Solidarity, Spring 2010

Solidarity

Issue Three, Spring 2010 Contents

Photo credit: Meena Kadri

Workers in New Zealand helping workers overseas

Page 1 Minister asked to look closer Skills Training for migrant workers Page 2 Faceless factories mask illegal practices Film screenings a hit Dark age conditions The Newsletter of the Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust

Minister asked to Skills training for look closer migrant workers

“I hope a discussion with the Minister will persuade him of the huge benefit our projects bring to some of the most vulnerable groups of people in our region”.

UnionAID Executive Chair Ross Wilson was responding to Minister McCully’s comments that “too many programmes are focused on trade union rights in obscure parts of the world”.

The Minister was announcing the replacement of the community-development focussed NZAid KOHA funding scheme with the economic development focussed Sustainable Development Fund. The new scheme also requires that 75% of the $22 million fund is spent on Pacific projects.

UnionAID provided a detailed submission detailing our case that these projects have enabled very vulnerable groups of workers an opportunity to undertake effective democratic collective activity which has, particularly with the South India project, transformed the lives of their families and communities.

At a subsequent meeting Minister McCully assured UnionAID Trustees that there is no inherent prejudice against UnionAID and that he recognises the value of all communities, including unions, being involved in aid projects.

Time will tell.

The UnionAID project in Mae Sot is planning to establish an occupational training centre for Burmese migrant workers over the next year, with the first workshop/classroom being built over the next few months.

Our local project leader, Min Lwin, has recently reported that there is an urgent need for skills training as young Burmese women continue to

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stream across the border into this Thai border town. He is concerned that, unless these young women get the skills for employment in local factories, their desperate situation can lead them into prostitution or being trafficked to other Asian cities.

Human Rights Watch in a recent report highlighted how vulnerable undocumented

Page 3 Workers’ co-operatives: building a brighter economic future Burmese migrant workers in Thailand Page 4 Comment Hot off the press

migrant workers are to deception by labour brokers who forcibly deliver them to exploitative factories, commercial sex establishments, fishing and domestic service.

But the training centre provides these young women with alternatives. Industrial sewing and knitting machines have already been purchased and a larger phase 2 development will enable the centre to provide skills training to 350 trainees per year.

Phase 2 is dependent upon a grant from the new NZ Aid Sustainable Development Fund.

You can help vulnerable workers in developing countries in our region get a fairer deal by making a small monthly donation by direct debit by emailing unionaid@nzctu.org.nz with your contact details. We will then contact you and make the arrangements.

Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust is a registered charity - Reg. No.CC42051

Faceless factories mask illegal practices It may seem strange, but young Burmese migrant workers on the Thai-Burma border often don’t know the names of the Thai factories where they work. The failure to have signs and names on their factories is often a deliberate ploy by the owners of small factories in Mae Sot. These employers are not always operating with permission from the authorities, and it suits them to create this confusion.

The UnionAID project in Mae Sot is working to lift this veil.

Factory invisibility makes it difficult for unions to identify and organise workers, and ensure labour laws are met. In addition, when there is pressure for better wages and conditions, or a downturn in product demand, it is easy to close down the factories. Owners then avoid their legal obligations to workers such as providing severance pay, or overtime payments. And then what happens is that, sooner or later, the factory reopens with a new name and often a new location.

Your contributions to UnionAID help the Federation of Trade Unions Burma (FTUB) in Mae Sot educate and organise these migrants to improve their working conditions and provide some security.

The union is also establishing a database of every factory so that they can not only inform workers of their rights, but can use this information to seek legal redress for workers who are laid off when factories close.

Dark age conditions

Photo credit: Meena Kadri

Film screenings a hit Nearly 1000 New Zealanders now have a better understanding of the situation in Burma after attending the fund-raising screenings of Breaking the Silence in Wellington, Auckland, Dunedin and Nelson.

Thanks to the enthusiasm of the MultiCultural Centre who sold tickets for us in Nelson, we had a packed house there, and had to turn people away. Over $12,000 has been raised for the two UnionAID projects.

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FTUB Project training workshop in Mae Sot

Although a legal Burmese migrant worker in Thailand is covered by all aspects of Thai labour laws, in practice, they are rarely enforced. Factory work normally starts at 8am and finishes at 9pm, seldom with overtime pay. Most migrants work 7 days a week with 1 day off a month if they are lucky. Sometimes factories run all night if there are orders to fill.

The legal daily minimum rate of pay is 137 Baht ($NZ6), but this is rarely met.

A 2004 investigation found that only one factory out of 200 in Mae Sot paid the legal minimum wage to Burmese employees and deductions from pay are often made for food and lodging (if provided), safety gear, and even any

mistakes made in work. Many migrants have loan repayments for registration and migrant worker cards. For those who have to send money back to families in Burma there is often little or nothing left in their paypacket.

Although education on labour rights is an important part of the project work, a very strategic approach to implementing those rights has to be taken. A key part of the UnionAID project strategy is to work closely with the local legal aid office and the Thai Labour officials to enforce labour standards against bad employers.

You can help vulnerable workers in developing countries in our region get a fairer deal by making a small monthly donation by direct debit by emailing unionaid@nzctu.org.nz with your contact details. We will then contact you and make the arrangements.

Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust is a registered charity - Reg. No.CC42051

Workers’ co-operatives: building a brighter economic future Encouraging economic development and the independence of workers through co-operatives is an important strategy for the Tamil Nadu Labour Union (TNLU).

Credit unions encourage members to save for the establishment of small businesses, providing low interest loans. Other co-operatives focus on the production and marketing of local products, such as the Madurai Women’s Handloom Weavers Co-operative, while the Labour Contract Co-operatives have enabled the quarry workers to tender directly for government and other contracts. In this way a greater proportion of the financial gains are captured for the workers themselves.

But the TNLU has not limited itself to the more familiar worker co-operatives such as credit unions and production co-operatives. In keeping with its

inclusive way of operating, the union has set up housing cooperatives for women, and also cooperatives for particularly marginalised groups, who for various reasons may be excluded from other sources of support.

The Women’s Housing Co-operatives aim not only to provide assets but also to give security to women through home ownership or rental housing in the woman’s name.

In a country where women have few rights traditionally this is a significant improvement in status. The first of the Special Purpose Co-operatives was established for hijra, or transgender, women who are extremely vulnerable to exploitation.

The TNLU project leaders, Manohari and Edward Doss, must be congratulated for all that they achieve for their members and the union’s sister organisation, the Women’s Development Resource Centre.

Burmese migrant workers in Thailand

The oppression of people in Burma, as well as economic hardship, has caused a major migration of people to surrounding countries, particularly along the Thai border. It is estimated that there are more than 2 million Burmese refugees and migrant workers in Thailand.

Migrant workers are effectively bonded to their employers and at risk of rights violations from government authorities. In many cases police, military, immigration officers, and other government officials, threaten, physically harm and extort migrant workers with impunity. They are also especially vulnerable to abusive employers and common crime.

A 2007 ILO report recommended training for “worker-leaders”, focusing on rights under Thai labour law and under ILO conventions. That is exactly what the UnionAID project has been doing.

Further information: Human Rights Watch. 2010. From the tiger to the crocodile: Abuse of migrant workers in Thailand.

New York: Human Rights Watch.

Robinson, P. 2006. The Mekong challenge: Working day and night: The plight of migrant child workers in Mae Sot, Thailand. Bangkok: International Labour Organisation.

UnionAID evaluation workshop in Madurai

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You can help vulnerable workers in developing countries in our region get a fairer deal by making a small monthly donation by direct debit by emailing unionaid@nzctu.org.nz with your contact details. We will then contact you and make the arrangements.

Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust is a registered charity - Reg. No.CC42051

It has been a busy year and one of solid progress for UnionAID as we work to establish ourselves as a credible organisation.

For a number of reasons there is a public scepticism about charities and aid organisations, not helped by bad publicity, such as the recent ‘double dipping” fraud case against an ex- cabinet Minister.

UnionAID is not immune to that scepticism but we have had a very successful year with growing financial support from unions and union members.

As the articles in this issue mention some uncertainty over future NZ Aid funding for our projects has been raised by the abolition of the KOHA co-funding scheme, which has provided $4 to $1 co-funding for our Tamil Nadu and Mae Sot projects.

KOHA has been replaced by the new Sustainable Development Fund which has a narrow economic development criteria for funding. While this is a worthy objective and may be appropriate in many situations, it will mean the withdrawal of funding from many effective communitydevelopment projects, particularly in Asia.

The Government requirement is that 75% of the Sustainable Development Fund be spent in the Pacific.

So we have some big challenges ahead.

We can feel confident that we have an effective project model. We have excellent project partners. We have a growing understanding of our work among union members and, with the completion of our education kit, we will be extending our education work.

And we should always be mindful that: • International solidarity is a key union value • We are helping struggling working families • Reducing exploitative conditions contributes to fairer trade.

• We are helping workers exercise their basic human rights.

Hot off the Press What’s the story about international development work? Does giving money to groups working in poor countries do good or harm? Why should we care about workers overseas?

UnionAID has produced an education kit with activities for small groups, workshops and conferences. Aimed specifically at New Zealand trade unionists, it provides material to provoke thoughtful discussion about some of the issues around social justice, aid and development. Funded by NZAid through Global Education Fund.

Kits available now. Contact Ross Wilson on 043848541 or 0274468767 if you want to know more or get a kit for your union

Ross Wilson Executive Chair UnionAID

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An education kit about international workers’ rights and development

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UnionAID P O Box 6689, Wellington or email the details above to: unionaid@nzctu.org.nz

You can help vulnerable workers in developing countries in our region get a fairer deal by making a small monthly donation by direct debit by emailing unionaid@nzctu.org.nz with your contact details. We will then contact you and make the arrangements.

Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust is a registered charity - Reg. No.CC42051