Some 5,000 police officers in Algeria were deployed to stop a rally in the city of Bejaia on 20 July, arresting more than 600 union members and citizens in the process.

In a major victory against precarious work, IndustriALL affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), won a case against temporary employment service providers, also known as labour brokers, in the Labour Court of Appeal on 10 July. The breakthrough came after years of continuous campaigns by South African trade unions to stop the intensified exploitation of workers by agencies, such as labour brokers.

Union representatives from Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala and El Salvador shared two days of intensive discussions on the situation in the electrical sector in the region, and agreed to work to achieve unity and strength.

Miners in Peru are taking indefinite national strike action against labour reforms attacking their rights and promoting precarious work.

The TUICO/IndustriALL/Unifor IT & Communication project aims to equip, restructure and revolutionise communication between TUICO head office and their 22 regional branches, which service over 80,000 members around Tanzania, in 700 workplaces.

Workers at the Oaky North mine in Australia have been locked out of their workplace by mining giant Glencore, which has taken steps to replace the permanent workforce with casual contractors.

IndustriALL’s Global Framework Agreement (GFA) with H&M paves the way for 986 workers in six factories to receive termination benefits, and the disposal of cases filed against workers by suppliers following the crackdown on unions and workers earlier this year.

The oil industry in the Ivory Coast is rife with examples of union bashing. Workers at Libya Oil, Petroci and Klenzi face retrenchments, reduced benefits, job insecurity, harassment and threats of dismissal if staying in the union.

Recent legislative and political developments around the world illustrate the continuing increase of precarious work. Trade unions are fighting back.

More than 250 new jobs will be created at Mercedes-Benz Untertürkheim plant, as battery production is added as new product group.

Following debates about the urgent need to increase women’s representation in unions during the IndustriALL Women’s Committee in Geneva in April, a workshop was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Women organizers and gender directors exchanged experiences and strategies to increase women’s representation and power in union structures.

 In a recent ILO report, World Employment Social Outlook: Trends for women 2017, 70 per cent of the women would like to perform a paid job while more than 50 per cent of them remain out of the labour market.

Miners from two mines owned by the state enterprise Lysychanskvugillya in the Lugansk region of Ukraine are staying underground, demanding that salaries owed are paid.

Members of FAIR Committee (Facilitate the Application, Involvement of all and regular measurement of the Results of the agreement) of TOTAL global framework agreement (GFA) met in Casablanca, Morocco, on 11 July to follow up the GFA signed between IndustriALL and TOTAL in January 2016.

On 12 July 2017, LafargeHolcim and global unions, IndustriALL and BWI, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Zurich, as final step towards a Global Framework Agreement (GFA). The MoU is a prelude to the GFA, reaffirming the commitment to a comprehensive agreement, to be signed later this year.

Despite the union winning a lawsuit against Russia’s largest car manufacturer AvtoVAZ, 1,100 workers have yet to receive their compensation for three years’ work in harmful conditions. 

IndustriALL Global Union intervening with well-known brands have successfully ended the conflict at Beks Sock and Underwear Factory, with the employer recognizing the union.

Through widespread industrial action, Australian union CFMEU is pushing back against mining giant Glencore’s increasing use of contract labour and refusal to negotiate fair enterprise agreements at multiple sites across Australia. At rallies around the country earlier this week, union members showed their resolve to fight against Glencore’s attack on working conditions, job security and local communities.

IndustriALL affiliates from Europe, Sub Saharan Africa and India have launched a Global Diamond Network to fight exploitation and improve working conditions across the global value chain.

IndustriALL Argentinian affiliates SMATA and UOM, joined a solidarity protest for 1,000 dismissed workers at the Atucha nuclear plant.