After two months of campaigning by workers, multinational DOW has gone back on its decision to close its plant in Puerto General San Martín, a closure where 4,000 jobs would have been lost.

Korean unions, led by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), staged a general strike across the country on 20 October to protest attacks on freedom of association, demand union rights, and to call for a Just Transition. IndustriALL Global Union affiliates the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU) and Korea Chemical & Textile Workers’ Federation (KCTF) joined the strike.

French unions FNME-CGT, FCE-CFDT, CFE-CGC Energies and FO Energie took action on 19 October, to fight back against social regression and attacks on pension and unemployment insurance schemes, as well as to demand higher wages.

Ethiopian unions fear that millions of jobs will be lost if the United States withdraws the country’s eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which gives duty-free access to the country’s textile, garments, shoe, leather and other products.

For the first time in 35 years, 10,000 workers are on strike at 14 John Deere plants Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas in the US.

After recruiting and organizing most of the workers in the Chinese-owned textile and garment factories in Mbalala Mukono, the Uganda Textile Garment Leather and Allied Workers Union (UTGLAWU) is shocked by the continued refusal by the employers to recognize the union, in violation of Uganda labour law.

The Confederation of Industrial Labour of Thailand (CILT) is calling on the Thai Prime Minister to take legal action against Victoria's Secret supplier Brilliant Alliance Thai Global Ltd. (BAT), which owes 1,388 workers unpaid wages and severance pay for seven months, and to assume responsibility for the money owed to workers.

The vote to scrap the collective agreement controlled by the Miguel Trujillo López union, affiliated to the business-friendly Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), has resulted in threats and harassment of the workers supporting the new, independent union.

After a 30-day strike, workers at Farmaindustria-Abbott International in Peru signed their first collective bargaining agreement on 4 October, achieving economic and social benefits as well as major improvements in working conditions for all.

The steering committee for the ICT, electrical and electronics (ICT EE) sector met on 8 October to share experiences and develop an activities plan for 2022. More than 40 per cent of the 46 delegates were women.

After a week of negotiations between governments, employers and trade unions, more than 60 million workers in the textile and garment industry around the world will now benefit from a new code of practice with concrete guidance on improving health and safety.

IndustriALL’s 3rd Congress in September adopted a resolution in solidarity with its Indonesian affiliates against the controversial Omnibus law on job creation, which has created turbulence since its introduction in January 2020. 

Workers at General Motors’ Chevrolet-producing São Caetano do Sul plant in Brazil are on strike since 1 October after negotiations with the employer have broken down.

Together with the General Federation of Oman Workers (GFOW), IndustriALL organized an online workshop in August this year to discuss collective bargaining  and collective  agreements for sectoral unions in Oman. Around 30 participants from different industrial sectors, including energy and base metals, participated.

Today is World Day for Decent Work and we highlight the impact of Covid on garment workers and the global campaign to achieve social protection for this workforce.

Around 80 trade union leaders from South Asia attended a webinar to discuss gender based violence and harassment and to plan for a joint campaign.

Tens of thousands of workers employed in the engineering and metals sectors took to the streets of the main cities ­ - Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, and Kimberley - on 5 October to demand living wages in the sectors after a deadlock in the negotiations.

Fifty members of IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers are on strike for a fair contract at Sulzer Pumps, in Barboursville, West Virginia, USA.

IndustriALL’s third Congress passed a resolution condemning the repression of free trade unions in Algeria, and calling for the release of all pro-democracy activists, in particular trade unionist Ramzi Dardar.

For over three decades, the government of the Kingdom of Eswatini has violated human and trade union rights. However, there are increasing calls against this impunity, and for democratic reforms to be implemented.