Bangladesh is the top shipbreaking country in the world, but the industry’s dangerous working conditions have left two workers dead and more injured in the first weeks of February.

Trade unions as workers’ organizations can play important roles in intra-African trade between Sierra Leone and South Africa to ensure sustainable decent work, health and safety, and living wages, says IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the National Union of Mineworkers.

Algeria’s government is systematically harassing, imprisoning and threatening independent trade union leaders and members.

Gender-based violence and harassment at work is widespread in Brazil, and until the adoption of the world’s first global standard on violence and harassment at work, C190, little was being done to rectify it.

Brazilian oil workers' union FUP have called an indefinite national strike, protesting against Petrobas' plans to shut down a nitrogen fertilizer plant and lay off more than 1,000 workers.

Environmental, social and governance issues remain challenges for the mining industry as it grapples with the new challenges of climate change and Industry 4.0.

With sustainability and responsible mining gaining momentum, the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) standards for responsible mining is emerging as a credible tool for quality assurance. More than 30 representatives from unions, non-governmental organizations and community groups in 12 countries, met in Cape Town on 2 February to discuss how the tool can protect workers and community rights.

The Industrial Workers’ Federation of Myanmar (IWFM) held a mass demonstration on 2 February in Yangon to protest against an Arbitration Council decision that denied full reinstatement to 260 workers of Thong Thai Textile factory who were fired for taking strike action.

The Supreme Court of Georgia confirmed on 29 January, the decisions of two lower courts to oblige Rustavi Azot chemical plant to reinstate 56 employees with payment of their due wages for the past three years.

Through unity, determination and concerted action, the three unions reached a collective bargaining victory for around 130.000 of its members.

Over a two-year period IndustriALL affiliates in Turkey and Bangladesh have successfully organized more than 50 supplier factories as part of a programme to effectively implement global framework agreements. 

Eight hundred members of Unifor Local 594 have been blockading the Co-op Refinery in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada since they were locked out on December 5. They are offering to lift the blockade if the employer returns to the negotiating table.

IndustriALL’s Indonesian affiliates unanimously reject the Omnibus bill on job creation, proposed by the country’s President Joko Widodo. The past week has seen continued union protests around the country.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), will meet commodity trader Glencore in consultative meetings about retrenchments at Rustenburg Smelter. The meetings will be mediated by the Commission of Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

The start of 2020 has seen increasing accidents and deaths in Pakistan’s coal mines, exposing the near non-existence of safety measures and continued negligence from the employers and the government.

300 workers at the Chadormalu iron ore mine have been fired after protesting low wages and wage discrimination against contractors.

On 27 January, IndustriALL and Michelin signed an agreement to set up the Michelin Global Works Council. The new council, representing the Group's workers, will draw heavily on the work, methods and positive outcomes of the Michelin European Works Council (MEWC).

One year after Brazil's worst environmental, human and work-related disaster, which killed 272 people, 11 bodies remain to be found. Those affected are on a six-day march to condemn the lack of action. 

On 21 January, hundreds of workers at the Bandar Imam Khomeini petrochemical complex in Iran, launched a protest which lasted for several days against precarious work conditions, the non-payment of wages, reduction of bonuses, and end to overtime pay. 

One year ago, the Brumadinho mine disaster took the lives of 272 people. We look at the human impact of an avoidable tragedy caused by corporate greed and negligence.