Automotive and aerospace unions from the Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT) federation met in Casablanca, Morocco, on 18-19 and 23-24 March 2017 and unanimously decided to set up a national metal federation to build power and better advance workers’ rights and interests.

Han Sang Gyun, president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), was awarded the Febe Velasquez trade union rights award at the Congress of the Dutch trade union confederation the FNV.

Union leaders from Morocco, Algeria, Iraq, Bahrain, Jordan and Turkey have established a union network for the electricity sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region at the electricity sector conference held on 4-5 May 2017 in Ankara, Turkey.

IndustriALL has taken part in a high-level mission to Turkey to hear first-hand from trade unions, politicians and civil society groups living under increasing repression in the country. 

At the car manufacturer’s annual general meeting in Hannover on 10 May, Steve Cochran, president of UAW Local 42, took the floor to question Volkswagen on their employment policies at the plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

IndustriALL Global Union expresses its solidarity with the Esfuerzo Democrático (Democratic Effort) union of SAE Tecnotex, which belongs to its affiliate in Nicaragua, the National Federation of Unions of the Textile, Garment, Leather and Footwear Industries (FESITEX), in its fight to reverse the sentences of 12 workers of that textile enterprise.   

Algerian trade union leader and whistleblower, Mellal Raouf, will begin an appeal against his six-month prison sentence at a court in Guelma on 11 May.

Mining operator PT Freeport Indonesia is laying off workers taking strike action at the Grasberg mine.

Management at the Ukrainian mining company Kryvyi Rih Iron-Ore Combine (KZRK) has agreed to increase wages by 50 per cent. According to IndustriALL affiliate Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine (NPGU), 440 miners have stopped the underground protest and come back up to continue negotiations.

Global trade unions are demanding the European Union holds Bangladesh to account over labour violations ahead of a key meeting to evaluate the Bangladesh Sustainability Compact on 18 May in Dhaka. 

At an IndustriALL AngloGold Ashanti Global Network meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 5 May, affiliates from Argentina, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana, Guinea, South Africa and Tanzania agreed to intensify their campaign against rape, murder and sexual harassment of women mine workers.

The IndustriALL India Council welcomed Valter Sanches, General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, and called on Indian affiliate unions to intensify efforts to defend workers’ rights in supply chains and build global solidarity.

IndustriALL Global Union has written a letter of solidarity to the President of Iran urging the government to improve safety in Iranian mines after at least 35 miners were killed and scores injured in a coal mine explosion on 3 May.

440 miners from the Kryvyi Rih Iron-Ore Combine (KZRK) mines in Ukraine, have started an underground protest demanding higher wage. 

IndustriALL Global Union and sister organization Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) attended the annual shareholders meeting of LafargeHolcim on 3 May 2017, demanding tangible progress in negotiations of the Global Framework Agreement (GFA).

Hard-won gains by unions are under attack around the world. During two days in Geneva, IndustriALL’s Executive Committee discussed union wins and challenges ahead, as well as the importance of fighting together for more power.

Anglo American’s shareholders were met by demonstrations outside the venue of its annual general meeting (AGM) at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London on 24 April. 

The strike at Fletcher Insulation Australia’s Dandenong site in Victoria has now reached over 70 days, and is continuing.

The Rotterdam Convention has been utterly discredited, says IndustriALL Global Union as chrysotile asbestos fails to be listed as a hazardous substance by the Convention for the sixth time.

Following the success of IndustriALL’s global campaign to free the jailed unionists in Bangladesh, General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union Valter Sanches visited Bangladesh to meet with the IndustriALL Bangladesh Council and congratulate them on negotiating an agreement with employers and the government.