Workers have borne the brunt of the breakdown of the textile and garment supply chain, brought on by the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the sector’s unsustainable business model.

After a seven-month legal battle, General Motors (GM) workers in India were granted interim relief by the Maharashtra Industrial Court on 5 January, when the court held that the retrenchment of workers was unfair labour practice.

86 per cent of the workers making luxury jackets Canada Goose in Canada, have voted to join IndustriALL affiliate, Workers United Canada Council. This is the largest private sector victory for manufacturing workers in Canada in 30 years and is a culmination of a three-year effort by the workers, most of whom are immigrant women sewers.

After months of mobilization, action, and campaigning, three IndustriALL affiliates in the metal sector, Türk Metal, Birleşik Metal-İş and Özçelik-İş, have reached an agreement with employers’ organization MESS for a sector-wide collective bargaining agreement.

Three of IndustriALL’s affiliates in Sri Lanka, The Free Trade Zone & General Services Employees Union, Sri Lanka Nidahas Sewaka Sangamaya, and the National Union of Metal and Migrant workers in Sri Lanka, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to advance workers’ right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, together with the National Union of Seafarers and the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF).

Nearly 8,000 people have been detained and more than 160 people have been killed following mass protests triggered by a doubling of gas prices in Kazakhstan. The violent response yet again stresses the need for democracy and recognition and respect for fundamental human and workers’ rights in the country.

The adoption of a 14 working days and 14 days off roster is a victory for IndustriALL affiliate Federation of Energy, Geology and Mining Workers’ Trade Unions of Mongolia (MEGM). The revised labour code was passed by the Mongolian parliament on 2 July 2021, coming into force on 1 January this year.

Covering 142,000 metalworkers in more than 300 companies, sector-wide collective bargaining kicked off in October 2021 between trade unions and the Turkish Metal Employers’ Association MESS. Since mid-December, metalworkers have carried out actions, urging employers to accept their demands against the backdrop of Turkey’s economic crisis.

The death of at least 3 jade miners in a landslide at Hpakant, Myanmar on 22 December highlights the urgency to curb unsafe mining practices and protect miners’ lives.

Thousands of young women workers at Foxconn's iPhone assembly plant in Tamil Nadu, India, blocked the Chennai - Bangalore highway, demanding improved working and living conditions and decent employment. The protests were triggered by food poisoning at a Foxconn dormitory, leaving hundreds of workers in hospital.

With new automotive assembly plants being commissioned in Ghana, IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU), is intensifying its recruitment and organizing of workers in the sector.

Since mid-December, the Myanmar military has intensified operations against the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and the search for pro-democracy activists. Clashes between soldiers and civilians have led to dozens of casualties. Thousands of villagers have been internally displaced during indiscriminate artillery strikes.

The strong international network of unions of Sanofi employees from over 30 countries continues working together to build unity and solidarity at the global pharmaceuticals company.

In its first meeting since Congress in September, IndustriALL’s women’s committee discussed priorities for the coming four years. Bridging the gender pay gap and the future of work for women in IndustriALL’s sectors were among the issues on the agenda.

Representatives of IndustriALL Global Union met with the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Pakistani government at the Permanent Mission in Geneva on 14 December, to address the ongoing carnage in the country’s coal mines.

On 9 December, IndustriALL and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) jointly hosted the first regional meeting on Industry 4.0 and green technology for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The meeting had around 50 participants from across the region.

Hundreds of workers and affected communities marched to the offices of Eskom in Johannesburg on 11 December to protest the privatization of the public power utility which they say is leading to job losses for tens of thousands of workers and will make electricity unaffordable to poor communities.

16 December marks the ten-year anniversary of the tragedy in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, where police opened fire on protestors, killing 17 and injuring more than 100 workers. The violence ended a seven-month long strike, involving more than 3,000 workers demanding a wage increase.

At IndustriALL Global Union’s Executive Committee meeting, held online on 15 December, titular members and observers discussed what the organization needs to focus on to be best equipped to tackle challenges ahead.

Finnish multinational forestry, pulp and paper company UPM has refused to negotiate a company-wide collective contract, weeks before the expiry of the national sectoral agreement.