A number of Korean union leaders have been on hunger strike in freezing temperatures outside the National Assembly in Seoul since end of November, demanding labour law reform to stop employers suing workers for strike damages.

Fully within their legal rights, workers at the Bekaert factory in Izmit, represented by IndustriALL affiliate Birleşik Metal İş, called a strike on 13 December after negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement failed.

As part of the implementation of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in May 2021, IndustriALL continues to develop sound industrial relations across the global operations of mining giant AngloAmerican.

On 28 November, after many rounds of negotiations, multinational STS Medical Group and IndustriALL affiliate the Federation of Light Industry, signed their first collective agreement. The signing took place four days after a protest rally where hundreds of workers demanded adequate pay for their work.

Most of us can feel the consequences of climate change and also the urgency for a Just Transition. Labour delegations at COP27 in Egypt were fighting to ensure that workers are at the table when Just Transition is discussed. For us it’s about how we get from the jobs we have today to the jobs we will have tomorrow. 

In August, Sento Chang was sentenced to 12 months in prison after taking to social media to share discussions the union had with the employer. On 9 December, an IndustriALL delegation met with his family, speaking to his parents-in-law about the very difficult circumstances the family is now finding itself in.

IndustriALL was part of a workers’ delegation that negotiated a new agreement on the future of work in the oil and gas sector.

IndustriALL Global Union and UNI Global Union, two key drivers of the historic Bangladesh Accord, are proud to announce the extension of the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry to Pakistan.

The ground-breaking International Accord that over the past nine years made jobs safer for millions of garment workers in Bangladesh is now going to be extended to Pakistan.

The deadly accident in a coal mine in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan on 30 November was not a stand-alone incident. Nine workers were killed and four others sustained critical injuries in a gas blast, adding to the already alarming death toll in the country’s mining industry.

NXP Manufacturing in Thailand, who counts Apple and Bosch among its clients, has fired 13 union leaders under the pretext of falsifying congress documents and refuse to go back on their union busting.

On 6 December, workers at the Heidelberg Materials owned Mebin plant in the Netherlands went on strike, rejecting the employers’ bid for a new collective agreement. 

Global Union Federations came together in Amsterdam on 7-8 December for a strategic planning roundtable on LGBTQI+. Affiliated national unions representing most sectors came from around the world to share their work, their challenges, and their stories. 

Sri Lanka is experiencing the worst economic and political crisis in its history. According to the World Bank, the country’s economic growth is expected to contract by nine per cent in 2022 and a further four per cent in 2023.

The escalation of Myanmar junta’s military attacks in the Salingyi township has rendered scores of garment workers homeless. According to several news sources, the Myanmar junta torched houses in nine villages in the Salingyi township, Sagaing region, in early December. More than 40 houses of Industrial Workers' Federation of Myanmar members were burned down.
 

As one of the ways to stop workers from going on strike, ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) applied to the essential services committee (ESC) to declare the manufacturing, supply and distribution of steel as an essential service. But the committee ruled otherwise, and in favour of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA).

This year, the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to a jailed human rights defender from Belarus, a country that has violated a number of core fundamental rights and freedoms for decades.

The right to freedom of association is one of the ILO’s fundamental principles and rights at work, and yet right now there are too many people around the world in prison for joining or being active in a union.

During a two-day meeting in Germany, union representatives from Daimler Truck operations around the world agreed to increase cooperation on human and trade union rights, and standing up for a fair, cross-continental transition towards an emission-free future.

IndustriALL Global Union and industriAll European Trade Union participated in the 135th meeting of the OECD Council Working Party on Shipbuilding (WP6), where shipbuilding countries analyze the industry and explore policy options. 

Unions in Asia Pacific demand employers take steps to improve health and safety in rubber and tire sectors, putting workers' lives and interests first.