Peru - 2012

Presidential and legislative elections were held in Peru in 2011. The left leaning nationalist candidate Ollanta Humala of the Gana Perú alliance was elected president for a five-year term in the second round on 5 June. The alliance also secured a majority of the seats in parliament, followed by Fuerza 2011, headed by Keiko Fujimori, presidential candidate and daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori.

In October 2011, the Labour Ministry announced plans to promote the ratification of ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights Convention 189 on domestic labour.

Proposed general labour law to exclude majority of workers:

A committee of experts was formed on 1 September 2011 to revise the General Labour Bill, which includes provisions aimed at eliminating abusive temporary employment contracts, promoting job security, establishing severance pay rates and regulating the various levels of collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
. The document will be presented to the National Labour and Employment Promotion Council (CNTPE) in January 2012, pending its presentation to the Executive, through the Council of Ministers, and to the Congress of the Republic for discussion and approval.

It should be pointed out that the bill fails to cover over 13 million workers across the country. With an economically active population (EAP) of 15.6 million, this means that the new legislation would only benefit two million people (less than 15% of the EAP). Those forming part of the “not included” group are workers belonging to the 29 “special regimes”, such as civil construction, industrial fishing, non traditional export and domestic workers, etc.

The changes proposed strip the law of its general nature. Moreover, the bill contains no economic analysis indicating the cost of these measures for the state and private employers, which raises doubts as to whether the proposal is viable and whether it will, in fact, contribute to combating casualisation casualisation The practice of increasing the flexibility of the workforce by replacing permanent, full-time workers with workers on temporary, irregular contracts. and informal economy employment and promote economic growth.

Collective bargaining violations: According to Labour Ministry figures released in December 2011, 18 collective disputes remained unresolved across the country. Failure to recognise collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
rights was at the root of the disputes in 11 out of the 18 companies in the electrical and civil aviation sectors; three disputes were related to pay and working conditions in construction companies; one was over failure to comply with the collective agreement and the remaining three were linked to workers’ rights.

Barriers to collective bargaining compounded by gaps in legislation:

The state has shown little or no interest in promoting collective agreements at branch level. There is currently no labour legislation specifying the scope of branch-level collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
. By failing to specify the rules needed to make it viable, the law neither fosters nor guarantees collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
.

Telefónica del Peru, one of the most profitable companies in the country, is sticking to its policy of refusing branch-level collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
, systematically rejecting the collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
rights of employees of companies that form part of the Telefónica Group in Peru. As a result, discrimination in terms of working conditions is suffered by workers employed by companies not directly owned by Telefónica del Perú, but which provide services and operations for it and belong to the telecommunications sector.

In August 2011, the Chilean company Ripley finally agreed to engage in the collective negotiations it had been refusing to hold since 2010 with the Sindicato Único de Trabajadores del Grupo Ripley (Sutragisa). The union’s demands were aimed at improving pay and working conditions for Ripley’s 5,000 workers. An agreement was ultimately reached in October 2011 under pressure from the Labour Ministry, urging the company to discuss the union’s demands.

Miners’ strike violently repressed: Workers at Shougang Hierro Perú S.A staged a 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 from 28 September to 14 October in protest at the mining company’s failure to comply with the wage equalisation payments ordered by the government. The national police violently charged against the miners’ wives who had gathered during 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 in front of the regional government headquarters in the city of Ica. The Ministry finally forced the company to comply with the government order.

Union-crushing policy at Backus y Johnston brewing company and textile firm Topy Top:

In June 2011, the Sindicato Nacional de Obreros de la Unión Cervecera Peruana Backus y Johnston denounced the company’s anti-union policy. The brewery drew up codes of conduct whereby workers had no right to defend themselves and dismissed several employees for exercising their right to organise.

In November 2011, the Sindicato de Trabajadores Obreros de Topy Top denounced the textile firm’s anti-union policy, including its constant failure to respect the workers’ rights, threats and intimidation in reprisal for reports of violations, and relentless anti-union dismissals, which has brought the number of unionised employees down to 180. The company has fired 200 union members.

Harassment during collective bargaining and interference in SATRASUFISA:

Although the Sindicato Autónomo de Trabajadores de Sudamérica de Fibras (SATRASUFISA) has succeeded in signing collective agreements with the company since 2008, the management refuses to honour the commitments undertaken. The workers find themselves being forced to accept the miserable pay increases the company decides on. The company is still not deducting the union members’ dues at source and does not allow trade union representatives to take part in the collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
negotiations.

In addition, despite the proven distortion of the non traditional export contracts provided for by Law 22342, which the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights has called on the government to amend or repeal, companies continue to employ workers under this heading, claiming that their activity is non traditional despite it being carried out in Peru for over 30 years.

Subcontractor Multiservicios y Contratistas Sailors SAC union leaders dismissed:

After providing staff transport services for over five years to the Minera Yanacocha company without a formal contract, a union with 90 members was formed.

The mining company dismissed the two union leaders on the spot and terminated its contracts with several union members, forbidding their access to the worksite. The workers were pressed to leave the union under threat of dismissal. Some were offered financial incentives to withdraw their membership. All of these measures were taken in collusion with the Ancash region’s labour authority, which never went to inspect the Yanacocha mine. Only 20 unionised workers were left at the end of the year and it is unlikely that the union will survive given the climate of fear created: the workers dismissed are unable to find work with other subcontractors, having been blacklisted by Minera Yanacocha.

Anti-union dismissals and interference:

The main practice used to block union activity continues to be the dismissal of trade union leaders on “administrative” grounds, as was the case with the general secretary of the Sindicato del Banco Falabella del Perú. The bank is currently facing legal action and a complaint has also been lodged with the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights Committee on Freedom of Association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework .

Other common tactics include inciting members to leave unions by offering greater financial benefits to non-unionised workers, encouraging the formation of company-controlled unions, and undermining the most representative union most representative union The union which represents the largest number of workers in a bargaining unit. Can be awarded exclusive representation, by which it becomes the sole union authorised to represent the workers for the purpose of collective bargaining. ’s power to negotiate, thus stifling any legitimate collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
.

In December 2011, the agricultural export firm Euro S.A. sacked ten workers, including four trade union representatives, after a union was formed at the company. The Federación de Trabajadores del Sector Agroindustrial de Ica (FRETSAI) and the Federación Regional de Trabajadores de Ica (FRTI) filed complaints with the labour authorities.