Transport and logisitics workers face new challenges and adapt new trade union strategies

Abstract

22 | International Union Rights | 27/3 FOCUS | IMPACTS OF COVID-19 ON WORK AND THE CHALLENGE FOR UNION RIGHTS Transport and logisitics workers face new challenges and adapt new trade union strategies During the early days of the crisis, before lock-down starts occurring and when globally there was uncertainty about the nature, duration and scale of Covid-19, it became clear that there were problems in supply chain resilience. From the outset, consumer panic buying and millions of workers relocating to work from home changed the already vast scale of e-commerce and left huge gaps on shelves in shops and warehouses. Throughout these supply chains are ITF affiliated members. From passenger services to air freight, from ships holding 10,000 containers of essential goods to the dockers unloading and moving to storage. The pickers in the warehouses who were getting consumers the essential goods that they needed. The vast road and rail networks that all these goods are transported along are all serviced by ITF affiliated members. Where transport workers usually are invisible except to a few, in these circumstances, they have arrived at the forefront of consciousness. However, beneath the global glory that transport workers were able to see more visibly than ever before, remain systemic problems that our members faced pre-Covid. Fragmentation of contracting systems throughout supply chains, dependant workers not able to access their ultimate employer, the knowledge and ability to form and join unions to bargain in the most basic sense has compromised union density. Articles are written elsewhere about the seafarers’ crisis, but with over 300,000 crew trapped at sea, even our most mature and exclusive model of global industrial relations is under strain. Everyday complaints about lack of access to PPE, unpaid and excessive hours of work and unachievable performance targets remain a constant threat to health and wellbeing. With workers reporting a lack of access to appropriate PPE, warehouses continue to be closed for deep cleaning following reports of clusters of infection and in some of the worst cases, deaths of our members. Some employers determined that it was more important to keep supply chains moving than take the time to perform proper risk assessments and check on access to toilets, handwashing facilities and sanitation stations to enable full compliance with WHO or governmental guidelines, in some cases avoiding their own corporate procedures. Within the ITF family, the spiking increase of ecommerce and just in time delivery to support the vast numbers of homeworkers, was exacerbated by the millions of workers furloughed by industries such as cruise and aviation, ITF affiliate members whose industries were decimated by travel restrictions and closed borders. Furthermore, we have many reports of our members being unable to leave warehouses until picks were completed, or trucks until deliveries were completed, airplanes where passengers were not following regulations on face coverings or other provisions. This has left our members struggling to combine increased domestic responsibilities with their work, some having to self-isolate from their own families without employer pay or support. The associated high volumes of stress are also unsurprising. ITF has had media coverage of the unacceptable conditions for our drivers hauling goods. We already had evidence of border crossing lorry drivers within the European Union identifying as victims of human trafficking. The inability of workers to be able to identify and negotiate with employers to achieve the life saving equipment needed, only contributed further to the detriment faced on the road by workers who were miles away from home for months on end, with no access to rest, toilet or sleeping facilities and receiving pay well below recognised minimums (see report on ITF website). Some of our seafarers are unable to even talk to their families. In some extreme cases we have received reports of the ships’ satellite being switched off to prevent them from accessing social media or other forms of contact with the outside world, and to stop them from complaining to their union or to the dedicated support systems within the ITF. The associated impact on mental health and wellbeing is real, including regularly receiving personal threats of suicide, leaving the ITF Inspectorate and unions representing our seafarers facing...