Category Archives: 2020

2020, 2020 UK, Events listing, News

UK: Unions are vital for future workplace safety | Prospect

“We will never forget 2020. Not just for the way the virus turned our lives upside down and taken many people away from us too soon. We will also remember it for re-calibrating our perception of what is important and who our key workers are.

“This is the year when people from different walks of life put their lives on the line to keep vital services running. Too many of them have lost their lives, and we will remember them on International Workers’ Memorial Day.

“Every year on 28 April, millions of trade unionists across the world come together to remember those who have died at work and fight for the rights of the living.

“This year will be particularly poignant. Wherever we are working, with a minute’s silence at 11am, we will commemorate the workers who have lost their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, and show our solidarity with those who continue to do vital work at great risk.

“Many Prospect members are working under the cloud of the virus, keeping the lights on, ensuring we are safe and running our public services. As a union, we send our thoughts to all members working at this difficult time.

Learning lessons

“28 April is not a day to point a finger at those who should have done more to protect those at risk, or to ask why our country has been caught unprepared for the pandemic. But those questions will be asked, and we must learn the lessons from this crisis. We must ensure there will not be the loss of life like this again.

“International Workers’ Memorial Day reminds us of the vital role of union health and safety representatives.

“Up and down the country, dedicated trade unionists continue to use their professional expertise to keep their workplaces and colleagues safe. This will only become more important in the weeks and months ahead as we emerge from the crisis and return to something that resembles normal.

“For many, returning to the workplace will be a considerable source of anxiety. It will be hard to roll back the mind-set we have formed to keep ourselves, our loved ones and our communities safe.

“That is why we will always follow the best scientific advice. We will draw on this as we represent members, and apply its rigour in ensuring that risks are managed.

“We know that, as the lockdown is lifted, social distancing will need to be retained. Many work tasks will need to be changed to ensure they can be carried out safely.

“In doing so, there is much that can be learnt from our members who have continued to go into work during this crisis. But this can only happen following constructive engagement between employers and unions. We have already made the case directly to government to ensure the economy can recover when work resumes.

“We expect the same seat at the table to negotiate a safe return to work with all the employers we deal with. We want to extend this hand of partnership into other areas where Prospect members are working, but maybe not currently recognised.

Engaging in good faith

“A return to work after this unprecedented lockdown will require great skill and reassurance. More than ever, it will be vital that employers are honest and transparent in their plans, and engage with the union in good faith.

“New work routines will be required and the same innovation shown during the lockdown will be needed as offices reopen. The workplace may never look quite the same as it did before.

However it changes, and whatever challenges it throws up, we will provide the pragmatic, sensible advice and representation needed based on our years of experience as the leading health and safety union.

“We should remember, too, that many members will return to the workplace having experienced the loss of loved ones, be that family, friends or colleagues. Employers will need to have appropriate support in place to help them through the difficult times, and we will work with them to do that.

“There has never been a more important time for employers to recognise the valuable knowledge of its workforce. This will needed as never before if we are to beat this terrible virus.”

Mike Clancy is Prospect general secretary.

https://prospect.org.uk/news/iwmd20-unions-are-vital-for-future-workplace-safety/

2020, 2020 Global, Events listing, News

Global: Call on ships to sound horns to support “unsung heroes” | ITF Global

The International Chamber of Shipping and its global network of national member associations and the International Transport Workers’ Federation and its 215 seafarers’ unions are calling on seafarers across the world to sound their ships’ horns when in port at 12.00 local time on International Workers’ Day on 1 May 2020.

International Workers’ Day – or Workers’ Day, May Day or Labour Day – is recognised in many countries around the world to celebrate and acknowledge the contribution made by workers across the world.

The ICS and ITF are encouraging the gesture of solidarity to recognise over 1.6 million seafarers across the world, the unsung heroes of global trade, who are keeping countries supplied with food, fuel and important supplies such as vital medical equipment not only through the Covid-19 pandemic, but every day. Prior to engaging in blowing the horns ships should ensure that appropriate clearance is sought where required.

Guy Platten, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping said, “Our seafarers are the unsung heroes of global trade and we must not forget the contribution that they are making every day to keep our countries supplied with the goods that we need. The sounding of a ships’ horn in ports on the day that the world recognises the contribution of workers is an ideal way to remind us all of their sacrifice. They are all Heroes at Sea.”

Stephen Cotton, General Secretary, International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) said, “The ITF welcomes this initiative and call on seafarers to sound their ships’ horns in a global expression of solidarity, but importantly to also ensure that the spotlight remains on how critical seafarers are to ensure that essential goods continue to be transported around the world during this crisis. Governments should see this as a call to action to facilitate crew changes and the free movement of seafarers so that they can continue to keep supply chains moving in these unprecedented times.”

Shipping plays a fundamental part in global supply chains, but the issue of crew changes is posing major threat to the safe operation of maritime trade. Due to travel restrictions related to COVID-19, the industry has seen seafarers extending their time onboard ships after lengthy periods at sea. The current situation cannot last indefinitely for the safety and wellbeing of seafarers.

The ITF and ICS also repeated calls on governments to facilitate the free movement of seafarers, following on April 7, and a joint letter from ICS and International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Jointly, the ITF and ICS are calling on governments to:

  1. Designate a specific and limited number of  airports for the safe movement and repatriation of crew.
  2. Redefine seafarers as key workers providing essential services during the Covid-19 pandemic, lifting national restrictions designed for passengers and non-essential personnel.
  3. To deliver their commitment to keep supply chains open by taking urgent measures on the issue.

ICS and ITF have also produced letters of authorisation to help seafarers and authorities recognise the key worker status of transport workers operating with legitimate authority. Shipping companies can the use the facilitation letter template, copy the text on company headed paper, fill in the seafarer’s individual details and share the filled in certificate with each of their affected seafarers, provided they have undergone the required medical screening. The letter states “This facilitation letter certifies that this seafarer should be allowed free passage to travel between their home and their vessel and has participated in a medical screening.” The letter can be downloaded here.

For more information please contact:
ITF: media@itf.org.uk
ICS: ICS@woodrowcommunications.com

https://www.itfglobal.org/en/news/ics-and-itf-call-ships-sound-horns-support-unsung-heroes-global-trade-international-workers

2020, 2020 Global, Events listing, News, Resources

Global: Saving ourselves – A basic reference manual for health and safety activists | IndustriALL

IndustriALL’s manual for health and safety activists is a resource for union health and safety activists, particularly those who are just starting out. The manual, written by IndustriALL’s health and safety director Brian Kohler, provides an overview of basic structures and programmes that workers need to understand when fighting for safer and healthier workplaces.

ENG SPA FRA

What is the biggest challenge to health and safety in the workplace?

“The biggest challenge is to understand that health and safety at work is neither a perk to be bargained for nor a favour to be asked. It is our right.

“No wage is worth our health or our life, and no remedy can be granted by an arbitrator that will restore our health or our life, once it is lost.”

Is there a quick fix?

“If there is a quick fix, I have not found it in over 40 years of health and safety activism! Our rights are never granted easily, they must always be won by activism and determination. Indeed, every right that we now enjoy followed, and never preceded, the demands and determination and activism of people.

“There is no silver bullet; a safe and healthy workplace is the result of ongoing effort and attention.”

What is IndustriALL’s role in promoting health and safety in the workplace?

“IndustriALL can support union activists in their struggle by providing a framework for understanding occupational health and safety from a trade union point of view. Safe and healthy workplaces are the result of effective and overlapping safety systems: materials, tools, equipment, workplace environment, management priorities, policies, programmes, work procedures – and of course people.

“All of these must be designed, tested, educated or trained to be as safe and healthy as possible.”

How do we stop the corona virus at work?

“The Covid-19 pandemic that we now face is an extraordinary situation, but the principles of infection control are known and have been known for decades. Keep yourselves – especially your hands – clean. Keep equipment, tools, controls and surfaces clean. If social distancing cannot be maintained in your workplace, consider masks – but make sure you wear the correct mask and implement the mask program with appropriate education and training and auditing. (Any respiratory protection programme, whether to wear a simple surgical mask or a supplied-air respirator, needs careful implementation and follow-up to succeed.)

“Think about routes of transmission: during the commute to work and home again, at shift changes, near particular pieces of equipment, in the lunch room, washrooms – wherever people will share breathing space.

“Ensure that workers have sufficient “sick leave” so that they do not feel the need to come to work while sick. Implement a testing program when tests become more readily available. Have a plan to accommodate workers who have higher risk levels. Have a plan to deal with a worker who begins to feel symptoms while at work – how will you get them to medical care, and how will you trace and track every worker that they came into contact with?

“These are just examples, there are extensive guidelines available from the World Health Organization and from national governments and other credible sources. There is also a lot of misinformation out there, so make sure you are getting your guidance from a credible source!”

What rights do workers have?

“Trade unions insist on three basic occupational health and safety rights for workers: the right to know, the right to participate, and the right to refuse or shut down unsafe work.

“The right to know means to know everything there is to know about the hazards of our work, and to receive the necessary education and training to do the job safely.

“The right to participate means to be full partners in the development and implementation of all workplace health and safety policies, programmes, procedures, accident/incident investigations, inspections, audits, risk assessments – everything. We want health and safety done with us, not “to us”. The only people with the moral authority to assess a risk are those who face the risk.

“Finally, we demand the right to refuse to perform, or to shut down, any work that a worker believes to be unsafe or dangerous to health – without negative repercussions.”

Saving ourselves – A BASIC REFERENCE MANUAL FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY ACTIVISTS

2020, 2020 USA, Events listing, News, Resources

USA: Farmworker Justice presents Facebook series ‘The state of farmworkers in the Covid-19 era’

Farmworker Justice is presenting a Facebook video series ‘The state of farmworkers in the Covid-19 era’

Guest speakers  include:

Farmworker Justice is collaborating with farmworker-serving organisations and many other organisations to help farmworker families confront the very serious challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Learn more here: https://www.farmworkerjustice.org/advocacy-programs/covid-19

Farmworker homepage

2020, 2020 Spain, Events listing, graphics, News, Resources

Spain: CC.OO graphics produced for International Workers’ Memorial Day

Spanish trade union confederation Confederacion Sindical de Comisiones Obreras CC.OO has produced 28 April graphics that have been reproduced below.

CC.OO asegura que el COVID-19 revela la debilidad de la prevención de riesgos laborales en España

 

 

 

For further information:

CC.OO – CONFEDERACION SINDICAL DE COMISIONES OBRERAS
Calle Fernandez de la Hoz 12
28012
MADRID

Spain

Phone:
+34 (0)91 319 18 50
Fax:
+34 (0)91 310 48 04
Email:
ccoo@ccoo.es
Website:
http://www.ccoo.es/

2020, 2020 Poland, Events listing, graphics, News, Resources

Poland: Temat obchodów Światowego Dnia Bezpieczeństwa i Ochrony Zdrowia w Pracy – 28 kwietnia 2020

Szanowni Państwo,

Międzynarodowa Organizacja Pracy ogłosiła, że tematem obchodów Światowego Dnia Bezpieczeństwa i Ochrony Zdrowia w Pracy – 28 kwietnia 2020 r. będzie:

Stop pandemii

Bezpieczeństwo i higiena pracy chroni i ratuje życie

Jest to odpowiedź na kryzys światowy wywołany pandemią, stanowiącą wielkie wyzwanie m.in. w zakresie bezpieczeństwa i higieny pracy. Światowy Dzień Bezpieczeństwa i Ochrony Zdrowia w Pracy skoncentruje się w tym roku na problemie zwalczania chorób zakaźnych w pracy, a w szczególności pandemii COVID-19 oraz na ochronie bezpieczeństwa i zdrowia pracowników podczas wznawiania działalności przez przedsiębiorstwa, które powinno przebiegać zgodnie z zasadami zapewniającymi ograniczanie rozprzestrzeniania się zakażenia.

Międzynarodowa Organizacja Pracy podkreśla potrzebę podejmowania specjalnych środków w celu ochrony pracowników służby zdrowia i innych pracowników, którzy w walce z pandemią codziennie ryzykują własne zdrowie. MOP zwraca także uwagę na wykorzystywanie na szeroką skalę pracy zdalnej, która nie powinna zaburzać równowagi między życiem zawodowym a prywatnym, umożliwiając realizowanie innych zajęć, takich jak opieka nad dziećmi, osobami chorymi lub starszymi.

Więcej informacji o obchodach dnia na stronie www.ciop.pl/28kwietnia

W dniu 28 kwietnia w godz. 15:00-16:00 MOP organizuje webinarium, którego celem będzie stymulowanie dialogu na temat znaczenia zapewnienia bezpieczeństwa i zdrowia w pracy, nie tylko dla ochrony życia pracowników, ale także dla zapewnienia ciągłości biznesowej. Webinarium będzie prowadzone w języku angielskim. Można się na niego zarejestrować poprzez stronę https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/safety-and-health-at-work/events-training/events-meetings/world-day-safety-health-at-work/WCMS_742138/lang–en/index.htm

Jednocześnie informuję, że materiały poświęcone planowanemu wcześniej przez MOP tematowi Dnia („Przemoc i nękanie w miejscu pracy”) będą dalej przygotowywane i zostaną przekazane do upowszechnienia w późniejszym terminie.

Z pozdrowieniami,
Dorota Pięta

Centralny Instytut Ochrony Pracy – Państwowy Instytut Badawczy
Ośrodek Promocji i Wdrażania
ul. Czerniakowska 16
00-701 Warszawa

2020, 2020 Mexico, Events listing, News

Mexican tripartite response needed to protect employment during pandemic

The International Confederation of Workers (CIT) highlighted the need for a tripartite response, comprised of the government, unions and employers, to protect employment during the COVID-19 crisis.

In a statement, the CIT spoke in favor of joint actions between trade unions, the government, and employers to preserve employment during the pandemic by providing workers with telework options, whenever possible. The CIT leadership also asked union representatives to report any violation of the labor guarantees of its members.

In connection with this, BWI Regional Representative Nilton Freitas met with Senator Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, who is also the CIT Secretary General. They reviewed trade union work alliances forged at the 2009 BWI Regional Conference on Multinational Companies held in Mexico City.

As of 23 April, Mexico has 10,544 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 970 deaths. As a preventive measure, the government has implemented a nationwide lockdown and closed many industries and services.

BWI news report.

2020, 2020 New Zealand, Events listing, News

New Zealand: COVID-19 abuses logged with unions – NZCTU

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions has launched an online tool for working Kiwis to identify employers who aren’t doing the right thing during the COVID-19 period.

CTU President Richard Wagstaff said: “We want to ensure that people are able to tell their stories and log what is happening to them. Due to the number and complexity of problems that a significant number of working people are experiencing we need to create a register so that these cases can be triaged and addressed.”

“Where we identify there are systematic breaches of employment law we will be raising these with government.”

“Employment law still needs to be adhered to – employers who breach the law need to be held to account.”

There are 6 main areas we are seeing poor behaviour from employers

  1. Dismissals/redundancies
  2. Annual leave/sick leave use
  3. Use of the “wage subsidy”
  4. Changing terms and conditions of employment
  5. Treatment of casual and other precarious working people
  6. Health and safety/essential services

“We strongly encourage anyone who has not been treated fairly to ensure that they log it with us. Together, we will identify whether there are specific employers and industries which need to be urgently communicated with,” Wagstaff said.

Click here for a full-length HD interview with CTU Secretary Melissa Ansell-Bridges as she explains the initiative and why it’s needed.

https://www.union.org.nz/covid-19-breaches-of-work-rights-will-be-logged-with-unions/

2020, 2020 Australia, Events listing, graphics, News, Resources

Australia: ACTU shareables and pointers on 28 April events

International Workers’ Memorial Day takes place annually around the world on April 28 – it is an international day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work.

Due to the current COVID-19 restrictions, Trades and Labour Councils (TLCs) around Australia will be holding their events online this year.

You can find details of the various TLC events here.

The ACTU has also prepared some shareables that all are welcome to use.

Australian Council of Trade Unions
Level 4/365 Queen Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000
t (03) 9664-7340 f (03) 9600-0050
e jholden@actu.org.au w actu.org.au
w australianunions.org.au
Facebook /AustralianUnions
Twitter @UnionsAustralia
Instagram @AusUnions

 

2020, 2020 Europe, Events listing, graphics, News, Resources

Europe: On 28 April ETUC remembers those who died from corona virus at work

ETUC has today shared 28 April materials for general use prepared by their communication department.

The aim is to make a solid connection between the current Covid 19 crisis and more general health and safety issues.

ETUC has provided the materials in formats for Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (and also in editable formats so you can edit – add your logo and translate), a statement signed by ETUC and European sectoral trade union federations, and a list of short texts we will use with the visuals on social media.

ETUC will publish the statement and start posting on social media from Friday 24 April, with new posts every day until and including Tuesday 28 April.

You are encouraged to use the materials as you wish, to translate and adapt, and also to share/like ETUC posts . ETUC has full rights for photos so you can use them too. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #IWMD20, we are also using #CoronaVirus and #Covid19 .

ETUC webpages