During a campaign for maternity protection in Nigeria, Oluchi Okorie, from IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers union, was asked by employers: “What is your problem? Are you pregnant?” Similar questions, that made fun of organizers, were common to those championing women workers’ rights at the workplace. They were also even ignored when they tried to speak in meetings at work.

Chellco Industry Limited in Kaduna, Nigeria, plans to retrench 100 workers as textile factories struggle to cope with increased costs including recent tariff increases of 5 to 20 per cent. Further, the increased cost of electricity, which makes up to 50 per cent of operating costs, make the factories blankets, shawls and bed covers more expensive than those imported from China. 

DNO, the Norwegian oil company that abandoned its Yemeni workforce without pay when war broke out, has failed to respect a Yemeni Supreme Court judgement against it.

A comprehensive new index, ranking large-scale mining companies in six different performance areas, has found that companies are scoring lowest on working conditions.

Global framework agreements (GFAs) were at the focus of a meeting led by the ILO in Sofia, Bulgaria, on industrial relations in the global supply chains entitled “Key Features of Social Dialogue and Cooperation at the Workplace: Rights and Responsibilities, Good Practices, and Benefits”.

Textile, garment and leather sector unions in Turkey pledged their support to the ground-breaking worldwide initiative ACT (Action, Collaboration, Transformation), led by IndustriALL Global Union and brands and retailers to achieve living wages in the sector.

As banana exporter Winfresh has announced a move from carboard cartons produced in St Lucia to plastic crates imported from the US, the National Workers’ Union of St Lucia is fighting to save 150 jobs.

IndustriALL affiliate the General Trade Union of Electricity Sector Employees of Iraq (GTUESE) is fighting temporary work in the Iraqi electricity sector. They have staged a series of protests in front of government ministries and opened negotiations by meeting high level government officials.

Indian cement sector affiliates of IndustriALL called for improved occupational health and safety (OHS) and social dialogue in multinational corporations (MNCs) and Indian cement units at a meeting in Mumbai on 7 and 8 April 2018.

IndustriALL affiliates from oil and gas unions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) met this week in Beirut, Lebanon, to discuss strategies to ensure that hydrocarbon wealth is fairly distributed.

The Fresenius Kabi Chilean Workers Union at Plant Sanderson achieved an important victory after securing a pay rise on 22 March. As a result of this development, it called off its official strike which began on 14 March.

With the horrific mine accident that killed six workers in the Kalat district in Balochistan on 4 April 2018, at least 11 workers at mines in different parts of Pakistan have died since the end of March. 

A local court in Georgia has ruled that 56 employees of the Rustavi Azot chemical plant should be reinstated and that the company should pay their outstanding salaries of more than a year.

Workers at a Chinese-owned plastics factory in Mozambique are being forced to work in shocking conditions according to IndustriALL Global Union trade union affiliate, SINTIQUIAF, which organizes more than 15,000 workers in the chemical and allied industries.

Some 240 miners were needlessly trapped 1,000 metres underground for several hours after the local electricity provider cut power to the Gorsakaya mine in the Ukraine on 2 April.

The Abosso Gold Fields announcement that it will retrench 340 mineworkers at its Damang operations in June adds more pain to the mineworkers in Ghana. The notice comes immediately after the retrenchment of 2,150 workers at the company's Tarkwa mine.

“When you strike a woman, you strike a rock” is a popular slogan from the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, and a call to action on women’s rights in the country. On April 2 one of the rocks of that struggle fell when Winnie Madikizela-Mandela died aged 81.

We are looking for a Project Coordinator to assist in our work and implement the Union Building Project in Thailand. The selected candidate will work closely with IndustriALL’s affiliates in Thailand and report directly to the Regional Secretary in the Southeast Asia Office. This position is currently funded for 24 months. IndustriALL promotes gender equality and encourages equal opportunities for men and women to apply.

On 27 March, former Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s election campaign busses were hit by gunfire in the state of Paranà during his campaign tour in the southern part of Brazil. This attack follows a week of hostility by fascist groups against his political convoy resulting in no adequate response by police.

Since January this year, 17 workers have been killed in South African mines. Last week a worker died from an accident at a Sibanye Stillwater operation which mines platinum in Rustenburg while another died at De Beers Venetia diamond mine in Limpopo early this week. Recently, at another Sibanye Still water mine, Kloof Thuthukani Shaft in Westonaria, 79 mineworkers were trapped underground for five hours but later brought to the surface safely.