17 May is International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), an opportunity for trade unions to stand in solidarity with LGBTI workers and to raise awareness of the ongoing discrimination and violence that many face.

On the first anniversary of the inauguration of President Yoon, the Council of Global Unions, representing 200 million workers around the world expresses deep concern on the recent attacks, judicial harassment, and interference against the legitimate activities of trade unions and the rights of working people in South Korea.

Minera Panama, a subsidiary of First Quantum Minerals, is pursuing a policy that violates the fundamental right to organise and bargain collectively. IndustriALL is urging Canadian mining company First Quantum Minerals to ensure respect for the right to freedom of association at its copper mine in Panama.

Ahead of the debate and vote on 10 and 11 May on a Resolution on Myanmar, the fourth since the military coup of February 2021, IndustriALL Global Union and industriAll Europe have written a letter to the European Parliament. The military junta in Myanmar has escalated its repression of democratic forces. The European Parliament must do everything in its power to end the military junta’s rule and return democracy to the people of Myanmar.

The Botswana Mine Workers Union’s (BMWU) win in an industrial court on 28 April has stopped unfair retrenchments at Lucara Botswana’s security department at the Karowe diamond mine, the same mine which unearthed “Lesedi la rona” (our light) in 2015 - the largest diamond to be discovered in a century. The mine has also dug three diamonds with over 1,000 carats each and sold “The Constellation”, an 813-carat diamond for a record US$63 million for a rough gem in 2016.

Swedish fashion giant H&M’s ESG record is better than many of its peers and the company’s responsible business practices has cemented a constructive relationship with IndustriALL. And yet H&M refuses to stop sourcing from Myanmar, a military dictatorship where unions are banned and foreign exchange are used to buy weapons. At today’s AGM, IndustriALL raised the question with the company.  

The 10th anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse on 24 April was the starting point of a week-long advocacy with garment union leaders from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia and Tunisia. The delegation met with the ILO in Geneva, politicians in Berlin and the EU Parliament and Commission in Brussels to discuss the continued campaign on safe factories and the need for mandatory due diligence.

As part of IndustriALL's days of action the Eastern Europe and Central Asia regional office held a health and safety workshop with three Armenian affiliates, celebrating 28 April which is International Workers' Memorial Day.

Interventions from IndustriALL Global Union and Nike, has led to T-win Garment Cambodia Co. Ltd. reinstating 8 local union leaders who are affiliated to the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW). They were reinstated on 26 April. 

The IndustriALL Global multinational committee (GMC) met for the first time in Paris on April 27-28. The hybrid meeting was attended by around 70 delegates who discussed and developed a strategic action plan on issues related to multinational companies (MNCs).

During May Day celebrations trade unions, in Zimbabwe, called for living wages amidst a cost-of-living crisis characterised by high inflation of 75.2 per cent, increasing poverty levels, and high unemployment. 

To commemorate International Workers’ Memorial Day a group of shop stewards from different trade unions in Sub-Saharan Africa came together, in Ghana, to visit and learn about adherence to occupational health and safety standards at state-owned Tema oil refinery and Trafigura’s Tema multiproduct terminal known as Blue Ocean. As symbols of remembrance the workers and delegation wore black ribbons and carried black candles.

More than two years after the military coup in Myanmar, the situation for the people, and the workers, is getting worse. May Day is a day when we raise our voices for workers’ rights and against violations – human rights due diligence is not possible under Myanmar’s military dictatorship and companies must plan a responsible exit from the country.

From 27-29 April participants from Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India came together to plan, in very practical terms, how to strengthen their unions and make them more inclusive for women and young workers.

ASSRGWA, affiliated to IndustriALL through SMEFI, in collaboration with ILO, is organizing a series of workshops on occupational health and safety and just transition in Alang’s ship recycling and downstream industry in India.

Gender based division of labour, sexual biological differences, employment patterns, social roles and social structures mean that women and men are exposed to different risks at work, and also exposed in different ways. These differences need to be identified and acknowledged, OHS policies should be gender-responsive to ensure workplaces that are safe for all workers.

Eighteen white collar workers from Ghanaian affiliates organising in the energy, mining, chemical, oil and gas, and public utilities, met in Accra on 26 April to discuss how they can develop organizing strategies and build union power in their sectors.

In a powerful global action, Amcor workers in 17 countries coordinated this month to together demand that the company engages with the Amcor global trade union alliance.

Meeting with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), trade union leaders from the textile and garment sector in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar and Tunisia called for mandatory and strong due diligence legislation and Europe’s support to prevent a tragedy like the Rana Plaza disaster from ever happening again. 

Contract workers at the oil and gas fields in Southern Iran are striking for increased wages and better working conditions.