Related articles: – Human rights rally –Quebecor working conditions –Injured worker organizes

Lenny Greenhead, Graphical, Paper, and Media Union's chapel chairman at Quebecor's Corby facility, donates to the Quebecor World workers' cause. From left are: Greenhead, GCIU Secy.-Treas. Gerald H. Deneau, Jacqueline Wherry of the Covington, Tenn., Quebecor plant, Mark Rubert of the Fernley, Nev., Quebecor plant, and Dewey Jones of the Merced, Calif., Quebecor plant.

Bone-chilling wind and rain in Memphis on Dec. 10 do not deter from left: GCIU Vice Pres. Duncan K. Brown, Larry Cohen, Communications Workers of America executive vice president; and GCIU Secy.-Treas. Gerald H. Deneau.

Jerebu Hill, executive director of the Mississippi Worker's Center for Human Rights, sings at the human rights rally.

GCIU Contracts and Research Director Alan M. Tate leads a conference group in discussing strategies.

GCIU San Francisco 4N Pres. Edwardo Rosario, left, leads a delegation of Global Solidarity Conference participants in an effort to meet with Quebecor World's Corinth, Miss., plant manager to ask that he at least read an international labor standards human rights document. The delegation was turned away.

Global solidarity is on the march.

Delegates representing Quebecor World workers from 18 labor unions from 14 countries met at a landmark Global Solidarity Conference in Memphis, Tenn., and went home fired up to pursue basic rights for Quebecor employees. Delegates were appalled at the working conditions and treatment that non-union Quebecor workers reported enduring in the United States. Delegates went home determined to apply strategies they learned and shared to help their U.S. co-workers as part of a global plan.

The conference, which opened Dec. 5, was jointly sponsored by the GCIU, AFL-CIO, and the European-based Union Network International (UNI). Delegates traveled to Memphis, Tenn., from within the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Chile, Colombia, Portugal, Peru, India, and Sweden. The global conference was followed by strategy sessions, worker house calls, Quebecor plant visits, and a Dec. 10 International Human Rights rally.

Three interpreters provided simultaneous translations and whispers for delegates whose native languages are French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, and English.

UNI Pres.-elect Joe Hansen, also secretary-treasurer of the United Food and Commercial Workers in the United States, said the joint GCIU-AFL-CIO-UNI campaign for Quebecor leaders to sign a letter promising acknowledgment of worker rights "is just as important as our [UFCW's] campaign against Wal-Mart." He cited several food chains that are trying to renege on decent contracts and negotiate take-backs. Hansen pledged that such chains "are not going to 'Wal-Martize' our workers."

GCIU Pres. George Tedeschi thanked delegates for traveling from around the world to the first conference jointly sponsored by the GCIU, AFL-CIO, and UNI.

Tedeschi noted that all of the delegates in attendance shared the common bond of being involved with Quebecor plants. "We share common goals," he said, adding: "We want to organize unorganized Quebecor production plants. We also work hard to negotiate the best contracts we can for our members."

Regarding organizing unorganized Quebecor shops, Tedeschi said: "We want–and should be able to do this–without the company violating labor laws. All too often, management uses fear and intimidation against workers. Management threatens to lay off workers or close plants if there is talk of a union. Workers need to be able to exercise their right to organize into unions–without being harassed, intimidated, fired, or threatened with plant closings."

He acknowledged that the GCIU could not expect to be welcomed by Quebecor management in their unorganized plants because that is counter to corporate policy. He emphasized, however, that workers nonetheless have the right to choose whether they want union representation.

Regarding a global agreement on international labor standards, Tedeschi noted that multiple efforts have been made by plant union representatives to get Quebecor senior executives to sign the document–to acknowledge "basic respect of workers' rights to join and belong to unions and recognition of International Labor Organization conventions." These efforts were ignored twice in 2003, he said.

Tedeschi observed that "it might be difficult for us to confront the world's largest printing company, but we do not take 'no' lightly. We will not be ignored. And we will not go away. We must pursue these goals. It is the right–and humane–thing to do."

He cited some facts to consider: Quebecor has facilities in 17 countries and employs more than 38,000 workers. In 2002, Quebecor had $6.2 billion dollars in gross revenue from its world-wide operations. Of that amount, $543 million were gross profits. Tedeschi noted that although a revenue decline was reported for the third quarter of this year, Quebecor still had a $125 million dollar profit in one quarter.

"We all have a lot at stake," Tedeschi said, adding: "We have plants that we have fought hard to organize. We have contracts that have required hard bargaining. The wages and benefits we negotiated did not come easy.

GCIU Pres. George Tedeschi addresses Global Solidarity Conference participants.

"But now we see more and more that Quebecor has a bad global policy. That policy is to attack and attempt to take away the gains that have been made and already fought hard for–and won.

"As we work to organize unorganized Quebecor workers, our theme is 'Justice for Quebecor workers.' Quebecor workers deserve a decent contract. They deserve decent wages and benefits. They deserve to be able to work in a union environment. To not allow this is an injustice! That is why we are determined to provide 'justice for Quebecor workers' throughout the world," Tedeschi said.

He urged delegates to consider themselves as "links in a chain. In solidarity, we can forge a chain of cooperative global unionists. Linked together, we can deal effectively with the Quebecor global chain. This solidarity chain enables us to jointly support each of our unions with other global companies as the need may arise.

"Each of our links in our chain must clearly be strong. We must find ways to strengthen our unions. We must be resolved. Then, in a united effort, we can share information and coordinate our efforts through membership mobilization on a global scale. Together, we can increase our union density and strength at Quebecor. We can–and must–work toward the common good to benefit everyone. Let us find ways to do this. We can be a worldwide labor chain–strong and united. It is clearly worth doing. Our members–and all of the workers throughout the world–deserve nothing less," Tedeschi said.

Philip Bowyer, UNI deputy general secretary, said that the delegates attending the joint global conference were "breaking new ground" to show corporations around the world how union leaders can work together to speak with a united voice.

He noted that UNI was formed in 2000 from organizations that had been created more than 100 years ago. Bowyer noted that since companies merge and become stronger, labor unions must respond and become stronger.

At the Human Rights Day rally, Alejandro Villegas, committee member of the Sindicato Federaciion Grafica of Argentina, shouts "Vive!" to the workers of the world.

Taylor Rogers

GCIU lead organizer Linda Goad hands out whistles and slickers at the International Human Rights Day rally.

Bowyer observed that strategies need to be found for organized labor to deal with multi-national corporations so that no company can avoid contact world-wide. He added that labor needs to find a way to forge global agreements to set out certain principles world-wide.

GCIU Vice Pres. Duncan K. Brown, who oversees GCIU organizing and chairperson of UNI network at Quebecor and was influential in having the global conference become a reality, said that a lot of organizations talk about organizing but that a coordinated global effort is necessary in order to make headway.

He emphasized that trade unionists throughout the world need to work together with common goals in order to achieve them.

At a news conference, workers from non-union Quebecor plants told of unacceptable working conditions and discriminatory wage and promotional policies that left them with no choice but to work to get their plants unionized. Atrocities they cited in non-union Quebecor plants in the U.S. include:

• Some needed safety improvements are ignored.
• Women have no opportunities to advance.
• Pay scales are discriminatory and subjective.
• Health care costs for workers have been greatly increased.
• Promotions are based on subjective factors rather than abilities.
• Unfair discipline is imposed.
• Retirement benefits are unilaterally cut.
• A hostile environment is created against unionization.
• Workers are threatened with plant closure if they vote for union representation.

Tony Burke, deputy general secretary of the Graphical, Paper and Media Union of the United Kingdom, complained that Quebecor officials are "absolutely impossible" because they refuse to talk with UNI–even though they allege that they want "good employee relations."

Burke cited an interim report about Quebecor international labor standards by John Gennard, professor of human resource management at the University of Strathclyde. Burke noted that UNI has reached agreements with a number of companies. But Quebecor, he said, is in violation of several ILO conventions.

GCIU Vice Pres. Lawrence Martinez, who assists locals with Quebecor negotiations, advised at a strategy session that "the time for talking about coordinated bargaining is over. Now, we have to use it . . . We've got to reverse the trend of concessionary bargaining."

Alejandro Villegas, a union committee member of the Sindicato Federacion Grafica Bonaerense from Argentina, told of an 18-year-old male worker whose head got caught in a machine in July and was left in the machine for 40 minutes while management argued about what to do. Management debate was about the cost for replacing certain parts of the machine to free the worker. The young man, who worked to support his mother, died in August.

Leonardo Del Roy, president of the Federacion de Trabajadores de las Industrias Graficas de Sao Paulo of Brazil, told of a plant closing and 150 workers being laid off. He said he was eager to join in the global effort.

Michael Sippy, vice president of GCIU Milwaukee 577M, said that a large percentage of Local 577M's members have joined in the campaign to get a global agreement for Quebecor workers.

Michel Cote, president of GCIU Montreal 41M, said that Quebecor management has made moves that make the future "look rather bleak for us."

Machael Marsbergen, GCIU Toronto 100M executive vice president, said that Quebecor policy since merger with World Color has been to try to fool workers into taking a "fast track to the bottom" of pay scales and benefits.

Jacques Denomme, vice president of the Canadian Union of Printing Employees, said that his union has come up against demands by Quebecor officials for workers to increase hours and freeze wages for three years. He said Quebecor has used numerous tactics to discourage workers.

He said the "only solution" for Quebecor workers is trade union solidarity as expressed at the conference.

GCIU Organizing Director Bert Haft said that the day was "particularly satisfying" for him, because it signified a "true change in the way we organize."

He noted that in the 1970s, 80 percent of Quebecor plants in the U.S. were organized and that those wages and benefits were good examples of the kind of advantages that union workers could have. Haft added that, over the years, Quebecor has acquired other printing companies and changed corporate policy to be "war on workers."

He said a "dramatic change" needed to be made and a plan had to be implemented to deal with Quebecor's anti-worker policies. In the early 1990s, Haft said, 8 percent of the GCIU's resources were applied to organizing. "Today," he said, "I'm proud to say that 25 percent of our total revenue is going to organizing."

Haft also noted that a change was made so that the GCIU became a "fighting union to have the dignity and respect we deserve."

The GCIU used to have six organizers, but the GCIU and AFL-CIO have 25 organizers working on Quebecor shops, Haft said. When the GCIU went to the AFL-CIO, the federation provided a "tremendous amount of support," he said. The GCIU is now 8-1/2 months into the plan and is working at seven Quebecor locations throughout the U.S.

He promised: "We are not going away . . . The workers will win."

Tedeschi urged the workers to "stand tough and united. We're going to win this thing."

To help the cause, GPMU's Lenny Greenhead, chapel chairman at Quebecor's Corby facility, presented a check for 1,000 pounds Sterling (equal to $1,600 in U.S. currency) and declared: "Let's make the mighty oak grow."

Tedeschi earlier had advised delegates: "Together, we can join hands and help each other . . . We can accomplish great things–in solidarity."

Global unionists rally for international human rights By Herald Grandstaff The temperatures were unusually low in Memphis, Tenn., for Dec. 10. The wind was fierce and gusty. Rain, sleet, and freezing rain felt like piercing ice picks. Slickers were not much help against the elements. But the fervor of trade unionists from around the world was not dampened or chilled when they rallied in solidarity for International Human Rights Day. The rally drew participants as a cap to a landmark Global Solidarity Conference, which was sponsored by the GCIU, the AFL-CIO, and the Union Network International (UNI). One of the conference goals was to develop strategies to get Quebecor World's leading officers to sign an international labor standards human rights document. Trade unionists marched a few blocks from the initial rally site to a church basement. The meeting room was jammed to capacity. In addition to the trade unions from 14 countries represented at the Global Solidarity Conference, organizations with participants in the rally included SEIU, UNITE, HERE, IBEW, CWA, PACE, AFSCME, OPEIU, AFGE, USW, NALC, IAFF, IBT, Church Women Workers, Tennessee Industrial Renewal, and the SCLC. The Rev. Margaret Wagley, pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Memphis, welcomed the rally participants. Jerebu Hill, executive director of the Mississippi Worker's Center for Human Rights, led the fired-up rally participants by belting out "Which Side Are You On?" The tone was set for speaker after speaker to take the podium and urge their trade union sisters and brothers to join the human rights cause–in solidarity. Participants rattled noise-makers and shouted in response. Taylor Rogers, who participated in the historic march for striking sanitation workers with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., recounted the tough times that sanitation workers had as unorganized laborers. He is former president of the AFSCME sanitation workers' local in Memphis. Sanitation workers, he said, had intolerable work conditions: they could not avoid spilling sloppy garbage on themselves that sometimes had maggots in it. The workers felt as if they were treated worse than dogs–for 99 cents an hour. Rogers' wife and son supported his efforts as he walked off the job for 68 days–until AFSCME organized the workers and negotiated a contract. He noted that the Bush administration is "now trying to turn the clock back. We can't let the Bush administration – or anybody else – turn back the clock. Let's stand together!" GCIU Secy.-Treas. Gerald H. Deneau cited conditions today compared to more than 100 years ago, when there were no labor laws and people had unbearable work shifts and had to work every day with no time off. "Nobody gave us anything," he said. He added that the "real heroes today" are trade unionists today who pull together to effect change to improve workers' plights. Following up on the Global Solidarity Conference and related activities, Deneau said Quebecor World customers should be told that corporate policy is to not participate in an international labor standards agreement that recognizes basic rights for workers. Vernon Robson, secretary of the Graphical, Paper, and Media Union's East of England Branch, said workers in the U.K. had "no idea" about the severe problems that Quebecor workers faced in the U.S. He said he was "horrified that Quebecor workers here are deprived of basic human rights." He pledged that he and the GPMU will see what can be done to help U.S. Quebecor workers. Alejandro Villegas, a union committee member of the Sindicato Federacion Grafica Bonaerense of Argentina, noted that working conditions in Argentina are not the greatest, but workers learned to fight with unity and diversity. He raised his fist in solidarity and shouted: "Viva, United States! Viva, Canada! Viva, the European labor movement, and Viva, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.!" Keith Rushing, a worker at the non-union Corinth, Miss., Quebecor plant, said that working conditions and treatment were such that he and his co-workers badly need GCIU representation. "We are not going to stop," he said, "until we get a union in there." Larry Cohen, Communications Workers of America executive vice president, advised rally participants that a crucial question is what kind of world people will have. He said it is up to those who care to make sure the world is a decent place to live – and work. He scored efforts by Quebecor World officials to try to force their workers to "race to the bottom" in wages and working conditions. Cohen urged that trade unionists from around the globe unite, build a coalition, and work for peace, civil rights, and human rights.