International Union News
UK: Unions join forces to fight abuse at work
Collective bargaining from trade unions can play a key role in tackling violence against women, campaigners have said, but they add the government must also take action. Delegates at the TUC women's conference heard how Britain has some of the highest levels of workplace violence against women in Europe. Dr Jane Pillinger said that abuse of women must be incorporated into existing equalities policies. "When this issue is recognised in government legislation, it will make it much easier to use collective bargaining power," Dr Pillinger said. She suggested that Britain should look to the example set by Denmark, where a joint task force made up of trade unions is a model for collective bargaining agreements in tackling violence against women in the workplace. "Everyone thought that the problem had been solved," Ms Pillinger said, "when actually it has got worse." A Morning Star report of the TUC event said women are particularly affected in service industries like retail, as well as health and transport. It said the TUC, alongside public sector union UNISON and shopworkers' union Usdaw has drawn up model policies but they argue that more must be done from the top first. Usdaw's Elizabeth Williams said: "Union workers need to be active politically to hold the Tory government to account, and they need to be active in the workplace supporting women members, and on the campaigning front — understanding that it is a trade union issue."
Read more: TUC head Frances O'Grady speech to the TUC women's conference. Morning Star. TUC guide to reporting workplace violence. Source: Risks 792
Japan: Agreement on new overtime ceiling
The biggest employers' group in Japan, Keidanren, and the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) have agreed new monthly and annual overtime limits. The deal came after the government's Council for the Realization of Work Style Reform proposed a 100 hours per month overtime ceiling. Under the new overtime should be limited to 45 hours a month or 360 hours a year. The monthly limit can only be exceeded six times a year, with an absolute cap of 100 hours in any one month. Ryo Sasaki, a lawyer who works with a legal team that represents employees who say they were exploited, criticized the agreement, calling it "insufficient." He said 100 hours of overtime is considered enough to lead to karoshi, or death from overwork. Rengo president Rikio Kozu said the agreement was 'merely' a first step. "We don't want to send out the wrong message that companies are allowed to make employees work up to 100 hours," he said. "Labour and management have agreed to work to bring overwork hours close to 45 hours, which is the limit in principle."
Read more: Japan Times. More on Working Hours and Health, Hazards. Source: Risks 792
South Korea: Anniversary of death marks 10 years of struggle
Hwang Yu-mi died on 5 March 2007 on the way to hospital from acute myelogenous leukaemia. She was the first publicly known victim of what later became known as the Samsung Electronics blood disorder cluster cases. Yu-mi was only 23 and had worked at Samsung for less than four years. Since then, there have been over 350 cases of occupational disease and 79 deaths among Samsung's Electronics workforce. The tenth anniversary of Yu-mi's death was remembered with a ceremony in front of Samsung's corporate headquarters. Samsung's power in South Korean society was recently highlighted by the censoring of an article in a university paper that was critical of Samsung's work practices. Source: AAWL Mini News
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