As part of this year’s International Labour Conference, which the first discussion in 20 years on rural employment issues, the ILO on June 11 convened a “High-Level Panel on the Food Crisis, Production, Investment and Decent Work”. Pakalitha B. Mosisili, the Prime Mnister of Lesotho; Phil O’Reilly, Chief Executive, Business New Zealand, speaking for the Employers; IUF General Secretary Ron Oswald, speaking for the Workers Group: Lennart Båge, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development; and ILO Director-General Juan Somavia took part in the discussion.
Oswald began by noting the failure of the recent FAO High Level Conference on World Food Security to address the fundamental nature of the crisis, because the Conference limited their analysis to the rapid escalation in food prices over the past three years. “Yet this is only one manifestation of a persistent, longer-term crisis in which the right to adequate food is denied to more than 800 million people, including those who work in agriculture”, Oswald told the ILO.
James Ritchie, National Secretary, New Zealand Dairy Workers Union
After 20 years of policy neglect at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), agriculture has re-emerged for discussion and policy development. Given the present crisis in world food prices and the ongoing crisis of employment and lack of rights for agriculture workers, concrete actions from the ILO are imperative.
At the 2008 International Labour Conference (ILC) the Committee on Promotion of Rural Employment for Poverty Reduction is the location for key policy development on agriculture. James Ritchie, National Secretary of the IUF-affiliated New Zealand Dairy Workers Union, was chosen as Chair of the Workers’ Group of the Committee. Following is Brother Ritchie’s opening speech to the full Committee on 28 May 2008. (The Committee report prepared by the ILO is available here).
On 1st May 2008, the IUF sought to publish an open letter to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Labour in the newspapers of Pakistan concerning the on-going denial of trade union rights at the Karachi Pearl Continental (PC) Hotel. The Karachi PC Hotel is part of a chain of six luxury hotels across Pakistan owned by Sadruddin Hashwani, one of the country’s richest individuals, who, via the Hashoo Group conglomerate, controls investments in hotels, pharmaceuticals, cotton trading, mining, property development and manufacturing. The IUF sought to have the open letter published as a paid advertisement - all the newspapers approached by the IUF refused. No reasons were given for the refusal. The IUF sought legal advice before approaching the newspapers on the content of the letter and it was deemed fit for publication. Despite the refusal, the letter was delivered to representatives of the Government of Pakistan on 1st May and at the same time a message from the IUF regarding the open letter was delivered live on national television. The letter in full follows.
Below is a press release from the Hotel Employees Federation of India (HEFOI) on the bombing in Jaipur, Rajasthan, on 13 May 2008, where more than 80 people were killed. HEFOI is India’s first national federation representing hotel, restaurant, catering and tourism workers.
The Hotel Employees Federation of India (HEFOI) unequivocally condemns the senseless, barbaric bombing in Jaipur on May 13, 2008, which killed more than 80 people and injured over 150. There can be no justification under any circumstances for such an outrageous attack. HEFOI offers heartfelt condolences to bereaved family members and sympathy to all affected.
Pearl Continental Hotel Workers Campaign Torch Rally in front of Karachi Pearl Continental Hotel, 30 April 2008. The banner reads: Red Salute to Chicago May Day Martyrs - Restore Collective Bargaining Rights to the PC Hotel Workers.
On April 30, 2008, trade union members and dismissed workers from the Karachi Pearl Continental Hotel held their seventh annual torch rally to highlight their ongoing campaign for trade union rights, a collective agreement and reinstatement of dismissed workers. Also participating in the rally were workers’ family members, other unions from Karachi, a minister of the Sindh provincial government and IUF representatives from Pakistan and the Asia/Pacific regional secretariat. On May Day in Karachi, the IUF delivered a message and open letter to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Labour regarding the Pearl Continental Hotel Campaign. The message, delivered at the People’s Labour Bureau May Day rally, was broadcast live on two national television stations across Pakistan. Videos of these two events are below. Continued…
Children of current and retrenched PC workers performing the play String of Pearls.
As part of the ongoing campaign for trade union rights at the Karachi Pearl Continental (PC) Hotel, the IUF-affiliated Pakistan Hotel Workers’ Federation decided to conduct a children’s theatre workshop. The children participating in the workshop were in fact the children of current and retrenched workers of the PC hotel. For the interests of readers we print below a story published in The News (an English-language newspaper from Pakistan).
Ghulam Mehboob, General Secretary, Pakistan Hotel Workers Federation, 30 April 2008, Karachi
On April 30, dismissed workers and trade union members from the Pearl Continental (PC) Hotel Karachi gathered for their seventh torch rally, held as a prelude to May Day. The Karachi PC campaign has become the most well-known industrial dispute in Pakistan, with workers struggling for seven years for union recognition and the reinstatement of dismissed trade union officers and workers. Despite intense anti-union actions (which has included harassment, false imprisonment and intimidation) workers inside the hotel have remained loyal to the union. Continued…
For 12 months, the IUF-affiliated Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) has been in negotiations with Unilever for a new collective agreement at the Street’s Ice Cream factory on the outskirts of Sydney. The previous agreement reached between the AMWU and Unilever was built around the union’s strategy of ensuring job-security and permanent employment. At the factory, agreement had been reached on keeping contract labour companies out of the facility and ensuring that work was performed by directly hired employees.
Above is the first in a five part presentation on the threats posed by genetically engineered rice to the health and safety of agricultural workers. The presentation was made Hidayat Greenfield of the International Union of Foodworkers (IUF) at the IUF Asia/Pacific regional seminar for agriculture and plantation trade unions held in Kathmandu, Nepal on 17-18 February 2008. The subsequent four parts follow below. Continued…
The IUF-affiliated Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU), which represents hotel workers in Australia, has launched a major campaign to improve conditions of workers in the luxury segment of the industry. Highlights from the union’s campaign launch appear in the video above. Continued…
On 1st May 2008, the IUF sought to publish an open letter to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Labour in the newspapers of Pakistan concerning the on-going denial of trade union rights at the Karachi Pearl Continental (PC) Hotel. The Karachi PC Hotel is part of a chain of six luxury hotels across Pakistan owned by Sadruddin Hashwani, one of the country’s richest individuals, who, via the Hashoo Group conglomerate, controls investments in hotels, pharmaceuticals, cotton trading, mining, property development and manufacturing. The IUF sought to have the open letter published as a paid advertisement - all the newspapers approached by the IUF refused. No reasons were given for the refusal. The IUF sought legal advice before approaching the newspapers on the content of the letter and it was deemed fit for publication. Despite the refusal, the letter was delivered to representatives of the Government of Pakistan on 1st May and at the same time a message from the IUF regarding the open letter was delivered live on national television. The letter in full follows. 
Below is a press release from the Hotel Employees Federation of India (HEFOI) on the bombing in Jaipur, Rajasthan, on 13 May 2008, where more than 80 people were killed. HEFOI is India’s first national federation representing hotel, restaurant, catering and tourism workers. 
For 12 months, the IUF-affiliated Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) has been in negotiations with Unilever for a new collective agreement at the Street’s Ice Cream factory on the outskirts of Sydney. The previous agreement reached between the AMWU and Unilever was built around the union’s strategy of ensuring job-security and permanent employment. At the factory, agreement had been reached on keeping contract labour companies out of the facility and ensuring that work was performed by directly hired employees.
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