Intimidation of trade unions
Thursday, 01 November 2007 16:27
Workers interviewed in preparation for Play Fair at the Olympics felt convinced that joining a union would lead to being fired. Rana, a 22-year-old garment worker in a Turkish factory, told researchers: "Last year while the workers of the factory next door were striking in front of their factory,our supervisor said to us 'You’ll see – all of them will lose their jobs. Never make this mistake yourselves. Otherwise you will face the same consequences.'"
Cambodian workers report that employers discriminate against trade unionists: if a factory manager finds out that a job applicant has been involved in union activities, the applicant will not be employed. Often companies will circulate details of workers' who have been involved in union activites to other factories to prevent them from getting new work. This is known as blacklisting. Workers who do try to organise often face dismissal as a warning to other workers. One Indonesian worker described what happened after a strike at her factory: "At first the strike organisers were suspended. They were not allowed to come to work and received only 75% of their basic wage. Then they were all fired. We felt very scared and powerless when this happened.I was as if management was saying to us: 'See,this is the consequence of your strike.'"
The obstacles to forming and joining a trade union are sometimes exacerbated by governments undermining workers’rights as a means of attracting foreign investment. Although freedom of association and collective bargaining are protected as a constitutional right in many countries, governments often allow employers to flout this right. Buyers head for countries such as China and Indonesia precisely because of their governments’ abiilty to prevent unions from raising labour costs.
Many workers nevertheless continue to express the belief that trade union representation would give them the bargaining power necessary to change the unhealthy and undignified working conditions in their factories.
For more information on trade union rights see the article in the 'workers' rights' section.
