lam, to file a Suit against a number of pollut-ing industries in the Court of Additional DistrictJudge. In response to the Petition, the Courtgranted a temporary injunction and restraintagainst the Alcohol Plant and other industriesdischarging their industrial effluents in theKurel river until the decision of the Suit.
l Spreading community awareness
The union activists realised that the pollutionwas no longer an issue that was confined tothem alone. The stench, the withering vegeta-tion, and the disappearance of the birds andanimals around the whole area were the con-cerns of the community as well. Thus a system-atic and a sustained campaign to educate andstir the community was begun by the union.
Consequently, the residents of Ratlam com-plained to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate(SDM) that the Ratlam Municipality did not doits statutory duty of removing the nuisance offilth and stench due to sewage and the dis-charge of effluents from the Alcohol Plant.There was no sign of the Pollution ControlBoard nor was the Municipal Corporation tak-ing any steps towards basic sanitation. TheMunicipality was directed to take immediateaction to stop the effluents flowing from the Al-cohol Plant into the streets, acknowledgingthat “eleven such industries cannot make prof-its at the expense of public health.” The casewent to the Supreme Court.
Results and Reactions:The Role of the Union at the
Workplace and Beyond
“An important aspect of this struggle was thatthe union members did not loosen up the pres-sure on the management. At every stage theunion intervened, keeping a track of the man-agement’s promises, duties, and ensuringtheir practice and follow up action, “ statedCom. Govindlal Sharma, Divisional Secretary,WREU at Ratlam.
The union got the management to organizewater meetings regularly. These meetingswere attended by the station staff people, un-ion members and the management. At thesemeetings, the water requirements at differentstations and at the residences were clearlyspelt out, the shortfalls assessed, and the diffi-culties encountered in meeting the waterneeds were discussed and alternate arrange-ments worked out.
When the management delayed in taking ac-tion, as in the case of repairing handpumps,on the pretext that the permission for the con-
Action India
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tract for repairing was being awaited, the un-ion intervened and hastened the work.
The union also played a commendable role ingetting water from other places, organizingtankers and wagons to ensure the supply ofclean water at the stations and the employeeshousing colonies. It also insisted on a certifi-cate that verified the water’s cleanliness.
The union drew the management's attention towater resources drying and suggested alterna-tives and insisted on a rational system of distri-bution and preventing wasting water throughrepairing overflowing tanks, leaking taps, andinstalling new handpumps.
The union printed leaflets and distributed themamong the workers to make them aware oftheir rights to a clean and adequate water sup-ply.
The union made an effort to keep the localand the national newspapers informed of thesituation. The result was that throughout thelong fight, the issue was kept alive in the publicmind. This helped to build a solid supportbase among the city people. The fact that themedia made visible the issues arising out of
the spreading pollution put pressure on themanagement to act with responsibility.
However, despite the union's active role, therewas still the issue of a regular, clean water sup-ply. The union managed to bring together theNagar Nigam (Municipal Corporation), theRailway, and other local authorities for nego-tiations. After much persuasion, an agree-ment was reached between the Nagar Nigamand the Railway administration to ensure aregular and adequate supply of water to theRailway colony in Ratlam.
Filing a Writ Petition in theSupreme Court
Apart from the local, legal and other social ac-tivities, HMS affiliated WREU also helped afarmer of the region to file a writ petition bef-ore the Supreme Court.
Even though the union was well aware that thefiling of the Writ Petition could lead to the clo-sure of the Railway Locomotive shed (as it hap-pened in the case of Alcohol Plant), the unionstill went ahead because it felt that this couldwell be a way to make the Railway Administra-
Action India
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tion invest in technical upgrades that wouldadhere to clean environmental standards.
Secondly, the step had immense possibilitiesof fostering strong bonds with the communitygroups. Together with them, the union couldmuster enough support to impress upon theemployers the need to invest in pollution con-trol and cleaner production methods insteadof resorting to closure.
The Decision of Supreme Court
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),as per the order of the Supreme Court, submit-ted its report and the court made mandatorythe CPCB recommendations. In its next hear-ing in March 1996, the Supreme Court an-nounced the closure of two of the pollutingindustries, both at Ratlam. However, on therequest of one of the companies, the SupremeCourt granted it permission to produce drygoods with instructions to District Administra-tion to keep a watch.
The Fight Continues
On the basis of more complaints and a tip offreceived from the CPCB, the Supreme Courtissued orders to 12 more industries who arenow under pressure to invest in pollution con-trol in their plants.
It is hoped by the union that this will begin anew age in India wherein the industries will fol-low processes for preventing environmentaldegradation and pollution. While the unionhas successfully obtained the water supply,several of its members working in the Railwayshed run the risk of losing their jobs if the Rail-ways do not invest in pollution control and optfor closure instead. This difficult situation inwhich the union often finds itself has enabled itto articulate the following demands:
l The law must change to give a far morestringent punishment to the parties floutingthe environment laws.
l There should be regular checks to ensurethat the industries follow the pollution con-trol laws.
l The policy of closing down factories/in-dustries should not be the rule. Closures,far from being solutions, only aggravatethe problems, tending to create a divisionbetween workers and the community.
l Ways and means must be developed sothat the complexities in legal proceduresand delays get reduced.
l The workers and the public should havethe right to information on the toxic re-leases and the nature of hazards at work-place that workers face in their jobs.
l The principle of tripartitism should beadopted in solving environmental prob-lems.
The Current Situation
The Railway authorities have provided cleandrinking water for the railway colonies and thestaff. Some of the polluting industries have in-stalled pollution control devices, while othershave not. The relevant authorities are takingaction, industrialists can be politically powerfuland savvy, and manage to avoid the require-ments.
The pollution of the river still happens but isless frequent. Legal action taken by union ac-tivists in association with other local groups re-quired the reparation of sewage lines and thediversion of the canal carrying the effluents, sothat they do not flow into the water source.
Although the immediate crisis was resolved,the situation from the long term sustainablepoint of view is not very satisfactory, and muchaction still needs to be taken, including sus-taining pressure on the local authorities to im-prove the situation for both the workers andthe community of Ratlam as a whole.
Action India
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?
Discussion Points
1. What ideas can you extract fromthis case to be used in your ownorganization?
2. Do you think that addressing envi-ronmentally sustainable develop-ment issues will have an effect onunion membership rates? Why orwhy not?
Acknowledgments
The information contained in this summarywas excerpted from the comprehensive reportswritten by Mr. Arun Kumar, former Informationand Research Officer for HMS.
Although the efforts to combat this water pollutionby HMS and WREU began well before the ILOproject on Trade Unions and EnvironmentallySustainable Development had begun its work, ithas been involved with the case study since theProject became operational in India. HMS, andanother organization involved in the case, theCommonwealth Trade Union Congress, India(CTUC), both received direct support from theproject and in addition, WREU representativesparticipated in environmental awareness trainingworkshops sponsored by the project.
In addition to this successful and far-reachingcase study, HMS and CTUC have both com-pleted a number of important campaigns on suchissues as the occupational health and safety ofsewage workers, a report on waste disposal prac-tices, improving working conditions along theRiver Ganga, health and environment on teaplantations, and the impact on workers of indus-trial closures, to name a few.
In fact, research on water pollution conducted atthe Rourkela Steel Plant in India led to the coop-eration between an HMS-affiliated union in thesteel plant and the World Wildlife Federation(WWF). The WWF developed a water testing kitfor the Rourkela Mazdoor Sabha Union, and theyused it to test water supplies in workers’ housingcolonies. This initiative of the union was appreci-ated by the workers, as they saw the union as be-ing concerned about other things besides wages,and one result was the strengthening of the un-ions' membership base. The Rourkela study is anexcellent example of how trade unions can pairwith non-governmental organizations to achieveboth beneficial environmental results and in-crease union influence in the workplace andcommunity.
My appreciation to Ms. Indira Saxena, former Re-gional Coordinator for CTUC, and Mr. Arun Ku-mar, formerly of HMS, for their relentless work onenvironmental issues in India.
Action India
For more information about this casestudy or other environmentally
sustainable efforts of HMS,please contact
Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), 120,Babar Road, New Delhi 110 001,INDIA,
Telephone number(91) 011-3315519,
Fax number(91) 011-3310438.
46
Promoting Worker Involvement:The IUF Researches Pesticide Use in Guatemala,
and Plans Worker Training Among Affiliates
ProjectTitle:
Study of the Effectivenessof the Industry-SponsoredSafe Use Project forPesticide Users
ProjectCompletedby:
International Union ofFood and Agricultural,Hotel, Restaurant,Catering, Tobacco andAllied Workers’Associations (IUF)
About the Organization
The International Union of Food and Agricul-tural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobaccoand Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) is an in-ternational trade union federation composedof 334 affiliated organizations in 118 coun-tries. The IUF represents a combined mem-bership of 2.6 million workers employed inagriculture, the preparation and manufactureof food and beverages, hotels, restaurantsand catering services, and all stages of to-bacco processing.
Introduction
In 1997, the 23rd World Congress of the IUFmade a number of significant decisions to ex-tend the IUF’s work in the area of occupa-tional health, safety, and environment (HSE),with special emphasis on the use of pesticides,sustainable agriculture, and food safety. As
part of these efforts, the IUF created its ownGlobal Pesticides Project (GPP), throughwhich the IUF would evaluate the role of theglobal pesticide industry in improving HSEstandards for pesticide users, and to deter-mine if there is a role that workers could play inthe industry-sponsored voluntary initiatives.
Accidental poisonings are one of the majorimpacts of pesticide use. In Guatemala,where over 80% of the agricultural workforceof 1.2 million farmers and farmworkers are ex-posed to pesticides in their work, the IUF’sconcern about the health and working condi-tions of agricultural workers is especiallystrong. For this reason, the GPP decided to in-vestigate a voluntary initiative pilot project ac-tive in the Latin American country.
The Safe Use Project (SUP), a voluntary pro-gramme launched by the Global Crop Protec-tion Federation (the international tradeassociation of the pesticide industry), aims toprovide training for large groups of pesticideusers and others who have an influence onhow pesticides are used. This voluntary initia-tive is used by the industry to demonstrate itscommitment to “product stewardship” – itsconcern about the product from manufacture,to the product’s use, through to its disposal.The GCPF claims that the SUP is helping totackle problems and change problematic atti-tudes and behaviour among pesticide users,which should result in the safer handling ofpesticides and fewer accidents. The IUF initi-ated this case study to examine whether or notthe industry claims were accurate.
Action Guatemala
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Aims and Objectives
The goals of the case study were:
l to evaluate the effectiveness of the pesti-cide industry’s Safe Use Project (SUP) inGuatemala in raising minimum health,safety, and environment (HSE) standardsof pesticide use;
l to determine whether there has been inde-pendent verification of the SUP;
l to determine the degree of trade un-ion/worker involvement in the SUP, or thepotential for such involvement in the fu-ture.
Project Description
Agriculture is Guatemala’s most important in-dustry and export earner. A wide range ofcrops are produced, involving the use of con-siderable quantities of pesticides. However,the Guatemalan Government’s Pesticides andHealth Project acknowledges that “there is lim-ited knowledge in the country on the possibleeffects of pesticides on the exposed populationand the environment,” and that “the inappro-priate use of pesticides is the third most impor-tant cause of natural resource degradation.”In addition to the massive amounts of pesti-cides used, research done by the IUF foundthat while the training of workers in the safemanagement of pesticides is required by law,
the actual institutional capacity to carry outthat training is questionable.
The Safe Use Project has been active in Gua-temala since 1991. A voluntary programmerun by the pesticide industry, the SUP has pro-vided training on the handling of pesticides toapproximately 326,000 people, includingfarmworkers, housewives, students, pesticidedealers, technicians and salespersons, medi-cal personnel, and governmental staff. How-ever, IUF is concerned that the type of trainingprovided by the SUP may not be effectiveenough.
Because of these concerns, the IUF sent a fieldresearcher to Guatemala in January 1999 tosee the SUP programme in action. Over thecourse of 10 days, the researcher met withdozens of agricultural workers, trade unionleaders, researchers, industry and governmentrepresentatives, and others, conducting inter-views and visiting work sites. The informationgathered on the site in Guatemala led to sev-eral conclusions.
Conclusions
First of all, there should be acknowledgmentof the Safe Use Programme (SUP) initiative totrain pesticide users. This voluntary initiative isa step in the right direction. However, forthese efforts to be truly sustainable, they mustreach other major user groups with high expo-sure. For example, there is no training ofwaged agricultural workers or involvement oftheir trade unions. This was found to be a seri-ous omission, as many of the 10,000 to30,000 estimated number of pesticide poi-sonings that occur each year are with mem-bers of this group.
The research done in this case also concludedthat the SUP focuses too much on the numberof people trained rather than on the quality oftraining. Although the industry claims it hastrained a significantly large number of users,
Action Guatemala
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G.P
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there is concern that the quality of training isbeing sacrificed for quantity.
The IUF also concluded that the SUP resultsneed to be independently verified by an objec-tive evaluation or audit. Without such audits,the industry leaves itself open to accusationsthat voluntary initiatives such as the Guate-mala SUP are nothing more than a way for theindustry to claim it is doing good deeds whilereally just promoting its own interests and con-tinuing poor practices behind the scenes.
The IUF also asserts that there is a lack ofregulatory/voluntary mix in the training pro-vided. At the present time, training in theproper use of pesticides is exclusively in thehands of industry. Speaking on the topic ofvoluntary initiatives, the United Nations Envi-ronmental Programme has stated that “volun-tary codes cannot be effective without a soundgovernment regulatory and policy frameworkand public involvement.”
Finally, for the Guatemalan SUP to be moreeffective, the training programme needs to beopened up, and the energies and resources ofnew groups needs to be engaged, including
trade unions, small farmers’ organizations,non-governmental organizations, etc.
Results and Reactions
The IUF published its full report on the casestudy in February 1999, and the report wasalso translated into Spanish. In addition, theIUF presented the results of this case study atthe ILO Tripartite Meeting on Voluntary Initia-tives Affecting Training and Education inSafety, Health, and Environment in the Chemi-cal Industries, held in February 1999.
At this tripartite meeting, it was agreed to es-tablish the principle of the need for worker in-volvement in the design, implementation, andverification of the pesticide industry’s Safe UseProjects and the chemical industry’s Responsi-ble Care programmes. This agreement led tothe first ever discussion between the IUF andthe industry’s Global Crop Protection Federa-tion (GCPF), held in Brussels in May 1999,where the two groups reached an agreement,in principle, to provide joint pesticide, health,safety and environment (HSE) training for agri-cultural workers using or exposed to pesti-
Action Guatemala
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cides. The framework for this cooperation isIUF’s Global Pesticides Project and GCPF’sSafe Use Project. Following that agreement,the IUF was then invited to make a presenta-tion to GCPF’s SUP and regional coordinatorsat their meeting in June 1999 on the casestudy and on IUF’s Global Pesticides Project.
Through the enhanced cooperation of bothgroups, an IUF-GCPF meeting was held inNairobi, Kenya in October 1999 to discuss apilot joint training project for agriculturalworkers on pesticides and HSE in Uganda, in-volving the National Union of Plantation andAgricultural Workers. The pilot project will fo-cus on agricultural workers in the sugar andcut flower industries, and will consist of a train-ing course for 20 trainers in January 2000 andsecondary training courses for 500-1000workers to be held afterwards.
In addition, IUF intends to hold a workshop onpesticide use in Guatemala in February 2000as a follow-up to this case study report.
Discussion Points
1. What could be the trade unions’ rolein encouraging enhanced govern-ment regulation of pesticides?
2. What role could trade unions play inthe implementation, monitoring,and evaluation of SUP programmes?
3. How could trade union membersparticipate in a large-scale tripartitedialogue on pesticide issues?
4. Does your industry have any activevoluntary initiative programmes? Ifso, do you think they are effective?Why or why not?
5. If your industry does not have any ac-tive voluntary initiative programmes, isthere a need? Why or why not?
From the research and information gatheredthrough this case study, a sustainable workingrelationship has developed between the IUFand the GCPF, which should lead to the com-pletion of successful joint training projects.This case study is an excellent example of howthe information gathered in such a study canbe used effectively to promote and encourageaction. Using the data gathered during thefield visit and a well-written report, the IUF wasable to effect policy development within theILO, advance workers’ rights within the tripar-tite structure, and pave the way for a benefi-cial cooperation with the industry group.
Well done!
Acknowledgments
This information contained in this summarywas excerpted from the comprehensive anduseful reports written by Mr. Peter Hurst,Health, Safety and Environment Coordinatorfor the IUF, who was the field researcher in thiscase study.
For more information about thiscase study, or other
environmentally sustainabledevelopment-related projects
of the IUF, please contact
Peter Hurst, Health, Safety andEnvironment Coordinator,International Union of Food andAgricultural, Hotel, Restaurant,Catering, Tobacco and AlliedWorkers’ Associations (IUF),Rampe du Pont Rouge 8, CH-1213Geneva (Petit Lancy), Switzerland.Tel: + 41 22 879 0513 (direct);Tel: + 41 22 793 2233;Fax: + 41 22 793 2238; E-mail:[email protected] site: www.iuf.org
Action Guatemala
50
REFERENCE MATERIALS
In addition to interviews and informal discus-sions with concerned parties, questionnairereplies, letters, and memorandums received,the following reference materials were usedfor the writing of these case study summaries:
Introducing Occupational Health,Safety, and Environment
Committees in the Workplace:A Goal of the NCEW in Eritirea
l Report on the Establishment of Occupa-tional Safety, Health, and EnvironmentCommittees. NCEW. October 1998.
l Video: The Role of Workers and Environ-mentally Sustainable Development.NCEW. May 1997.
A Korean Trade Union SpreadsEnvironmental Awareness in Asia
l Speech given at the ICEM World Confer-ence on Occupational Health, Safety, andEnvironment by Brother Kang of theFKCU. FKCU. May 1998.
l Awareness-raising video. Developed byFKCU’s Labour Film Group “Hope”.1998.
l Workshop Report: ICEM/ILO/FKCUWorkshop on Trade Unions, the Environ-ment, and Sustainable Development inAsia. Ms. Annie Rice. September 1997.
An Environmental DisasterMotivates Trade Union Actions in
the Philippines
l Presentation by Benjamin Basquinas,NAMAWU, at the INT/93/M12/NOR Fi-nal Project Evaluation. NAMAWU. Janu-ary 1999.
l Case Study report on the 1996 Mine-Related Environmental Disaster in Marin-duque, Philippines. ICEM. December1998.
l Project Application. NAMAWU. 1997.
Trade Unions in India: Solidarityfor Environmental Protection.
l TUPEP Meeting Minutes. TUPEP. VariousDates.
l Reply to Case Study questionnaire: HMSActivities and the Formation of TUPEP.HMS. July 1999.
Replanting Their Future: TradeUnions’ Reforestation Project in
Ghana
l Report to the FNV on the IFBWW ForestProject for the Timber Workers’ Union ofGhana. IFBWW. April 1999.
l TWU Reforestation and Education Pro-gramme Report. TWU, Ghana. Novem-ber 1998.
l IFBWW Education Project Report.IFBWW. June 1997.
l Project Proposal for Promoting Environ-mental Awareness Through Trade Unions.TWU, Ghana and TUC, Ghana. May1995.
Appendix I
51
Greening Workplaces throughoutthe Philippines
l Summary of Case Studies for Greeningthe Workplace, Philippines. PSI-FFW.1999.
l Workshop Report: Training and PlanningWorkshop on the Environment. PSI-FFW.December 1998.
l Project Report: Trade Union and Manage-ment Partnership in Greening the Work-place. PSI-FFW. 1998.
l Mid-Term Report: Trade Union and Man-agement Partnership in Greening theWorkplace. PSI-FFW. 1997.
Export Processing Zones inSouthern Africa: a New Challengefor Trade Unions to Advance the
Rights of the Worker and theEnvironment
l Export Processing Zones, Environment,and Sustainable Development: A Work-shop Pack for Trade Unions. SATUCCand TARSC. October 1996.
l Proposal for Phase Two of a Regional Pro-gramme of Work on Environmental Issuesin Export Processing Zones. SATUCC andTARSC. 1995.
l Numerous research papers written byTARSC, International Labour Resourceand Information Group (ILRIG), the Cen-tre for Southern African Studies, and theFaculty of Law at the University of CapeTown, on Export Processing Zones.
Trade Unions Bring Clean Water toa Community in India
l Fight for Clean Water: A Case Study of aTrade Union’s Initiative. HMS. November1998.
l Brief Report on HMS Project Activities.HMS. 1998.
Promoting Worker Involvement:The IUF Researches Pesticide Use in
Guatemala and Plans WorkerTraining Among Affiliates
l Progress Report. IUF. November 1999.
l Report of IUF/Global Crop ProtectionFederation meeting. IUF. May 1999.
l Case Study report: The Global PesticideIndustry’s Safe Use and Handling TrainingProject in Guatemala. IUF. February1999.
Appendix I
52
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ACTRAV Bureau for Workers’ Activities
AITUC AII India Trade Union Congress
BMS Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh
CBA Collective Bargaining Agreement
CITU Centre of Indian Trade Unions
CPCB Central Pollution Control Board
CTA Chief Technical Adviser
CTUC Commonwealth Trade Union Congress
CTUO Central Trade Union Organisation
EITs Environmental Inspection Teams
EPZ Export Processing Zone
FKCU Federation of Korean Chemical Workers’ Unions
GCPF Global Crop Protection Federation
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GPP Global Pesticide Project
HMS Hind Mazdoor Sabha
HSE Health, Safety, and Environment
ICEM International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and GeneralWorkers’ Union
ICFTU International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
IFBWW International Federation of Building and Woodworkers
ILO International Labour Organization
ILRIG International Labour Resource and Information Group
INTUC Indian National Trade Union Congress
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ACTRAV Bureau for Workers’ Activities
AITUC AII India Trade Union Congress
BMS Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh
CBA Collective Bargaining Agreement
CITU Centre of Indian Trade Unions
CPCB Central Pollution Control Board
CTA Chief Technical Adviser
CTUC Commonwealth Trade Union Congress
CTUO Central Trade Union Organisation
EITs Environmental Inspection Teams
EPZ Export Processing Zone
FKCU Federation of Korean Chemical Workers’ Unions
GCPF Global Crop Protection Federation
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GPP Global Pesticide Project
HMS Hind Mazdoor Sabha
HSE Health, Safety, and Environment
ICEM International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and GeneralWorkers’ Union
ICFTU International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
IFBWW International Federation of Building and Woodworkers
ILO International Labour Organization
ILRIG International Labour Resource and Information Group
INTUC Indian National Trade Union Congress
Appendix II
53
ITS International Trade Secretariat
IUF International Union of Food and Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant,Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations
LACC Labour Advisory Consultative Council
MELU Marcopper Employees Labour Union
MMC Marcopper Mines Company
NAMAWU National Mines and Allied Workers’ Union
NCEW National Federation of Eritrean Workers
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
OSHE Occupational Safety, Health, and Environment
PSI-FFW Philippine Social Institute - Federation for Free Workers
SADC Southern African Development Community
SATUCC Southern African Trade Union Coordinating Council
SDM Sub-Divisional Magistrate
SUGEDO Superior Gas and Equipment Company
SUP Safe Use Project
TARSC Training and Research Support Centre
TUCP Trade Union Congress of the Philippines
TUPEP Trade Union Partnership for Environmental Protection
TWU Timber and Woodworkers’ Union
UN CSD United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development
UPPC United Pulp and Paper Company
WREU Western Railway Employees Union
WWF World Wildlife Fund
ITS International Trade Secretariat
IUF International Union of Food and Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant,Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations
LACC Labour Advisory Consultative Council
MELU Marcopper Employees Labour Union
MMC Marcopper Mines Company
NAMAWU National Mines and Allied Workers’ Union
NCEW National Federation of Eritrean Workers
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
OSHE Occupational Safety, Health, and Environment
PSI-FFW Philippine Social Institute - Federation for Free Workers
SADC Southern African Development Community
SATUCC Southern African Trade Union Coordinating Council
SDM Sub-Divisional Magistrate
SUGEDO Superior Gas and Equipment Company
SUP Safe Use Project
TARSC Training and Research Support Centre
TUCP Trade Union Congress of the Philippines
TUPEP Trade Union Partnership for Environmental Protection
TWU Timber and Woodworkers’ Union
UN CSD United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development
UPPC United Pulp and Paper Company
WREU Western Railway Employees Union
WWF World Wildlife Fund
ITS International Trade Secretariat
IUF International Union of Food and Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant,Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations
LACC Labour Advisory Consultative Council
MELU Marcopper Employees Labour Union
MMC Marcopper Mines Company
NAMAWU National Mines and Allied Workers’ Union
NCEW National Federation of Eritrean Workers
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
OSHE Occupational Safety, Health, and Environment
PSI-FFW Philippine Social Institute - Federation for Free Workers
SADC Southern African Development Community
SATUCC Southern African Trade Union Coordinating Council
SDM Sub-Divisional Magistrate
SUGEDO Superior Gas and Equipment Company
SUP Safe Use Project
TARSC Training and Research Support Centre
TUCP Trade Union Congress of the Philippines
TUPEP Trade Union Partnership for Environmental Protection
TWU Timber and Woodworkers’ Union
UN CSD United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development
UPPC United Pulp and Paper Company
WREU Western Railway Employees Union
WWF World Wildlife Fund
Appendix II
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GUIDELINES FOR FINAL REPORTING ON A CASE STUDY
The INT/93/M12/NOR “WORKERS' EDUCATION AND ENVIRONMENT” Project plans to pro-duce a booklet on case studies in order to share the most practical examples of activities leading onto environmentally sustainable development. It would be very helpful if you would report about thecase including the following points where appropriate:
Title.
Aims and Objectives of the Activity.
Institutional Framework:
l What was the background of the activity?
l How was the trade union(s) involved?
l Who initiated the activity?
l Was a network utilized (other organizations, institutions, etc.), if so, how?
l How was the activity administrated?
Description of the Activity:
l Target group (what union, what level, geographical area, setting, etc.)
l Subject (“problem”/situation to be improved)
l The plan of work (detailed description step by step/strategy):
• preparations
• starting date
• different steps of activities
• duration
Budget and Financial Sources:
l What was the budget of the different activities?
l How were the activities funded?
Appendix III
55
Results:
l What are/were the results of the activity in relation to the aims and objectives?
l What actions/results did the activity lead to (eg. improvements in working conditions, livingconditions, jobs saved or gained, resources saved, new legislation/regulations, educa-tion/training and awareness, improvement in some way for others than union members, in-crease of membership, acknowledgement of union work, etc.).
Assessment of Process:
l What worked/did not work?
l What could have been done differently during the process to achieve even better results?
l Is there any need for further follow-ups? If so, give a short description.
l How can you use the lessons learnt from this case in your future trade union work?
Appendix III
Focal points and evaluation team in Turin, January 1999
56
ILO
Turin,
GP.
Bra
ndi
