IUL
SAB Buys Central American Breweries
30-Nov-2001South African Breweries (SAB) bought Cervecer�a Hondure�a, the only brewer and largest soft drinks bottler in Honduras, from Dole for USD537 million. At the same time it is creating a joint venture with the Meza family in El Salvador to operate the La Constancia brewery and a Coca-Cola bottler.
SAB dominates the beer market in South Africa and most of Southern Africa as a whole. It also operates several breweries in Central Europe (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic) and in China. Most of its breweries (except for China) are union organized, and the IUF South Africa affiliate FAWU, which is strongly organized at SAB in South Africa, plays a coordinating role for the IUF.
Cervecer�a Hondure�a has long been organized by the IUF affiliate STIBYS, which will now become part of the coordinated union effort within SAB.
However there are now reports in the financial press that Interbrew, a global brewer based in Belgium, is investigating the possibility of acquiring SAB. Since Interbrew is also active in Central and Eastern Europe, its acquisition of SAB could threaten the job security of brewery workers in that region.
IUF and NGO group sign global agreement with the world�s chocolate/cocoa industry to address child labour in cocoa growing.
30-Nov-2001The IUF and a group of three NGO�s today signed a common statement with a consortium of chocolate and cocoa industry organizations representing all major interests in the global cocoa and chocolate industry, including the major global chocolate manufacturers.
The common statement commits the signatories to a long-term joint effort to address the worse forms of child labour in the sector. The common statement also recognizes that child labour does not occur in isolation and recognizes the need for action by appropriate parties to improve overall labour standards and access to education.
IUF General Secretary Ron Oswald called the common statement a significant step forward. �Those who have engaged in this collaborative effort have done so recognising that none can effectively contribute to the resolution of this difficult social issue without recognition of the important role to be played by the other signatories. In particular the recognition by the world�s chocolate and cocoa industry of the need to work with trade unions in the industry, represented through the IUF, will considerably raise the chances that this initiative will succeed.�
The common statement signed on Friday November 30, 2001 was witnessed by the International Labour Organisation, the ILO, an organisation of the UN that will play a major role in the processes that will flow from this initiative.
The initiative and the practical activities will be developed around a joint Foundation to be established in mid-2002 and will focus initially on West Africa.
For more information please contact [email protected] or [email protected] at the IUF.
The text of the Common Statement is reproduced below.
COMMON STATEMENT
November 30, 2001
CAOBISCO, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association of Canada, the Cocoa Association of London, the Cocoa Merchants Association of America, the European Cocoa Association, the International Cocoa Organization, the IOCCC, the World Cocoa Foundation, the Child Labor Coalition, Free The Slaves, the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers Associations, and the National Consumers League (sometimes hereinafter the �Signatories�) recognize the urgent need to identify and eliminate child labour in violation of International Labour Organization (�ILO�) Convention 182 with respect to the growing and processing of cocoa beans and their derivative products.
The Signatories also recognize the need to identify and eliminate practices in violation of ILO Convention 29 with equal urgency.
The Signatories affirm their support for the International Labour Organization�s (ILO) mission to improve working conditions worldwide, as exemplified in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. We also share the view that practices in violation of ILO Conventions 182 (the �worst forms of child labour�) and 29 (�forced labour�) result from poverty and a complex set of social and economic conditions often faced by small family farmers and agricultural workers, and that effective solutions to address these violations must include action by appropriate parties to improve overall labour standards and access to education.
The Signatories support the framework provided in the Protocol signed by the Chocolate Manufacturers Association and the World Cocoa Foundation on September 19, 2001, which provides for cooperation and for credible, effective problem solving in West Africa, where a specific program of research, information exchange, and action is immediately warranted.
This Joint Statement expresses the shared commitment of the Signatories to work collaboratively toward the goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour and forced labour in cocoa growing.
The strategies developed as part of this process will only be credible to the public and meet the expectations of consumers if there is committed engagement on the part of governments, global industry (comprised of major manufacturers of cocoa and chocolate products as well as other, major cocoa users), cocoa producers, labour representatives, non-governmental organizations, and consumers that have joined this process.
The Signatories recognize the need to work in concert with the ILO because the ILO will play an important role in identifying positive strategies, including developmental alternatives for children engaged in the worst forms of child labour and adults engaged in forced labour in the growing and processing of cocoa beans and their derivative products.
The strategies to be developed will be effective only if they are comprehensive and part of a durable initiative. The steps to be taken to sustain this initiative include:
(i) execution of a binding memorandum of cooperation among the Signatories that establishes a joint action program of research, information exchange, and action to enforce the internationally-recognized and mutually-agreed upon standards to eliminate the worst forms of child labour in the growing and processing of cocoa beans and their derivative products
(ii) incorporation of this research that will include efforts to determine the most appropriate and practicable independent means of monitoring and public reporting in compliance with those standards;
(iii) establishment of a joint foundation to oversee and sustain efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour and forced labour in the growing and processing of cocoa beans and their derivative products. The Signatories welcome industry�s commitment to provide initial and ongoing, primary financial support for the foundation.
We anticipate that other parties may be able to play a positive role in our important work. Subject to mutual consent by the Signatories, additional parties may be invited to sign onto this statement in the future.
Signed by:
CAOBISCO
CHOCOLATE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION (USA)
CHOCOLATE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION OF CANADA
COCOA ASSOCIATION OF LONDON
COCOA MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
EUROPEAN COCOA ASSOCIATION
INTERNATIONAL COCOA ORGANIZATION
IOCCC
WORLD COCOA FOUNDATION
CHILD LABOR COALITION
FREE THE SLAVES
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF FOOD, AGRICULTURAL, HOTEL, RESTAURANT, CATERING, TOBACCO AND ALLIED WORKERS ASSOCIATIONS (IUF)
NATIONAL CONSUMERS LEAGUE (USA)
Witnessed by the International Labour Organization this 30th day of November, 2001.
Geneva, Switzerland
Tabak: Entwicklungen in der Branche
01-Dec-2001Altadis
Der Ende 1999 durch die Fusion von Seita und Tabacalera entstandene Konzern Altadis bezeichnet sich heute selbst als "das europ�ische Tabakunternehmen". Nach dem Verkauf der Sparte Streichh�lzer Anfang 2001 umfa�t das Unternehmen jetzt noch drei Kernbereiche: Zigaretten (drittgr��ter Hersteller in Europa), Zigarren (Nummer eins in der Welt) und Logistik. Die von den beiden Gr�ndungsfirmen vor der Fusion eingeleiteten Umstrukturierungspl�ne haben ein vorl�ufiges Ende gefunden, indem in Frankreich bisher in diesem Jahr noch keine weiteren Betriebsschlie�ungen angek�ndigt wurden und im Zusammenhang mit der Schlie�ung von acht Betrieben in Spanien im Dezember 2000 ein Sozialplan ausgearbeitet wurde. Rund 1 600 Arbeitnehmern wurden Ruhestandspakete und 700 weiteren andere Besch�ftigungsm�glichkeiten innerhalb des Konzerns oder Unterst�tzung bei der Vermittlung in andere Unternehmen geboten. Im Bereich Zigarren wurden die 1998 von Seita und Tabacalera erworbenen Unternehmen Consolidated Cigar bzw. Havatampa im Jahr 2000 zur Altadis USA zusammengefa�t, wodurch f�nf Fabriken in Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaika und der Dominikanischen Republik verlorengingen. Im Oktober 2000 erwarb Altadis einen 50prozentigen Anteil an der Corporaci�n Habanos, der Vertriebsorganisation der kubanischen Tabakindustrie, mit ihrem umfassenden internationalen Vertriebsnetz und festigte damit weiter seine bereits starke Position auf dem globalen Zigarrenmarkt.
von der Federaci�n Agroalimentaria UGT:
Im Juli 1999 traf die Direktion von Tabacalera unter Berufung auf das Ziel, die Wettbewerbsf�higkeit des Unternehmens in den kommenden Jahren zu gew�hrleisten, die Entscheidung, einen Gesch�ftsplan einzuleiten, dessen Durchf�hrung voraussichtlich am 31. Dezember 2002 abgeschlossen sein wird und Folgendes vorsieht:
Schlie�ung von acht Fabrikbetrieben;
Bau zweier neuer Fabrikbetriebe:
- Zigaretten: Fabrikbetrieb Costa in Alicante;
- Zigaretten: Fabrikbetrieb Norte in Santander;
bis zu 2.150 Besch�ftigte sind betroffen.
Vor diesem Plan verhandelten die Arbeitnehmervertreter und die Gewerkschaften das ganze Jahr 2000 �ber im Hinblick auf die Ermittlung sozialer und finanzieller Alternativl�sungen, die die Auswirkungen des Gesch�ftsplans auf die Arbeitnehmer abfedern und auf ein Mindestma� reduzieren sollten. Am 13. Dezember 2000 wurden ein Sozialplan und ein Protokoll zur Regelung der Besch�ftigung vereinbart. Die haupts�chlichen Ma�nahmen in diesen sind:
1. Vorgezogener Ruhestand: Dieser betrifft zwingend alle Besch�ftigten �ber 55 Altersjahren der Gruppe Altadis in Spanien (Altadis + Logista).
Die finanziellen Bedingungen erm�glichen es den Besch�ftigten, bis zum Ruhestand ein Einkommen beizubehalten, das ihrem derzeitigen Realeinkommen nahezu entspricht, und garantieren ihnen ein Ruhegehalt, das zwischen dem von der sozialen Sicherheit und dem vom Rentenplan vorgesehenen liegt und dem Einkommen entspricht, das ein aktiver Besch�ftigter bezieht.
2. Versetzung von Besch�ftigten unter 55 Altersjahren aus den zu schlie�enden Fabrikbetrieben. Diese Ma�nahme geht einher mit einer finanziellen Entsch�digung, um die Umzugs- und Wohnungskosten der Besch�ftigten und ihrer Angeh�rigen zu mildern.
Dennoch wurden folgende freiwilligen Alternativl�sungen f�r den Fall festgelegt, in dem sich die Versetzung f�r einen Besch�ftigten als traumatisch erweisen sollte:
a) Entlassung mit Abfindung in einer H�he, die �ber dem ge-setzlichen Mindestbetrag liegt;
b) Vorgezogener Ruhestand f�r Besch�ftigte im Alter von 53 und 54 Jahren;
c) Aufnahme in ein Eingliederungs- und Ausbildungszentrum, finanziert vom Unternehmen, um dem Besch�ftigten die Arbeit-suche ohne Versetzung zu erleichtern.
3. Freiwillige Abg�nge mit Anreizen
F�r Besch�ftigte unter 55 Altersjahren und mehr als acht Dienstjahren im Unternehmen, mit Entsch�digungen, die �ber den gesetzlich festgelegten Betr�gen liegen.
4. Eingliederungs- und Ausbildungszentrum
Diese Ma�nahme soll die Suche der von der Schlie�ung ihres Betriebs betroffenen Besch�ftigten am Arbeitsmarkt erm�glichen, wobei sich das Unternehmen verpflichtet, Alternativprojekte zu f�rdern, die in derselben Region Arbeitspl�tze schaffen, die vorrangig den betroffenen Besch�ftigten angeboten werden.
Es ist hervorzuheben, dass das Abkommen vorsieht, dass die von den Gewerkschaften vorgeschlagenen Alternativl�sungen ber�cksichtigt werden.
Schlie�lich ist zu erw�hnen, dass diese Ma�nahmen Anfang Mai 2001 in Kraft traten. An diesem Datum erfolgten die ersten Entlassungen durch vorgezogene Pensionierung.
Nach Aushandlung, Abschluss und Durchf�hrung des Sozialplans und ohne Be-r�cksichtigung der enormen Bem�hungen der Gewerkschaften und dessen Vor-bildcharakter sowohl in Bezug auf die Form als auch auf den Inhalt, hat das Unternehmen ALTADIS nun vor, eine Umstrukturierung durchzuf�hren, und � was schlimmer ist � eine neue Kultur der Arbeitgeber-Arbeitnehmer-Beziehungen einzuf�hren.
Diese neue Kultur beruht auf Zwang und auf fehlendem Dialog mit der Gewerk-schaftsvertretung und bricht daher mit dem Modell der Arbeitgeber-Arbeitneh-mer-Beziehungen in Bezug auf Verhandlungen und Konsens, die im Unternehmen bislang herrschten.
von der FGTA-FO:
Als Folge der Fusion der beiden Unternehmen Seita und Tabacalera geh�rt Seita seit fast zwei Jahren zu mehr als 95% zu Altadis, einem Konzern nach spani-schem Recht mit Sitz in Madrid.
Die Fusion hat bisher in keiner Weise die laufenden Umstrukturierungen aufge-halten. In einigen Bereichen, wie zum Beispiel in der Verwaltung, wurden Per-sonalk�rzungen vorgenommen.
Wirtschaftliche Lage
Seita wirft seit sehr vielen Jahren Gewinne ab. Diese Gewinne dienen weit-gehend dazu, die Schulden des spanischen Mutterunternehmens Altadis auszu-gleichen.
Seita umfa�t nur noch drei T�tigkeitsbereiche. Der Bereich Streichh�lzer wurde Anfang 2001 an ein tunesisches Unternehmen verkauft. Dieser Verkauf hatte die Aufhebung mehrerer Dutzend Arbeitspl�tze zur Folge.
Ansonsten hat Seita bisher noch keine weiteren Schritte im Hinblick auf Betriebsschlie�ungen unternommen.
Bereich Zigaretten
Der franz�sische Markt weist nach wie vor eine negative Tendenz auf. Seita verliert weiterhin Marktanteile, im wesenlichen zu Gunsten von Philip Morris. Diese Marktanteilverluste sind zum �berwiegenden Teil die Folge des st�ndigen Absatzr�ckgangs bei dunklem Tabak (rund 10% j�hrlich).
Der Export dagegen entwickelt sich gut. Heute exportiert Seita mehr blonde Zigaretten, als im Inland verkauft werden.
In Polen gibt es Schwierigkeiten wegen des Preiskriegs, der zu einem R�ckgang des Marktvolumens von 17% gef�hrt hat. Diese L�cke wird durch Schmuggel-ware gedeckt, deren Anteil sich von fr�her rund 5% bis Anfang 2000 auf 20% erh�ht hat.
Schwierigkeiten sind auch in der Region Indischer Ozean zu erwarten. Hier hat ein schwindelerregender Preisanstieg einen drastischen R�ckgang des Konsums um 30% zur Folge gehabt.
Bereich Zigarren
Dieser Bereich ist f�r Seita au�erordentlich gewinntr�chtig. Drei umfangreiche Transaktionen haben dazu gef�hrt, da� Altadis innerhalb von drei Jahren welt-weit zur Nummer eins im Bereich Zigarren wurde: die �bernahme von Consolidated Cigars, die Fusion mit Havatampa und und die �bernahme von 50% von Habanos.
Seita ist mit 51,6% des Kapitals von Altadis USA (dem aus der Fusion von CCG und Havatampa hervorgegangenen Unternehmen) Mehrheitsaktion�r. Paradox ist, da� Seita zwar Mehrheitsaktion�r ist, die Leitung des Bereichs Zigarren von Altadis aber weiterhin von Madrid aus erfolgt.
Der Umsatz des Zigarrenbereichs von Seita hat sich von 72 Millionen Euro im Jahr 1998 auf 400 Millionen Euro im Jahr 2000 erh�ht.
Mit 6 543 Arbeitnehmern zum 31.12.2000 entfiel die H�lfte der Besch�ftigten von Seita auf den Bereich Zigarren.
Die Gr�ndung von Altadis USA hatte zur Folge die Schlie�ung von f�nf Betrieben in Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaika und der Dominikanischen Republik.
Auf Zigarren entfielen im Jahr 2000 25% des Seita-Gesamtumsatzes.
Bereich Vertrieb
Der Seita-Vertriebsbereich umfa�t rund 80 000 Verkaufsstellen in Frankreich. Auf diesen Bereich entfielen 2000 17% des Gesamtumsatzes.
Konsolidierte Personalst�rke der Seita-Gruppe
Im Jahr 2000 waren 6543 Arbeitnehmer/innen im Bereich Zigarren, 1681 Arbeitnehmer/innen im Bereich Vertrieb, 2816 Arbeitnehmer/nnen im Bereich Zigaretten sowie weitere 1471 Arbeitnehmer/innen (Zentrale, Forschung und
Entwicklung, Vorbehandlung usw.) t�tig.
Die Belastung der Umsatzzahlen durch die gesamten Personalkosten geht aus fol-genden Gr�nden drastisch zur�ck:
* Personalverminderungen und Verj�ngungen (�ltere und damit teurere Arbeitnehmer/innen werden entlassen und junge und damit billigere Arbeitskr�fte eingestellt (im Zusammenhang mit den Umstrukturierungen in Frankreich);
* Produktivit�tsgewinne vor allem bei Zigaretten und beim Vertrieb in Frankreich;
* Zunahme zu Niedrigl�hnen besch�ftigter Arbeitnehmer in den ausl�ndischen Niederlassungen.
Seit mehr als einem Jahr verhandeln die Gewerkschaften �ber die Errichtung eines Europ�ischen Betriebsrates. Diese Verhandlungen machen keinerlei Fortschritte. Auf Konzernebene besteht kein politischer Wille, ein solches Vertretungsorgan wirklich zu schaffen.
BAT
Im abgelaufenen Jahr hat BAT durch Investitionen in neue Bauten in Korea (nachdem das staatliche Monopol im Juli 2001 gefallen war), ein Gemeinschaftsunternehmen f�r die Errichtung eines Tabakverarbeitungsbetriebs in Vietnam und den Erwerb von Land in der chinesischen Provinz Sechuan f�r die Errichtung einer Zigarettenfabrik seine T�tigkeit in Asien aggressiv ausgebaut. Der koreanische Betrieb mit einer Jahreskapazit�t von mehr als 7 Milliarden Zigaretten wird die bereits bestehenden BAT-Betriebe in Malaysia, Singapur und Kambodscha erg�nzen, w�hrend der chinesische Betrieb nach seiner Fertigstellung als Br�ckenkopf f�r die Eroberung des chinesischen Marktes mit 300 Millionen Kunden dienen soll. Au�erdem hat BAT vor kurzem auf dem t�rkischen Markt Fu� gefa�t, indem es eine Partnerschaftsvereinbarung mit zwei lokalen Unternehmen �ber die Herstellung von BAT-Marken eingegangen ist, und angek�ndigt, es wolle eine Zigarettenfabrik in Serbien bauen, die dazu dienen solle, den Schmuggel auf dem Balkan einzud�mmen. Diese Pl�ne sind jedoch zun�chst zur�ckgestellt worden, nachdem sie von europ�ischen Zollstellen �ffentlich kritisiert worden waren, weil die Pr�senz einer Zigarettenfabrik im Zentrum des Schwarzhandels dem Schmuggel nur weiteren Auftrieb geben w�rde. In diesem Zusammenhang sei daran erinnert, da� gegen BAT zur Zeit eine Untersuchung im Vereinigten K�nigreich wegen des Vorwurfs einer Beteiligung an Schmuggelgesch�ften l�uft.
Eine Reihe von Gewerkschaften berichtete �ber Versuche von BAT zur Aush�hlung der Gewerkschaftsrechte. Im Zusammenhang mit ihrer Ankunft in der T�rkei kamen BAT-Vertreter mit Tekgida-Is in der Region Ismir zusammen und unterrichteten sie, dass sie keine Gewerkschaften in ihren Betrieben w�nschten. In Uruguay ist BAT bestrebt, dem Tabakarbeitgeberverband beizutreten � jedoch nur unter der Bedingung, dass sie vom Branchentarifvertrag befreit wird. Im April 2001, als FENTIFUMO bei der Gesundheitsbeh�rde darauf drang, eine Arbeitsschutzuntersuchung im brasilianischen Tochterunternehmen von BAT, Souza Cruz, durchzuf�hren, zwang das Unternehmen das Aufsichtspersonal, vorbereitete Schreiben zu unterzeichnen, in denen sie sich weigerten, an der Pr�fung teilzunehmen, und sich von etwaigen Ergebnissen distanzierten.
Zur Zeit arbeitet BAT im Rahmen seiner sogenannten "Strategie der Unternehmensverantwortung" an einem Kodex der Besch�ftigungsgrunds�tze. Der Entwurf, der der IUL als Mitglied eines "externen Beraterteams" �bermittelt wurde, enth�lt fragw�rdige Formulierungen �ber das Recht der Arbeitnehmer, sich durch "vom Unternehmen anerkannte Gewerkschaften" vertreten zu lassen, und erw�hnt in keiner Weise die M�glichkeit von Kollektivverhandlungen. Die IUL hat dem Unternehmen mitgeteilt, da� sie grunds�tzlich keine Stellungnahmen zu einseitigen Verhaltensordnungen abgibt.
Gallaher
Das im Vereinigten K�nigreich beheimatete Tabakunternehmen expandiert seit einiger Zeit weit �ber seine traditionellen M�rkte im Vereinigten K�nigreich und Irland hinaus. Nachdem es 1999 in Kasachstan Fu� gefa�t und den gr��ten russischen Zigarettenproduzenten Liggett-Ducat �bernommen hat, schlo� es im August 2000 eine Vertriebsvereinbarung mit Shanghai Tobacco, einem Unternehmen, das zur China National Tobacco Corporation geh�rt, wonach Gallaher k�nftig die f�hrende chinesische Zigarettenmarke in St�dten des Vereinigten K�nigreich mit einem hohen chinesischen Bev�lkerungsanteil, Shanghai Tobacco dagegen die Gallaher-Marke Sobranie in China vertreiben wird. Mit der �bernahme von Austria Tabak hat das Unternehmen Zugang zu neuen M�rkten in ganz Europa gewonnen, vor allem in �sterreich, Ungarn, Deutschland, Schweden und den baltischen L�ndern. Parallel zu seinem Vordringen auf dem internationalen Markt mu�te Gallaher allerdings seine Position als Marktf�hrer im Vereinigten K�nigreich an Imperial abtreten.
Imperial
Ganz im Einklang mit der branchenweiten Tendenz, �bernahmen und Investitionen in Regionen zu t�tigen, in denen die Diskussion �ber Gesundheitsgefahren und Einschr�nkung des Tabakkonsums noch sehr zaghaft ist, hat Imperial einen 75prozentigen Anteil An Tobaccor, dem zweitgr��ten Zigarettenunternehmen in Afrika s�dlich der Sahara erworben. Tobaccor produziert und vertreibt seine eigenen Marken und au�erdem Marken von Altadis, BAT und Philip Morris in Lizenz und hat ferner eine Lizenz- und Vertriebsvereinbarung in Vietnam geschlossen.
Japan Tobacco
Aufgrund der negativen Entwicklung des Zigarettenmarktes in Europa und, konkreter, wegen des R�ckgangs des Umsatzes und des Verlustes an Marktanteilen seiner Marken beschloss das multinationale Unternehmen Japan Tobacco die Schlie�ung seines Fabrikbetriebs auf der Insel La Palma.
Diese Schlie�ung wurde bereits vorgenommen und hatte einen Verlust von 185 direkten Arbeitspl�tzen zur Folge, und zwar zu finanziellen Bedingungen, die �ber den von der spanischen Gesetzgebung f�r diese F�lle vorgesehenen Betr�gen liegen, mit der Schaffung eines Finanzfonds zu Lasten des Unternehmens f�r die Ausbildung und Umschulung der betroffenen Arbeitnehmer und sogar mit der M�glichkeit der Versetzung in Fabrikbetriebe in Trier (Deutschland), auf der iberischen Halbinsel und den Kanarischen Inseln selbst.
Philip Morris
Im Juli begann Philip Morris mit dem Bau einer Zigarettenfabrik auf den Philippinen - seinem gr��ten Investitionsprojekt in Asien - in der bis 2003 mehr als 1 000 Arbeitspl�tze geschaffen werden sollen. Einen Monat sp�ter machte das Unternehmen Schlagzeilen, als seine tschechische Tochtergesellschaft eine Studie ver�ffentlichte, in der die Kostenersparnisse f�r die tschechische Regierung durch die "fr�he Sterblichkeit" in Folge des Rauchens dargelegt wurden. Der Bericht war von dem Unternehmen in Auftrag gegeben worden, nachdem in der Tschechischen Republik Besorgnisse �ber die hohen Kosten der medizinischen Versorgung der Opfer durch Rauchen verursachter Krankheiten laut geworden waren.
Privatisierung
Austria Tabak
Im Rahmen ihrer Privatisierungspl�ne gab die �sterreichische Regierung im Jahr 2000 bekannt, sie wolle ihren restlichen Anteil an dem ehemals staatlichen Unternehmen Austria Tabak ver�u�ern. Die �sterreichische Gewerkschaft der Landwirtschafts-, Nahrungsmittel- und Tabakarbeitnehmer ANG k�mpfte an vorderster Front gegen den Verkauf eines Unternehmens, das hochwertige Arbeitspl�tze bietet und dessen gewinntr�chtige inl�ndische und internationale Gesch�fte und Linzenzvertr�ge dem Staat betr�chtliche Einnahmen bringen. Nach wilden Spekulationen in der Finanzpresse, wer wohl den Anteil erwerben werde (Altadis, Gallaher und Imperial hatten Gebote eingereicht), erwarb das im Vereinigten K�nigreich beheimatete Unternehmen Gallaher im Juni 2001 die noch im Regierungsbesitz verbleibenden Anteile und hat seither seinen Anteil an Austria Tabak auf 98% erh�ht.
Im August k�ndigte Austria Tabak an, es werde seinen Betrieb in Malm� (1999 von Swedish Match �bernommen) in Schweden schlie�en. Dieser Beschlu�, eine seiner vier Fertigungsst�tten (die �brigen drei befinden sich in �sterreich) zu schlie�en, wurde mit der Notwendigkeit begr�ndet, die Produktion zu konzentrieren, um die Produktivit�t zu steigern und weiterhin wettbewerbsf�hig zu bleiben. Trotz der Erkenntnisse einer von der Gewerkschaft in Auftrag gegebenen Studie, aus der hervorging, dass die Schlie�ung des Betriebs in Malm� nicht die vorteilhafteste Option f�r Austria Tabak war, und der Gewerkschaftsbem�hun-gen, den Betrieb zu retten, war das Unternehmen nicht bereit, seine Entscheidung zu �berpr�fen. Die Gewerkschaften arbeiteten rasch, um angemessene Abfindungen f�r die von der Schlie�ung betroffenen 350 Besch�ftigten zu sichern, bevor Gallaher die Verantwortung �bernehmen w�rde. Laut Aussagen der schwedischen Lebensmittelarbeitnehmer-Gewerkschaft Livs war die Entscheidung, den schwedischen Betrieb zu schlie�en, politischer Natur und wurde angesichts des Privatisierungsgesetzes in �sterreich getroffen, das Bestimmungen f�r den Schutz der Besch�ftigung in privatisierten Unternehmen enth�lt.
Korea Tobacco & Ginseng
Nach der Lockerung der f�r die s�dkoreanische Tabakindustrie geltenden Gesetze im Juli 2001 sieht sich das ehemalige Monopolunternehmen nunmehr der Konkurrenz der TNKs ausgesetzt. Philip Morris und Japan Tobacco beherrschen zusammen bereits 10% des Marktes, doch werden ihre M�glichkeiten, weitere Marktanteile zu gewinnen, dadurch beeintr�chtigt, da� gleichzeitig mit der Aufhebung des Monopols ein Zoll auf Importzigaretten eingef�hrt wurde. BAT ist in einer besseren Wettbewerbssituation, da das Unternehmen seinen eigenen Fertigungsbetrieb in Korea baut. KT&G d�rfte jedoch von der Liberalisierung am st�rksten profitieren, da das Unternehmen nunmehr die Zigarettenpreise frei festsetzen und Tabak selektiv kaufen kann. Fr�her mu�te es f�r jede Preiserh�hung die Zustimmung der Regierung einholen und war verpflichtet, die gesamte j�hrliche Tabakernte Koreas abzunehmen. Auch mit Hilfe seines gut entwickelten Vertriebsnetzes d�rfte KT&G noch auf Jahre hinaus erfolgreicher sein als die TNKs.
Tekel (T�rkei)
Unter dem Druck der internationalen Finanzinstitutionen (Weltbank und IWF) leitete die t�rkische Regierung in den Neunzigerjahren einen Prozess zur Privati-sierung der staatseigenen Industrieunternehmen ein. Dieser von den Gewerkschaften heftig angefochtene Prozess wird zurzeit in der Tabakindustrie durchgef�hrt, wobei das t�rkische Tabakmonopol Tekel kontrolliert wird, das nun in einem ersten Schritt der Privatisierungsbeh�rde unterstellt wurde. Die IUL-Mitgliedsorganisation in der T�rkei, Tekgida-Is, schloss sich mit Tabakanbauer-, Staatsbediensteten- und Verbraucherorganisationen zusammen, um die Privatisierungsvorhaben der Regierung und ihre Unterlassung, sich mit allen beteiligten Gruppen zu beraten, zu verurteilen. Trotz dieser allgemeinen massiven Kritik verabschiedete das Parlament k�rzlich einen Gesetzgebungsentwurf, der darauf abzielt, den Privatisierungsprozess zu beschleunigen. Der Pr�sident der T�rkei legte indessen aus sozialen, wirtschaftlichen und verfassungsm��igen Gr�nden sein Veto gegen die Gesetzesvorlage ein. Der Kampf gegen die Privatisierung in der T�rkei hatte eine nie dagewesene Zusammenarbeit zwischen den drei nationalen Gewerkschaftszentralen T�rk-Is, Disk und Hak-Is, zur Folge.
Tabaco: Acontecimientos de la industria
01-Dec-2001Altadis
Altadis, creada mediante la fusi�n de Seita y Tabacalera a fines de 1999, se promueve actualmente a s� misma como �la compa��a tabacalera de Europa�. A continuaci�n de la venta del negocio de los de f�sforos a principios del 2001, la compa��a ahora se concentra en tres actividades fundamentales: cigarrillos (el 3er fabricante mayor de Europa), cigarros (n�mero 1 en el mundo) y log�stica. Los planes de reestructuraci�n iniciados antes de la fusi�n por las compa��as integrantes han llegado a una terminaci�n provisoria, sin nuevos cierres anunciados en Francia para este a�o, as� como un plan social que ha sido acordado en diciembre del 2000 con relaci�n al cierre de 8 plantas en Espa�a. Se ofrecieron paquetes de jubilaci�n a unos 1.600 trabajadores y se brindaron oportunidades de redistribuci�n del personal o asistencia de servicio de empleo en otras firmas a otros 700. En el sector de los cigarros, las ex empresas Consolidated Cigar y Havatampa adquiridas en 1998 por Seita y Tabacalera, respectivamente, fueron fusionadas en el 2000 para constituir Altadis USA, con la resultante p�rdida de 5 f�bricas en Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaica y Rep�blica Dominicana. En octubre del 2000, Altadis adquiri� una participaci�n del 50% en el ramo de comercializaci�n de la industria tabacalera de Cuba, Corporaci�n Habanos, y en su extendida red de distribuci�n internacional, acrecentando as� su posici�n ya fuerte en el mercado global de los cigarros.
Informe sobre Altadis presentado por la Federaci�n Agroalimentaria UGT
En el mes de julio de 1999, invocando como objetivo garantizar la competitividad de la Empresa en los pr�ximos a�os, la Direcci�n de Tabacalera tom� la decisi�n de poner en marcha un Plan Industrial cuya ejecuci�n se prev� finalizar a 31 de diciembre del a�o 2002, que supone:
Cierre de ocho f�bricas
Construcci�n de dos nuevas f�bricas:
- Cigarrillos: F�brica Costa en Alicante
- Cigarrillos: F�brica Norte en Santander
Hasta 2.150 trabajadores afectados
Ante este Plan, la representaci�n de los trabajadores y los Sindicatos, negociaron durante todo el a�o 2000 la b�squeda de alternativas sociales y econ�micas que amortiguan y minimizan el impacto sobre los trabajadores del Plan Industrial, acord�ndose el 13 de diciembre de 2000 un Plan Social y Expediente de Regulaci�n de Empleo cuyas principales medidas son las siguientes:
1. Prejubilaciones: que afectan con car�cter forzoso a todos los trabajadores mayores de 55 a�os del Grupo Altadis en Espa�a (Altadis+Logista)
Las condiciones econ�micas, permiten a los trabajadores mantener hasta la jubilaci�n unos ingresos muy pr�ximos a su salario real actual, y garantizar una pensi�n entre la derivada de la Seguridad Social y el Plan de Pensiones, en l�nea con lo que le corresponder�a como trabajador en activo.
2. Traslados para los trabajadores menores de 55 a�os de las f�bricas que cierran. La medida va acompa�ada de indemnizaci�n econ�mica para paliar los gastos de traslado y vivienda de los trabajadores y de sus familias.
No obstante, en previsi�n de que a alg�n trabajador el traslado le resulte traum�tico, se establecen las siguientes alternativas, con car�cter voluntario:
a) Baja indemnizada, con cantidades superiores al m�nimo legal
b) Prejubilaci�n para trabajadores con 53 y 54 a�os de edad
c) Integraci�n en un Centro de Integraci�n y Formaci�n, financiado por la empresa, para facilitar al trabajador la b�squeda de un empleo sin traslado.
3. Bajas Incentivadas Voluntarias
Para trabajadores de menos de 55 a�os de edad y m�s de 8 a�os de antig�edad en la empresa, con indemnizaciones superiores a las establecidas legalmente.
4. Centro de Integraci�n y Formaci�n
Con el objetivo de posibilitar la investigaci�n en el mercado de trabajo de los trabajadores afectados por el cierre de su centro, para lo que la empresa se compromete a promover proyectos alternativos que generen empleo en la misma zona, que se ofrecer�n, con car�cter prioritario, a los trabajadores afectados.
Es importante destacar que el acuerdo estipula que se tendr�n en consideraci�n las alternativas que propongan los Sindicatos.
Por �ltimo, cabe se�alar que estas medidas han entrado en vigor en los primeros d�as del mes de mayo pasado, fecha en la que han empezado a producirse las primeras bajas por prejubilaciones.
Una vez negociado, acordado y puesto en marcha el Plan Social y sin tener en cuenta el enorme esfuerzo realizado por los Sindicatos y la forma mod�lica en la que se ha culminado, tanto por las formas como por su contenido, la empresa ALTADIS, pretende imponer un cambio organizativo y, lo que es m�s grave, una nueva cultura en las relaciones laborales.
Se basa esa nueva cultura en la imposici�n y la falta de di�logo con la representaci�n sindical, rompiendo as� el modelo de relaciones laborales de negociaci�n y consenso que, hasta ahora, imperaban en la empresa.
Informe sobra Seita/Altadis presentado por la FGTA-FO
Pronto har�n dos a�os que la Seita se convirti� en una filial (en m�s de un 95%) perteneciente a Altadis, despu�s de la fusi�n de las antiguas empresas Seita y Tabacalera. Por derecho, el grupo Altadis es espa�ol y su sede social est� situada en Madrid.
Hasta el presente, la fusi�n no entorpeci� en absoluto las reestructuraciones. En ciertos �mbitos, como ser los servicios administrativos, hubo disminuci�n de efectivos.
Situaci�n econ�mica
Hace ya muchos a�os que Seita es una empresa rentable. Por otra parte, las ganancias son muy �tiles para compensar las deudas de la empresa matriz espa�ola Altadis.
La Seita est� compuesta s�lo de tres ramas de actividad. La actividad f�sforos fue vendida a una empresa tunecina a principios del a�o 2001. Esto se tradujo en varias decenas de supresiones de empleos.
En el 2001 y hasta el d�a de hoy, la Seita no ha proyectado ning�n otro procedimiento de cierre de establecimientos.
Actividad cigarrillos
El mercado franc�s se mantiene dentro de una tendencia negativa. La Seita contin�a perdiendo partes de mercado, beneficiando principalmente a Philip Morris. En su mayor�a, esas partes de mercado son el resultado de la disminuci�n constante en las ventas de tabaco negro (� 10% por a�o).
En la exportaci�n, la Seita se desarrolla. Hoy en d�a, las exportaciones de cigarrillos rubios son superiores a las ventas en el mercado nacional.
Aparecieron dificultades en Polonia debido a la guerra de precios que condujo a una detracci�n en el mercado de un 17%, compensada por el contrabando, el que pas� de un 5% a un 20% del mercado polaco a principios del 2000.
Otras dificultades a prever en el Oc�ano �ndico: la escalada vertiginosa de precios en detrimento de la cantidad global, lo que trajo como consecuencia un descenso de un 30% en el consumo.
Actividad cigarros
Esta actividad es muy rentable para la Seita. A lo largo de 3 a�os, tres operaciones de envergadura ubicaron al grupo Altadis en la posici�n n�mero uno mundial del cigarro: adquisici�n de Consolidated Cigars, fusi�n con Havatampa y adquisici�n de un 50% de Habanos. El grupo Seita termin� siendo el accionista mayoritario con un 51,6% del capital de Altadis USA (empresa surgida de la fusi�n de CCH y Havatampa). Lo que es parad�jico es que la Seita es mayoritaria pero la direcci�n de la rama cigarros de Altadis est� situada en Madrid.
El volumen de negocios de la rama cigarros del grupo Seita pas� de 72 M� en 1998 a 400 M� en el 2000.
La afiliaci�n de la rama cigarros en el grupo Seita representan la mitad de los efectivos, con 6.543 trabajadores al 31/12/2000.
La creaci�n de Altadis USA trajo como consecuencia el cierre de 5 f�bricas: Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaica y Rep�blica Dominicana.
En el a�o 2000, el volumen de negocios de la rama cigarros fue de un 25% en el grupo Seita.
Actividad distribuci�n
La actividad distribuci�n del grupo Seita representa � 80.000 puntos de venta en Francia. La actividad distribuci�n represent� un 17% del volumen de negocios del grupo Seita en el 2000.
Efectivos del grupo Seita
En el a�o 2000 los cigarros representaron 6.543 trabajadores/as, en distribuci�n 1.681 trabajadores/as, en cigarrillos 2.816 trabajadores/as y otros 1.471 trabajadores /as (Sede Central, R&D, DAL, Pre-elaboraci�n).
El peso de los gastos de personal estables en el volumen de negocios est� en baja con motivo de:
Reducci�n de efectivos y efectos noria (despido de trabajadores/as de m�s edad y por lo tanto m�s costosos/as para la empresa y contrataci�n de j�venes menos costosos) asociados a las reestructuraciones en Francia;
Ganancias de productividad obtenidas principalmente en el sector cigarrillos y en la distribuci�n en Francia;
Aumento de efectivos con bajos salarios en las filiales del extranjero.
Desde hace m�s de un a�o, las organizaciones sindicales negocian la creaci�n de un Comit� de Empresa Europeo. Esta negociaci�n no ha avanzado. A nivel del grupo, no existe una real voluntad pol�tica que lleve a la creaci�n de este �rgano representativo.
BAT
Durante el a�o pasado, BAT ha estado ampliando agresivamente sus negocios en Asia, mediante inversiones en una nueva construcci�n en Corea (despu�s del levantamiento del monopolio gubernamental en julio del 2001), una empresa conjunta para edificar una planta de procesamiento de tabaco en Vietnam y la adquisici�n de tierras en la Provincia de Sichuan en China para la construcci�n de una planta manufacturera de cigarrillos. Las instalaciones coreanas, que contar�n con una capacidad anual de m�s de 7 mil millones de cigarrillos, se sumar�n a las instalaciones existentes de BAT en Malaisia, Singapur y Camboya, en tanto que se espera que las instalaciones chinas, una vez edificadas, habr�n de servir como cabecera de playa para las futuras conquistas de la compa��a en el potente mercado chino de 300 millones. Por otra parte, BAT ha ingresado recientemente al mercado turco mediante un contrato de asociaci�n con dos compa��as locales para producir marcas de BAT y anunci� sus planes de edificar una planta manufacturera de cigarrillos en Serbia, lo que contribuir�a ostensiblemente a combatir el comercio del contrabando en los Balcanes. Estos planes, sin embargo, han sido suspendidos luego de las cr�ticas p�blicas por parte de las autoridades aduaneras europeas, quienes alegan que la presencia de una planta de fabricaci�n de cigarrillos en el centro del comercio del mercado negro �nicamente habr� de incrementar el nivel del contrabando. Se debe recordar que BAT est� siendo investigada en el RU bajo alegatos de estar implicada en el contrabando.
Una serie de organizaciones sindicales ha comunicado los intentos de BAT de debilitar paulatinamente los derechos sindicales. En relaci�n con su arribo a Turqu�a, los representantes de BAT se han reunido con Tekgida-Is en la regi�n de Yzmir y le informaron que no estaban a favor de contar con organizaciones sindicales en sus plantas. En Uruguay, BAT est� interesada en incorporarse a la asociaci�n de empleadores del tabaco -pero s�lo bajo la condici�n de que sea exonerada del convenio colectivo sectorial. En abril del 2001 en Brasil, cuando FENTIFUMO exigi� a la autoridad de salud p�blica que llevara a cabo una auditoria sobre salud y seguridad en la subsidiaria brasile�a Souza Cruz de BAT, la compa��a coaccion� al personal de supervisi�n para que hiciera firmar cartas ya preparadas a todos los/as funcionarios/as, expresando su rechazo en cooperar con la auditor�a y a tomar distancia de todo resultado o, de lo contrario, correr�an el riesgo de perder sus empleos.
BAT est� en proceso de desarrollar un c�digo de principios de empleo dentro del marco de lo que denomina su �estrategia empresarial de responsabilidad�. El proyecto, que ha sido recibido para ser comentado por la UITA, como integrante de un �equipo externo de consulta�, contiene una redacci�n dudosa acerca del derecho de los/as trabajadores/as a ser representados por "sindicatos reconocidos por la compa��a� y no hace menci�n alguna de conversaciones o de negociaciones colectivas. La UITA ha informado a la compa��a respecto a su pol�tica de no realizar comentarios sobre c�digos unilaterales de conducta.
Gallaher
La compa��a tabacalera con sede en el RU se ha expandido recientemente mucho m�s all� de sus mercados tradicionales del RU e Irlanda. Tras su ingreso en Kazajst�n en 1999 y su adquisici�n del mayor fabricante de cigarrillos de Rusia, Liggett-Ducat, en agosto del 2000, ha concretado un acuerdo de comercializaci�n con Shanghai Tobacco, que integra la Corporaci�n Tabacalera Nacional de China, bajo cuyas condiciones Gallaher distribuye la principal marca de cigarrillos de calidad superior de China en las ciudades del RU con muchos habitantes chinos, en tanto que Shanghai Tobacco comercializa la marca Sobranie de Gallaher en China. La adquisici�n de Austria Tabak por parte de la empresa le proporciona mercados adicionales a trav�s de Europa, especialmente en Austria, Hungr�a, Alemania, Suecia y los pa�ses b�lticos. No obstante haber acrecentado su participaci�n en el mercado internacional, Gallaher ha perdido su posici�n de liderazgo en el mercado del RU frente a Imperial.
Imperial
Continuando la tendencia de la industria hacia las adquisiciones e inversiones en regiones a�n libres de trabas por las pl�ticas en torno a los riesgos para la salud y el control del tabaco, Imperial ha adquirido una participaci�n del 75% en la segunda compa��a de cigarrillos m�s grande de �frica subsahariana, Tobaccor. Adem�s de su propia fabricaci�n y distribuci�n, Tobaccor tambi�n produce marcas de Altadis, BAT y Philip Morris bajo permiso y mantiene un acuerdo de concesi�n y distribuci�n en Vietnam.
Japan Tobacco
Bas�ndose en la negativa evoluci�n del mercado de cigarrillos en Europa, y m�s concretamente en la ca�da de ventas y p�rdida de cuota de mercado de sus marcas, la multinacional Japan Tobacco, decidi� el cierre de su factor�a en la isla de La Palma.
Cierre que ya se ha hecho efectivo y que ha supuesto la p�rdida de 185 puestos de trabajo directos, en unas condiciones econ�micas superiores a lo que prev� la legislaci�n espa�ola para estos supuestos, la creaci�n de un fondo econ�mico a cargo de la empresa, para la formaci�n y el reciclaje de los trabajadores afectados, e incluso la posibilidad de traslado a la f�brica de Trier (Alemania), la Pen�nsula espa�ola y las propias Islas Canarias.
Philip Morris
En julio, Philip Morris inici� la construcci�n de una f�brica de cigarrillos en Filipinas � su mayor proyecto de inversi�n en Asia � el cual para el 2003, habr� de emplear m�s de 1.000 trabajadores/as. Un mes despu�s, la firma fue noticia cuando su subsidiaria checa divulg� un estudio que detallaba los ahorros en los costos de la Rep�blica Checa debido a la �temprana mortandad�, como resultado del h�bito de fumar. El informe hab�a sido encargado por la compa��a, como reacci�n a las inquietudes surgidas en la Rep�blica Checa acerca del alto costo de los servicios de salud a ser brindados a las v�ctimas de las enfermedades relacionadas con el h�bito de fumar.
Privatizaciones
Austria Tabak
Como parte de sus planes de privatizaci�n, el gobierno austr�aco anunci� en el 2000 su intenci�n de vender su restante participaci�n en Austria Tabak, anteriormente de propiedad estatal. La organizaci�n sindical de trabajadores/as agr�colas, tabacaleros y de la alimentaci�n de Austria, ANG, estuvo a la vanguardia de las protestas contra la venta de una compa��a que proporciona empleo de calidad y cuyos negocios internos e internacionales, as� como sus acuerdos de concesiones, producen rentas p�blicas importantes para el estado. Tras mucha especulaci�n en la prensa financiera acerca de qui�n obtendr�a la participaci�n (Altadis, Gallaher e Imperial hab�an presentado ofertas), Gallaher, con sede en el RU, adquiri� las acciones de propiedad gubernamental en junio del 2001, habiendo desde entonces incrementado su posesi�n de Austria Tabak al 98%.
En agosto, Austria Tabak anunci� la clausura de sus instalaciones en Malm�, Suecia, adquirida a Swedish Match en 1999. La decisi�n de cerrar una de sus cuatro plantas manufactureras (las otras tres se encuentran en Austria) fue adoptada a ra�z de la entendida necesidad de concentrar la producci�n, a los efectos de incrementar la productividad y seguir siendo competitiva. A pesar de las conclusiones de un estudio encargado por los sindicatos, que demostraba que el cierre de la planta de Malm� no era la opci�n m�s ventajosa para Austria Tabak y los esfuerzos sindicales para salvar la planta, la compa��a no lo quiso reconsiderar. Las organizaciones sindicales se movieron r�pidamente para lograr disposiciones favorables sobre indemnizaciones por cese de empleo para los 350 trabajadores/as afectados por el cierre, antes de que Gallaher asumiera la responsabilidad. Seg�n la organizaci�n sindical de trabajadores/as de la alimentaci�n de Suecia, Livs, la decisi�n de clausurar la planta sueca fue de car�cter pol�tico, adoptada contra el trasfondo de la ley de privatizaci�n en Austria, la cual incluye disposiciones para la protecci�n del empleo en las compa��as privatizadas.
Korea Tobacco & Ginseng (KT&G)
Tras la liberalizaci�n de la legislaci�n sobre la industria tabacalera en Corea del Sur en julio del 2001, actualmente la ex compa��a monop�lica est� enfrentando la competencia de las CTNs. Philip Morris y Japan Tobacco ya cuentan en conjunto con un 10% del mercado, pero la introducci�n de un arancel sobre los cigarrillos importados coincidiendo con el levantamiento del monopolio debilitar� su potencial para expandir su participaci�n en el mercado. BAT ocupa una posici�n mejor para competir, ya que ha invertido en la construcci�n de su propia planta de fabricaci�n en terreno coreano. Sin embargo, se espera que KT&G sea la gran beneficiaria de la liberalizaci�n, ya que ahora ser� capaz de fijar libremente los precios de los cigarrillos y comprar tabaco en forma selectiva. Anteriormente, la compa��a deb�a obtener la aprobaci�n del gobierno para cada suba de precio y estaba obligada a adquirir la cosecha anual �ntegra de tabaco de Corea. La red de distribuci�n bien establecida de KT&G la mantendr� tambi�n muy en la delantera de las CTNs por muchos a�os m�s.
Tekel (Turqu�a)
Bajo la presi�n de las instituciones financieras internacionales (Banco Mundial y FMI), el gobierno de Turqu�a se embarc� en un proceso de privatizaci�n de las industrias de propiedad estatal en los a�os 90. Este proceso, que es altamente disputado por los sindicatos, est� ahora siendo implementado en la industria del tabaco, con la transferencia actual del control del monopolio turco del tabaco, Tekel, a la autoridad privatizadora, como un primer paso. La afiliada de la UITA en Turqu�a, Tekgida-Is se ha unido a las organizaciones de los agricultores del tabaco, de los funcionarios p�blicos y de los consumidores para denunciar los planes de privatizaci�n del gobierno y su fracaso en consultar a todos los grupos de los actores sociales. A pesar de esta condena popular masiva, el parlamento ha aprobado recientemente el proyecto de legislaci�n destinado a acelerar el proceso de privatizaci�n; esta ley, sin embargo, ha sido vetada por el Presidente de Turqu�a por motivos sociales, econ�micos y constitucionales. La lucha contra la privatizaci�n en Turqu�a ha producido una cooperaci�n sin precedentes entre las tres centrales laborales nacionales, T�rk-Is, Disk y Hak-Is.
Tobak: Udviklinger inden for industrien
01-Dec-2001Altadis
Altadis, der er resultatet af fusionen mellem Seita og Tabacalera i slutningen af 1999, promoverer sig nu som �den europ�iske tobaksvirksomhed�. Efter frasalget af t�ndstikforretningen i begyndelsen af 2001 fokuserer virksomheden nu p� tre kerneomr�der: cigaretter (3. st�rste producent i Europa), cigarer (nummer 1 i verden) og logistik. De omstruktureringsplaner, der blev iv�rksat af komponentvirksomhederne f�r fusionen, er blevet stoppet midlertidigt uden at der er annonceret nye lukninger i Frankrig i �r og en socialplan er blevet afsluttet i december 2000 i forbindelse med lukningen af 8 produktionssteder i Spanien. Godt 1.600 arbejdere fik tilbudt fratr�delsesl�sninger, mens andre 700 fik tilbud om at blive omplaceret eller jobs�gningsassistance. Inden for cigarsektoren fusionerede de tidligere virksomheder Consolidated Cigar og Havatampa, der blev opk�bt af hhv. Seita og Tabacalera i 1998, i 2000 og blev til Altadis USA med det resultat, at 5 fabrikker gik tabt i Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaica og Den Dominikanske Republik. I oktober 2000 k�bte Altadis 50% af interesserne i den cubanske tobaksindustris marketingdel, Corporaci�n Habanos, og i dens omfattende internationale distributionsnet, hvorved virksomheden fik forbedret sin allerede st�rke position p� det globale cigarmarked.
Rapport over Altadis v/ Federaci�n Agroalimentaria UGT
I juli 1999 besluttede Tabacaleras direktion under henvisning til virksomhedens m�l om at sikre konkurrenceevnen de kommende �r, at iv�rks�tte en forretningsplan, som forventes gennemf�rt med udgangen af �r 2002 og omfatter f�lgende punkter:
Lukning af 8 fabrikker;
Bygning af 2 nye fabrikker:
- cigaretfabrikken Costa i Alicante;
- cigaretfabrikken Norte i Santander;
op til 2150 ansatte vil blive ber�rt.
F�r vedtagelsen af denne plan forhandlede arbejdstagerrepr�sentanterne og fagforeningerne gennem hele �r 2000 for at tilvejebringe alternative sociale og �konomiske l�sningsmodeller, som kunne afb�de forretningsplanens indvirkning p� arbejderne og reducere dem til et absolut minimum. Den 13. December 2000 vedtog man en social plan og en besk�ftigelsesprotokol, herunder f�lgende hovedtiltag:
1. Fremskudt pensionering: For alle ansatte over 55 �r hos Altadis i Spanien (Altadis + Logista).
De �konomiske vilk�r g�r, at de ansatte kan opretholde en indt�gt frem til pensionsalderen, der tiln�rmelsesvis svarer til den reall�n, de havde ved f�rpensioneringen. De sikres s�ledes en pensionsindt�gt, der ligger et sted mellem, hvad der kan opn�s gennem det sociale sikkerhedsnet og det der er forudset i pensionsplanen, svarende til det bel�b ansat ville kunne tjene.
2. Forflytning af ansatte under 55 �r fra de lukningstruede fabrikker. De ber�rte medarbejdere og deres familie ydes samtidig en �konomisk godtg�relse som kompensation for ekstraordin�re flytte- og boligudgifter i den forbindelse.
Derudover er der aftalt f�lgende alternative l�sninger for de med-arbejdere, for hvem en forflytning ville v�re traumatisk:
a) Afskedigelse med en godtg�relse, der ligger over det lovbestemte mindstebel�b;
b) F�rpensionering af ansatte i alderen 53-54 �r;
c) Optagelse p� et indslusnings- og uddannelsescenter betalt af virksomheden for at forbedre de ansattes muligheder for at s�ge andet arbejde.
3. Frivillig afgang med �konomisk incitament
St�rre godtg�relser end fastsat ved lov til alle ansatte under 55 �r og med mere end 8 �rs ancienitet i virksomheden.
4. Indslusning- og uddannelsescentre
Dette tiltag skal v�re med til at g�re det nemmere for de ber�rte medarbejdere at finde anden besk�ftigelse. Virksomheden forpligter sig til at fremme alternative projekter, der kan v�re med til at skaffe nye arbejdsplader i den ber�rte region, arbejdspladser, der f�rst og fremmest skal tilbydes de ber�rte medarbejdere.
Det skal her pointeres, at det i aftalen bestemt, at der skal tages hensyn til de af fagforeningerne foresl�ede alternative l�sninger.
Endelig kan n�vnes, at disse tiltag tr�dte i kraft i begyndelsen maj 2001 og at de f�rste afskedigelser med henblik p� f�rpensionering blev iv�rksat ved samme lejlighed.
Efter at have f�rdigforhandlet og gennemf�rt socialplanen og uden at tage hensyn til fagforeningernes voldsomme bestr�belser og det forbillede de kunne have v�ret i s�vel form som indhold, har virksomheden ALTADIS besluttet sig for at gennemf�re en omstrukturering og � hvad v�rre er � at indf�re en ny arbejdstager-arbejdsgiver-kultur.
Denne nye kulturform bygger p� tvang og p� manglende dialog med fag-forenings-ledelsen og bryder s�ledes med arbejdsgiver-arbejdstager-modellen med for-handling og konsekvens, der hidtil har hersket i virksomhederne.
Rapport over Seita/Altadis v/ FGTA-FO
Seita har nu i n�sten to �r v�ret et mere end 95% ejet datterselskab af Altadis efter fusionen af de to j�vnbyrdige virksomheder Seita og Tabacalera. Altadis-gruppen er registreret i Spanien og har sit hovedkontor i Madrid.
Indtil videre har fusionen ikke betydet noget for omstruktureringen. Den fors�tter i u�ndret tempo. P� en r�kke omr�der som f.eks. administrative servicefunktioner har fusionen tv�rtimod betydet en yderligere reduktion i personalet.
Den �konomiske situation
Seita har v�ret et profitabelt foretagende i rigtig mange �r. Virksomhedens overskud er meget nyttigt, idet det opvejer underskuddet i det spanske moderselskab Altadis.
Seita har kun tre forretningsomr�der tilbage. T�ndstikforretningen blev solgt fra til en tunesisk virksomhed i begyndelsen af 2001, hvilket bet�d at en r�kke arbejdspladser gik tabt.
Indtil videre har virksomheden ikke bebudet flere lukninger i indev�rende �r.
Cigaretforretningen
Det franske marked er fortsat vigende, og Seita taber fortsat markedsandele, f�rst og fremmest til Philip Morris. Dette tab af markedsandele udg�r st�rstedelen af den stadige tilbage-gang i salget af m�rk tobak (� 10% �rligt).
Seita er i gang med at udvikle sine eksportmarkeder, og eksportsalget af cigaretter af Virginia-tobak overstiger nu det hjemlige salg.
Der er opst�et vanskeligheder i Polen oven p� priskrigen, som bet�d en 17% tilbagegang i markedet. Situationen er blevet udnyttet af smuglere, hvis polske markedsandel er steget fra ca. 5% til hele 20% i begyndelsen af 2000.
Andre problemer kan forudses i regionen omkring det Indiske Ocean, hvor bratte prisstigninger har f�rt til en nedgang i forbruget p� 30%.
Cigarforretningen
Denne forretningsenhed er forsat meget givtig for Seita. Tre storstilede tiltag udf�rt de seneste tre �r har gjort Altadis-gruppen til nummer et p� verdensmarkedet inden for cigarer: K�bet af Consolidated Cigars, den efterf�lgende fusion med Havatampa, og k�bet af 50% af interesserne i Habanos.
Med en aktiepost p� 51.6% er Seita-gruppen nu Altadis USA�s st�rste aktion�r (som f�lge af fusionen med CCH et Havatampa). Paradokset her er, at mens Seita nu er den st�rste aktion�r i USA, sidder ledelsen af cigarforretningen fortsat i Madrid.
Det samlede salg for Seita-grupens cigarforretning er steget fra 72 millioner Euro i 1998 til 400 millioner EURO i 2000.
Med sine 6.543 ansatte pr. 31. december 2000 besk�ftiger cigarforretningen halvdelen Seita-gruppens ansatte.
Skabelsen af Altadis USA f�rte til lukning af fem fabrikker i hhv. Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaica og Den Dominikanske Republik.
Cigarforretningen tegnede sig for 25% af Seita-gruppens samlede salg i regnskabs�ret 2000.
Distribution
Seita�s distributionsnetv�rk omfatter � 80.000 salgssteder i Frankrig. Distributionen tegnede sig for 17% af Seita-gruppens samlede salg i 2000.
Samlede antal besk�ftigede
I 2000 var der 6.543 besk�ftiget med cigarproduktion, 1.681 med salg, 2.816 med cigaretproduktion og 1.471 med andre aktiviteter (hovedkontoret (HQ), R&D, DAL og bladforarbejdning).
Posten personaleudgifter er i Seita-gruppens samlede �konomiske resultat faldet som f�lge af:
Personalereduktion og praksis med at afskedige �ldre, mere vell�nnede medarbejdere og erstatte dem med yngre, lavere l�nnede medarbejdere i forbindelse med omstruktureringen i Frankrig;
Produktionsforbedringer, hovedsageligt inden for cigaretforretningen og i distributionen i Frankrig;
Stigning i antallet af lavtl�nsarbejdere i udenlandske datterselskaber.
Fagforeningerne har forhandlet med virksomheden om at etablere et europ�isk samarbejdsudvalg i mere end et �r. Forhandlingerne kommer imidlertid ikke ud af stedet, da der ikke er nogen reel politisk vilje hos Seita-gruppen til at skabe et s�dant organ.
BAT
BAT har det seneste �r v�ret meget aggressiv i sin bestr�belser p� at udvide sin forretning i Asien, idet der er foretaget investeringer i nye fabrikker i Korea (efter at statsmonopolet blev oph�vet i juli 2001), er g�et ind i et joint venture samarbejde om at bygge en tobaksforarbejdningsfabrik i Vietnam og har k�bt land i den kinesiske Sichuan-provins for der at kunne bygge en cigaretfabrik. Den koreanske fabrik, som har en �rskapacitet p� mere end 7 milliarder cigaretter, vil for�ge BATs allerede eksisterende produktionskapacitet i Malaysia, Singapore og Kambodia, mens den kinesiske fabrik, n�r den engang st�r f�rdig, forventes at skulle fungere som brohoved for virksomhedens fremtidige konkurrence p� det kinesiske marked med sine 300 millioner indbyggere. Derudover har BAT for nylig g�et ind p� det tyrkiske marked ved at indg� et samarbejdsaftale med to lokale virksomheder om at producere BATs m�rker, og har annonceret, at man forventer at bygge en cigaretfabrik i Serbien, som skulle kunne v�re med til at im�deg� smuglervirksomheden p� Balkan. Disse planer er imidlertid blevet udskudt som f�lge af offentligheden kritik p� vegne af de europ�iske toldmyndigheder, som mener, at tilstedev�relsen af en cigaretfabrik lige der, hvor sortb�rshandlen foreg�r, kun vil intensivere smuglerierne. Der mindes om, at der i England foreg�r unders�gelser af BAT, som beskyldes for at v�re indblandet i smuglerierne.
En r�kke fagforeninger har rapporteret om fors�g fra BATs side p� at underminere de fagforeningssikrede rettigheder. I forbindelse med deres ankomst til Tyrkiet har BAT-repr�sentanter haft m�de med Tekgida-Is i �zmir-regionen og meddelt dem, at de ikke �nskede fagforeningerne repr�senteret i deres fabrikker. I Uruguay har BAT v�ret meget interesseret i at blive medlem af tobakindustriens arbejdsgiverforening, men kun hvis de kunne blive undtaget fra den kollektive overenskomst p� omr�det. Og i april 2001, da FENTIFUMO tilskyndede milj�ministeriet til at gennemf�re et milj�bes�g i BATs brasilianske datterselskab Souza Cruz, tvang virksomheden tilsynspersonalet til at underskrive nogle pr�fabrikerede breve, hvori de n�gter at samarbejde med myndighederne og tog afstand fra de resultater de m�tte komme frem til.
BAT er i gang med at udvikle en kodeks for besk�ftigelsesprincipper inden for den ramme som virksomheden kalder �strategi for virksomhedernes social ansvar�. Udkastet, som IUL har modtaget for kommentarer som del af et �eksternt r�dgivende team�, omtaler i et noget tvivlsomt sprog arbejdernes ret til at v�re medlem af �fagforeninger�, og n�vner overhovedet ikke noget om forhandling eller kollektive overenskomster. IUL har orienteret virksomheden om dens politik om ikke at kommentere ensidigt bestemte adf�rdsregler.
Gallaher
Tobaksvirksomheden Gallaher, som har hjemme i England, har for nylig udvidet sine aktiviteter til markeder langt fra de traditionelle markeder i England og Irland. Efter at v�re kommet ind p� markedet i Kazakstan i 1999 og efter at have opk�bt den st�rste russiske cigaretproducent, Liggett-Ducat, i august 2000, har virksomheden indg�et en marketingsaftale med Shanghai Tobacco, der er en del af China National Tobacco Corporation. Aftalen g�r ud p�, at Gallaher distribuerer Kinas f�rende pr�mie-cigaretm�rke i engelske byer med en stor kinesisk befolkningsgruppe, og Shanghai Tobacco markedsf�rer til geng�ld Gallahers Sobranie-m�rke i Kina. Opk�bet af Austria Tabak udvider virksomhedens europ�iske markeder yderligere, herunder is�r �strig, Ungarn, Tyskland, Sverige og de baltiske lande. Mens Gallaher har vundet markedsandele p� det internationale marked, har virksomheden mistet sin markedsf�rende position i England til Imperial.
Imperial
Imperial har k�bt 75% af interesserne i Tobaccor, den n�stst�rste cigaretvirksomhed Afrika syd for Sahara, og f�lger dermed den tendens der er i industrien til at foretage opk�b og investeringer i regioner, der endnu ikke er belemret med foredrag om sundhedsfarer og tobakskontrol. Ud over egen produktion og distribution producerer Tobaccor ogs� Altadis�, BATs og Philip Morris� m�rker under licens og har en licens og distributionsaftale i Vietnam.
Japan Tobacco
P� grund af den negative udvikling i det europ�iske cigaretmarked og mere konkret p� grund af faldende oms�tning og tab af markedsandele, n�r det g�lder egne varem�rker, besluttede det multinationale foretagende Japan Tobacco at lukke fabrikken p� Insel La Palma.
Denne lukning er allerede gennemf�rt og har betydet, at 185 arbejdspladser er g�et tabt. Omkostningerne til godtg�relse af arbejderene har i den forbindelse ligget over det niveau, den spanske lovgivning har fastsat for s�danne tilf�lde, idet der er oprettet en �konomisk fond financieret af virksomheden, som har til form�l at uddanne og omskole de ber�rte medarbejdere eller give dem mulighed for at blive overflyttet til fabrikken i Trier (Tyskland), p� den iberiske halv� eller De Kanariske �er.
Philip Morris
I juli m�ned begyndte Philip Morris at bygge en cigaretfabrik i Filippinerne � virk-somhedens st�rste investeringsprojekt i Asien � som i 2003 vil besk�ftige mere end 1.000 medarbejdere. En m�ned senere skabte virksomheden overskrifter, da dens tjekkiske datterselskab offentliggjorde en unders�gelse, som gjorde rede for, hvorledes den Tjekkiet kunne spare p� grund af �tidlig d�delighed� som f�lge af rygning. Rapporten var et bestillingsarbejde fra Philip Morris som svar p� den bekymring der var i Tjekkiet for h�je udgifter i sundhedsv�senet til at hj�lpe ofrene for rygningsrelaterede sygdommen.
Privatisering
Austria Tabak
Som led i virksomhedens privatiseringsplaner, annoncerede den �strigske regering i 2000 at den �nsker at s�lge sin resterende andel i det tidligere statsejede Austria Tabak. Den �strigske fagforening for landbrugs-, f�devare- og tobaksarbejdere ANG gik forrest i protesterne mod salget af en virksomhed, der udbyder kvalitetsjobs og hvis profitable hjemlige og internationale handel og licensaftaler giver vigtige indt�gter til staten. Efter mange spekulationer i den financielle presse om, hvem der kunne t�nke sig at overtage interesserne (Altadis, Gallaher og Imperial havde afgivet bud), k�bte den engelsk baserede virksomhed Gallaher de statsejede aktier i juni 2001 og har siden for�get sin ejerandel af Austria Tabak til 98%.
I august annoncerede Austria Tabak, at den �nskede at lukke sin fabrik i Malm� i Sverige (k�bt af Swedish Match i 1999). Beslutningen om at lukke det ene af dens fire produktionssteder (de tre �vrige er beliggende i �strig ) blev truffet, fordi det er n�dvendigt at koncentrere produktionen for at �ge produktiviteten og for at forblive konkurrencedygtig. Til trods for resultaterne af en unders�gelse bestilt af fagforeningen, som viste, at lukningen af fabrikken i Malm� ikke var den mest givtige l�sning for Austria Tabak og fagforeningens bestr�belser p� at redde fabrikken, �nskede virksomheden ikke at genoverveje situationen. Fagforeningerne handlede hurtigt for at sikre gode fratr�delsesbetingelser for de 350 ber�rte arbejdere f�r Gallaher ville p�tage sig ansvaret. I f�lge den svenske fagforening for n�ringsmidler Livs, var beslutningen om at lukke den svenske fabrik politisk med baggrund i den �strigske lovgivning om privatisering, som indeholder bestemmelser, der skal beskytte arbejderne ansat i private virksomheder.
Korea Tobacco & Ginseng
Som f�lge af liberaliseringen af den sydkoreanske tobaksindustris love i juli 2001, oplever den tidligere monopolvirksomhed nu konkurrence fra TNCs. Philip Morris og Japan Tobacco har allerede en 10% markedsandel til sammen, men en prisliste over importerede cigaretter, som blev introduceret samtidig med at monopolet blev oph�vet, vil sv�kke deres mulighed for at erobre markedsandele. BAT er bedre positioneret til at konkurrere, idet virksomheden har investeret i egen fabrik p� koreansk jord. KT&G forventes imidlertid at v�re den som vil nyde st�rst gavn af liberaliseringen, idet virksomheden nu frit vil kunne fasts�tte cigaretpriserne og opk�be tobak efter eget valg. Tidligere m�tte virksomheden s�ge om regeringsgodkendelse af hver eneste prisstigning og var forpligtet til at k�be hele den koreanske �rsproduktion af tobak. KT&Gs veletablerede distributionsnet vil ogs� v�re med til at holde afstand ned til TNCs i mange �r fremover.
Tekel (Tyrkiet)
Efter pres fra Verdensbanken og Den Internationale Valutafond begyndte den tyrkiske regering i 1990erne at privatisere statsejede industrier. Privatiseringen, der bek�mpes inderligt af fagforeningerne, er nu n�et til tobaksindustrien, hvor kontrollen af det tyrkiske tobaksmonopol Tekel nu som et f�rste skridt p� vejen er overdraget til til den myndighed, der forest�r privatiseringen. IULs afdeling i Tyrkiet Tekgida-Is har sluttet sig sammen med tobaksb�ndernes, de offentlig ansattes og forbrugernes organisationer for at g� imod regeringens privatiseringsplaner og for at kritisere den for ikke at have r�df�rt sig med alle interessegrupper. Til trods for denne massive folkelige ford�mmelse, er parlamentet for nylig fremkommet med lovforslag, der har til form�l at speede privatiseringsprocessen up; den tyrkiske pr�sident har imidlertid nedlagt veto mod lovforslaget af sociale, �konomiske og forfatningsm�ssige grunde. Den tyrkiske kamp mod privatisering har f�rt et ikke tidligere set samarbejde mellem de tre nationale organisationer T�rk-Is, Disk og Hak-Is.
Tabac: �volutions de l�industrie
01-Dec-2001Altadis
Altadis, issue de la fusion entre Seita et Tabacalera � la fin de 1999, se pr�sente maintenant comme �la soci�t� de tabac de l�Europe�. Apr�s la vente de ses activit�s dans le secteur des allumettes, la soci�t� se concentre aujourd�hui sur trois activit�s de base: les cigarettes (3e fabricant en importance en Europe), les cigares (premier producteur mondial) et la distribution. Les plans de restructuration engag�s par les deux soci�t�s avant la fusion ont �t� temporairement mis de c�t�; aucune nouvelle fermeture n�a �t� annonc�e en France cette ann�e et un plan social a �t� conclu en d�cembre 2000 � l��gard de la fermeture de huit �tablissements en Espagne. Un programme de retraite anticip�e a �t� offert � quelques 1 600 salari�s/es tandis que 700 autres se voyaient offrir une relocalisation ou une aide au reclassement. Dans le secteur du cigare, les anciennes soci�t�s Consolidated Cigar et Havatampa, acquises respectivement par Seita et par Tabacalera en 1998 ont �t� fusionn�es en 2000 pour former Altadis USA, ce qui a entra�n� la fermeture de cinq usines au Honduras, au Nicaragua, en Jama�que et en R�publique dominicaine. En octobre 2000, Altadis a rachet� 50% de l�organe de commercialisation de l�industrie cubaine du cigare, Corporaci�n Habanos, et de son immense r�seau de commercialisation international, am�liorant encore sa position d�j� avantageuse sur le march� mondial du cigare.
Rapport sur Altadis pr�sent� par la Federaci�n agroalimentaria UGT
Au mois de juillet 1999, la direction de Tabacalera a pris la d�cision d�introduire un plan de reconversion industriel dont la mise en �uvre devrait prendre fin le 31 d�cembre 2002, dans le but avou� de pr�server la comp�titivit� de l�entreprise dans les ann�es � venir. Ce plan pr�voit :
La fermeture de huit usines
La construction de deux nouvelles usines :
- cigarettes : usine C�te, � Alicante
- cigarettes : usine Nord, � Santander
Pr�s de 2150 travailleurs seront touch�s par le plan.
Suite � l�annonce de ce plan, les repr�sentants des travailleurs et les syndicats ont n�goci� durant toute l�ann�e 2000 la mise en �uvre de mesures sociales et �conomiques visant � amortir et minimiser les retomb�es du plan de reconversion sur les travailleurs. Le 13 d�cembre, les partenaires sociaux sont parvenus � s�entendre sur un plan social et sur des mesures de reconversion, dont voici les points saillants :
1. Retraites anticip�es : obligatoires pour tous les travailleurs du groupe Altadis Espagne (Altadis+Logista) �g�s de plus de 55 ans
Gr�ce � ces mesures �conomiques, les revenus des travailleurs pourront �tre maintenus � un niveau tr�s proche de leur salaire r�el actuel jusqu�� la retraite. Les travailleurs percevront par la suite une rente, vers�e en partie par la s�curit� sociale et en partie par le r�gime de retraite, dont la globalit� approchera �galement la rente qu�ils toucheraient s�ils �taient rest�s en activit�.
2. Transferts. Les travailleurs de moins de 55 ans travaillant dans les usines qui seront ferm�es b�n�ficieront d�une aide �conomique en vue du d�m�nagement et du relogement du travailleur et de sa famille.
Cependant, l�entreprise propose, au choix, les alternatives suivantes aux travailleurs qui ne supporteraient pas un tel transfert :
a)Indemnisations de licenciement sup�rieures au minimum l�gal
b)Retraite anticip�e pour les travailleurs �g�s de 53 et 54 ans
c)Admission dans un centre de r�insertion et de formation � la charge de l�entreprise, pour faciliter la recherche d�un nouvel emploi pour les travailleurs qui ne souhaiteraient pas d�m�nager.
3. Encouragements au d�part volontaire
Offerts aux travailleurs de moins de 55 ans ayant plus de 8 ans d�anciennet� dans l�entreprise, avec des indemnit�s sup�rieures au minimum l�gal.
4. Centre de r�insertion et de formation
Afin de faciliter les recherches effectu�es sur le march� de l�emploi par les travailleurs touch�s par la fermeture d�un centre de production, l�entreprise s�engage � promouvoir des initiatives permettant de cr�er des emplois qui seraient offerts prioritairement aux travailleurs touch�s par les fermetures dans la m�me r�gion.
Il convient de remarquer que l�accord pr�voit que les initiatives propos�es par le syndicats seront d�ment prises en consid�ration.
Enfin, il convient de rappeler que ces mesures ont d�ores et d�j� commenc� � �tre appliqu�es au d�but du mois de mai dernier, lorsque les premi�res mises en retraite anticip�e ont commenc� � prendre effet.
Apr�s avoir n�goci� et mis en �uvre le plan social, et faisant fi de l�effort consid�rable consenti par les syndicats pour parvenir � une solution exemplaire, du point de vue de la forme comme du contenu, l�entreprise ALTADIS entend introduire un changement d�organisation et, qui plus est, une nouvelle culture dans le domaine du dialogue social.
Cette nouvelle culture pr�voit l�imposition des d�cisions prises en l�absence de tout dialogue avec les repr�sentants syndicaux, en rupture �vidente avec le mod�le de n�gociation et de compromis qui pr�valait jusque l� au sein de l�entreprise.
Rapport sur Seita/Altadis pr�sent� par la FGTA-FO
La Seita est depuis bient�t deux ans une filiale � plus de 95% d�Altadis, suite � la fusion d��gale � �gale des deux soci�t�s qu��taient Seita et Tabacalera. Le groupe Altadis est de droit espagnol et le si�ge social se situe � Madrid.
Ce rapport ne parle que du groupe Seita.
La fusion n�a en rien, � ce jour, ralentit les restructurations. Dans certains domaines, comme les services administratifs, il y a eu resserrement des effectifs.
Situation �conomique
La Seita est une soci�t� b�n�ficiaire depuis de tr�s nombreuses ann�es. Les b�n�fices sont d�ailleurs fort utiles pour compenser les dettes de la soci�t� m�re espagnole Altadis.
La Seita n�est plus compos�e que de trois branches d�activit�s. L�activit� allumettes a �t� vendue � une soci�t� tunisienne au d�but de l�ann�e 2001. Cela s�est traduit par plusieurs dizaines de suppressions d�emplois.
En 2001, et � ce jour, la Seita n�a pas engag� d�autre proc�dure de fermeture d��tablissement.
Activit� cigarettes
Le march� fran�ais reste sur une tendance n�gative. La Seita continue � perdre des parts de march�, au profit essentiellement de Philip Morris. Ces pertes de march�s r�sultent pour une tr�s large part de la diminution constante des ventes de tabac brun (� 10% par an).
� l�exportation, la Seita se d�veloppe. Aujourd�hui les exportations de cigarettes blondes sont sup�rieures � celles vendues sur le march� domestique.
Des difficult�s sont apparues en Pologne du fait de la guerre des prix qui a conduit � un recul du march� de 17% compens� par la contrebande, pass�e d�environ 5% � 20% du march� polonais d�but 2000.
Autres difficult�s � pr�voir dans l�Oc�an Indien: la mont�e vertigineuse des prix au d�triment des volumes qui a entra�n� une chute de 30% de la consommation.
Activit� cigares
Cette activit� est tr�s profitable pour la Seita. Trois op�rations d�envergure ont, en 3 ans, conf�r� au groupe Altadis la position de num�ro un mondial du cigare: acquisition de Consolidated Cigars, fusion avec Havatampa et acquisition de 50% de Habanos. Le groupe Seita se retrouve l�actionnaire majoritaire avec 51,6% du capital d�Altadis USA (soci�t� issue de la fusion de CCH et Havatampa). Le paradoxe est que la Seita est majoritaire mais la direction de la branche cigares d�Altadis est localis�e � Madrid.
Le chiffre d�affaire �conomique de la branche cigares du groupe Seita est pass� de 72 M� en 1998 � 400 M� en 2000.
Les effectifs de la branche cigares dans le groupe Seita repr�sentent la moiti� des effectifs avec 6543 salari�s au 31/12/2000.
Il faut signaler que la cr�ation d�Altadis USA a eu comme cons�quence la fermeture de 5 usines: Honduras, Nicaragua, Jama�que, R�publique dominicaine.
Le chiffre d�affaire �conomique de la branche cigares a �t� de 25% dans le groupe Seita au titre de l�ann�e 2000.
Activit� distribution
L�activit� distribution du groupe Seita repr�sente � 80 000 points de vente en France. L�activit� distribution a repr�sent� 17% du chiffre d�affaire �conomique du groupe Seita en 2000.
Effectifs consolid�s du groupe Seita
En 2000 les cigares repr�sentent 6543 salari�s/es, la distribution 1681 salari�s/es, les cigarettes 2816 salari�s/es et autres 1471 salari�s/es (Si�ge, R&D, DAL, Pr�traitement).
Le poids des frais de personnel consolid�s dans le Chiffre d�affaire �conomique est en forte baisse en raison:
Des r�ductions d�effectifs et des effets noria (on licencie des salari�s/es �g�s/es donc plus chers/�res et on embauche des jeunes donc moins chers/�res) li�s aux restructurations en France;
Des gains de productivit� r�alis�s principalement dans les cigarettes et la distribution en France;
De l�accroissement des effectifs � bas salaires dans les filiales � l��tranger.
Depuis plus d�un an, les organisations syndicales n�gocient la mise en place d�un comit� d�entreprise europ�en. Cette n�gociation n�avance pas. Il n�existe pas de v�ritable volont� politique au niveau du groupe pour faire aboutir ce dispositif de repr�sentation.
BAT
Au cours de l�ann�e �coul�e, BAT a poursuivi le d�veloppement de ses activit�s en Asie avec la construction d�une usine en Cor�e (� la suite de la lev�e du monopole gouvernemental dans ce pays en juillet 2000), la constitution d�une coentreprise en vue de la construction d�une usine de transformation du tabac au Vietnam et l�acquisition de terrains dans la province du Sichuan en Chine pour la construction d�une usine de cigarettes. L�usine cor�enne, qui aura une capacit� annuelle de plus de sept milliards de cigarettes, viendra s�ajouter � la capacit� de production d�j� existante de BAT en Malaisie, � Singapour et au Cambodge, alors que l�usine chinoise, une fois construite, devrait servir de t�te de pont pour la conqu�te du march� chinois, fort de 300 millions de fumeurs/euses. En outre, BAT a r�cemment fait son entr�e en Turquie gr�ce � une entente de partenariat avec deux soci�t�s locales pour la production des produits BAT et annonc� des plans en vue de la construction d�une usine de cigarettes en Serbie, une d�cision de toute �vidence destine � combattre la contrebande dans les Balkans. Ces plans ont toutefois �t� mis en veilleuse � la suite des critiques formul�es par les autorit�s douani�res europ�ennes, qui pr�tendent que la pr�sence d�une usine de cigarette au c�ur du march� noir ne pourra qu�alimenter la contrebande. On se rappellera que BAT fait l�objet d�une enqu�te au Royaume-Uni suite � des all�gations de participation � la contrebande.
Un certain nombre de syndicats ont signal� des tentatives d�atteintes aux droits syndicaux de la part de BAT. Dans le cadre de l�entr�e de la soci�t� sur le march� turc, des repr�sentants de BAT ont rencontr� l�organisation syndicale Tekgida-Is dans la r�gion de �zmir et l�ont inform�e qu�ils ne souhaitaient pas la pr�sence d�un syndicat dans leurs usines. En Uruguay, BAT souhaite vivement se joindre � l�association des employeurs du secteur du tabac � � la condition de n��tre pas li�e par la convention collective sectorielle. Enfin, en avril 2001, lorsque FENTIFUMO a amen� les autorit�s sanitaires � effectuer une enqu�te sur les conditions de sant� et de s�curit� au travail chez la filiale br�silienne de BAT Souza Cruz, la soci�t� a oblig� le personnel d�encadrement � signer des lettres indiquant qu�ils refusaient de coop�rer � l�enqu�te et qu�ils se dissociaient � l�avance des r�sultats.
BAT a entrepris la r�daction d�un code de principes d�emploi dans le cadre de ce que la soci�t� appelle sa �strat�gie de responsabilit� corporative�. Le projet, que l�UITA a re�u pour commentaires � titre de membre d�un �groupe consultatif externe�, contient des dispositions de formulation ambigu� sur le droit des travailleurs/euses d��tre repr�sent�s/es par un �syndicat reconnu par la soci�t� et ne fait aucune mention du droit � la n�gociation ou � la n�gociation collective. L�UITA a inform� BAT de sa politique de ne faire aucun commentaire sur les codes de conduite unilat�raux.
Gallaher
Cette soci�t� de tabac bas�e au Royaume-Uni a r�cemment entrepris d��tendre ses activit�s bien au-del� de ses march�s traditionnels de Grande-Bretagne et d�Irlande. Apr�s son entr�e au Kazakhstan en 1999 et l�acquisition du principal fabricant de cigarettes de Russie, Liggett-Ducat, en ao�t 2000, la soci�t� a conclu avec Shanghai Tobacco (une division de China National Tobacco Corporation) un accord de commercialisation aux termes duquel Gallaher assurera la distribution de la principale marque de prestige de Chine dans les villes anglaises comptant une forte population chinoise tandis que Shanghai Tobacco commercialisera la marque Sobranie de Gallaher en Chine. L�acquisition d�Austria Tabak ouvre � Gallaher de nouveaux march�s en Europe, plus particuli�rement en Autriche, en Hongrie, en Allemagne, en Su�de et dans les pays de la Baltique. Pendant qu�elle marquait des points sur le march� international, Gallaher a toutefois perdu aux mains d�Imperial sa position de t�te au Royaume-Uni.
Imperial
Suivant la tendance de l�industrie de proc�der � des acquisitions et � des expansions dans des r�gions du globe qui n�ont toujours pas �t� touch�es par le discours sur les risques pour la sant� et la lutte antitabac, Imperial a pris une participation de 75% dans Tobaccor, deuxi�me producteur de cigarettes en importance en Afrique sub-saharienne. En plus de fabriquer et de distribuer ses propres marques, Tobaccor fabrique sous licence des produits d�Altadis, BAT et Philip Morris et dispose d�un accord de licence et de distribution au Vietnam.
Japan Tobacco
En raison des mauvaises perspectives du march� europ�en de la cigarette, et notamment de la chute des ventes et la perte de parts de march� de ses marques, la multinationale Japan Tobacco a d�cid� de fermer son usine de l��le de La Palma.
La fermeture, qui a d�j� eu lieu, a entra�n� dans son sillage la suppression de 185 emplois directs. Les mesures �conomiques mises en �uvre ont toutefois �t� plus favorables que celles pr�vues par la l�gislation en vigueur en Espagne. L�entreprise a notamment mis sur pied un fonds �conomique pour la formation et la reconversion des travailleurs touch�s par la mesure et a m�me offert la possibilit� d�un transfert � un autre centre de production, soit ses usines de Trier (Allemagne), celles de la p�ninsule Ib�rique, voire celles des �les Canaries.
Philip Morris
En juillet, Philip Morris a entrepris la construction d�une usine de cigarettes aux Philippines � son plus important investissement en Asie � qui devrait employer plus de 1 000 travailleurs/euses en 2003. Un mois plus tard, la soci�t� a fait les manchettes lorsque sa filiale tch�que a publi� les r�sultats d�une �tude donnant le d�tail des �conomies r�alis�es par la R�publique tch�que en raison des �d�c�s anticip�s� caus�s par la cigarette. Le rapport avait �t� command� par la soci�t� en r�ponse aux pr�occupations soulev�es en R�publique tch�que par le co�t �lev� des soins de sant� dispens�s aux victimes de maladies reli�es au tabac.
Privatisation
Austria Tabak
Dans le cadre de ses programmes de privatisation, le gouvernement autrichien a manifest� en 2000 son intention de se d�partir du reste de ses int�r�ts dans l�ancienne soci�t� Austria Tabak. Le syndicat autrichien de l�agriculture, de l�alimentation et du tabac ANG a pris la t�te du mouvement de protestation contre la vente d�une soci�t� qui offrait des emplois de qualit� et dont les activit�s nationales et internationales rentables ainsi que les ententes de production sous licence rapportaient des revenus importants � l��tat. Apr�s beaucoup de sp�culations dans la presse financi�re quant � l�identit� de l�acqu�reur (Altadis, Gallaher et Imperial avaient pr�sent� des offres), c�est Gallaher, du Royaume-Uni, qui a finalement repris la participation du gouvernement. La soci�t� a depuis port� son int�r�t dans Austria Tabak � 98%.
En ao�t, Austria Tabak a annonc� la fermeture de son usine de Malm� en Su�de (acquise de Swedish Match in 1999). La d�cision de fermer l�une des quatre usines de la soci�t� (les trois autres �tant situ�es en Autriche) a �t� prise en raison de la n�cessit� per�ue de concentrer la production afin d�augmenter la productivit� et de pr�server la position concurrentielle de la soci�t�. En d�pit des constats d�une �tude command�e par le syndicat, qui d�montraient que la fermeture de l�usine de Malm� ne constituait pas la solution la plus avantageuse pour Austria Tabak, et des efforts du syndicat pour sauver l�usine, la soci�t� a refus� de reconsid�rer sa d�cision. Les syndicats ont agi rapidement pour assurer de bonnes conditions de licenciement aux 350 travailleurs/euses touch�s/es par la fermeture avant la reprise par Gallaher. Selon le syndicat su�dois des travailleurs/euses de l�alimentation, Livs, la d�cision de fermer l�usine su�doise est une d�cision politique prise dans le contexte de la loi sur les privatisations en Autriche, laquelle contient des mesures de protection de l�emploi dans les soci�t�s privatis�es.
Korea Tobacco & Ginseng
Suite � la lib�ralisation des lois r�gissant l�industrie du tabac de la Cor�e du Sud en juillet 2000, l�ancien monopole doit maintenant faire face � la concurrence des STN. Philip Morris et Japan Tobacco d�tiennent d�j� � elles deux 10% du march�, mais l�introduction d�un tarif douanier sur les cigarettes import�es en parall�le avec la lev�e du monopole viendra r�duire leur capacit� de gagner des parts de march�s. BAT est toutefois en meilleure position en raison de son investissement dans la construction de ses propres installations de production en sol cor�en. KT&G devrait toutefois �tre la principale b�n�ficiaire de la lib�ralisation, puisqu�elle sera maintenant en mesure d��tablir librement le prix des cigarettes et d�acheter son tabac sans contraintes. Auparavant, la soci�t� devait obtenir la permission du gouvernement pour chaque hausse de prix et �tait oblig�e d�acheter la totalit� de la production cor�enne de tabac. Le r�seau de distribution bien �tabli de KT&G lui permettra �galement de rester loin devant les STN pendant plusieurs ann�es encore.
Tekel (Turquie)
Au cours des ann�es 90, sous la pression des institutions financi�res internationales (Banque mondiale et FMI), le gouvernement turc a entrepris de privatiser les entreprises d��tat. Fortement contest� par les syndicats, le processus touche maintenant l�industrie du tabac, le contr�le du monopole des tabacs turc ayant dans une premi�re �tape �t� transf�r� � l�autorit� de privatisation. L�affili�e de l�UITA en Turquie, Tekgida-Is, a uni ses forces � celles des organisations de cultivateurs de tabac, de fonctionnaires et de consommateurs/trices afin de d�noncer le programme de privatisation du gouvernement et l�absence de consultation de l�ensemble des intervenants du secteur. Malgr� un condamnation populaire massive, le parlement turc a r�cemment adopt� un projet de loi visant � acc�l�rer le processus de privatisation. Le Pr�sident turc a toutefois oppos� son veto au projet de loi, citant des motifs sociaux, �conomiques et constitutionnels. La lutte contre la privatisation en Turquie a suscit� une coop�ration sans pr�c�dent entre les trois centrales nationales T�rk-Is, Disk and Hak-Is.
Tobacco: Developments in the industry
01-Dec-2001Altadis
Altadis, created through the merger of Seita and Tabacalera in late 1999, now promotes itself as �the European tobacco company�. Following the sale of the match business in early 2001, the company now focuses on three core activities: cigarettes (3rd largest manufacturer in Europe), cigars (number 1 in the world) and logistics. The restructuring plans initiated by the component companies before the merger have come to a provisional end with no new closures announced in France this year and a social plan having been concluded in December 2000 in connection with the closure of 8 sites in Spain. Some 1,600 workers were offered retirement packages and 700 were offered redeployment opportunities or outplacement assistance. In the cigar sector, the former Consolidated Cigar and Havatampa businesses acquired in 1998 by Seita and Tabacalera respectively were merged in 2000 to form Altadis USA with the resulting loss of 5 factories in Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. In October 2000, Altadis acquired a 50% share in the Cuban tobacco industry�s marketing arm, Corporaci�n Habanos, and in its extensive international distribution network, thus enhancing its already strong position on the global cigar market.
The following is from the Federaci�n Agroalimentaria UGT:
In July 1999, on the grounds that they needed to guarantee the company�s competitiveness in the coming years, management decided to implement an industrial plan that they expect to complete on 31 December 2002. It involves:
the closure of 8 factories;
the construction of 2 new factories:
cigarettes (Coast Factory at Alicante);
cigarettes (North Factory at Santander);
up to 2150 workers affected.
When the plan was put to them, the workers� representatives and the trade unions negotiated throughout 2000 in an attempt to find social and economic alternatives that would cushion and minimise the impact of the industrial plan on workers, and on 13 December 2000, a social plan was agreed upon. The main provisions of the plan are as follows:
1. Early retirement: compulsory for all employees over 55 of Altadis in Spain (i.e. Altadis + Logista)
Financial arrangements enabling workers to maintain earnings close to their current real salary until retirement, and guaranteeing a pension to an amount fixed between that of the state pension and the company pension, in line with what they would have been entitled to as active employees.
2. Transfers for workers under 55 from the factories closing down. This scheme was accompanied by financial benefits to cover the moving and housing expenses of workers and their families.
However, in acknowledgement of the fact that some workers might find a transfer too traumatic an experience, the following alternative arrangements were made available on a voluntary basis:
a) a severance payment higher than the statutory minimum;
b) early retirement for workers aged 53 and 54;
c) attendance at a job training centre funded by the company, designed to help workers find employment without transferring.
3. Voluntary severance payment
For workers under 55 with more than 8 years� seniority in the company, and benefits higher than the statutory minima.
4. Job and Training Centre
This measure should facilitate job-hunting for the workers affected by the closures, whereby the company commits itself to promoting projects that will generate jobs in the local area, and which will be offered on a priority basis to affected workers.
It is important to note that the agreement states that consideration will be given to proposals put forward by the trade unions.
Lastly, it is worth recalling that these measures came into force in early May, at a time when the first early retirements were beginning to take effect.
After the social plan had been negotiated, agreed and implemented, and without any acknowledgement of the very considerable work put in by the trade unions, or the fact that it was a model plan in terms of both form and content, Altadis decided to impose organisational changes and, worse still, a new labour relations culture.
This new culture is based on a newly imposed lack of dialogue with trade union representatives, and therefore a break with the model of labour relations by negotiation and consensus that had previously prevailed in the company.
The following is from FGTA-FO:
Seita has been for almost two years now a 95%-plus subsidiary of Altadis, following the merger of equals between Seita and Tabacalera. The Altadis Group has been incorporated under Spanish law and has its head office in Madrid.
So far, the merger has done nothing to slow down the pace of restructuring. In a number of areas, such as administrative services, there has actually been a further reduction in personnel.
Economic situation
Seita has been profitable for a great many years. Its profits play a very useful role in counterbalancing the debts of the Spanish corporate parent Altadis.
Seita has only three business lines left. The matches business was sold to a Tunisian company in early 2001, resulting in the loss of several dozen jobs.
So far in 2001, the company has not announced any more closings.
Cigarette business
The French market continues its downward trend, and Seita continues to lose market share, mostly to Philip Morris. This loss of market share accounts for most of the steady decrease in sales of dark tobacco. (� 10% per year).
Seita is developing its export markets, with export sales of Virginia tobacco cigarettes now outweighing domestic sales.
Difficulties have appeared in Poland following a price war that led to a 17% decrease in the market, with the slack taken up by contraband, which has soared from around 5% to 20% of the Polish market in early 2000.
Other problems may be forecasted in the Indian Ocean region, where steep price hikes have caused a 30% decline of consumption.
Cigar business
This business line remains highly profitable for Seita. Three large-scale operations conducted over three years have made the Altadis Group number one worldwide in cigars: the acquisition of Consolidated Cigars, followed by the merger with Havatampa and the acquisition of a 50% interest in Habanos. At 51.6%, the Seita Group has now become the majority shareholder of Altadis USA (born of the merger of CCH and Havatampa). The paradox here is that while Seita is the majority shareholder, the management of the cigar business remains in Madrid.
Total sales for the Seita Group cigar business have gone from 72 M� in 1998 to 400 M� in 2000. With 6,543 employees at Dec. 31, 2000, the cigar business accounts for half the employment in the Seita Group.
The creation of Altadis USA resulted in the closure of five plants in Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.
The cigar business accounted for 25% of the Seita Group total sales for fiscal 2000.
Distribution
The Seita distribution network includes � 80 000 sales locations in France. Distribution accounted for 17% of the Seita Group overall sales in 2000.
Employment figures
In 2000, cigars accounted for 6,543 employees, distribution for 1,681 employees, cigarettes for 2,816 employees and other activities (HQ, R&D, DAL, leaf processing) for 1,471 employees.
The weight of consolidated personnel expenses in the Group�s overall financial results is decreasing due to:
Staff reductions and the practice of laying off of older, well-paid employees to hire younger, lower-paid employees linked to the restructuring in France;
Productivity gains, mainly in the cigarette business as well as distribution in France;
The increase in the number of low-wage workers in foreign subsidiaries.
For over a year, trade unions have been negotiating with the company the creation of a European Works Council. These negotiations are going nowhere. There is no real political will on the part of the Group to establish this representation structure.
BAT
Over the past year, BAT has been aggressively developing its business in Asia through investments in new construction in Korea (following the lifting of the government monopoly in July 2001), a joint venture to build a tobacco processing plant in Vietnam and the purchase of land in China�s Sichuan Province for the construction of a cigarette manufacturing plant. The Korean facility, which will have an annual capacity of over 7 billion cigarettes, will add to BAT�s existing facilities in Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia, while the Chinese facility, once it is built, is expected to serve as a beachhead for the company�s future conquest of the 300-million-strong Chinese market. In addition, BAT has recently entered the Turkish market through a partnership agreement with two local companies to produce BAT brands, and announced plans to build a cigarette manufacturing plant in Serbia which should ostensibly help combat the Balkan smuggling trade. Those plans, however, have been put on hold following public criticism on the part of European customs officials, who contend that the presence of a cigarette manufacturing plant in the hub of the black market trade will only boost the level of smuggling. It will be recalled that BAT is under investigation in the UK on allegations of involvement in smuggling.
A number of unions have reported attempts by BAT to undermine trade union rights. In connection with their arrival in Turkey, BAT representatives have met with Tekgida-Is in the region of �zmir and informed them they were not in favour of having unions in their plants. In Uruguay, BAT is keen on joining the tobacco employers association � but only on the condition that they be exempt from the sectoral collective agreement. And in April 2001, when FENTIFUMO prompted the public health authority to carry out a health and safety audit at BAT�s Brazilian subsidiary Souza Cruz, the company coerced supervisory personnel into signing prepared letters stating their refusal to co-operate in the audit and distancing themselves from any findings.
BAT is in the process of developing a code of employment principles within the framework of what it calls its �corporate responsibility strategy�. The draft, which the IUF has received for comments as part of an �external consultation team� contains dubious language about the right of workers to be represented by �company-recognised trade unions�, and makes no mention of negotiation or collective bargaining. The IUF has informed the company of its policy not to comment on unilateral codes of conduct.
Gallaher
The UK-based tobacco company has been recently expanding far beyond its traditional UK and Ireland markets. Following its entry into Kazakhstan in 1999 and its acquisition of Russia�s largest cigarette manufacturer, Liggett-Ducat, in August 2000, it has concluded a marketing agreement with Shanghai Tobacco, part of the China National Tobacco Corporation, under the terms of which Gallaher distributes China�s leading premium cigarette brand in UK cities with large Chinese populations, and Shanghai Tobacco markets Gallaher�s Sobranie brand in China. The company�s acquisition of Austria Tabak gives it further markets across Europe, especially Austria, Hungary, Germany, Sweden and the Baltic countries. While gaining international market share, Gallaher has lost its UK market leadership position to Imperial.
Imperial
Following the industry trend toward acquisitions and investments in regions as yet unencumbered by the discourse around health risks and tobacco control, Imperial has acquired a 75% interest in the second-largest cigarette company in sub-Saharan Africa, Tobaccor. In addition to its own manufacturing and distribution, Tobaccor also produces Altadis, BAT and Philip Morris brands under license and has a licensing and distribution agreement in Vietnam.
Japan Tobacco
Japan Tobacco International has decided to close its factory on the island of La Palma in the light of a decline in the European cigarette market and, more concretely, a fall in sales of its brands and loss of market share.
The closure has already taken place, and led to 185 directly employed staff losing their jobs. The financial conditions of these redundancies are superior to what is provided for under Spanish law, and include the company setting up an economic fund for the training and re-training of workers affected, and the possibility of transferring to the factory in Trier (Germany), mainland Spain and elsewhere in the Canary Islands.
Philip Morris
In July, Philip Morris began the construction of a cigarette factory in the Philippines � its largest investment project in Asia � which by 2003, should employ over 1,000 workers. One month later, the company made the news when its Czech subsidiary released a study which detailed cost savings to the Czech Republic due to �early mortality� as a result of smoking. The report had been commissioned by the company in response to concerns raised in the Czech Republic about the high cost of providing health care to victims of smoking-related illnesses.
Privatisation
Austria Tabak
As part of its privatisation plans, the Austrian government announced in 2000 its intention to sell its remaining stake in the former state-owned Austria Tabak. The Austrian agriculture, food and tobacco workers union ANG was in the forefront of protests against the sale of a company which provides quality jobs and whose profitable domestic and international business and licensing agreements yield important revenues for the state. Following much speculation in the financial press over who would obtain the stake (Altadis, Gallaher and Imperial had made bids), the UK-based Gallaher acquired the government-owned shares in June 2001 and has since increased its ownership of Austria Tabak to 98%.
In August, Austria Tabak announced the closure of its facility in Malm� in Sweden, acquired from Swedish Match in 1999. The decision to close one of its four manufacturing plants (the other three being in Austria) was taken in light of the perceived necessity to concentrate production in order to increase productivity and remain competitive. Despite the findings of a union-commissioned study, which showed that closing the Malm� plant was not the most advantageous option for Austria Tabak, and union efforts to save the plant, the company would not reconsider. The unions worked quickly to secure good severance provisions for the 350 workers affected by the closure, before Gallaher would assume responsibility. According to the Swedish food workers union, Livs, the decision to close the Swedish plant was a political one, taken against the background of the law on privatisation in Austria which includes provisions for employment protection in privatised companies.
Korea Tobacco & Ginseng
Following the liberalisation of South Korea�s tobacco industry laws in July 2001, the former monopoly company is now facing competition from TNCs. Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco already have a combined 10% of the market, but a tariff on imported cigarettes introduced to coincide with the lifting of the monopoly will weaken their potential for gaining market share. BAT is better positioned to compete as it has invested in the construction of its own manufacturing plant on Korean soil. However, KT&G is expected to be the greatest beneficiary of liberalisation as it will now be able to freely set cigarette prices and purchase tobacco selectively. Previously, the company had to seek government approval for every price hike and was obliged to purchase Korea�s entire annual tobacco crop. KT&G�s well-established distribution network will also keep it well ahead of the TNCs for many years to come.
Tekel (Turkey)
Under pressure from the international financial institutions (World Bank and IMF), the government of Turkey embarked on a process of privatising state-owned industries in the 1990�s. This process, which is highly contested by the unions, is now being carried out in the tobacco industry, with control of the Turkish tobacco monopoly, Tekel, now having been transferred to the privatisation authority as a first step. The IUF�s affiliate in Turkey, Tekgida-Is has joined with tobacco farmers�, civil servants� and consumers� organisations to denounce the government�s privatisation plans and its failure to consult with all stakeholder groups. Despite this massive popular condemnation, parliament has recently passed draft legislation aimed at speeding up the privatisation process; the bill, however, has been vetoed by the President of Turkey on social, economic and constitutional grounds. The struggle against privatisation in Turkey has brought about an unprecedented co-operation amongst the three national labour centres, T�rk-Is, Disk and Hak-Is.
Nestl� Acquisition of Ralston
03-Dec-2001Reuters News Agency reported today that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission will soon approve Nestl�'s plan to acquire Ralston Purina, as long as the companies divest some of their dry cat food brands. The companies have agreed to sell part of their dry cat food business to Hartz Mountain Corp. A vote on the deal could come as early as next week.
The FTC has been investigating the Nestle-Ralston deal since the two companies proposed it in January 2001. The merger would bring together Ralston's Dog and Cat Chow and Nestle's Friskies cat food and Mighty Dog brands.
Ralston Purina, with its global Purina brand, had North American pet-care sales of more than $2.25 billion in 2000. The acquisition of Ralston would give Nestle control of nearly 70% of the dry cat food market and 45% of the overall pet food market in the USA. Chief competitors in the United States are H.J. Heinz Co. , Procter & Gamble and Mars. Nestl� will become the world's biggest pet food company.
The deal had provoked opposition from some consumer groups, who contend that it would harm consumers by further consolidating the global food industry. Some farm groups have said the deal would be the latest in a procession of mergers that have hurt farmers by consolidating U.S. agribusiness. The greatest danger may be to job security in Nestl�'s pet food division, as over the coming years the company integrates production and sales forces from Friskies and Ralston.
The EU competition authorities have already approved the acquisition (on the condition that it sell some brands and a factory in Spain).
Positive outcome in Boston hotel negotiations
04-Dec-2001In the first major hotel sector negotiations to take place in the US since September 11, an agreement was reached on a CBA covering 3,000 unionised workers at 9 major hotels in Boston on December 1. The agreement pre-empted strike action which the union members had endorsed in a ballot two weeks earlier.
When it started renegotiating the city-wide collective agreement scheduled to expire on November 30, HERE Local 26 found itself faced with the standard complaint of employers � and particularly those in the tourism sector since September 11 � that they aren�t making any money. What the employers were conveniently ignoring, however, was that they had been making unprecedented amounts of money in the previous five years. For HERE, it was high time that the workers benefit from those profits made possible through their own hard work.
More importantly, HERE saw these negotiations as standard-setting for the sector, as employers seek to play up the short-term consequences of the events of September 11. The tourism industry world-wide has been dealt a major blow and workers are experiencing the brunt of it, with lay-offs in the hundreds of thousands. But through consensus-building over mutual concerns within the framework of healthy industrial relations, hotel operators and workers alike can weather this difficult period and ensure the sustainability of the industry once the current crisis is over.
In letters addressed to the managers of major hotels involved in the negotiations, IUF General Secretary Ron Oswald highlighted the commitment and competence of Boston�s hotel workers and the major contribution they�ve made to the success of the industry. In reference to the strike vote, he wrote, �Such action would clearly be painful to all involved but the failure of the industry to recognize the positive result of the past five years and its unwillingness to share fairly those positive results has understandably pushed workers into feeling they have little choice but to exercise their right to take such action.�
The coalition of hotel operators in Boston has now agreed to union demands on wage increases, the funding of health insurance and guaranteed working hours. Furthermore, HERE has secured the right to organise any new hotels developed in the Boston area by the major chains covered by the agreement � a major achievement in North American industrial relations. These include the Sheraton (Starwood), Ritz-Carlton (Marriott) and Hilton chains.
Commenting on the broader effects of the agreement, HERE President John Wilhelm noted that enormous attention had been paid to these negotiations. �All of our leaders were intensely interested in whether Local 26 would have to take a bad contract. And it didn�t.� The hotel operators had their own good reasons to be pleased: �[The agreement] gives us the opportunity to rebuild our hotels and our business�, a lawyer for the operators enthused. �This has given our employees a boost in the arm and let them know what we think of them.�
Mergers and Acquisitions in the Global Brewery Industry
05-Dec-2001Consequences for Brewery Workers
Last week South African Breweries (SAB) acquired Cerveceria Hondure�a, a Honduran brewer and Coca-Cola bottler, and formed a joint venture with El Salvador's only brewer and largest soft drink bottler.
Cerveceria Hondure�a was owned by the Dole Food Company, and is organized by the IUF-affilated STIBYS, which has resisted numerous efforts by Dole to downsize the work force.
However SAB has considerable experience in introducing high technology into developing countries. This year it opened a giant new automated brewery in South Africa, its original homeland, that employs only 13 production workers per shift.
FAWU, the IUF affiliate that organizes SAB in South Africa, has won good wages and benefits through decades of struggle, but is faced with a reduction in SAB's workforce in South Africa from the original 15,000 to some 5,000.
SAB now controls most breweries throughout Southern Africa; it is the largest and most successful foreign brewer in China, and operates breweries in Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. It recently acquired the largest Czech brewer, maker of the famous Pilsner Urquell.
Also last week a memorandum that was leaked from Interbrew (containing some forged changes) shows the interest of Belgian brewer Interbrew in acquiring SAB.
One reason detailed in the document is that Interbrew believes that it could eliminate 1.5 billion euros in costs by reducing overlapping brewing operations of Interbrew and SAB in Eastern Europe. This would of course entail the loss of many brewery jobs in Eastern Europe. The brewery sector is one of the better organized IUF sectors in the region, and the IUF has already conducted seminars for both SAB and Interbrew workers there.
Interbrew's interest in acquiring SAB was prompted in part by its fears of a three-way merger including SAB, Scottish & Newcastle, and Miller Beer (owned by Philip Morris).
African regional committee concludes meeting with strong statement on union and human rights.
06-Dec-2001
African regional committee members
The IUF�s African regional committee completed its annual meeting in Nairobi with a strong condemnation of the attacks on trade union and human rights particularly in Swaziland and Zimbabwe. In resolutions demanding the restoration of those rights in both countries the committee noted that intimidation of trade unionists continued in Swaziland and action in rural areas of Zimbabwe continue to threaten the well-being and the livelihoods of thousands of agricultural workers.
The committee also carried strongly worded resolutions condemning sexual harassment and discrimination throughout the region and called for tough sanctions against those found guilty of such acts. The African regional women�s committee that preceded the meeting also called for continuing strengthening of women�s membership within regional affiliates and stressed the need for local, national and international union structures to include far more women representatives than is presently the case.
Stengthing women memberships of IUF affiliates and developing strategies to bring in more young members were noted as essential to the continued well-being of the African labour movement as such things are around the world.
The committee again strongly condemned the negative effects of much of the policies still coming from the international financial institutions, particularly the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Their impact on workers and on communities is particularly heavily felt by the weaker sections of those communities and has led to considerable and ongoing suffering in the majority of African countries.
In closing, regional president Napoleon Kpoh and IUF general secretary Ron Oswald jointly called for a renewed and re-energized effort to strengthen unions in general throughout the continent and to defend their existence as one of the few guarantors of social and economic justice.
Committee members plus observers who joined the meeting
Brazil: Nestl� Denies Injuries to Workers
07-Dec-2001In 1997 Nestl� UK officially recognized the problem of Repetitive Strain Injuries among its production workers who had to repeat the same motion over and over again. It announced that it was developing a program to reduce the occurence of this common work injury.
In the same year Nestl� management in Brazil denied the existence of this workplace injury (which was in fact widespread), and continued its abusive practice of dismissing workers (mainly young women)with this injury rather than addressing the root causes of the problem.
At that time the IUF Latin American regional office produced a short film featuring one of the Brazilian women workers disabled by this work injury who had been fired by Nestl�.
It seems that four years later Nestl� continues to place a lower value of the health and safety of its employees in Brazil than it does in Western Europe. What follows is an essay in the IUF Latin American Regional Publication SIREL by a medical doctor who serves as consultant to the IUF Latin American Regional Secretariat on health and safety.
Nestl�:"YOU ARE THE SPICE OF LIFE"
With this slogan, the powerful Swiss food transnational hopes to disseminate a modern, humane image to go with its industrial practices. I have to say that, as a doctor, I have always thought highly of the company, and felt that most people identified it with wholesome food.
However, for some time now I have been observing investigations by some NGOs that have led to discussion on the real benefits derived from the massive propaganda that Nestl� puts out in the various communications media, influencing � to take but one example � the consumption of its products by young children, instead of encouraging consumption of their mothers� natural milk. On a personal note, the working conditions and their consequences for some workers suffering from Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) now force me to question Nestl�s behaviour.
In April 2001, I was consulted by Mar�a Alice, a worker at a Nestl� plant in the Brazilian interior. She had pains in her shoulders, wrists and elbows, and they were getting worse and causing her productivity at work to fall. Mar�a Alice underwent an electroneuromyography examination, and the result was clear: carpal tunnel syndrome of the left and right wrists. A further ultra-sound examination revealed tendinopathy of the wrist extensors.
She told me she had been to see the company doctor, but he had so far paid little attention to her complaints, saying it was normal and suggesting each time that she should go back to work. After seeing other doctors, she went to a meeting organised by her trade union, and attended by this expert from the IUF. He then decided to ask us for an assessment of her case.
After looking into her clinical and employment history � she brought me this information herself � I was in no doubt: she had Repetitive Strain Injury and, in accordance with the law, I asked for her to assessed on the basis of my diagnosis. Much to my surprise, a few days later I received a letter from the company doctor; it was also signed by the head of Human Resources, which proved that there had been a clinical discussion of the case between non-medical professionals. The letter disagreed with my diagnosis, and suggested � the exact words were �the diagnosis was influenced by the patient� � that the worker had possibly tried to get me to come up with an incorrect diagnosis.
I confess that I was taken aback by the attitude of these two professionals employed by Nestl�. I thought it was right to hand the letter over to Mar�a Alice so that she knew what professionals in the company thought about her case; on reading the letter, she too was surprised, and said that when she had been to her next consultation, she would bring me some news.
Ten days later, she came and told me about the result of her consultation, and brought with her more documents and other cases of RSI-sufferers in Nestl�: two female employees of the Swiss transnational had been dismissed despite suffering from the same symptoms as RSI, and one of them even had a certificate from a Labour Court medical expert stating that she had RSI as a result of the working conditions at Nestl�. Mar�a Alice said that the company�s scepticism and distrust were humiliating, and had caused widespread anger among her colleagues. What will the doctor at the Nestl� plant have to say about these cases?
Author: Dr. Roberto Ruiz, Health and Safety Department, IUF Latin American Region, 3 December 2001
Update: Coke and Pepsi Unions in Guatemala
07-Dec-2001An article dated 26 November described the threat of dismissals of Coke workers in Guatemala supposedly justified by the levying of a tax on bottled beverages.
Because of opposition from beverage companies and unions, the level of taxation on beer and soft drinks was cut in half, to $0.03USD per 12-ounce bottle, effective 1 December. While the brewery Cervecer�a Centroamericana is seeking an injunction against the increase, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have passed on the increase to the consumer, despite their earlier claim that it would reduce consumption and require layoffs of employees.
Negotiations by the Coke and Pepsi local unions of the IUF-affiliated FESTRAS begun early in 2001 continue without progress, but the reductions in personnel threatened by both STECSA (Panamco/Coca-Cola) and SITRAEMSA (the Pepsi franchise) have not taken place. Both negotiations are now before arbitration and conciliation tribunals.
Update: Nestl� Philippines
07-Dec-2001Since the Nestl� union at Lipa City was unable to persuade Nestl� to grant a wage increase despite its ability to do so, the conflict was referred to the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
At the request of the CFNU, a number of IUF affiliates were asked to send letters to the DOLE Secretary, Patricia A. Sto. Tomas,asking her to give the union's position favorable consideration.
At this time, the IUF has received copies of 13 responses: from Solidarnosc Food Federation (Poland), EDOSZ (Hungary), NGG (Germany),BG-FNV (Netherlands), DWU (New Zealand), SiD (Denmark), ANG (Austria), ICU (Ghana), FGA-CFDT (France), UFCW (USA)plus IUF Regional Secretariats Africa, Asia/Pacific and Latin America.
Ms. Tomas has assured the IUF that "we shall resolve the dispute as fairly and as expeditiously as possible."
A copy of the letter sent to Ms. Tomas follows:
I write in behalf of the officers and members of (name of union and country). We are affiliated with the International Union of Food and Allied Workers� Associations (IUF).
We were informed by the IUF that the ongoing dispute between the union in the Nestl� plant in Lipa City, Batangas, and the Nestl� Philippines� management has come under the jurisdiction of your office. We understand that this is in consonance with your mandate under the Philippine laws to �assume jurisdiction� (AJ) over major industrial problems which may result in a strike (or lockout).
The union involved here � the Manggagawa ng Nestl� Lipa Factory (MNLF) � is a member of the Council of Filipino Nestl� Unions (CFNU), which is in turn our co-affiliate in the IUF. We understand that it was forced to file a notice of strike when the CBA negotiations reached a deadlock due to Nestl�s insistence on a �wage moratorium.�
We hope that your assumption of jurisdiction, which was requested by management, will not be used to curtail the workers� right to decent wages and other labor and trade union rights. We hope that your intervention will amicably settle the issues there, without sacrificing the legitimate and reasonable demands of the workers.
We thus respectfully appeal that you exert all efforts to promptly arrive at a fair settlement of this labor dispute.
Update: Unilever Restructuring
10-Dec-2001Unilever co-chairman Niall FitzGerald boasted to reporters in Bombay, India last week that Unilever is closing factories and cutting jobs more quickly than planned. Unilever's five year restructuring plan, following the acquisition of Bestfoods in October 2000 called for the closure of 130 factories and the elimination of 33,000 jobs.
FitzGerald said that Unilever has already approved plans for the closure of 70 factories and cutting 21,000 jobs, which was ahead of target for less than two years into the plan. Brands have already been whittled from 1600 to 800, and will be further reduced to 400 by the end of 2004.
Unilever's profit margin has risen from eight to fourteen percent in the same period, in the hope of reaching over 16% by 2004.
Good news for Unilever as a company has been bad news for the employees throughout the world who are losing their jobs.
Brasil: Nestl� Niega Lesiones a los/as Trabajadores/as
13-Dec-2001En 1997, Nestl� RU reconoci� oficialmente el problema de las Lesiones por Esfuerzo Repetitivo entre sus trabajadores/as dedicados/as a la producci�n, quienes tuvieron que apelar la misma moci�n una y otra vez. La compa��a anunci� que estaba desarrollando un programa para reducir la manifestaci�n de esta lesi�n com�n en el trabajo.
Ese mismo a�o, la gerencia de Nestl� en Brasil neg� la existencia de esta lesi�n originada en el lugar de trabajo (la cual, de hecho, era generalizada) y continu� su pr�ctica arbitraria de despedir a los/as trabajadores/as (principalmente, a mujeres j�venes) con esta lesi�n, en lugar de solucionar las causas originarias del problema.
En aquel momento, la oficina regional latinoamericana de la UITA produjo un cortometraje sobre el caso de una trabajadora brasile�a incapacitada por esta lesi�n laboral, quien hab�a sido despedida por Nestl�.
Parece que, cuatro a�os despu�s, Nestl� contin�a aplicando un valor m�s bajo a la salud y seguridad de sus empleados/as en Brasil que el que asigna en Europa Occidental. A continuaci�n figura un ensayo de la Publicaci�n Regional Latinoamericana de la UITA, SIREL, escrito por un m�dico que actu� como consultor en materia de salud y seguridad para la Secretar�a Regional Latinoamericana de la UITA.
Nestl�: ��Nuestra vida te tiene a ti!�
Con ese eslogan, la poderosa transnacional suiza de alimentos pretende difundir una imagen humana y moderna relacionada a su pr�ctica industrial. Confieso que como m�dico, siempre tuve una buena impresi�n de esta empresa, que la mayor�a de la poblaci�n identifica con alimentos saludables.
Sin embargo, desde hace alg�n tiempo observo el cuestionamiento de algunas ONGs, que colocan en discusi�n el beneficio real de la propaganda masiva que Nestl� realiza en los diversos medios de comunicaci�n, influenciando el consumo de sus productos entre ni�os peque�os, en detrimento del incentivo del alimento materno natural, para citar un s�lo ejemplo. Y en lo que me es personal, las condiciones de trabajo y sus consecuencias para algunos trabajadores y trabajadoras que padecen de Lesiones por Esfuerzo Repetitivos (LER), me obligan a cuestionar la conducta de Nestl�.
En abril del 2001, fui consultado por Mar�a Alice, trabajadora de la unidad de Nestl� situada en el interior de Brasil, quien manifestaba dolores en los hombros, pu�os y codos, los cuales ven�an empeorando progresivamente y estaban ocasionando una baja en la productividad de su trabajo. Mar�a Alice tra�a un examen de electroneuromiografia, cuyo resultado era claro: s�ndrome del t�nel carpiano en los pu�os izquierdo y derecho. Adem�s, otro examen de ultra-sonido, que mostraba tendinopat�a de los extensores del pu�o.
Ella me coment� que hab�a consultado con el m�dico de la empresa, y que hasta el momento no le hab�a dado gran importancia a sus quejas, diciendo que esto era normal, recomend�ndole siempre que regresara a su puesto de trabajo. Despu�s de consultar otros m�dicos, asisti� a un encuentro promovido por su Sindicato con la participaci�n de este t�cnico de la UITA, fue entonces que decidi� solicitarnos una evaluaci�n de su caso.
Luego de examinar su historia cl�nica y ocupacional �ex�menes que ella misma me trajo� no tuve dudas: la hip�tesis era Lesiones por Esfuerzo Repetitivos y procediendo de conformidad con la legislaci�n, solicit� su evaluaci�n para el debido diagn�stico. Mi sorpresa, fue cuando algunos d�as despu�s recibo una carta del m�dico de la empresa, firmada tambi�n por el responsable del sector de Recursos Humanos (lo que demuestra que hubo una discusi�n cl�nica del caso entre profesionales no m�dicos), discordando con mi diagn�stico y esgrimiendo un posible intento de la trabajadora de inducirme a cometer un mal diagn�stico. Seg�n sus palabras: �...hubo inducci�n en el diagn�stico por parte del paciente�.
Confieso que qued� negativamente sorprendido con la actitud de estos dos profesionales al servicio de Nestl�. Consider� conveniente entregarle la carta a Mar�a Alice, para que ella supiera que pensaban los profesionales de la empresa sobre su caso. Al leer la carta tambi�n ella qued� sorprendida, y me dijo que cuando asistiera a una nueva consulta, me traer�a algunas novedades.
Diez d�as mas tarde, me informa del resultado de su consulta y trae consigo m�s documentos y otros casos de trabajadoras portadoras de LER en Nestl�. Dos trabajadoras de la transnacional suiza hab�an sido despedidas, a�n padeciendo un cuadro compatible con las LER. Una de ellas, adem�s, pose�a un certificado de un m�dico perito de la Justicia de Trabajo, donde se establec�a que padec�a de LER debido a las condiciones de trabajo en Nestl�. Seg�n el relato de Mar�a Alice, el descreimiento y la desconfianza de la empresa, es una situaci�n humillante, que ha provocado mucha indignaci�n entre las compa�eras. �Qu� ser� lo que el m�dico de esta unidad de Nestl� dir�a en estos casos? □
Autor:
Dr. Roberto Ruiz
Departamento Salud y Seguridad Rel-UITA
� Rel-UITA
Brasilien: Nestl� leugnet Verletzungen der Arbeitnehmer
13-Dec-20011997 hat Nestle im Vereinigten K�nigreich das Problem der Verletzung durch regelm�ssige Muskelbelastung (Repetitive Strain Injuries) bei den Arbeitnehmern in der Produktion die diesselbe Bewegung immer und immer wieder zu machen hatten, anerkannt. Es wurde die Entwicklung eines Programms angek�ndigt, das das Erscheinen dieser weitverbreiteten Arbeitsverletzung reduziert.
Im gleichen Jahr hat die Nestl� Direktion in Brasilien die Existenz dieser Verletzungen am Arbeitsplatz geleugnet (die jedoch in der Tat weitverbreitet war) und setzte die missbr�uchliche Praxis fort indem sie (vornehmlich junge weibliche Arbeitnehmer) einfach entlassen hat, statt dieses Problem bei der Wurzel anzufassen.
Zu dieser Zeit publizierte das Regionalb�ro der IUL in Lateinamerika einen Kurzfilm �ber eine Nestl� Arbeitnehmerin in Brasilien die von dieser Arbeitsverletzung betroffen und von Nestl� entlassen worden war.
Es scheint dass vier Jahre sp�ter Nestl� die Arbeitssicherheit und Gesundheit ihrer Arbeitnehmer in Brasilien immer noch niedrieger einstuft als in Westeuropa. Hier anschliessend ein Essay aus der Publikation des Lateinamerikanischen Regionalb�ros SIREL von einem Arzt geschrieben der dem Regionalb�ro in Lateinamerika als Berater f�r Gesundheit und Sicherheit zur Seite steht.
Nestl�: "Unser Leben h�ngt von dir ab�
Mit diesem Slogan versucht der m�chtige schweizerische transnationale Konzern, ein humanes, modernes Bild von seiner Gesch�ftspraxis zu vermitteln. Ich muss gestehen, dass ich als Arzt stets einen guten Eindruck von diesem Unternehmen hatte, das von der Mehrheit der Bev�lkerung mit gesunden Lebensmitteln in Zusammenhang gebracht wird.
Seit einiger Zeit beobachte ich indessen die Anfechtungen einiger NGO, die den tats�chlichen Nutzen der massiven Werbung, die Nestl� in den verschiedenen Kommunikationsmedien betreibt, in Frage stellen. Diese beeinflusst den Verbrauch von Nestl�-Erzeugnissen bei Kleinkindern und schadet dadurch dem Anreiz f�r die Ern�hrung mit nat�rlicher Muttermilch, um nur ein Beispiel zu nennen. Pers�nlich zwingen mich die Arbeitsbedingungen und deren Folgen f�r die Besch�ftigten, die unter Sch�digungen durch st�ndig wiederholte Muskelanspannung (RSI) leiden, das Verhalten von Nestl� in Frage zu stellen.
Im April 2001 wurde ich von Mar�a Alice, Angestellte des Nestl�-Betriebs im Landesinneren Brasiliens, konsultiert, die �ber Schmerzen an den Schultern, Ellenbogen und Handgelenken klagte, die schrittweise zunahmen und einen R�ckgang ihrer Arbeitsproduktivit�t verursachten. Mar�a Alice unterzog sich einem Elektroneuromyogramm, dessen Ergebnis eindeutig war: Karpaltunnelsyndrom am rechten und am linken Handgelenk. Au�erdem zeigte eine weitere Ultraschalluntersuchung eine Sehnenentz�ndung an den Streckmuskeln des Handgelenkes.
Sie erz�hlte mir, sie habe den Betriebsarzt konsultiert, der ihren Beschwerden bislang keine gro�e Beachtung geschenkt und gesagt habe, dies sei normal. Er habe ihr empfohlen, an ihren Arbeitsplatz zur�ckzukehren. Nachdem sie weitere �rzte konsultiert hatte, nahm sie an einer von ihrer Gewerkschaft einberufenen Versammlung unter Beteiligung dieses Fachmanns der IUL teil, wonach entschieden wurde, eine Beurteilung ihres Falls vorzunehmen.
Nach Pr�fung ihrer Krankengeschichte und ihrer beruflichen Umst�nde � Untersuchungsergebnisse, die sie mir selbst brachte � hatte ich keinen Zweifel mehr: Der Verdacht lautete auf Sch�digungen durch st�ndig wiederholte Muskelanspannung. Gem�� der Gesetzgebung ersuchte ich um eine Beurteilung f�r eine ordnungsgem��e Diagnose. Zu meiner �berraschung erhielt ich einige Tage sp�ter ein Schreiben des Betriebsarztes, das auch vom Verantwortlichen f�r Humanressourcen unterzeichnet war (was beweist, dass eine klinische Er�rterung des Falls zwischen nicht medizinischen Fachleuten stattgefunden hatte), das meiner Diagnose widersprach und eine m�gliche Absicht der Angestellten andeutete, mich zu einer falschen Diagnose anzustiften. Laut diesem Schreiben �lag seitens der Patientin Anstiftung zu einer Diagnose vor�.
Ich muss gestehen, dass ich von der Haltung dieser beiden Fachleute im Dienste von Nestl� negativ �berrascht war. Ich hielt es f�r angebracht, das Schreiben Mar�a Alice zu �bergeben, damit sie �ber die Meinung der Betriebsfachleute zu ihrem Fall unterrichtet war. Auch sie war bei der Lekt�re des Schreibens �berrascht und sagte mir, dass sie mir nach einer neuerlichen Konsultation entsprechende Neuigkeiten mitteilen werde.
Zehn Tage sp�ter informierte sie mich �ber das Ergebnis der Konsultation und brachte weitere Unterlagen mit und berichtete �ber weitere F�lle von RSI bei Besch�ftigten von Nestl�. Zwei Besch�ftigte des schweizerischen transnationalen Konzerns waren entlassen worden, obwohl sie ein Krankenbild zeigten, das mit RSI kompatibel war. Eine von diesen besa� ein von einem Facharzt des Arbeitsgerichts ausgestelltes �rztliches Zeugnis, in dem festgehalten wurde, dass sie infolge der Arbeitsbedingungen bei Nestl� unter RSI leide. Laut Aussagen von Mar�a Alice ist das Klima des Misstrauens im Unternehmen erniedrigend und l�ste bei den Kolleginnen gro�e Entr�stung aus. Was w�rde der Arzt dieses Nestl�-Betriebs in diesen F�llen sagen?
Dr. Roberto Ruiz
Brasilien: Nestl� f�rnekar arbetsskador bland anst�llda
13-Dec-2001�r 1997 erk�nde Nestl� Storbritannien officiellt problemet med f�rslitningsskador till f�ljd av repetitiva r�relsemoment i arbetet bland de anst�llda p� produktionssidan. Man tillk�nnagav att man h�ll p� att utarbeta ett program f�r att minska f�rekomsten av denna vanliga arbetsskada.
Samma �r f�rnekade Nestl�s ledning i Brasilien f�rekomsten av s�dana skador (som faktiskt var utbredda p� arbetsplatsen). Man fortsatte med sina ojusta metoder att avskeda arbetstagare - fr�mst unga kvinnor - som �dragit sig s�dana skador, i st�llet f�r att g� till botten med problemet.
IULs regionalkontor i Latinamerika tog d� fram en kortfilm om problemet. Den handlade om en av de brasilianska kvinnor, som blivit handikappade till f�ljd av en s�dan arbetsskada och som f�tt sparken fr�n Nestl�.
Fyra �r har g�tt sedan dess, men Nestl� verkar alltj�mt f�sta mindre vikt vid de anst�lldas arbetsmilj� i Brasilien �n i V�steuropa. F�ljande artikel, som publicerats i IULs latinamerikanska regionalbulletin SIREL, har skrivits av en l�kare som IULs latinamerikanska regionalsekretariatet anlitar som konsult i arbetsmilj�fr�gor.
NESTL� -�DU �R LIVETS KRYDDA�
Med denna slogan hoppas det m�ktiga schweiziska transnationella livsmedelsf�retaget ge en modern och m�nsklig image �t sin industriverksamhet. Som l�kare m�ste jag erk�nna att jag alltid respekterat det h�r f�retaget och haft en k�nsla av att de flesta m�nniskor f�rknippat det med h�lsosam mat.
Men under en l�ngre tid har jag nu kunnat ta del av unders�kningar som vissa frivilligorganisationer gjort och som lett till diskussioner om den verkliga nyttan av de enorma propagandakampanjer som Nestl� bedriver i olika medier f�r att � till exempel � f� f�r�ldrar att k�pa f�retagets produkter �t sina sp�dbarn ist�llet f�r att ge dem moderns naturliga br�stmj�lk. Personligen ser jag mig nu dessutom tvungen att ifr�gas�tta Nestl�s upptr�dande med tanke p� arbetsmilj�n och dess konsekvenser f�r n�gra anst�llda som drabbats av f�rslitningsskador.
I april 2001 kom Mar�a Alice till min mottagning. Hon arbetade p� en Nestl�-anl�ggning i Brasiliens inland. Hon hade v�rk i skuldror, handleder och armb�gar. V�rken blev hela tiden v�rre och gjorde henne mindre produktiv i sitt arbete. Mar�a Alice genomgick en EMG-unders�kning och resultatet var entydigt: karpaltunnelsyndrom i v�nster och h�ger handled. Vid en ultraljudsunders�kning framkom att hennes handledsmuskulatur var inflammerad.
Hon ber�ttade f�r mig att hon g�tt till f�retagsl�karen, men han hade inte brytt sig s�rskilt mycket om hennes besv�r utan sagt att det var normalt och att hon skulle g� tillbaks till arbetet. Efter att hon g�tt till andra l�kare gick hon p� ett m�te som arrangerats av hennes fackf�rening och d�r en expert fr�n IUL var med. Det var han som sedan bad oss g�ra en bed�mning av hennes fall.
Efter att ha tittat n�rmare p� hennes sjukdomshistoria och hennes arbetssituation � det var hon sj�lv som gav mig den h�r informationen � var jag s�ker: hon hade en f�rslitningsskada. I enlighet med lagen beg�rde jag att hon skulle utredas utifr�n min diagnos. D�m om min f�rv�ning n�r jag ett par dagar senare fick ett brev fr�n f�retagsl�karen � som dessutom undertecknats av personalchefen � d�r det framgick att fallet diskuterats kliniskt av icke-medicinsk personal. Brevet underk�nde min diagnos och antydde att den anst�llde eventuellt f�rs�kt f� mig att st�lla en felaktig diagnos (den exakta ordalydelsen var att �patienten hade p�verkat sin diagnos�).
Jag m�ste erk�nna att de h�r b�da Nestl�-f�retr�darnas inst�llning gjorde mig oerh�rt f�rbluffad. Jag tyckte att jag borde �verl�mna brevet till Mar�a Alice s� hon fick veta vad hennes �verordnade i f�retaget ans�g om hennes fall. Brevet f�rv�nade ocks� henne, och hon sa att hon skulle ha en del att ber�tta f�r mig efter n�sta bes�k hos f�retagsl�karen.
Tio dagar senare kom hon och ber�ttade f�r mig om hur bes�ket hade g�tt. Hon hade med sig en massa dokument om andra fall med f�rslitningsskador inom Nestl�: tv� kvinnliga anst�llda p� det schweiziska transnationella f�retaget hade avskedats trots att de led av samma symptom p� f�rslitningsskador. En av dem hade till och med intyg fr�n en medicinsk arbetsr�ttsexpert d�r det framgick att hon drabbats av f�rslitningsskador som en f�ljd av arbetsmilj�n p� Nestl�. Mar�a Alice sa att f�retagets skepsis och misstro var f�r�dmjukande och hade retat upp m�nga av hennes arbetskamrater. Vad kommer Nestl�s f�retagsl�kare att ha f�r kommentarer till de h�r fallen?
Dr. Roberto Ruiz
Br�sil: Nestl� refuse d'admettre la maladie professionnelle
18-Dec-2001En 1997, Nestl� Royaume-Uni reconnaissait officiellement que ses travailleurs/euses de la production qui devaient r�p�ter continuellement le m�me mouvement souffraient de troubles musculo-squelettiques (TMS). La direction annon�ait la mise au point d'un programme visant � r�duire les possibilit�s d'apparition de cette maladie professionnelle r�pandue.
La m�me ann�e, la direction de Nestl� Br�sil niait l'existence d'une telle maladie professionnelle (alors qu'elle touchait en r�alit� le plus grand nombre) et maintenait sa pratique abusive de licenciement de travailleurs/euses (notamment les jeunes femmes) touch�s/es par cette maladie plut�t que de s'attaquer aux racines du mal.
C'est � cette �poque que le bureau r�gional de l'UITA pour l'Am�rique latine a produit un court film d�crivant la situation d'une de ces jeunes femmes br�siliennes souffrant de cette maladie qui avait �t� licenci�e par Nestl�.
Apparemment, Nestl� continue quatre ann�es plus tard � accorder une valeur moindre � la sant� et � la s�curit� de ses salari�s/es au Br�sil qu'il ne le fait en Europe occidentale. Ce qui suit est un rapport publi� dans le bulletin du secr�tariat r�gional de l'UITA pour l'Am�rique latine SIREL par un m�decin qui fait office de consultant sur les questions de sant� et de s�curit� aupr�s du secr�tariat r�gional.
Nestl�: Tu fais partie de notre vie
C�est avec ce slogan que la puissante transnationale suisse de l�alimentation s�efforce de donner une image humaine et moderne de ses activit�s. J�avoue qu�en tant que m�decin, j�ai toujours eu en haute estime cette entreprise, que la majorit� de la population identifie � une alimentation saine.
Pourtant, depuis quelque temps, je me suis aper�u que certaines ONG se sont mises � se demander � qui profite la gigantesque campagne publicitaire men�e par Nestl� dans diff�rents m�dias, qui a pour effet de faire grimper la consommation de produits pour enfants en bas �ge, au d�triment d�autres aliments, comme le lait maternel, pour n�en citer qu�un. En ce qui me concerne, les conditions dans lesquelles travaillent les travailleurs et travailleuses et les cons�quences qui en d�coulent, telles que des l�sions dues aux mouvements r�p�titifs (LMR), m�obligent � remettre en question la conduite de Nestl�.
En avril 2001, j�ai re�u Maria Alice, une travailleuse d�un centre de production de Nestl� sis au centre du Br�sil, en vue d�une consultation. Elle se plaignait de douleurs toujours plus vives dans la r�gion des �paules, des coudes et des poignets, qui avaient fini par avoir une incidence sur son rendement au travail. Maria Alice avait apport� les r�sultats de deux examens : une �lectroneuromyographie et un sondage aux ultrasons. Le premier �tait sans �quivoque : ses deux poignets pr�sentaient un syndrome du tunnel carpien. Quant au second, il r�v�lait une tendinite des extenseurs du poignet.
Elle a affirm� en avoir parl� au m�decin de l�entreprise qui, jusqu�alors, n�avait pas fait grand cas de ses plaintes. Il lui avait dit, au contraire, que tout �tait normal et lui avait recommand� de regagner son poste. Apr�s avoir consult� d�autres m�decins, Maria Alice a assist� � une r�union organis�e par le syndicat de son entreprise � laquelle j�ai particip� ainsi qu�un repr�sentant de l�UITA et elle s�est d�cid�e � nous demander de nous pencher sur son cas.
Apr�s l�examen de son dossier m�dical professionnel, qu�elle a elle-m�me mis � ma disposition, le doute n��tait plus permis : il s�agissait bel et bien de l�sions dues au travail r�p�titif. J�ai donc demand� un examen pour confirmer d�ment le diagnostic, conform�ment � la loi en vigueur. Quelle ne fut pas ma surprise lorsque, quelques jours plus tard, j�ai re�u une lettre du m�decin de l�entreprise, cosign�e par le responsable des ressources humaines (ce qui montre bien que des cadres �trangers au corps m�dical ont d�battu l�affaire), dans laquelle il indiquait qu�il �tait en d�saccord avec mon diagnostic et laissait entendre que la travailleuse avait essay� de m�influencer dans mon �valuation � il �tait litt�ralement question de � tentative de manipulation du diagnostic de la part de la patiente�.
J�avoue que j��tais atterr� et d��u par l�attitude de ces deux cadres de Nestl�. J�ai jug� utile de faire lire la lettre � Maria Alice, afin qu�elle soit au courant de l�avis des cadres de son entreprise sur son cas. Elle fut �galement abasourdie � la lecture de la lettre, mais elle me dit qu�elle allait se soumettre � un nouvel examen et qu�elle me tiendrait au courant.
Dix jours plus tard, elle m�a inform� du r�sultat de l�examen et a apport� de la documentation au sujet d�autres cas de travailleuses souffrant de LMR chez Nestl�. Deux autres travailleuses de la transnationale suisse avaient �t� mises � pied, alors m�me qu�elles pr�sentaient les sympt�mes typiques de LMR et que l�une des deux avait m�me en sa possession un certificat m�dical d�un expert du minist�re du Travail, attestant qu�elle souffrait de LMR. D�apr�s le r�cit de Maria Alice, le scepticisme et la m�fiance de l�entreprise sont humiliants et la situation soul�ve beaucoup d�indignation parmi ses camarades. Quel serait le diagnostic du m�decin de Nestl� dans pareil cas?
Dr. Roberto Ruiz
New Attacks on Trade Union Rights in Belarus
20-Dec-2001The authoritarian president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has resumed his drive to crush the labour movement by now attacking the financial independence of the trade unions which remain the principal reservoir of opposition to his despotic rule.
The latest measure aimed at undermining trade union rights has now been implemented in the form of government Decree Number 1804, adopted on December 14. This decree, cynically entitled "On Measures to Protect the Rights of Trade Union Members", abolishes the union check-off by which employees pay their union dues directly through deduction from their salaries by their employers.
Until this decree, the check-off system was accepted practice and was routinely included in collective agreements. Its conformity with both national legislation and international Conventions and practices were confirmed by the nation's Constitutional Court in a decision on February 21 this year.
The decree is a direct attack on the financial independence of the trade union movement and is clearly aimed at destroying the effectiveness of the trade unions both as social self-defence organizations of the workers and as a source of democratic opposition to Lukashenko.
The Belarussian national center FTUB has called for a national and international campaign to protest this latest assault on trade union rights. The FTUB's campaign for the repeal of the decree is being supported by the Russian national center FNPR and by the ICFTU and other international union organizations. The IUF has responded by sending a message to President Lukashenko calling for the immediate repeal of the decree.
We appeal to all supporters of trade union and democratic rights to add their voices to this campaign by likewise sending a message to Mr. Lukashenko. The fax message below may serve as a sample
Kindly send copies of any messages you might send to the IUF secretariat, as well as to the FTUB at the following fax number: +375 17 210 4337/+375 17 223 9062.
We thank you in advance for your solidarity and support.
Sample fax message to: Mr. Alexander Lukashenko
President, Republic of Belarus
Fax: +375 17 2 26 06 10
Concerns: Government Decree Abolishing the Union Check-off and Continuing Violations of Trade Union Rights
Dear Mr. President,
I have been informed of the latest in a series of attacks on basic trade union rights in Belarus, government Decree Number 1804 adopted on December 14. By abolishing the right of workers to have their dues paid through the check-off system, this decree directly threatens the financial independence of the trade unions and their ability to effectively defend the living and working conditions of Belarussian workers.
The abolition of the check-off system by decree is a flagrant violation of ILO Convention 87, which establishes the right of workers everywhere to freedom of association. I therefore call upon your government to immediately repeal this decree, which is in violation of international law and practice and democratic norms.
Yours sincerely,
Pakistani Union Fights for Rights of Sacked Casual Workers at Karachi Pearl Continental Hotel
21-Dec-2001
Union members demonstrating in support of sacked casual hotel employees.
Pakistani Union Fights for Rights of Sacked Casual Workers at Karachi Pearl Continental Hotel
The IUF-affiliated Pearl Continental Hotels Employees Trade Unions Federation is fighting for the rights of casual employees who have been brutally sacked at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Karachi.
The hotel management, citing a downturn in occupancy after September 11, proposed to the union that all casual and temporary workers be retrenched and that every permanent employee should take two days weekly rest, one of which would be unpaid. Many of these "temporary" workers, who earn only a basic daily wage with no benefits, have been working more than 5 years on the job.
The union rejected this proposal and called for negotiations. Management then proceeded to sack 350 casual workers. The union was not informed, nor were the dismissed workers. The dismissal letter was published in a daily newspaper on November 8, and the workers were barred from entering the hotel when they reported for work the next day.
The union fought back with an energetic mobilization, and the IUF Pakistan Outreach Office has been actively building support for the union by contacting trade union federations, human rights organizations, federal and provincial labour ministries and the press. In the course of the campaign, the union vice-chairman has been harassed by the police and violently attacked near his home.
The union is fighting hard on behalf of casually-employed non-members at the hotel in a difficult, often violent context, and deserves the widest-possible international support. We therefore urge all supporters of democratic and trade union rights to support the Pearl Continental workers and their union by sending a fax message to the parent company with a copy to the hotel management. The following letter may serve as an example. Kindly forward to the IUF secretariat copies of any messages you might send. We thank you in advance for your solidarity and support.
Model Fax to: Mr. Murtaza Hashwani, Chief Executive, Pakistan Services Limited, Islamabad
Fax Number: 92 51 282 19 86
Dear Sir,
I am shocked and outraged to learn of the brutal summary dismissal of 350 daily-waged and temporary workers at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Karachi. We have been informed that management had proposed to the union representing workers at the hotel that all temporary workers be retrenched, and that permanent staff be obliged to take two days rest per week, one of which would be unpaid. When the union rejected this proposal and sought negotiations, 350 temporary workers were retrenched without notice. Neither the workers nor the union were informed. Instead, a dismissal letter was published in a daily newspaper on November 8, and employees reporting for work on November 9 were prevented from assuming their duties.
Furthermore, the detention of the union vice-chairman by the police on November 4, and the subsequent attack on the same union officer outside his home on November 7, must be interpreted as acts of anti-union intimidation.
These acts constitute flagrant violations of trade union rights as set out in Conventions of the ILO, which have the force of international law and are therefore binding on the government of Pakistan.
We therefore urge you to act immediately to facilitate good faith negotiations with the union at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Karachi to resolve the outstanding problems at the enterprise. Failure to do so will inevitably have a negative impact on both the Karachi establishment and the company's brand name and international image.
Sincerely yours,
cc: General Manager, Pearl Continental Hotel, Karachi, Pakistan
Fax: + 92 21 568 1835/568 2655
The Sugar Worker, December 2001: News from the sugar sector
06-Jan-2002The Sugar Worker
Information and Analysis for Unions in the Sugar Sector
Volume III, Number 12 December 2001
Contents
� Jamaica: Government Program to Revive Industry
� Negotiations for a New Sugar CBA
� Mexico: Plan for Expropriated Mills
� United States: Senate Rejects Amendments to Sugar Policy
� Kenya: Mixed Reactions to Sugar Bill
� Uganda: Kakira�s Expansion Plans Resisted by Community Groups
� India: Maharashtra Mills to Set-up Schools for Children
� China Joins the WTO
� Thailand: Support Approved For Farmers and Mills
� Guyana: Guysuco USD 110 Million Modernization Plan
� Company News
� France: Farmers Bid for B�ghin-Say
� Italy: Farmers Close to Buy Eridiana
� France: EU Approves S�dzucker Deal
Jamaica: Government Program to Revive Industry
On 19 December, the government wrote-off a USD 10.5 million debt by cane farmers, provided USD 3.1 million to finance loans for cane growing operations starting in January 2002, and approved a USD 74.3 million loan guarantee to the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ), which would be used to pay and consolidate debts and for working capital. The government said also it had hired two US-based companies, Arkel Sugar Inc. from Louisiana and American Transport Equipment of Florida, to examine the country�s mills and make recommendations for their rehabilitation. Industry officials said that the study might lead to setting up of a new factory in Trelawny, to produce different qualities of sugar, along with a co-generation plant.
These are some decisions in the most recent government efforts to revive the local sugar industry, which is suffering from a long and difficult crisis. Several studies, said government officials, have proposed to reduce the size of the industry, through the merger and rationalisation of mills, but they offered no clear alternative to replace sugar, which is a major source of employment, particularly in the rural areas, and of an estimated USD 100 million per annum in foreign exchange earnings.
On the other hand, the recent sugar history in the country has witnessed the failure of different models for the industry, from the worker-run cane cooperatives in the early 1980s, through the state-ownership, and the failed experiment of privatisation in mid 1990s. The latter ended in 1998 when the government took over the bankrupt Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ), which owns three mills (Frome, Monymusk and Bernard Lodge) and accounts for about 65 percent of the country�s sugar production. Since then, local sources said, the government has invested about USD 120 million in the SCJ alone, while other mills (Hampden, Long Pond, Duckenfield) depend heavily on government financing.
Costs of production in the state-dependent sugar sector are said to be between USD 30 to 33 cents per pound, as a result of problems in producing and processing cane, and in the managing of the whole industry. In addition to the local challenges, the government is keenly aware of the threat of losing access to the preferential markets, especially in the European Union.
Negotiations for a New CBA
In related news, negotiations for a new sugar collective bargaining (CBA) were reported as difficult. In late November the three unions representing the sugar workers rejected an offer by the Sugar Producers Federation for a 5 percent wage increase in each of the two years of the CBA, and no crop bonus. The unions demand a 15 percent increase, a 10 percent bonus, guaranteed employment, training programs, and the implementation of a housing development project agreed in the 2000 CBA. The latter had offered to deliver to the workers 5,000 units in a five-year period. Until now, the unions said, no worker has benefited from this agreement, and the National Housing Trust is still to reply to the unions�s request for a reduction on the price of the houses. The three sugar unions are the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU), the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU), and the National Workers Union (NWU).
Mexico: Plan for Expropriated Mills
The head of fund of expropriated companies in the sugar sector, FEESA, which manages the 27 mills expropriated last September, unveiled a governmental program to make the mills efficient and profitable. The program has five main elements: to increase sugar prices in 10 percent; ensure the availability of financial resources; reduce costs of production by 3 percent; make efficient use of the installed production capacity; and promote private investment in the sector.
The FEESA also presented a chronogram of activities until March 2003, from the setting-up phase, to the sourcing out financial means, paying debts, and the reorganization of sugar marketing �including better control on exports. During this period, FEESA will also give support to renegotiate the sugar provisions of NAFTA, will establish new financial sources, and technologically improve the mills. It is expected that by March 2003, the expropriated mills would be in a solid financial position and ready for a new privatisation process. Government officials said that they expect that foreign and local groups would be interested in acquiring the mills, and that the government would look for three main features in prospective buyers: financial resources, moral qualities, and knowledge of the sugar industry. It is estimated that the 27 expropriated mills will produce 2.27 million tonnes of sugar in the 2001/02 harvest, close to half of the national sugar production.
The program was negatively received by the Mexican Senate, where representatives from different political organizations said the domestic price of MXN 4,300 per tonne of sugar (equivalent to USD 21.4 cents per pound) offered in the program puts the mills at the brink of bankruptcy. They said the Senate has been working on a �much better� plan for the industry, but gave no details.
In other news, the sugar and sweetener trade dispute between Mexico and the United States seems to be heading towards a resolution �after a mid-December meeting between the parties agreed to reach a solution within three months�, some new challenges might soon appear on the Mexican sugar horizon. The head of the sugar commission of Canacintra (Mexico�s national chamber of manufacturers) said that a study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that the majority of Mexican refineries with alcohol distilleries do not comply with EPA�s ecological norms, and a great proportion of �Mexican sugar has bacterial content that surpasses limits fixed by U.S. sanitary authorities.� These considerations might become an obstacle for the Mexican sugar to freely enter the United States.
Meanwhile, the national sugar workers union STIASRM said that the government and private-sector millers owe USD 5.9 million in contributions to the union�s pension fund, negotiated in 2000 to be paid in March 2001. The union said the government got a USD 3.6 million debt with the pension fund when it expropriated the 27 mills.
United States: Senate Rejects Amendments to Sugar Policy
On 12 December, the Senate rejected proposed amendments to the U.S. sugar policy during a debate on an omnibus Farm Bill. In essence, the Senate has approved policy features quite similar to the ones passed by the House of Representatives in October, among them: it reinstated authority to the secretary of agriculture to impose domestic marketing allotments to balance markets, avoid forfeitures, and comply with import commitments under the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); it directed the secretary of agriculture to operate the U.S. sugar policy at no cost to the treasury by avoiding sugar loan forfeitures; and it authorized the non-recourse loan program through 2006 at USD 18 cents per pound of raw cane and USD 22.9 cents per pound of refined beet sugar. The next step is for committees of both branches to work out the differences between their versions of the Farm Bill.
In early December, the Senate Finance Committee approved a piece of legislation to prevent the avoidance of import regulations on sugar, syrups and sugar-containing products. The best-known case is the so-called �stuffed molasses.� These are syrups shipped from Canada from which liquid sugar is extracted, which is then sold to industrial processors. The molasses are shipped back to Canada, where the �stuffing� process starts again. The trade of �stuffed molasses� reached an estimated of 150,000 tonnes of sugar equivalent per annum in recent years.
Kenya: Mixed Reactions to Sugar Bill
On 12 December Parliament passed a bill creating a new Sugar Board and introducing changes to the farmer-miller relations, attempting to improve conditions for the local industry. The new bill will also deal with the importation of tariff-free sugar from COMESA members, the regional free trade bloc for Eastern and Southern Africa.
The Sugar Bill stipulates that the millers will now assume the cost of harvesting and transporting the cane, while cane weighing will be done before entering the factory to add transparency to the payment system. Farmers will be paid on quality �sucrose content� rather than on cane weight. The new 15-member Kenya Sugar Board will comprise representatives from the millers, farmers, and representatives appointed by the government. The board will have the power to regulate all sugar imports, and will be the sole sugar importer, once the bill is implemented by April 2002.
According to the local press, the new bill is already improving farmer-miller relations. They said, for instance, the South Nyanza (Sony) sugar company started making regular payments on its debt of USD 5 million to the farmers, which SONY expects to clear by June 2002. Similar improvements are reported in the Muhoroni Sugar Company, which will pay farmers within 30 days of the delivering of cane. This is expected to boost farmers� morale and encourage them to improve cane quality and production. Muhoroni Sugar reopened in mid December, after almost a year on receivership. It plans to reach its full milling capacity of 2,500 tonnes of cane per day. The company provides jobs for about 1,000 employees.
Although the Sugar Bill transfers some decision-making powers to the farmers, some farmer groups and politicians are not convinced it will help to overcome the industry�s basic problems. Some of their criticisms are based on the fact that the government still has a significant saying in the industry through the government-appointed representatives to the Sugar Board, while the minister of agriculture might be in a special position because he appoints or dismisses these representatives. On the other hand, it would seem that some important issues, such as the sugar development levy, are not being addressed. Opposition politicians have questioned the use of the monies raised through the development levy, which is financed by contributions from millers and farmers but run by the government. For instance, they said, the levy has raised some USD 250 million since its inception in the 1990s but, nevertheless, farmers and millers had difficult times in accessing the funds, farmers are owed significant amounts of money, and several mills are almost bankrupt.
Uganda: Kakira�s Expansion Plans Resisted by Community Groups
The Uganda government has granted Kakira Sugar Works a 50-year lease on the Butamira forest reserve, where the company plans to develop a 1,000-hectare sugar plantation �from the 1,200 hectares available. This expansion would allow Kakira to consolidate plans to increase its annual production to 100,000 tonnes of sugar by 2004, from the current 60,000 tonnes. At present Kakira owns 7,600 hectares of cane lands, while independent farmers or �outgrowers� grow another 7,100 hectares.
The Muljibhai Madhvani & Co. Ltd. (MMCL), owner of Kakira, had a 49-year lease on the Butamira reserve issued in 1949. For many years the reserve was used as a source of firewood for energy in the sugar factory. In 1972, the government of Idi Amin expelled several Asian-Ugandan families from the country, among them the Madhvani Family. The Madhvani returned to the country in 1985 and regained Kakira. In 1995, Kakira�s factory switched to bagasse as energy source, and, at the expiration of the original lease in 1998, the lease was renewed on a �general purpose� basis. The company now wants to develop the reserve into a sugar cane plantation.
These plans met with serious resistance from local groups, which in recent years received permits to grow eucalyptus trees for firewood and other crops. There are 16 villages adjacent to the Butamira reserve with a population of 8,000 people. Several groups are opposed to the sugar cane plantation, even though the government has offered plots of land to relocate some people, and also to compensate those using the reserve for firewood.
On 29 November a court in Jinja issued an injunction restraining Kakira from taking over Butamira. The injunction followed a civil suit by the Uganda Wildlife Society together with Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment and Butamira Forest Association. The Butamira forest reserve is located in Kagoma County, Jinja District, east of Kampala.
Meanwhile, the privatisation of Kinyara Sugar Works Ltd (KSWL), announced in
1998, shows no progress. Concerned groups said that, if the government wants to proceed with the privatisation, it should take into consideration Ugandan groups able to buy into the company, instead of only looking for foreign investors.
Kinyara, the second largest sugar producer in the country, has also announced plans to expand sugar production from the current 50,000 tonnes to 75,000 tonnes per year in the next five to ten years. In the longer run, Kinyara plans to achieve 150,000 tonnes. Kinyara is wholly owned by the government, and Booker Tate has a managing contract since 1991. The latter is reported as interested in acquiring ownership when Kinyara is effectively privatised.
Uganda�s three sugar factories produce a combined total of 140,000 tonnes of sugar, compared to 180,000 tonnes per year of the domestic demand.
India: Maharashtra Mills to Set-up Schools for Children
An official of Maharashtra said the state government has directed some 150 sugar factories to set up �sugar schools� for the children of migrant workers, who run the risk of loosing formal education due to the seasonality of their parents� employment. The official said that an estimated 700,000 migrant workers leave their towns during the cane-harvesting season, which normally runs from November to April. At present, the official added, some 70 factories have already taken steps towards implementing the sugar schools, which would provide education to some 6,000 children. The statewide school program, it was said, would be carried out in coordination with cooperative institutions and non-governmental organizations. Maharashtra would be the first state to have such a program in the sugar industry. (Reported by the India Times, 3 December 2001.)
China Joins the WTO
On 10 November, China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) and agreed to put in place a tariff-rate quota of 1.764 million tonnes of sugar in 2002, rising to 1.945 million tonnes by 2004. Import tariffs for sugar under quota will be 20 percent between 2001 and 2003, decreasing to 15 percent in 2004. Out-of-quota sugar will pay a 50 percent tariff. It was reported, however, that China�s actual imports would depend on actual demand, market prices and other factors. Nonetheless, international analysts expect that China�s imports will rise from their annual average of 700,000 tonnes, raw value, of recent years.
One of the main beneficiaries of the opening of the Chinese sugar market might be Australia, which has maintained fluid commercial links with China, exporting almost 60,000 tonnes of sugar in 2000, up from 38,000 tonnes in the previous year. Australia might also benefit from Taiwan�s entry in the WTO, which happened shortly after China�s. Australia sold 210,000 tonnes of sugar to Taiwan in 2000, up from the 186,000 tonnes in 1999.
Thailand: Support Approved For Farmers and Mills
The Thai Cabinet fixed the initial sugar cane price for the 2001-02 harvest at THB 530 (USD 12.00) per tonne, announced officials at the ministry of agriculture. The price is lower than the estimated cost of production of THB 586 per tonne (USD 13.30) and lower than last crop�s initial cane price of THB 600 per tonne.
In other decisions to support cane farmers, the Cabinet requested the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) to provide USD 52.6 million in loans to help preparing the harvest; and approved an additional support of THB 20 per tonne of cane from the Cane and Sugar Fund. The latter translates into a total USD 23.7 million available for farmers, who will have a support of at least THB 550 per tonne (USD 12.70) in the current harvest. Farmers are paid the initial cane price at the beginning of the season, and the balance of the actual price at the beginning of the following cycle.
In related news, the Cabinet authorized the Cane and Sugar Fund to borrow USD 50.2 million in order to finance loans for the sugar mills. It was reported that mills face shortage of financial resources and working capital, because local banks decided to support sugar exports at rates below the one needed to finance the milling operations. The banks agreed to a loan rate, using sugar as collateral, of THB 6,000 (USD 138.30) per tonne of sugar. This includes THB 4,500 to pay for cane and THB 1,500 for milling operations. Taking into consideration the ratio of 10 tonnes of cane per 1 tonne of sugar used by the Thai industry, the banks� loan rate does not cover payments for cane initially set at THB 530 per tonne. An industry source said that the milling sector needs a loan rate of THB 8,000 per tonne of sugar; and estimated the mills� total financial needs at USD 95.5 million. Thailand expects to produce 5.4 million tonnes of sugar this year.
Guyana: Guysuco USD 110 Million Modernization Plan
The Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) would implement a scaled-down version of the USD 200 million modernization plan, which had been criticised by the World Bank earlier in the year, said an international source in November. The corporation is preparing a USD 110 million investment to upgrade the Skeldon sugar estate and factory located in the Berbice region. The corporation will finance USD 25 million from its own resources, and will look for USD 85 million through concessionary financing.
Guysuco has plans to improve agricultural yields to 90 tonnes per hectare, from the current 70 t/h; to raise production to 475,000 tonnes within five years �from the 275,000 tonnes reached in 2000�; and to reduce production costs from USD 18 cents per pound to 11 c/lb. The source also says that Guysuco�s plans to establish a new sugar mill in the Berbice region, in cooperation with a Trinidadian company, will not be affected by the scaling-down of the program.
Company News
France: Farmers Bid for B�ghin-Say
The French confederation of beet farmers CGB said it had ensured the financial support of Credit Agricole for its plans to take over B�ghin-Say, the country�s largest sugar producer. According to the daily Les Echos, some 13,500 beet farmers have committed 300 million euros (USD 270 million) to the acquisition, with the balance covered by Credit Agricole and three sugar cooperatives: Cristal Union, the Sucreries Distilleries des Hauts de France (SDHF), and Union SDA. B�ghin-Say�s market value is estimated at around 1.4 billion euros.
Meanwhile, European financial sources reported that the company�s top management had commissioned a feasibility study for a management-buy-out (MBO), which would need the eventual agreement from the majority shareholder, the Italian group Montedison, in control of 54 percent of the company. The sources speculated that the sale of the Italian subsidiary Eridiana, would improve the chances of a successful MBO in B�ghin-Say.
Italy: Farmers Close to Buy Eridiana
Local papers reported that Finbieticola, the financial arm of the Italian beet growers, is in the �final phases� of negotiation to acquire Eridiana�s eight factories. It was reported that two other Italian sugar groups, Sfir and Sadam-Coprob, have also submitted separate offers, while the German S�dzucker appears to have withdrawn from the race. Montedison plans to raise some ITL 600 billion (USD 278 million) from the sale of Eridiana.
France: EU Approves S�dzucker Deal
The German S�dzucker received the approval of the European Commission for the acquisition of the Saint Louis Sucre, France�s second largest sugar group, after agreeing to meet two conditions to foster competition. �S�dzucker, said the Commission, has agreed to divest its majority holding in Belgian Suikerfabriek Vanverne and to place 90,000 tonnes of sugar per year in southern Germany at the disposal of an independent trader.� S�dzucker controls between 70 percent to 90 percent of the market in Belgium and southern Germany �hence the conditions imposed.
Focus on Hotel, Catering Transnationals at HRCT Trade Group Conference
22-Jan-2002Strengthening organizing and bargaining power within transnational hotel and catering companies was the dominant theme at the 11th conference of the IUF HRCT Trade Group, held in Malm�, Sweden June 18 to 20. One concrete result of the in-depth review of union work within specific TNCs was a commitment for joint work between unions organizing within the Hilton/Scandic company.
Conference delegates took positive note of the latest contacts between the secretariat and the catering transnationals Sodexho and Compass, as well as the efforts made by the secretariat to ensure proper implementation and respect for the IUF/Accor agreement on trade union rights. A network of researchers in the HRCT sector is being built to strengthen the secretariat's capacity to react quickly to any request for information and action on transnational companies.
The conference devoted specific attention to the challenges facing unions in the fast-food and institutional catering sectors where flexibility, precarious contracts, low wages and violations of trade union tend to be the rule. A working group will be set up to discuss common policies to facilitate organizing the many unorganized workers in the sector and to encourage active implementation of the principle of reciprocity of affiliation laid down in the IUF rules.
The conference also encouraged the secretariat to assess the need for developing regular contacts with intergovernmental institutions like the World Tourism Organization, employers' organizations such as the International Hotel and Restaurant Association (whose president Einar S�der addressed the conference) and non-governmental organizations active in the tourism sector. Regular contact with these various organizations was considered essential for assuring that labour movement views were properly taken into account in the growing public debate on issues like ethical behaviour in tourism, tourism industry sustainability, commercial sexual exploitation of children through tourism etc.
Resolutions were adopted in support of the struggles for trade union rights at the Shangri-La Jakarta Hotel, the Belgrade Hyatt Regency, the Laguna Hotel in Zagreb and Autogrill in Italy, along with a resolution authorizing a fact-finding mission to Cuba to determine the relevance of establishing contacts with the trade union in the HRCT sector.
Nicos Epistithiou (OEXEV Cyprus) was re-elected president of the Trade Group, as was first vice-president Birgitta Kihlberg (HRF Sweden). The position of second vice-president will be shared on a rotating basis between Helena Burgess (BIU Bermuda) and Kunio Akiyama (Leisure Service Rengo Japan). The conference expressed its deep appreciation for the work of retiring vice-president Hiroshi Sawada.
See a full report of the conference and resolutions adopted on the members only site.
11th HRCT Trade Group Conference
22-Jan-2002Monday afternoon, June 18
Item 1 � Opening of the meeting
Birgitta Kihlberg welcomed participants on behalf of host organisation HRF. Patrick Dalban Moreynas conveyed the excuses of IUF Secretary General Ron Oswald, whose serious health problems have prevented him from travelling to Malm�, and called on participants to make organisation in the HRCT sector the focus of the Conference. President Nicos Epistithiou, who recalled the major challenges facing organised labour in the sector, formally opened the Conference.
Item 2 � Adoption of the agenda
The conference�s agenda was adopted as submitted, as was the schedule.
Item 3 � Adoption of the report of the previous meeting
The report of the Trade Group Board meeting (Cairo, November 13-14, 2000) was adopted.
Item 4 � Membership
The issue of reciprocal affiliation is considered important in a sector where, in Austria for example, on third of youth travel to work abroad, notably for internship. It was reminded that the principle of reciprocal affiliation exists in the IUF and EFFAT Statutes ant that it should be practically expressed to promote the role of the IUF and its regional secretariats in protecting workers� rights. Bilateral agreements on the integration of unionised employees from other countries in the host country exist in the HRCT� for example between Austria and Germany. It was suggested that the Secretariat should work to define basic criteria for the application of reciprocal affiliation.
A number of interveners called for the creation of a think tank on union organisation in the HRCT sector. The group will be initially comprised of Aage Jensen (RBF Denmark) and one German-speaking representative (to be appointed), and will work with the Steering Committee (President, Vice Presidents and Secretary).
Paul Abraas (Horecabond FNV Netherlands), Klaus Schr�ter, Rudolf Kaske (HGPD Austria), Per Olof Lindblom, Thierry Dedieu (FdS-CFDT France), John Herrstr�m (HRF Sweden), Mohamed Elal El Sharkawi (GTUHTW Egypt), Tatiana Krylova (CCCCWU Russia), Leena Rautavuori, Kirill Buketov (IUF Eastern and Central Europe), Javier Siguero (FECHTyJ-UGT Spain), Kerstin Howald et Aage Jensen took part in the discussion.
Item 5 � Regional activities
Klaus Schr�ter discussed the decrease in activities in the sector resulting from decreasing purchasing power, the introduction of the common European currency (Euro) in 2002, which will allow the consumer to compare prices and could result in a displacement of activities toward lower-price countries, and the merger of service unions in Germany.
Leena Rautavuori highlighted the multiplication of part-time contracts in Finland and the corresponding need to obtain the same guarantees as full-time workers. She describes the measures taken to decrease the inhalation of passive smoke by workers in smoking environment, in particular for pregnant women. She noted that her new organisation, PAM, was the result of a merger of the hotel/restaurant workers federation HRHL with other commerce and service workers organisations.
LeVere Richards presented the action of his union toward the management of the Sandy Lane hotel in Barbados, and highlighted the progression of tourism in the Caribbean zone, notably cruise tourism.
Rudolf Kaske insisted on the high rate of unemployment in the sector, especially at certain periods of the year, at a time where industry sales are growing (7%). Salaries in the sector are still 30% below other sectors, in spite of an agreement signed in May 2001; from this point of view, the extension of the European Union to other countries constitutes a definite social challenge. Atypical work contracts are growing in numbers, especially for young workers. His federation HGPD in not considering joining forces with Austrian organisations in other sectors, but it maintains relations with the NGG in Germany and Horecabond FNV in Netherlands and is considering the establishment of an international union.
Paul Abraas noted a progression in sectoral activities (+5%) in the Netherlands and a reduction in the unemployment rate. He also stated that cooperation between organisations should be nurtured toward mergers, possibly across country lines.
Kirill Buketov presented the activities of the IUF office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which is concerned with supporting the development work of trade unions in the HRCT sector in the region. He recalled the violations of union rights in Belarus and the campaign conducted on this issue at the recent International Labour Conference in Geneva. He thanked those organisations that have supported their work in the region, notably HRF Sweden.
Adou Yapi (CIAGAH-CI Ivory Coast) noted with regrets that 80% of all workers at seasonal tourist sites in Ivory Coast are illegal workers. There is no collective bargaining agreement covering the sector, and only a small number of local agreements in large hotels. Following the recent changes in national political leadership, a promise was made to restart the collective bargaining process and his organisation will strive to benefit from this opportunity.
Frans Dirix (CCAS-CSC Belgium) noted the aggressive posturing of some employers (McDonald�s, Pizza Hut, Quick, AC Restaurants, Carestel, Lunch Garden) who went so far as to threaten to resort to legal proceedings to have the sectoral CBA declared not applicable to the fast food industry. The strong and quick union reaction defeated this employer strategy.
Kunio Akiyama (Leisure Service Rengo) presented union developments in the sector in Japan and the establishment, on upcoming July 24, of a large federation Leisure Service Rengo that will make a priority of reinforcing union organisation in the sector.
Kerstin Howald described the new IUF European regional organisation EFFAT, born of the merger of the European foodworkers� secretariat (ECF-IUF) with the European federation of agriculture (EFA). One of the first initiatives undertaken by EFFAT was the organisation of a demonstration for food safety in April 2001. She then provided information on the status of relations with the European hotel and restaurant employers� association HOTREC and with the European institutional catering federation FERCO. HOTREC has agreed in principle to joint work on non-discrimination. Training, food security and the criteria for selecting catering companies are on the agenda with the latter. Work in the tourism sector is continuing through the European Tourism Liaison Committee (ETLC), notably on the possibility of coordinated union action in instances of mergers or concentration of the corporations active in tourism and transportation.
Ray Rasing (NUWHRAIN Philippines) mentioned the problems arising from political instability in his country from the point of view of union struggles. CBAs are to be renegotiated and in several instances management is looking to roll back previous union gains. His organisation is involved with an ILO project to fight child labour in the tourism trade. It has conducted a campaign to extend the working conditions of permanent employees to all seasonal or part-time workers
Mohamed Elal El Sharkawi noted that there is an agreement in his country to convert all atypical work contracts to permanent contracts after one year, but that this agreement is not being applied satisfactorily.
Vesna Dejanovic (SSUTH Croatia) described recent developments in the sector: the work week has been rolled back from 42 to 40 hours, the labour code makes strike action legal if salaries have not been paid after 30 days. She calls on the Conference to demonstrate solidarity with the workers of the Zagreb Laguna hotel, who went on strike to protest the stalemate in negotiations. The workers are under threat of a lockout and half of them have been reassigned.
Lena Davor (ICU Ghana) notes that following political changes in her country, collective bargaining has started anew and that progress has been achieved in the sector: 40-hour work week, with two days of rest each week, possibility of personal leaves, maternity eaves, etc.
Rachel Abenaim (NURHW Israel) confirmed the increase in sub-contracting, also apparent in her country, and the salary level, among the lowest for all industrial and commercial activities. She described the difficult situation of workers in the sector, faced for many months now with a slowing down of tourism in Israel, which has resulted in the laying off of at least 30% of the membership in the sector.
Carlos Lopes (SITTUHR Cape Verde) brought the attention on the potential for union organisation in Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa. On the other hand, he denounced the increasing use of atypical work contracts and the practice of suspending work contracts during the off-season. His union will negotiate the first CBA in the sector and he is counting on support from the IUF.
Patrick Dalban Moreynas concluded the discussions: in spite of improvements in certain countries/areas, the trend toward the increased use of atypical work contracts is expanding. Organisations are aware of the need to respond to this challenge through increased organisation efforts, and through a reflection on the reinforcement of union structure that may, but not necessarily in all instances, take the form of mergers between organisations. International cooperation is required, and on this level the tourism liaison committee is a good example of joint work by the ITF, UNI and the IUF. International solidarity is also a reinforcing factor for grassroots organisations, and it is proposed to forward the requested protest messages to the management of the Laguna hotel in Zagreb.
Tuesday, June 19, 2001
Session Chair Birgitta Kihlberg welcomed Leif H�kansson, Third Vice President of the Swedish national centre LO.
Leif H�kansson addressed the participants by congratulating himself, as former President of the agricultural workers� federation of Sweden, for the creation at the international level of a single organisation for the whole food chain, following the merger of the IFPAAW with the IUF in 1994. The issues of child labour, operation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), taxation of capital movements, ethical guidelines in investments are but a few of the reasons that make a necessity, in the view of the speaker, of increased cooperation between national centres and their federations and the international labour movement.
Point 6: Professional equality
Patrick Dalban Moreynas introduced a document from the Secretariat which highlights the interesting progress achieved at the ILO April 2001 tripartite meeting on issues of professional equality. He also recalled the Trade Group�s obligation to implement the resolution adopted by the 1994 Conference on the rebalancing of the Trade Group Board along gender lines. He invited the Conference to discuss, and adopt, as appropriate, the guidelines proposed by the Secretariat, and to discuss the best avenues of cooperation between the Trade Group Board and the Women�s Committee of the IUF.
The ensuing discussion raises the following points: organisations should reflect the composition of their membership, including with regard to gender distribution. Organisations in the HRCT sector are striving to abide by the 1994 resolution, but practical hurdles remain and they are requesting a degree of flexibility in its application.
The resolution and the conclusions adopted by the ILO tripartite meeting on women workers� issues in the HRCT sector contain positive provisions that should be promoted.
It was recommended that the language of the proposed guidelines be changed by putting the verbs in the conditional to the indicative in order to clearly indicate that the Conference expresses not mere wishes, but sets working objectives. The proposal on split-shift work and part-time work should be restated in order not to introduce any gender inequalities.
Paul Abraas, Sointu Toivonen, Klaus Schr�ter, LeVere Richards, John Herrstr�m, Leena Rautavuori, and Per-Olof Lindblom took part in the discussion.
Birgitta Kihlberg noted that the guidelines were adopted with the proposed amendments. The document will be forwarded to the Women�s Committee of the IUF for consideration as regards the issues specific to women in the HRCT sector. The Chair invited the Secretariat to accept all appointments to the Trade Group Board but insisted on the required consideration of the 1994 resolution.
Claes Borgstr�m, J�mo (Ombudsman for equality issues in Sweden) described his role and the actions undertaken by his office to promote gender equality at work, notably in the areas of access to employment, the sharing of tasks and responsibilities in the society and child-rearing, and the promotion of women to jobs similar to those available to men.
Item 7 � Transnational Corporations
Patrick Dalban Moreynas presented the document from the Secretariat. It sets out current solidarity actions, notably the one in support for locked-out workers at the Shangri-La hotel in Jakarta. He recalled the conclusions of the meeting on the Hilton/Scandic group organised on the previous day in the course of the Trade Group Board Meeting. He proposed to discuss the Accor Group, which had signed an agreement on trade union rights with the IUF, Club M�diterran�e, which had just signed an agreement on sub-contracting with the European Works Council, and the work done in other corporations in the sector.
Paul Abraas noted that he has obtained from his organisation�s governing bodies a donation of Euros 25,000 for the Shangri-La workers in Indonesia. A letter signed by the organisation�s leadership was delivered to the Indonesian embassy calling on the government to facilitate a resolution of the conflict.
A draft resolution of the situation at the Shangri-La was adopted, as was the principle of setting up a fundraising effort for out-of-work workers at the hotel.
Patrick Dalban Moreynas mentioned a difficult situation at the Hyatt in Belgrade, and the Conference approved the mailing of messages of solidarity to the workers at the hotel, who are protesting the suspension of 49 union members during difficult salary negotiations.
A resolution supporting the union at the Laguna hotel in Zagreb was adopted following a proposal by SSUTH Croatia. It will be sent to the union with a signed list of participants to the Conference.
On request from the Italian FILCAMS-CGIL, a resolution is also adopted supporting the strike by workers at the Pieve Emanuele depot of Autogrill and opposing the trend toward sub-contracting expressed by the company.
The discussion on Club M�diterran�e highlighted the progress achieved by the European Works Council, which had obtained financing for its activities and the signature of an agreement on the reduction of sub-contracting. However, Club M�diterran�e does not recognize unions in Ivory Coast.
Kerstin Howald mentioned the progress achieved on the implementation of European Works Councils in the Sheraton chain and at Autogrill. She recalled the support provided by affiliates in Europe to the HERE union at HMS Host, the North American subsidiary of Autogrill. She also described current work at Alpha Catering.
Debbie Anderson denounced the ideological opposition of the Marriott group to the unionisation of its employees. At the Marriott San Francisco, the union signed 20 years ago a neutrality agreement by which management agreed not to oppose unionisation. It took the union 16 years to be recognized as representatives of the employees, but five years have elapsed without the union being able to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement. HERE has succeeded in some instances to intervene with local authorities and preventing Marriott to obtain new hotel contracts and the speaker called on trade unions in other countries to try and effect the same pressures on the group.
The report from the Secretariat was adopted.
Item 8 � General issues
Patrick Dalban Moreynas introduced the document prepared by the Secretariat and discussion casualisation of work contracts in the sector, issues specific to migrant workers, sub-contracting, financial crime, health/safety, education/training and working hours. He drew attention to the work performed by LO Sweden on financial crime and on the study of working hours performed by the Secretariat. HI highlighted the progress achieved at the ILO tripartite meeting on the limitation of sub-contracting and atypical work contracts.
Claudio Treves (FILCAMS-CGIL Italy) wished for a specific definition of atypical work contracts as he felt that part-time contract could hardly be described as atypical. The national agreement covers part-time workers. The reduction in sub-contracting should be based on quantified data. The workweek in the sector is 40 hours on average, with a modicum of flexibility.
Jos� Castro (FGTA-FO France) noted that his organisation would not sign the agreement to reduce the workweek to 35 hours, as they could not condone deterioration in the situation of some workers regarding compensation and the organisation of personal life.
On the other hand, Walter Surian (FdS-CFDT France), whose organisation has signed the agreement, considered that it constitutes a first step toward the harmonisation of working hours with other sectors after many decades of suffering from a discriminatory work regime characterised by unpaid hours (equivalent hours).
Nicos Epistithiou pointed out a mistake in the Secretariat�s document. The number of foreigners working in hotels in Cyprus is not 60% but rather 6%.
Kerstin Howald explained the agreement on the reduction of sub-contracting intervened with Club M�diterran�e in Europe.
Amador Escribano (FECOHT-CC.OO Spain) requested a clarification of the terms and concepts. He considered that sub-contracting is often a way for the employer to sidestep the obligations arising from the CBA, and would like that the operations that can be sub-contracted be defined. In any way, it was essential to him that the uniqueness of the union counterpart be preserved for the employer.
Mohamed Elal El Sharkawi noted that trade unions in Egypt had recently succeeded in signing agreements on migrant workers� rights with appropriate organisations in the host countries. It is necessary to encourage the ratification of Core ILO Conventions.
Rudolf Kaske also wished for a clarification of the concepts. In his country, fixed-term contracts, maternity leaves and sub-contracting constitute one-third of all jobs in the sector. Financial crime distorts competition, and as such ma have negative impact for the workers in the sector. However, he considered that the issue should not be a priority for trade unions but rather is an issue for employers to confront. The quality of services should be a crucial issue for the IUF. On the issue of working hours, HGPD has opened the door to a modicum of flexibility on the application of the 40-hour workweek, notably through the 4-day week.
Sointu Toivonen noted that the study on working hours had been useful to his organisation during negotiations on working hours in his country. Professional training is essentially a national issue but the IUF could help define guidelines on equal access to training, the implementation of lifelong training program, etc.
Klaus Schr�ter thought that the Conference should provide orientations to the Secretariat for future work, on the basis for example of a limited number of key issues. The survey of working hours should be continued. Priority must be given to reflection and action against all forms of work that tend to undermine working and salary conditions establishes through collective bargaining. Issues pertaining to migrant and illegal workers are also discussed in the context of the social dialogue at the European level. It would be necessary to discuss further the issues of training/education and to define best practices in this area.
Per Persson (HRF Sweden) noted that workers in the sector have not shown any interest for a reduction in the workweek but rather for better salaries. Casual work represents in Sweden 25 to 30% of all work contracts and is increasing. The national centres have established priority actions to fight this trend. HRF has adopted a framework program for immigrant workers prohibiting any discrimination. Financial crime is a priority for his organisation as it threatens both collective bargaining and job security. His organisations cooperated with the employers� association on this issue, which is the subject of joint work by all Nordic trade unions.
Tatiana Krylova confirmed the emergence, following the privatisation of the Russian economy, of the phenomena described in the IUF document: atypical work contracts, sub-contracting, and arrival of migrant workers in Moscow willing to accept employment in near-slavery conditions. A new labour code is being discussed. It risks to worsen the situation of the workers and to attack their rights. She supported the willingness to fight economic crime while at the same time believing that nothing can effectively be done without strong involvement from the authorities.
Kirill Buketov supported the work on economic crime, which is crucial for his country to the extent that repression and even deadly attacks against union leaders are conducted by organised crime.
Debbie Anderson presented the campaign to denounce, on the occasion of its 300th anniversary, the union-busting attitude of Yale University and called on organisations in other countries to join in actions directed at the Yale Clubs active in some 50 countries around the world. She will provide the IUF and ICFTU with appropriate information.
In conclusion, the Conference recommended to the Secretariat to continue the survey of working hours, to better define the scope and the contents of the work on migrant workers and economic crime, to better identify the extent and impacts of sub-contracting based in sub-sectors, to collect data on best practices in training/education and health/safety in the sector and to continue et further its analysis of the casualisation phenomenon in the sector by better defining what this concept entails.
Item 9 � Fast food
Patrick Dalban Moreynas introduced the document prepared by the Secretariat on three major players in the industry: Autogrill, Tricon and Diageo. A separate appendix is devoted to McDonald�s.
Gabriele Guglielmi (FILCAMS-CGIL Italy) described Autogrill, which employs 40,000 and is emerging as a leader in the industry. FILCAMS-CGIL has created a Web site to allow employees to get together. An e-mail information bulletin is distributed each week to each of Italy�s 400 Autogrill units. The site could be opened as required to comments from Brothers and Sisters in other countries. A collective bargaining agreement currently under negotiation will regulate part-time and night work.
An agreement has been entered with McDonald�s to negotiate general conditions throughout the company. The objective is to counter working hours and salary flexibility.
LeVere Richards signalled that KFC has operations in Barbados but is entertaining rather positive relations with the union, while a local chain, Cheffette, is problematic.
Paul Abraas reported that the relations with McDonald�s were rather positive in the Netherlands. However, his organisation supported the protests against child and women labour at a toy factory in China, and suggested that contacts be established between the IUF and the Group�s corporate management. In the Netherlands, McDonald�s has 187 franchised and 27 corporate outlets.
Natalya Gratchova (CCCCWU Russia) thanked the IUF Moscow office and the CCCCWU federation for their support in the struggle she is leading at the McDonald�s plant in Moscow. She has succeeded in getting the union recognized but must now fight the company�s pressures to encourage members to resign the union.
Tatiana Krylova described the efforts of her federation to organise McDonald�s restaurant employees. The distributions of tracts and leaflets by the union were followed by meetings organised by management to discourage any organising effort.
In conclusion, the Secretariat must continue its work on fast-food companies, notably on McDonald�s.
Item 10 � Institutional catering
Patrick Dalban Moreynas introduced the document prepared by the Secretariat on three major players in the industry: Aramark, Compass and Sodexho.
Fernando Medina considers that the work on these companies should be a priority. Together, they employ over 700,000 people. It is important to reinforce the cooperation between the ITF and the IUF in the work on airline catering.
Gabriele Guglielmi noted that minimum wages have been established in each province for institutional catering and that public administrations and other contractors are called upon to reject any contract proposal that includes conditions below that threshold.
Aage Jensen noted with pleasure the cooperation between the ITF and the IUF on airline catering. He signalled difficulties with Sodexho, which refused to apply the CBA and employed Baltic States workers at conditions below the sectoral CBA. The cooperation with transportation workers has allowed to put pressure on the company and achieve an agreement.
Klaus Schr�ter agreed on the necessity to establish minimum standards and determine best practices for the sector. We should be able to identify those few companies who apply adequate practices in the sector and discuss means of disseminating that information.
Javier Siguero asked the Secretariat to monitor the development of companies in the sector. The French Elior is entering the airport cafeteria and food services market through acquisitions.
Per Olof Lindstrom and Per Persson are not convinced of the positive impact of eventual black lists and would rather promote the development of a list of positive examples.
Shane Enright (ITF) presented the work of the ITF tourism services section. He described the globalisation process in the airline catering segment, which has resulted in two companies, LSG-Skychefs and Gate Gourmet, together controlling over 60% of the market. The necessity to unite employees in those companies became all the more pressing at the time of the protests organised to oppose the lay-off of over 200 LSG employees at Heathrow in 1998. In this last instance, cooperation with the IUF was required to involve IUF-affiliated organisations representing LSG employees Spain and in France. Cooperation allowed for resolution of the conflict to the satisfaction of the workers concerned. A joint meeting on airline catering was held in 2000 with a second one scheduled for September of this year. Joining forces will become necessary to work on companies such as LSG and Gate Gourmet, which are developing in catering segments such as railway catering. Shane considers the current cooperation between the ITF and the IUF on airline catering as the model for future action. In fact, the ITF is working together with other international trade union federations (PSI, UNI) in work for employees in the air traffic control and airport security industries, respectively.
In the tourism sector, where the ITF represents travel agency and bus tour employees as well as tourist guides, a decision has been made to work closely with UNI (travel agencies, tour operators) and the IUF. This has led to the establishment of the European tourism liaison committee (ETLC), which the ITF considers to be an efficient tool for representing tourism trade unions at the European level. The ITF wishes to extend this experience to other regions and to hold joint conferences on tourism. Globalisation, restructuring and technology are changing the nature of labour relations, making boundaries between sectors more fluid. Organised labour must adapt to this new situation.
The ITF and the IUF have the potential to cooperate in numerous areas: pressure on companies active in Burma and the boycott of tourism in this country, solidarity in struggles such as the one at the Seoul Swiss Grand, where the ITF brought precious help to the IUF, cruise ship employees, where the ITF has launched an organising campaign, airline charters, which involve large tourism conglomerates such as Preussag, etc.
In conclusion, the Conference recommended the establishment of minimum standards for institutional catering, with a view of preparing a list of companies abiding by such standards.
The report from the Secretariat was adopted.
Item 11 � Tourism
Patrick Dalban Moreynas presented the document prepared by the Secretariat and the Appendices on the IUF policy for the tourism sector and the position statement by the IUF on the GATS agreements. He drew the participants� attention to the necessity for monitoring and updating the list of hotels we recommend and hotels we don�t.
LeVere Richards accepted the Secretariat�s draft for an IUF policy on tourism, which states the fundamental right for local populations to access beaches and coastal properties in their own countries. This appears to reflect his organisation�s concern expressed in a previous amendment proposal. At the same time, he wished that the IUF initiated a reflection and discussion toward the development of a position of the �all-inclusive� hotel formulas.
Per Olov Lindblom, Claudio Treves and Fernando Medina spoke to support the work on sustainable tourism, cooperation between international trade union organisations active in the tourism sector, the development and wide dissemination of the list of hotels we recommend and those we don�t, specifically targeting travel agencies and tour operators. Fernando Medina wished that organised labour get involved in the application of the world code of ethics for tourism, while pointing out its weaknesses.
The document by the Secretariat and its amended appendix on the IUF policy for the tourism sector were approved. The Secretariat is mandated to work on the issue of sustainable tourism, continue its efforts for the involvement of organised labour in the application of the worldwide code of ethics for the tourism sector, identify initiatives for the promotion of green tourism and cooperate with NGOs in preparation of the May 2002 Summit, continue pressures on companies active in Burma so that they put an end to their operations in that country, continue to provide a list of hotels we recommend and hotels we don�t, identify and distribute any information on the development of tourism policy in the regions.
Point 12 � Union development projects
The document prepared by the Secretariat was presented and approved.
Item 13 � Child labour
After the document from the Secretariat was presented, Rey Rasing detailed the project conducted in the Philippines by NUWHRAIN, with support from the ILO. In the course of this survey, researchers met with 500 children. Specific cases were presented to the public to make them aware of child labour. Related material (brochures, posters, etc.) was placed in certain hotels. At least one employer announced a willingness to include the IUF model language in the CBA signed with NUWHRAIN. The union is striving to achieve the same result with six other hotels. In the second phase, the project will extend to four large cities near Manila. The NUWHRAIN survey, which led to the publication of a report and an education manual, was conducted for the most part in non-union hotels with non-salaried children engaged in prostitution.
Klaus Schr�ter expressed his pleasure with the progress made when employers condemned child labour at the April 2001 ILO tripartite meeting.
Hiroshi Sawada noted that his organisation is interested in preparing and participating in the conference on the sexual exploitation of children to be held in Yokohama at the end of 2001. The national centre Rengo is willing to support the work of his organisation on child labour
The document prepared by the Secretariat is approved with a call to organisations to increase the use of the IUF model agreement.
Item 14 � Relations with other organisations
Patrick Dalban Moreynas presented the document prepared by the Secretariat and highlighting the relations with the International Labour Organization, most notably with regards to the tripartite sectoral meetings, and with the World Tourism Organization.
LeVere Richards noted that in his region, trade unions and the regional secretariat have contacts with the Caribbean Tourism Organization, who�s Secretary General attended a regional meeting in January 2001. Relations have also been established with the Caribbean Hotel Association. The regional meeting scheduled for November, 2001 will help develop these relationships.
Kerstin Howald reported on the activities on TNCs active in transportation and tourism. In this context, the issue of �all-inclusive� hotels will be discussed. Europe/Mediterranean cooperation is another work avenue. A conference is in preparation.
Javier Siguero thought important that a number of affiliates be involved with the Secretariat in contacts with other organisations active in the tourism sector.
After a short introduction by Birgitta Kihlberg, Einar S�der introduced the International Hotel and Restaurant Association (IHRA), of which he has been President for a few months. The IHRA is comprised of national hotel and restaurant operators from over 150 countries. It runs program on respect for the environment, education/training, trend analysis, economic and social issues, regulations, and any other issue of interest to restaurant and hotel owners.
Responding to questions from Leena Rautavuori, Zeljko Herendic and Paul Abraas, Mr. S�der recognized that salaries are often insufficient to retain young, qualified employees in the sector and that collective bargaining is necessary, as is the development of career plans. He clearly stated that his organisation does not in any way condone union busting tactics, but also that he cannot speak on behalf of all companies and groups in IHRA.
In response to Klaus Schr�ter, he recognized that the IHRA does not currently cooperate with union organisations on education/training issues, adding that this question could be examined in the future.
The document is adopted.
Item 15 � Resolutions and statements
After the presentation of the resolution on Cuba by the Secretariat, LeVere Richards sought to explain the proposal: Cuba�s workers must be accepted in the IUF family. His organisation, BWU, has already established contacts with the hotel and restaurant workers federation. He believed it necessary to send a six-person study mission to Cuba and estimated the cost at USD 20,000.
Fernando Medina recalled that the IUF is built on the principles of freedom of association and affiliation and that it should take care not to encourage contacts with organisations that do not abide by these principles. Sending a mission to Cuba should in no way result in unconditional admission for Cuban organisations.
Napoleon Kpoh supported the draft resolution, considering as he does that all workers are faced with problems and should therefore be able to work together.
Javier Siguero believed it necessary to approach the issue of the relationship with Cuban organisations from a global, not sectoral, perspective. In any instances, he certainly believed that conditions should be spelled out in advance.
Claudio Treves supported the resolution, believing as he does that relationships should be established with all trade union organisations.
The Secretariat proposed the following amendments to the draft resolution:
Amend the first operational paragraph to state that the IUF will begin research to determine the necessity of establishing contacts (not relations) with Cuba�s organised labour;
Amend the second operational paragraph to state that the mission will be sent to Cuba to assess the situation in the HRCT sector (not to launch discussions with Cuba�s organised labour);
Amend the final paragraph to state that the mission will report to a future HRCT Trade Group meeting (not to the next HRCT Trade Group Board meeting, to be held in 2002).
The resolution was adopted as amended.
The draft resolution on the promotion of green tourism, which could be submitted to the 24th IUF Congress in May 2002, was adopted in principle. Affiliated organisations will be invited to complete it as required before it is submitted to the resolution committee of the Congress. In the next-to-last paragraph, the resolution encourages the development of lists of positive examples.
The amendments to the Trade Group Regulations were adopted as proposed by the Secretariat.
The document is adopted.
Item 16 � IUF Congress in May, 2002
The Conference took note of the document submitted by the Secretariat and adopted it without discussions.
Item 17 � Elections
The Conference elected the Trade Group Board.
Nicos Epistithiou, seeking re-election, was re-elected as President of the Trade Group Board, by acclamation. Birgitta Kihlberg was re-elected as 1st Vice President. The 2nd Vice Presidency will be held as follows:
From the June 2001 Conference until the Trade Group Board meeting in 2003, by Molly Burgess (BIU Bermudas) ;
From the Trade Group Board meeting in 2003 until the Trade Group Board meeting in 2004, jointly by Molly Burgess and Kunio Akiyama (Leisure Service Rengo Japan) ;
From the Trade Group Board meeting in 2003 until the Trade Group Conference in 2006, by Kunio Akiyama (Leisure Service Rengo Japan).
Point 18 � Future meetings
LeVere Richards proposed that the next Trade Group Board meeting be held in the Bahamas, on the invitation of affiliate BHCWU.
Mohamed Elal El Sharkawi noted the availability of his organisation to host an IUF meeting.
Point 19 � Other issues
Tomoji Misato (IUF affiliates coordination committee in Japan) insisted on the necessity to support the workers of Burma, of which thousands work in the hotel and restaurant industry in his country.
The President thanked Vice President Hiroshi Sawada for his many years in the service of the Trade Group and wished him many years of happy retirement. He also thanked all the colleagues of HRF Sweden who have, here in Malm� or in Stockholm, worked hard to make the Conference a practical success.
Hiroshi Sawada warmly thanked the President for his thoughtful words and felt thankful for having had the opportunity to work in such constructive manner with the other members of the Steering Committee as well as with all the Brothers and Sisters from HRCT unions over the years. He wished all continued success in fighting for the rights of the workers in the sector.
Nicos Epistithiou thanked participants for their confidence in having him chairing the Trade Group. He thanked the Vice Presidents for their support and the participants for their rich contribution. He closed the Conference by thanking the interpreters and the Secretariat.
The Sugar Worker, January 2002: News from the sugar sector.
27-Jan-2002The Sugar Worker
Information and Analysis for Unions in the Sugar Sector
Volume IV, Number 1
January 2002
Contents
� Mozambique: Mauritian Group Exports Under EU�s �Everything But Arms�
� Mexico: Corn Companies Against Tax on Fructose
� Brazil: Concentration in Alcohol and Sugar in the Centre-South
� Argentina: Financial Crisis Hits Sugar
� Thailand: Wang Kanai Group Plans Ethanol Plant
� European Union: Biofuels Promotion Strategy
� England: Organic Sugar Beet Crop Lost
� Canada: Rogers Sugar Merges With Lantic Sugar
� United States: Farmers Ready to Buy Michigan Sugar from Imperial
� Imperial Announces Worland Closure
� Company News
� France: Beet Growers Urged to Buy B�ghin Say
� Poland: Pfeifer und Langen Controversial Schemes
Mozambique: Mauritian Group Exports Under EU�s �Everything But Arms�
Mozambique became the first least developed country to benefit from the �Everything But Arms� trade initiative by the European Union, with reports that the Sena Sugar Estates (Marromeu mill) shipped raw sugar to a Portuguese refinery. Mozambique will receive an annual allocation of the EBA quota.
The process also shows some of the regional corporate links being built as the Mauritian Lagesse Group was in charge of Marromeu�s recovery program and has control of the mill. The mill produces 100,000 tonnes of sugar per year, with the possibility to increase production to 140,000 tonnes. In Mauritius, the Lagesse Group has interests in FUEL, which is to be merged with Mon Loisir. According to the Mauritian daily L�Express, FUEL will receive substantial investments and will produce 130,000 tonnes of sugar per year. The investments in Mauritius and in Mozambique, the Lagesse Group believes, give them a strong basis to build their own marketing channels and to consolidate business relations with sugar refineries, especially in the European Union.
Sugar production in Mozambique has experienced a sharp increase, and the country expects to reach some 248,000 tonnes in the 2001/02 harvest (May/April), compared to the previous year�s production of slightly over 100,000 tonnes of sugar. This is a direct result of a recovery program, which allowed the sugar estates in Mozambique, for the first time in almost thirty years, to be actually engaged in producing sugar. As well, tighter controls on imports are now in effect. Sugar imports must pay a tariff with reference to world prices; and sugar arriving without documentation is denied entry and a fine of 30 percent the import value is imposed on the importer.
Mexico: Corn Companies Against Tax on Fructose
Arancia Corn Products and Almidones Mexicanos (Almex), the only two companies producing corn sweeteners in the country, said they would start legal proceedings against the Mexican government, if the Congress does not modify the 20 per cent tax on drinks that use corn syrups introduced at the beginning of January. They would ask for a USD 650 million compensation payment, they added. In early January, Arancia said it had shut down its plant at Quer�taro del Rio.
The companies are subsidiaries of U.S.-based companies. Arancia is a subsidiary of Corn Products International, while Almex is a joint venture of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Tate & Lyle, with a plant in Guadalajara. Spokespersons for the companies said the tax discriminates against their industry, and that they might ask a NAFTA panel to look into the matter as the tax changed the conditions under which they had made their investments. They may also consider taking the case to the World Trade Organization (WTO) through the U.S. government. The U.S. Trade Representative also voiced strong concerns on the new tax, saying that, in three meetings held with Mexican ministers in January, he had �stressed the illegality and serious damage of (the) new protectionist Mexican tax.� He said the tax establishes a major obstacle to the settlement of the broader sweetener dispute, and the U.S. expects Mexico to quickly end the discriminatory treatment.
As a result of the new tax, local reports said, soft drink bottlers have begun the switch to sugar. One of them, Coca Cola-FEMSA, is reported using 100 per cent sugar (as compared to the previous 60-40 per cent in favour of corn sweeteners) as of 1 January 2002. Industrial users said that production costs of soft drinks using sugar as main input are usually 10 percent higher than corn syrups; and they predicted that the tax would push demand for sugar up, increasing domestic prices. Two weeks after the introduction of the tax, domestic sugar prices went up by about 8 percent.
The tax on fructose has also an impact on the corn trade. In calendar year 2000, Mexico imported about 1.76 million tonnes of yellow corn from the United States, for use in the local production of corn products, including sweeteners. Official sources do not report on the domestic production of corn sweeteners, says the Department of Agriculture of the U.S. (USDA), �and companies treat it as confidential information.� Industry analysts, however, estimate corn sweeteners production at 250,000-300,000 tonnes, which can displace between 230,000-250,000 tonnes of sugar.
Brazil: Concentration in Alcohol and Sugar in the Centre-South
A recent report by a commodity analysis group describes the rapid concentration in the alcohol and sugar Brazilian complex, especially in the Centre-South region, around Sao Paulo. Two major companies, Copersucar and Crystalsev, account for 30 percent of sugar production in the Centre-South, which translates into some 7 million tonnes of sugar per year. The Cooperativa dos Produtores de Cana, A��car e �lcool do Estado de S�o Paulo Ltda (Copersucar), with 88 members markets all their alcohol and sugar production, with estimated sales of USD 1 billion per year, 55 percent of it in alcohol. Copersucar produces over 3 million tonnes of sugar, from which it exports about 1.3 million tonnes. (Copersucar is probably the world�s largest sugar exporter.) The Crystalsev Group of companies, based in Riberao Preto (S�o Paulo), produces about 1.3 million tonnes of sugar.
In the alcohol sector of the Centre-South, four big companies: Copersucar, Bioagencia, Sociedade Corretora de Alcool (SCA) and the Central Paranaense de Alcool (CPA), control almost 60 percent of the regional production, about 7 billion litres per year. This trend to concentration is helped by the fuel-distribution systems in Brazil, where only a small number of companies operate. Additionally, it is said, companies are now more inclined to coordinate their sales, and almost all the alcohol sold domestically is marketed through some kind of syndicated structure, which offers advantages in reducing transportation costs, improving logistics, and strengthening the companies� bargaining power. For instance, the Cosan Group, reckoned as the country�s largest individual company in the sugar-alcohol sector, relies on SCA for the distribution of its alcohol production. (Cosan has majority control in 10 sugar-alcohol companies in Sao Paulo, and in the recent harvest processed 14.8 million tonnes of cane.)
In some alcohol-related news, it was reported that Cosan, Crystalsev and Copersucar, are planning to set up a company in the Caribbean to facilitate exports to the United States, as some countries can export anhydrous alcohol duty-free under the Caribbean Basin Initiative. Brazilian industry sources said that the minister of agriculture was to visit the Dominican Republic to negotiate such proposal with a Dominican distillery. In 1999/2000 Brazilian exports to the Caribbean were 1.3 million hectolitres, or 30 percent of the total exports for that year.
Argentina: Financial Crisis Hits Sugar
Argentinean sugar producers are facing financial problems after of the peso devaluation and the restrictions introduced in the country�s financial system. When the government decided to end the 1:1 parity between the Argentinean peso and the U.S. dollar, with an effective devaluation of 40 percent, sugar producers were not included in the sectors benefiting by the pesificaci�n, which allows to pay in local currency credits contracted in U.S. dollars.
The situation grew complicated because Argentinean producers use a warrant system that gives them access to loans, with sugar as collateral, which they have to pay back. Sources in the northwestern province of Tucum�n, where most of the country�s sugar is produced, said producers have some 235,000 tonnes of sugar under warrants, which they are unable to repay. On 23 January, a meeting between Tucum�n sugar producer representatives, and the Caja Popular de Ahorros, the state-run Banco Naci�n, and BICE, the bank for investment and foreign trade, discussed the establishing of lines of credits for the growers to pay for and recover the warranted sugar.
In early January, there were reports that domestic prices have increased from USD 31 cents per kilogram of sugar, price at the gate, to USD 40 cents; some groups said this reflected the new financial environment. President Duhalde, however, warned the industry that restrictions on imports on Brazilian sugar would be lifted, if prices were not under control.
The 2001/02 harvest in Tucum�n, which ended in mid November, reached 860,000 tonnes of sugar, some 30,000 tonnes lower than in the previous year. Industry sources said that the shortfall in Tucum�n was offset by the increase in the Jujuy province, where the Ledesma mill reached 334,000 tonnes of sugar, compared to 290,000 tonnes in the previous year.
Thailand: Wang Kanai Group Plans Ethanol Plant
Wang Kanai, the largest sugar group in the country, plans to invest USD 20.4 million (TBH 900 million) in an ethanol plant and increasing production of paper pulp. The Group will apply for a licence to produce fuel ethanol for cars and submit plans to the National Ethanol Development Committee.
The ethanol plant will process molasses from the Group�s sugar mills, which ensures the supply of raw material, and will have a production capacity of 160,000 litres of alcohol per day. It will be built next to the Group�s sugar mill in the Northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima (36,000 tdc), with an investment of USD 18 million, half of which would be financed by credits. The Wang Kanai Group owns four sugar mills (three in the Central region, one in the Northeast) with a combined total crushing capacity of 87,000 tonnes of cane per day (tdc). The Group also plans to expand the tissue-paper production in 2002, with improvements at the Wang TN Paper Mill.
In related news, a report by the Bangkok Post of 16 January says Wang Kanai has invested THB 11 million (USD 250,000) in setting up an information technology centre to increase productivity and efficiency. The centre will have a global position system (GPS) and a geographic information system (GIS), while the information will be fed into a database.
According to the group, the systems will collect reliable information on the cane grown by 50,000 independent farmers in some 60,000 hectares, with whom the company has supplying contracts. The Group will have a better knowledge of the type of soils and would be able to analyse some areas for possible expansion. The Group says that information will be passed onto the farmers to help them to improve agricultural yields. Also important for the Group, is the possibility to reduce the number of farmers who contract a loan to grow cane, but devote the resources to other ends. The GPS, it said, will improve the management of cane transportation, as the system can record the position of each truck as it travels from the fields to the factory.
European Union: Biofuels Promotion Strategy
On 7 November 2001 the European Union unveiled a strategy to promote the use of biofuels and other substitute fuels to reach a 20 percent of the total fuel consumption by year 2020, the so-called 20-20 target. The program includes the proposal that an increasing proportion of all fuels sold in the EU come from renewable sources, and also to allow members to apply a tax structure in favour of biofuels.
According to this plan, EU countries will introduce the necessary legislation to ensure that, by 2005, at least 2 percent of all the transport fuel sold is biofuels. Such proportion will increase by 0.75 percent per year to reach a 5 percent share by 2009. Before January 2007, the Commission will determine if a blending of biofuels in petrol and diesel becomes mandatory.
After the announcement of the EU�s biolfuels strategy, the French Cristal Union unveiled its �Cristanol� project, which includes the construction of a large distillery in Bazancourt, Marne, with a capacity to produce 2 million hectoliters (hl) a year. The distillery will process sugar and wheat, from 12,000 hectares of sugar beet and 55,000 hectares of wheat. Cristal Union also said that it would increase production at its Areis-sur-Aube distillery from 850,000 hl to 1 million hl per year by 2002/03.
In early 2001, the Union des Sucri�res et Distilleries Agricoles (Union SDA) said it plans to build a new ethanol plant in Origny, in northern France, to produce 2 million hl per year. A bioethanol program has been in place in France since the 1990s. There are 20 plants producing alcohol from sugar beet, molasses, and cereals; and another plant (the 21st) produces synthetic alcohol.
England: Organic Sugar Beet Crop Lost
The first attempt to produce organic sugar from domestic organic sugar beet failed at the British Sugar�s Newark factory in Nottinghamshire. Ten thousand tonnes of organic sugar beet, grown by 28 farmers on 330 hectares in the Norfolk area, had been delivered and processed at the end of November; and the �thick juice� stored to be refined at the end of the summer. However, British Sugar discovered that, due to a valve failure, syrups of conventional sugar had leaked into the silo where the organic beet juice was kept, making it impossible to manufacture organic sugar. The organic juice will be refined and marketed as conventional sugar. The organic beet crop was valued at GBP 750,000 (USD 1.06 million).
Although the accident is a setback to British Sugar plans, the company said that it will continue with its program to manufacture organic sugar from domestic organic beets, and, following its original plans, has contracted with farmers the delivery of 20,000 tonnes of organic beet in the 2002/03 season. British Sugar will continue importing organic sugar to supply the domestic market. British Sugar processes some 8 million tonnes of beet, grown by 8,400 farmers, and it has a quota of 1.139 million tonnes of sugar in the European Union.
Canada: Rogers Sugar Merges With Lantic Sugar
Two of the three Canadian sugar companies, Rogers Sugar and Lantic Sugar Limited, will merge as a result of an agreement by Lantic shareholders to exchange all their common shares for units of the Roger Sugar Income Fund, owner of Roger Sugars. The transaction involves no cash distribution to Lantic shareholders. As part of the operation, Rogers Sugar plans to raise USD 31 million through the issue of new units, a 10 percent of which Lantic shareholder agreed to purchase. The operation is conditional on the approval by the unit holders of Rogers, securing financing through the new units issued, and obtaining the applicable regulatory approvals. It is expected to be completed in March 2002.
With the merger, the Canadian sugar market of 1.2 million tonnes (with 90 percent of imported sugar) will hold only two companies. Rogers Sugar virtually dominates western Canada, and the merger will give it access to a substantial portion of central and eastern Canada, where Redpath, a subsidiary of Tate & Lyle, also operates.
Roger Sugars has a cane sugar refinery in Vancouver (British Columbia), with a production capacity of up to 150,000 tonnes of sugar per year, and a beet processing plant in Taber (Alberta), which produces over 100,000 tonnes of sugar from beets grown by about 400 farmers. Lantic Sugar has a large cane sugar refinery in Montreal (Quebec), after consolidating operations with the closing of its Saint John (New Brunswick) refinery in mid 2000. Onex Corporation is the single largest shareholder of Lantic Sugar, with a 61 percent share, and would receive Rogers Sugar units with a market value of USD 58.9 million. Onex is a conglomerate with interests the service, manufacturing and technology sectors, and the fourth largest company in Canada.
United States: Farmers Ready to Buy Michigan Sugar from Imperial
Working with a 12 February deadline, immediately after finishing the 2001 crop, the Michigan Sugar Beet Growers Cooperative expects to close the acquisition of the four plants owned by Michigan Sugar, a subsidiary of Imperial Sugar. Negotiations have been going for about two years, and were slowed down by the filing for bankruptcy protection by Imperial in January 2001, and the process of signing up farmers as members of the new cooperative. More than 1,000 farmers paid USD 200 per acre to become members of the cooperative, which is closely related to the Great Lakes Sugar Beet Growers Association. The selling price of USD 63 million was agreed last October, with USD 25 million up front and the balance payable in 13 years.
A member of the interim board of the cooperative said the new company would benefit from a better control on the acreage contracted, and the supply of beet to the factory that in recent years has gone �up and down.� He also said that farmers would benefit from tax exemptions that Imperial did not receive, and the business should be profitable, especially once the plants are paid for. The four plants have a combined daily slicing capacity of 16,000 tonnes of beet, and are located in Caro, Carrollton, Croswell and Sebewaing. Also included in the deal is a storage and packaging plant in Freemont, Ohio. Workers in the four factories are organized by the Bakery and Grain Millers Union.
After completing the deal, the source said, close to 90 percent of the U.S. beet production and processing will be under the control of growers. (The Rocky Mountain Sugar Growers, a new farmer cooperative, is near to acquire the seven beet plants of Western Sugar, a subsidiary of Tate & Lyle.)
Imperial Announces Worland Closure
Imperial Sugar announced it would close the Worland sugar beet plant sometime in the second half of March, even though beet farmers hope to finalize the acquisition of the plant before 1 March. Imperial and the farmers seemed to have completed the negotiations, but a question arose recently about payments of employee benefits, which the company wants the farmers to assume when buying the factory. No detailed information on costs related to employee benefits was available. The beet farmers, organized in the Washakie Beet Growers Association, are confident that they will close the deal and will set up a new company, the Wyoming Sugar Company. They expect to contract close to 23,000 acres of sugar beet to supply the factory. Holly Sugar, a subsidiary of Imperial, owns the Worland factory; and workers are organized by the Bakery & Grain Millers Union.
Company News
France: Beet Growers Urged to Buy B�ghin Say
The Conf�d�ration G�n�ral des Betteraviers (CGB), which organizes the French beet farmers, has submitted a plan to acquire the nine factories B�ghin Say owns in France, with the participation of Credit Agricole, which would prevent the German S�dzucker from acquiring a major position in the country, says a Dow Jones report of 21 January 2002.
According to the report, S�dzucker has plans to buy some of the factories in partnership with the cooperative Cristal Union and the Sucreries Distilleries des Hauts de France (SDHF). A spokesperson for the farmers said that, if successful, S�dzucker could control about 63 percent of the entire European sugar production quota.
Another sugar company, Union SDA, is also reported as interested in acquiring B�ghin Say. On one operation, Union SDA would enter into a partnership with the beet growers to buy five of the nine factories, with an estimated value of USD 440 million. The company would invest some USD 240 million, and the balance would be raised by the 8,000 farmers who supply the five factories (Escaudoeuvres, Boiry, Chevri�res, Villenoy and Connantre). The factories have a total combined slicing capacity of 75,000 tonnes of beets per day.
Union SDA also said it has been on separate talks with Cristal Union and SDHF about acquiring the other four factories.
On the overseas front, Union SDA is interested in acquiring B�ghin Say�s interests in Brazil, in Reunion island and Hungary. If successful, the new Union SDA-B�ghin Say group could produce close to 1 million tonnes of sugar in Brazil and 200,000 tonnes in Reunion. In some Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs), the process would have larger implications: B�ghin Say controls about 40 percent of the Hungarian sugar market, while Union SDA has a similar proportion of the markets in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. These three countries are included in the first batch of CEECs scheduled to access the European Union, and the new group could produce some 400,000 tonnes of sugar there.
Poland: Pfeifer und Langen Controversial Schemes
A report by the Polish News Bulletin of 8 January says that the German Pfeifer und Langen is proposing controversial changes to a privatisation deal concluded in July 2001, where Pfeifer agreed not to file for bankruptcy or for debt reduction. Few months later after purchasing the Cukrownia Gniezno (2,600 tdc), however, the German sugar company made an offer to its creditors, proposing a 40 percent of debt reduction, and to pay the remaining 60 percent in 12 instalments over 6 years, with no interest. Another Pfeifer subsidiary, the Cukrownia i Rafineria Witaszyce (3,100 tdc), is reported to have made a similar proposal to its creditors. The source also says that the company appears to be modifying the benefits package agreed with workers and unions in some of its Polish subsidiaries. [<<] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 ... [>>]