Forced Labour: Best Practices

On 18 October 2011, the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, called on governments to intensify the fight against modern-day slavery and prioritise victims’ rights on the occasion of the EU Anti-Trafficking Day. “Human trafficking has no place in a civilised society. And yet trafficking is growing and has become a regular component of certain areas of the labour market, and a huge business for organised crime.” She stressed that governments should co-operate with NGOs and trade unions to support trafficked persons in recovery and social inclusion. The private sector should take responsibility to clean their supply chain and finally the international community should step up co-operation, especially in the field of prevention.

Source: OSCE website

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In the midst of this positive reversal, the ICEM, however, took deep exception to remarks made last week by the Georgian business ombudsman, George Pertaia. On 6 October, Pertaia said the September strike by workers was manipulated and instigated by ICEM affiliate Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers’ Trade Union “to justify its existence.” Pertaia said that workers at Hercules have individual contracts and had no right to strike. “If the contract is signed, and you have already agreed with certain conditions, then you have no right to refuse those conditions,” he said.

The ICEM reminds Pertaia that global labour standards do exist, including the right to join a union and to bargain collectively. Considering that Euroasian Steels, or Hercules, has no wage schedule in place, no health and safety plan, it pays no overtime, and workers are forced to work mandatory and long work days, industrial action was justified.

The ICEM also invites Mr. Pertaia to examine the working conditions of 130 Indian workers employed at Hercules. They live eight to a room in a dormitory adjacent to the mill, their passports were being head by the managing director, Raji Kumar Sureika, their salaries are sent back to India, and they are given a miniscule stipend to support themselves off the job.

In fact, it is believed that the managing director was sacked and is under police investigation because of treatment of the Indian workers.

On 18 September, three strike leaders – Emilo Gumberidze, Irakli Iobidze, and Malkhaz Gogiava – were rounded up and jailed by police on bogus charges. They were given ten day jail sentences.

Upon release from the Kutaisi jail on 28 September, the three immediately called Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Workers’ Union President Tamazi Dolaberidze and pledged their continued support to the union. On 30 September, the new acting managing director of Hercules personally called each of the three to offer them their jobs back. The reversal gave Hercules metalworkers renewed momentum following the strike’s crushing and that registered both with Georgian workers and with Indian workers.

Several points of global and internal civil pressure caused deep embarrassment to the Georgian government. There was high-level diplomatic pressure involved, especially after an international delegation that included the ICEM and top leaders from Poland’s Solidarnoşç union exposed the fact that the Indian workers at Hercules might just be treated worse than Georgian workers.

The strike last month by 200 Hercules metalworkers was sparked after the Metallurgical, Mining, Chemical Union gained written support from a majority of the Georgian workers and then requested labour-management dialogue. After several weeks, the request was ignored and the strike started, including hunger strikes by four workers in front of the mill.

Cross posted from ICEM website.

The Georgian-Indian joint venture employs about 250 Georgian workers and 120 Indian workers. Although Georgian workers have organised, management has refused any form of dialogue and instead fired union activists. A strike in reaction to these violations was countered by police intervention and arrests. ITUC and ICEM have sent out letters of protest and are working to ensure that the rights of all workers are fully respected. In addition to this serious violation of the right to freedom of association and to organise and bargain collectively, Tamazi Dolaberidze, the President of the Metal, Chemical and Mining Industry Workers Trade Union reported appalling working and living conditions of the Indian workers in the plant including some indications that point to forced labour and human trafficking. All passports of the Indian workers were retained, the Indian workers were told not to interact with their Georgian co-workers and the largest part of their salary was directly transferred to a bank in India leaving them with a subsistence allowance of 100 GEL (60 USD) to survive in Georgia. Workers who no longer accepted the working conditions were refused their passport to return to India. Indian workers are kept in a building on the premises and are monitored by the plant’s security service round the clock. The GTUC has made a public statement about the case and has requested the Prosecutor General to investigate the possible signs of trafficking amid further abuse of the Indian workers.

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