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Column for The Jamaica Observer for Friday, January 23, 1998 Utterances by Leahcim Semaj UNIONS 1998: EVOLUTION OR EXTINCTION Pearnel Charles shouted "wolf, wolf" and both The Gleaner and The Observer bought it. On Monday of this week, The Gleaner headline read 'Workers Still Jobless'. The Observer carried the story on page 3. All because Pearnel Charles provided a release stating that the 225 Grand Lido workers who had lost their jobs almost three years ago were still without work. He said that they had not been able to find work because Grand Lido was unwilling to give them recommendations. I contacted SuperClubs Resorts' Zein Issa to inquire about the practice, she told me that this was not the case. Later that day, she called to share this information -on calling the majority of those 225 workers, she was informed that most of them had long since found jobs and were currently employed. Could the newspapers not have checked Mr. Charles' story? In my experience, the SuperClubs officials have never shied away from responding to the inquiries from the media. Mr. Charles, if you continue to do what you have always done, you will only end up right where you are. I do believe that Pearnel Charles' approach to politics and worker representation represents the kind of stagnation that our union movement desperately needs to move away from. If Mr. Charles and the Jamaican union movement do not read the signs, they run the risk of becoming extinct. UNITED STATES MODEL There were some interesting developments in union activities in America in 1997. General Motors had a major strike; the issues surrounded job security. Workers were responding to outsourcing, downsizing, automation and global competition. Chrysler had 1,800 workers out on strike. Over 20,000 workers were affected in the USA, Canada and Mexico because the entire line was affected. The grouses were outsourcing and the loss of union jobs. In both cases, concessions to the union to providing them with some guarantees for their future resulted in resolution. UPS experienced its first nation-wide strike in the 90-year history of the organization. 185,000 Teamsters, of a workforce of 302,000 went on strike on August 4, the issues were increased pay, more full-time jobs, an end to subcontracting and better safety and health provisions. UPS offered an increase in hourly wages, a profit sharing plan and a withdrawal from the union's pension and health fund. The workers were offered that 10,000 part- time jobs would be converted to full-time, at double the previous hourly rate. The union maintained control of the pension fund. The most significant aspect of the settlement however was that instead of the usual three-year contract, the settlement involved a five-year contract with a 15% increase in wages extended over five years. The union has committed their members to the present level of inflation projected over the next five years. This represents an unprecedented prospect of stability for UPS. The settlement of the Bay Area Rapid Transit strike involved a similar settlement, four years instead of the usual two, at the projected rate of inflation. In these and other situations, we saw re-adjustment in the US labour movement, indexing the future and addressing themselves to the New Work Order. THE GERMAN EXPERIENCE Germany also manifested some interesting developments over the last two years. With the highest wages in the world, they were in for some serious contractions. Unemployment peaked at over 11% last year, one in every 9 persons was unemployed. Since 1990 the cost of labour had risen by 22% in contrast to the United States where the cost of labour had gone down by 10%. Germany's big unions had historically forced companies to accept a "pattern" contract. This meant was that the agreement negotiated with the thriving carmakers in the south, had to be accepted by the ailing steel makers in the north. The result was that many German firms were in trouble. By the middle of 1997, unemployment peaked as jobs continued to flee the country. Workers and their unions now had to compromise. What began as a trickle of reform at some mid-sized companies in the eastern states, quickly spread to Germany's biggest companies. Unions agreed to lower wages and higher productivity. At Volkswagen, the IG Metal union agreed to a two-tiered wage system. Temporary workers now earn 10% less than previously employed persons. Continental reduced their work force by 5,300 persons. Workers at the Hanover tyre plant cut their breaks and offered additional concessions worth $20 million dollars. At Daimler Benz Aerospace, all 7,000 workers agreed to up to 100 hours of overtime for the year without pay. This in return free time when demand slackened. At Duetz Machine Works, workers accepted a second year of pay cuts ranging from 2.5% to 10% in 1998, in return they will receive $11 million in stocks. The results? The German economy has rebounded significantly. German exports went up by 8% through July of last year. The projection now is for German brands to grab 19% of the 38.5 million units of the world market by 1999. This figure is up from 15% in 1993. The German labour unions and workers accessed and adjusted to the situation, the result German economy turned around. The Jamaican Situation We are now enjoying the lowest inflation in 10 years. Our major trading partners are projecting inflation of below 3% over the next 5-10 years. Unless we are able to move our economy consistently towards the 5% level of inflation we will be in trouble. It is therefore important for our trade unionists to evolve from the tendency to negotiate based on inflation rates of past years. I do believe that the way forward is to index the future. I support the Prime Minister's position that wage increases in general cannot exceed single digit figures unless accompanied by productivity gains. One company with which I am familiar has asked workers to extend the present contract for one year, during this time management has agreed to adjust salary for inflation and in case of devaluation. At the end of the year, there would be a full negotiation. The reason for this is that the company is experiencing unprecedented competition. This has prevented them from raising their prices while forcing them to spend more on refurbishing and promotion. They have requested this breathing space to adjust to global competition. The union has rejected this calling it a request for zero increase in pay that is unheard of they say. No company can increase revenue by increasing price. This will simply erode your level of competitiveness and ultimately reduce revenue. It is also foolhardy to pay workers more than is substantiated by productivity gains. This only fuels inflation and decreases the value of the salary. The union movement in Jamaica has to do what the unions in America and Germany did, index the future; it is the only way forward. Settlements must lock in certain parameters. These include the rate of inflation, the exchange rate and the level of productivity, with all future negotiations tied to changes in these parameters. Jamaican trade unionists have to accept that anything can be made anywhere as long as the human capital to do so is available. Anything can be sold everywhere as long as there is someone there wishing to buy it. Unless we adjust to the parameters of the New Work Order, Jamaica could be left behind. This is the year for our labour movement to either evolve to this reality or become extinct. Union 98/ Semaj |
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