Violations
Barrick Gold refuses to negotiate on improving miners’ precarious working conditions: In February, miners at Barrick Gold held a work stoppage and, through the unions, demanded better pay and conditions. The workers have to cope with low temperatures, inadequate protection, long working hours, precarious facilities and equipment, and have to work at altitudes of above five thousand metres. The company refused to negotiate and to deal with the workers’ grievances, arguing that it is up to the contactors to resolve problems related to work in the mines. Such grievances are a constant at the operations run by this multinational in countries across the American continent. Barrick has been accused of showing total disregard for workers’ rights, failing to comply with the security standards for mining operations, deploying anti-union practices and causing irreparable damage to the environment.
Union busting at Universidad Austral de Chile: The Universidad Austral de Chile interfered in the
strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
action called by the university academics’ union, the Sindicato de Académicos de la Universidad Austral de Chile, replacing the striking teachers with non-unionised lecturers. The unionised staff called on the rector of the university to stop such practices; following the university’s refusal, the union filed a complaint with the Labour Inspectorate.
Companies fined for anti-union practices: The Department of Labour announced that 48 companies were fined for engaging in anti-union practices during the first half of 2010, almost the same number as in 2009, when 51 firms were fined. It reported that, in 2010, the most frequent violation was the unfair dismissal of workers holding trade union positions, in spite of the legal protection covering trade union representatives, followed by acts of anti-union interference, and the harassment of trade union leaders, including their dismissal. Two companies were fined on three occasions: Unión del Transporte S.A, (UNITRAN S.A.) and Electro Quality Ingenieria Limitada.
Trade union rights violated at Banco del Desarrollo Scotiabank: During 2010, workers affiliated to the union at the Banco del Desarrollo (BDD), the Sindicato de Trabajadores del Banco del Desarrollo de Chile, suffered serious violations of their trade union rights at the hands of this Chilean bank owned by the Canadian multinational Scotiabank. The bank refused to comply with the collective agreement, took repeated action to discredit the union leadership by email, illegally intercepted the union’s correspondence to its members, and imposed “improvement plans” on union members, with the sole intent of justifying their dismissal.
