On 2 November, 30 trade union representatives from John Deere operations in Europe, Brazil and the US met online to discuss the economic and collective bargaining situation in the company worldwide and develop joint strategies for future social dialog with the company. Participants were eager to hear the latest news regarding the CBA conflict and strike movement in the USA in general, but at Deere in specific.

IndustriALL, together with global unions PSI and IUF, has launched a LabourStart campaign calling for the release trade unionist Ramzi Dardar, jailed on made-up terrorist charges.

Fourteen governments and the European Commission have adopted an ambitious Just Transition pledge which will provide the framework for an equitable transition to a climate resilient future.

South African trade unions affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) are supportive of a Just Transition partnership that is inclusive of the workers and poor communities through social dialogue, protects jobs and livelihoods, and promotes a socially owned renewable energy sector.

Chile is the world’s largest copper producer, yet the country’s laws and policies have for decades been at the service of multinational corporations, resulting in high levels of inequality. Moreover, at BHP a staggering 61 per cent of workers are contract workers, which in Chile means being treated as a second-class worker.

Following intense campaigning for employees illegally dismissed during the pandemic, Electrolux workers in Chile and Mexico, have reached agreements. This is thanks to the dialogue between IndustriALL, Swedish unions and the company.

IndustriALL Global Union has called on multinationals doing business in Myanmar to take immediate action to cease their operations, divest, stop placing new orders, and halt business relations in the country, as part of a campaign of comprehensive economic sanctions against the military junta.

IndustriALL Global Union’s shipbuilding and shipbreaking action group adopted sector activities for the next twelve months and agreed to be united to promote sustainable maritime industry for a just future.

In mid-October, the Colombian coal workers' union Sintracarbón held a meeting with unions in Spain and South Africa to explore concrete ways to ensure a just energy transition.

The mechanical engineering sector will play a key role in the transition to a green economy, both by producing equipment that will help other sectors to transform, and by pioneering sustainable production processes. There is huge potential for the sector if trade unions act strategically.

A global delegation of trade unionists is heading to Glasgow to push the demand for a Just Transition at the global climate conference.

At a policy conference in East London, 26-27 October, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), resolved that it will go back to the basics on recruitment, organizing, and servicing of its members in the construction, energy, metals, and mining sectors.

140 unionists met online on 20-21 October to discuss the implementation of a global supply chain strategy and growing and strengthening union membership in an industry where the garment workers often find themselves at the bottom of the value chain.

This week, discussions on the UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights continue in Geneva. This is the 7th round, moving towards an instrument that will make companies legally liable for human rights violations in their supply chains.

Around 50 trade unionists from TK Elevator’s operations around the world met online on 25-26 October to discuss how to improve social dialogue on the global level.

The three weeks engineering and metals sector national strike ended when a three-year wage agreement with an offer of six per cent was signed by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) on 21 October.

IndustriALL Global Union and IndustriAll European Trade Union are deamnding urgent EU action in response to the horrendous human rights abuses against workers, human rights defenders, and trade unionists in Myanmar. Trade unions insist that the EU immediately revokes Myanmar’s trade preferences under the EU’s Everything But Arms (EBA) arrangement.

Indian unions, including IndustriALL affiliates INMF and SMEFI, have successfully finalized a long-awaited wage agreement with Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), benefitting more than 100,000 employees.

In the space of one week, two fatalities occurred at two separate ACC cement plants in India. The circumstances surrounding the accidents has not been made clear to unions. ACC is owned by Holcim.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions used the popular Netflix series Squid Game in a video to mobilize workers to join the 20 October general strike.