Based on the financial results of 2017 and following a series of negotiations between unions and management of major Japanese metalworking companies, workers will receive a substantial wage increase this year. Smaller and medium size companies often suppliers to the big corporations of the sector will follow.

Project coordinators in South East Asia attended a planning meeting in Yangon on 23 – 24 March, to discuss challenges and strategies of project implementation in order to be more efficient and responsive to union members’ needs.

IndustriALL organized series of workshops to train union organizers and workers to take advantage and ensure effective implementation of IndustriALL’s Global Framework Agreements (GFAs) with garment producers H&M, Inditex and Tchibo.

The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) and IndustriALL Global Union have filed a complaint against the British-Australian company, BHP Billiton, and Brazilian mining multinational, Vale S.A., under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

IndustriALL Global Union, in consultation with its trade union affiliates in the base metals sector, has issued the following statement in relation to the U.S. government’s recent decisions on tariffs on steel and aluminium imports which take effect today 23 March.

In a carnival-like atmosphere IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) took to the streets of Johannesburg protesting proposed amendments to the labour laws, which the union says will reverse the hard-won gains on workers’ rights. NUMSA has called for a general strike on April 25 to defend the right to strike.

IndustriALL Global Union is calling on the car industry to pressure Glencore to clean up its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after revelations of dire working conditions at the company’s cobalt mines in the country. 

The year 2015 should be celebrated as the year that gave life to a long-fought struggle for sustainability and social justice in the trade union movement.  ‘Just Transition’ is an important milestone for IndustriALL and coal unions in particular for playing an important role in influencing the outcomes of Paris Climate conference that emanated in an agreement that has since been embraced by UN agencies and various governments, communities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Thousands of workers fired for striking by Freeport in Indonesia continue to suffer following an agreement reached with Freeport.

Clothing brands sourcing in Haiti have been urged to intervene to ensure their suppliers reinstate union leaders and activists unfairly dismssed last year after going on strike to demand an increase in the minimum wage.

IndustriALL affiliates, the National Union of Commercial and Industrial Workers and the Mineworkers Union of Zambia are fighting against African multinational cement company, Dangote, for violating workers’ rights to organize, freedom of association, and for failing to recognize collective bargaining rights.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliates in Georgia are concerned about the effectiveness of a new law on labour safety, which was recently adopted by the parliament without taking into consideration recommendations from trade unions.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliates have been participating in the massive World Social Forum currently bringing together 20,000 activists from 120 countries, in Salvador, Brazil from 13 to 17 March.

Ninety members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) from Abengoa Solar’s three power plants in the Northern Cape are on strike to demand higher wages and benefits.

IndustriALL affiliates in Zambia, representing 57,000 workers in the chemical, cement, ceramics, textiles, mining, engineering and other sectors, met on 13 – 14 March to discuss how unions can build power and retain their legacy as key social actors in the country.

Ten IndustriALL Global Union affiliates are urging the government of Pakistan to ratify ILO Convention 176 (C176) on Safety and Health in Mines. This follows a decision by IndustriALL’s Executive Committee in November 2017, for a global campaign to end fatalities in Pakistani mines.

Workers at Rio Tinto’s QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM) operations downed tools twice in five days over management’s violation of their collective bargaining agreement relative to salary increases.  About 320 permanent workers out of 480 went out strike on 8 March.

Eight workers at the Sae A Tecnotex textile factory in Nicaragua have been fired illegally, and the union FESITEX is claiming a serious breach of freedom of association.  

IndustriALL’s affiliated unions around the world took strong and colourful action to mark International Women’s Day 2018, with some unions adopting IndustriALL’s pledge to combat violence against women in the workplace.

Pakistani management of the British pharmaceutical multinational GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has illegally dismissed over 150 workers after years of union busting and manipulation of contracts.