Unions and civil society organizations in Togo are objecting to draft constitutional amendments whose provisions violate workers’ and human rights that are protected by current laws. They say the amendments are “liberticidal” as they will strangle freedom of association.

On 1 February 2021, the democratic government of Myanmar was overthrown by a military coup. On the first anniversary of the coup, the struggle for democracy continues.

Today and tomorrow, around 7,000 workers at General Motors' Silao plant in Mexico will elect new union representatives, who will then negotiate a fresh collective bargaining agreement with the company.

Just as it appeared that the federal government of Nigeria and the unions, with their civil society allies, were heading for a collision course on the announced fuel price increase, the government backtracked on the eve of national protests.

Police in Thailand have filed criminal charges against two union officials and four other labour activists after speaking at a protest, demanding that the Thai government and brands including Victoria’s Secret pay salaries owed to 1,388 lingerie workers.

Three workers died and eight were critically injured in a fire at the Hima cement plant, a subsidiary of Holcim, in Uganda on 15 January. The fire erupted during installation works on a diesel oil tank.

In 2021, the Indian manufacturing industry was beset with accidents, with an average of seven accidents reported per month, killing over 162 workers and leaving others disabled for life or badly injured. A number of accidents in the first few weeks of the new year shows that this trend is likely to continue.

A truck carrying mining explosives from Tarkwa to Chirano Gold Mines was involved in a road accident on 20 January. The impact of the crash led to an explosion that killed 13 people and injured over 50 others in the mining community of Appiatse.

This month, IndustriALL and Italian unions Filctem CGIL, Femca CISL, Uiltec UIL signed an addendum to the existing global framework agreement with energy company ENI on the provisions of ILO Convention 190 and recommendation 206 towards the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work.

The bitter dispute at the Finnish forestry, pulp and paper company UPM threatens to drag on as the strike, which began on 1 January, has been extended until 19 February. 2,200 workers at all UPM business units are on strike, with dockers and railway workers showing solidarity by refusing to handle the company’s goods.

On 18 January, around 250 workers at Samir oil refinery marched the 1,200 metres from company headquarters to the coastal road to highlight the workers’ precarious situation after the company stopped production more than six years ago due to a failed privatization deal. Workers are calling for government intervention to save the refinery and their jobs.

The announcement of a minimum wage hike of 5.1 percent in the capital region of Jakarta for 2022 is a significant victory for Indonesian unions.

330 concrete mixer drivers, dump truck drivers, and cement plant employees, all members of Teamsters Local 174, have been on strike for over two months as negotiations on a new agreement has stalled.

Between military violence, union busting and deteriorating working conditions, Myanmar’s factory workers are being squeezed from all sides

In 2019, 270 people died in the Brumadinho mine collapse, Brazil’s worst environmental and industrial disaster. A study shows

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that the dam collapse could have been predicted weeks in advance with the right monitoring technology.

On January 20, civil society, unions, lawmakers, opposition parties and others came together in the Chilean capital Santiago to demand sustainable lithium policies. IndustriALL affiliate Industrial Chile Constramet is actively mobilizing to ensure that lithium, a key transition mineral, serves the general interest of the nation and promotes re-industrilization.

Nokufa Jessica Ndaba-Modise, an auxiliary occupational health nurse who worked at Highveld Hospital owned by coal mining company Thungela in Witbank was allegedly stabbed to death with a knife by her spouse on Christmas Eve, and her union, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), is furious.

IndustriALL Global Union has joined the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) mining working group, established to develop a GRI mining standard.

The French multinational utilities giant ENGIE today renewed a global framework agreement (GFA) with the global union federations IndustriALL, BWI, and PSI, as well as with the representative French trade unions (CFDT, CFE-CGC, CGT and FO).

The Free Metalworkers' Union (SPM), affiliated to IndustriALL, reports increasing repression against SPM leaders and members during the last months of 2021. Union leaders and members have been fired and detained, some have been forced to flee the country to avoid prosecution.