More than four out of five people (81 percent) in the global workforce of 3.3 billion are currently affected by full or partial workplace closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some 1.25 billion workers are employed in the sectors identified as being at high risk of “drastic and devastating” increases in layoffs and reductions in wages and working hours, according to a new International Labor Organization (ILO) report. Many are in low-paid, low-skilled jobs, where a sudden loss of income is devastating.
At the same time, workers still on the job—nurses, retail workers, miners and transport employees—are facing employers who refuse to provide gloves, masks and other safety gear needed to protect against the virus. Unions across the globe are stepping into the breach, negotiating pay and benefits for furloughed and laidoff workers and demanding employers step up to protect workers who are risking their lives on the front lines of the crisis. Below is a sample of union action, reported in large part by Solidarity Center staff working with our union and worker association partners around the world.
MHPU members don safety gear before volunteering at the National Emergency Operation Center. Credit: MHPU
For more than a month, members of the Maldives Health Professionals Union (MHPU) have worked their formal shifts, then began volunteering at the National Emergency Operation Center, which addresses issues related to COVID-19.
The Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan, civil society organizations and foundations throughout Kyrgyzstan are coordinating volunteer activities and created a database to assist medical institutions, law enforcement agencies and the Ministry of Emergencies to implement workplace disinfection and risk prevention plans; staff the country’s COVID-19 hotline; and deliver materials to doctors, the elderly and other high-priority or at-risk groups. At the Khaidarkan mercury plant, the union committee negotiated funds for fabric to make masks, and so far have sewn more than 2,000. The federation and many unions are transferring one day’s worth of salaries to a government fund for addressing the coronavirus, which includes providing essential protective gear for health workers.
The South African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU)reached an agreement with employers to guarantee six weeks full pay for 80,000 workers as the country goes into lockdown, and establish a rapid response task team to manage day-to-day issues.
As courts and clinics close due to COVID-19, the Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA), a Solidarity Center partner, is demanding that facilities stay open to address domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence as police received some 87,000 reports of domestic violence in the first week of mandated social isolation. The government also must “increase the number of mobile clinics, both for COVID-19 testing and for treating victims for gender-based violence in all regions of the country with a special focus on vulnerable areas such as densely populated townships and informal settlements,” the federation says in a statement. Mobile clinics should include staff or other health workers specially trained in handling and managing gender-based violence.
The pandemic is putting at risk the fragile mineworking industry and jobs many workers depend upon in Zambia, according to the Mineworkers Union of Zambia, which supports the government for not implementing a complete lockdown. The union also is urging mining companies to follow the example of those mines that have put in place safety requirements like handwashing stations and sanitizers in mining sites while removing the mandatory Breathalyzer system following concerns raised by the union that use of these devices could spread the virus.
In Brazil, the Sorocaba garment workers unionsuccessfully negotiated with employers 15 days paid vacation for around 1,000 workers, with no layoffs, and the General Workers’ Union (UGT) published an information brochure for workers on taking safety measures to protect against COVID-19.
The Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia (CATUS)successfully stood up against efforts by the government to dock by 65 percent the pay of healthcare workers in Niš who were exposed to coronavirus and required to quarantine. CATUS also is highlighting for workers the government’s guidelines for telework, including requirements to define work time and for employers to take measures such as sanitation, staggered shifts and physical distancing for workers still on the job. More than 2,500 workers at the Fiat Chrysler plant in Kragujevac, Serbia, will receive 65 percent of their salary while the plant closes, after CATUS and the UGS Nezavisnost union negotiated the pay with the employers and government, according to union leader Zoran Markovic.
The Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CATUBiH) issued an informational brochure to members on securing their rights on the job during the pandemic. The confederation also has also opened a phone line that workers can call for consultations or advice on workplace rights.
Unions throughout Morocco are negotiating wage guarantees and other measures to safeguard the livelihoods of the tens of thousands of workers in the country’s hospitality industry—cooks, wait staff, hotel cleaners, tour operators—who have been furloughed or lost their jobs as travel and tourism shut down due to the COVID-19 crisis.
“Workers in the tourism sector have suffered from this pandemic, as the tourism season had just begun in a number of regions, and the infections led to mass cancellations even before the government of Morocco introduced containment measures at a national level,” says Naima Hilali, a staff member of the hotel union affiliated with the Union of Moroccan Workers (UMT) who works at Hotel Lulido in Casablanca. “The hospitality sector will face a massive challenge in recovering for many months or up to a year after the crisis.”
Backed by the UMT, workers say they will not take unpaid “holidays” during furloughs and are demanding a three-month wage guarantee until June. Unions also are negotiating three-months’ wages for temporary and seasonal workers and are assisting laid-of workers employed by subcontracting agencies in getting necessary documents to qualify for a $200 monthly support payment from Morocco’s social security fund. Some subcontractors have not submitted documents needed for workers to benefit from the fund, created for private-sector workers who lose their jobs due to the coronavirus.
“The very strict requirements of collecting unemployment benefits means that many workers will not benefit from the allowances,” says Mohamed Aji, union general secretary at Hotel Farah.
Unions Advance Safety Guidelines for Workers
Unions also are negotiating with employers to ensure safety measures are in place for workers still on the job and are reaching out to workers with information on protecting themselves against the coronavirus.
“UMT shop stewards have taken measures to sensitize workers on the necessary precautions and health measures developed by the Ministry of Health,” says Zakaria Himer, general secretary of the union at Hotel Sofitel. “Other measures include adopting work rotation to reduce the number of workers at the workplace, and giving priority to people with immunity diseases.”
Travel and tourism contributed some seven percent of Morocco’s GDP in 2018, and the likely long-term closure of hotels, restaurants and tour operating companies across the country mean workers will need considerable support for many months.
“The government is making a significant effort through establishing the fund, but this solution does not respond adequately to the massive needs of workers,” says Hilali. “This requires a social and legal strategy to support the workers and employers in the sector. So, we demand the state and public officials to intervene to rescue the sector and its workers.”
In Honduras, where nearly all 19 union organizations in the garment sector have negotiated collective bargaining agreements that significantly boost wages and provide benefits like free transportation to and from work and educational funds for workers and their children, these successes were achieved “with active women’s participation and leadership,” says Eva Argueta, coordinator of organizing maquila workers for the General Workers Central (CGT) union confederation.
But ensuring women have the skills and opportunities to take active and leading roles in their unions has required 10 years of intensive training, with programs designed to fit women’s schedules that include up to 11 hours of factory work per day in addition to second full-time jobs at home, she says.
Argueta was one of three panelists who shared how union women are leading, building power and cultivating values of feminism, inclusion and equality in the April 2 online discussion, “Unions Leading the Creation of a Feminist World of Work.” Hosted by the Solidarity Center, the discussion was originally set to take place as a parallel event in conjunction with the 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) last month in New York City. The panel, featuring Solidarity Center partners from Bahrain, Cambodia, Honduras and South Africa was rescheduled online when the conference was cancelled to prevent spread of COVID-19.
Across Bahrain, members of the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GBFTU) are urging the government to ratify a new landmark International Labor Organization (ILO) treaty (Convention 190) addressing violence and harassment in the work of work, including sexual harassment and gender-based violence, says GBFTU Assistant General Secretary Suad Mohamed. C190 must be ratified by individual governments before it becomes effective.
Raising Awareness About the Right to Safe Workplaces
As in Bahrain, women and their union allies around the world are mobilizing to ratify ILO Convention 190, crafting a feminist world of work centered on achieving equality and inclusion for all workers and creating new models of leadership. In campaigning for ratification, union women leaders also are advocating for changes in law and policy to address and prevent gender-based violence and harassment.
But “Convention 190 cannot be successful without our extended efforts to raise awareness of all women in society” about their rights to workplaces free of violence and abuse, Mohamed said in the panel discussion.
Although Bahrain recently amended its labor law to penalize sexual harassment and abuse at the workplace, women in Bahrain fear reporting such incidents because their family may force them to leave their jobs and remain isolated at home. “We also are trying to raise awareness that a woman who is a victim of harassment is not the perpetrator, she is a victim. These are small steps we can take to actually reduce level of fear of women,” Mohamed said, speaking through a translator.
“Educating women to understand violence is not part of the job” also is a key focus in Cambodia, where many of the country’s 800,000 garment workers face bullying, sexual harassment and verbal and physical abuse on the job, said Sar Mora. Mora is full-time adviser to the Cambodia Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU), the only female-led garment worker union in the country.
In Honduras, Argueta says raising awareness of women’s right to safe workplaces must be part of all labor trainings. “What we think is important is that any time there is a training it should mainstream women’s rights,” she said. With 342 women graduates who have gone on to take leadership roles in their unions and communities, “we are really satisfied with the success and growth of unions thanks to our very deep investment in women as leaders.”
The Solidarity Center has worked in close coordination with Argueta’s union federation, FESITRATEMASH, for more than 12 years, training organizers, building collective bargaining capacity, and educating workers on addressing worker rights violations through international bodies. The Solidarity Center also has supported FESITRATEMASH’s intensive women’s leadership courses since 2011, including mainstreaming women workers’ concerns in organizing, collective bargaining and union capacity building, and direct support for women organizers.
Also among the panelists, Gertrude Mtsweni, gender coordinator for the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), was unable to participate due to technical issues.
As the novel coronavirus spreads, unions and worker associations around the world are demanding safe and healthy conditions for workers who must remain on the job, and that they be compensated during forced work site closures and not laid off to ensure high returns for corporate shareholders.
The following is a small sample of union actions around the globe, reported in large part from Solidarity Center staff in close contact with union partners.
Labor Initiatives (LI) is providing legal assistance to workers by distributing COVID-related information through its phone line. Credit: LI
Just as the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the massive global economic and social inequality around the world, with workers in the informal economy and supply chains, and migrant workers—many of whom are women—especially marginalized, so, too, does it offer the potential to build more equal, inclusive and sustainable economies and societies that are more resilient in the face of pandemics, climate change and the many other global challenges.
Around the world, unions and worker associations are taking the lead in championing worker rights and in doing so, demonstrating a path forward through collective action to achieve shared prosperity and sustainability. As the novel coronavirus spreads, unions are demanding safe and healthy conditions for workers who must remain on the job, and that they be compensated during forced worksite closures. The following is a small sample of union actions around the globe, reported in large part from Solidarity Center staff in close contact with union partners.
A communal wash bucket is one of the few options for workers in Haiti to sanitize their hands to prevent spread of COVID-19. Credit: /Reginald Lafontant
In Haiti, where garment factories were among facilities closed to prevent spread of the virus, workers were asked to return to pick up paychecks (for the days worked prior to the closures) in staggered stages so as to prevent crowding and potential contagion. It is standard practice for workers in Haiti’s garment industry to receive their wages in person, in the form of a cash, because most earn too little to maintain a bank account for check deposits, and paychecks are immediately consumed on basic goods.
Despite a government order to distribute pay to groups of 10 workers at a time, one factory employer simultaneously convened all 2,000 workers to collect their wages, despite the danger. In addition, some factories now are reopening to make masks, in large part for export to the United States, a move that puts at risk workers, their communities and the country’s already fragile healthcare system.
Although some factories have announced measures to protect workers’ health and safety at the factory, they do not adequately address risks workers face going to work as they walk through congested areas and travel up to an hour on crowded tap-taps (covered trucks serving as public transportation). Solidarity Center union partners will play a critical role in monitoring the enforcement of these measures and advocating for additional safeguards.
Four Haitian garment-sector unions, all Solidarity Center partners, issued a joint proposal to President Jovenel Moïse calling on the government and employers to respect International Labor Organization (ILO) protocols on COVID-19 in the world of work. The coalition also called on the government and employers to adhere to Haitian labor code stipulating workers receive pay when the government closes workplaces, and urged government and employers to pay workers the equivalent of the daily wages they earned on average in the three months prior to factory closures. The coalition also recommends the government provide support to informal workers, cease collecting income tax and reallocate funds from the country’s cancelled Carnival event to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. The unions include Centrale Nationale des Ouvriers Haïtiens (CNOHA), Confederation des Travailleurs Haïtiens (CTH), Confédération des Travailleurs- euses des Secteurs Public et Privé (CTSP) and ESPM-Batay Ouvriye.
Union members in Palestine check workers’ health as they return from jobs in Israel. Credit: PGFTU
Palestine General Federation of Trade Union members are fanning out to 12 checkpoints along the Israel-Palestine border to address the health needs of the tens of thousands of workers returning home to the West Bank and Gaza as their worksites shut down in Israel, a large-scale movement that is exacerbating the spread of COVID-19.
Iman abu Salah, a member of PGFTU’s organizing team at Bartaa’h barrier near Jenin city in the West Bank, told Solidarity Center staff that three organizers are stationed in two shifts, connecting with between 100 and 200 workers per shift. Union members assist returning workers in completing detailed forms to ensure accurate reporting of health issues, and the unions share their reports with emergency health committees in each district. PGFTU members also are providing workers with information on protecting against the virus, as well as with union contact details in their city or village. Unions and health teams joined together to provide sterilized buses to take workers directly to their home city, village or refugee camp.
In Myanmar, as around the world, garment workers are especially hard hit by the #COVID-19 crisis as global retailers cancel orders, with factory employers laying off workers without pay, firing union supporters and forcing nonunion workers to remain on the job without safety protections, according to union leaders. Garment workers and their unions are mobilizing to demand that factories close for their safety and are seeking full pay for time off during the closures. Unions are pushing for employers to sign agreements that factories will recognize the union when they reopen and maintain all previous wages and benefits.
Unions representing garment workers in Lesotho, where more than 45,000 workers make jeans, T-shirts and other goods for export, are calling on the government to provide full wages to furloughed workers during the 21-day government-imposed lockdown to prevent spread of the novel coronavirus. The unions are also demanding that those required to work be provided with free transport in compliance with social distancing guidelines.
Workers have “sacrificed their lives for the country with meager wages and are continuing to keep the economy going as essential workers during this time,” according to the statement by the United Textile Employees, National Clothing, Textile and Allied Workers’ Union and the Independent Democratic Union of Lesotho. They “not only contribute to the GDP, but support numerous families, unemployed relatives and poverty-stricken families with their wages.”
The Albanian telecommunications union won a four-hour work day for those not teleworking, as well as company-provided masks, while in Kyrgyzstan, the union federation is urging the government to include remote work standards in the labor code. Unions in Albania, Kyrgyzstan and Montenegro have released statements calling on governments to improve social, economic and public health policy to protect both their membership and society.
In Thailand, Solidarity Center’s union and migrant worker partners are communicating with workers via social media, as unions set up an online Labor Clinic to create and post videos on worker rights and benefits during layoffs and plant closures, and are providing instructions for applying for unemployment and social welfare benefits. Unions are hosting live Facebook forums enabling workers to send in real-time questions and comments. Unions in the aviation sector are calling on the government to protect full-time permanent and subcontracted workers, and provide health and safety measures in line with international labor standards at all workplaces. Migrant worker organizations also are reaching out to migrant workers in Burmese with information on preventing and identifying COVID-19 symptoms and with information on locations to access health care.
The Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU) supported the launch of a regional isolation center for workers, and unions throughout Ethiopia are driving anti-stigmatization conversations that seek to encourage workers to report cases of infection and are negotiating with the government to ensure workers are protected on the job during the pandemic.
The Central Organization of Trade Unions-Kenya (COTU-K) distributed protective gear to workers, such as masks, gloves, soap and hand sanitizer before shops were closed, and has met with the Kenyan government to lobby for support for informal workers, who comprise some 80 percent of the workforce. Additional Solidarity Center partners—the Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metal Workers (AUKMW), the Kenya Union of Commercial, Food and Allied Workers (KUCFAW) and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA)—are advocating for measures to protect cashiers and other workers exposed to the public.
Indonesia factory-level unions are negotiating masks and other safety protections for workers, and while they are achieving success, a shortage in personal protective equipment is hindering efforts. For example, 60,000 workers, members os National Industrial Workers Union Federation (SPN–NIWUF), a Solidarity Center partner, successfully negotiated with their employer to receive masks, but the company is unable to procure such a large supply. The company recently agreed to allocate some production line to produce the masks to protect workers. Indonesian unions are urging the government to provide support for informal workers, who comprise more than 60 percent of the working population in Indonesia and Timor-Leste.
Led by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), unions in South Africa established labor law helplines for their members to address employers’ increased abused of worker rights during the crisis.
In Morocco, where hotels have been turned into hospital facilities, the Federation Nationale des Hotels, Restaurants et Tourisme (FNHRT) is assisting hotel workers in collecting unemployment benefits and maintaining contact with workers across the sectors who have lost their jobs. The FNHRT is affiliated to the Union of Moroccan Workers (UMT).
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