The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) reports that workers in Madagascar are some of the lowest paid in the world, some earning less than US$40 per month. In 2012, many of these workers joined the Syndicat Général Maritime de Madagascar (SYGMMA) to fight for an end to precarious, low-paid, and unsafe working conditions at the Port of Toamasina. These workers faced intimidation and threats to their employment, with 43 dock workers unfairly dismissed for union activity in 2012. This photo from the ITF shows workers at ICSTI’s terminal in Madagascar demanding to be reinstated to their jobs. Read more at https://www.justicefordockworkers.org/ictsi-madagascar/
ICTSI Oregon, the former operator of a Port of Portland container terminal, has welcomed a court’s finding that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) broke laws during a work slowdown.
A court threw out an appeal by the union, which represents dockworkers on the US West Coast. ILWU told PTI Journal it is appealing the DC Circuit Court’s recent decision.
It noted workers that the US work safety agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, in 2014 penalised ICTSI Oregon.
This was because it was found to be in violation of more than a dozen worker safety codes, such as not informing employees about potential exposure to airborne lead and improper protection from moving machinery.
ILWU said: “It’s ironic that ICTSI is sounding self-righteous when the United States Department of Labor, through OSHA, found ICTSI guilty of several serious safety violations in Portland, and ICTSI workers around the world have accused the company of safety violations, mass firings, poverty wages, and violations of international labor codes.”