A mission to Cape Town by seven Ethiopian trade unionists, 13-15 August, provided an opportunity for learning and sharing of strategies and tactics on social dialogue and collective bargaining.

On 13 August, workers from General Motors plants across Latin America met in São Paulo, Brazil, to discuss and take action against workforce casualization within the firm.

After 12 long years of strike action, Grupo Mexico has finally paid workers their share of profits. This is a major victory for Mexico’s Los Mineros union, an affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union.

Protestors in Brazil took a stand on 13 August against the social security reform promoted by the extreme-right president Jair Bolsonaro, and in defense of public education and employment.

Protestors in Brazil took a stand on 13 August against the social security reform promoted by the extreme-right president Jair Bolsonaro, and in defense of public education and employment.

Swiss mining and commodity trading company Glencore has announced that it will put Mutanda Mine in Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo, under care and maintenance from 2020-2022, causing fear and uncertainty to over 7,000 mineworkers who might lose their jobs if the mine closes.

On 12 August, the president of Taiwan Petroleum Workers’ Union (TPWU) Zhuang Jue-An called on the Taiwanese government to increase the monthly minimum wage from NT$23,100 (US$744) to NT$28,862 (US$928), to ensure a fair distribution of income to workers.

Through a special pardoning decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Erlan Blatabay, leader of the independent oil and gas workers’ union and vice-president of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Kazakhstan (KNPRK), was released from custody on 10 August.

In three years’ time, 42 per cent of task hours will be performed by machines or algorithms and humans will take care of the remaining 58 per cent. New jobs will emerge in fields such as data, employing 133 million people around the world, whilst others, such as postal jobs, will disappear, leaving 75 million people out of work.

Members of IndustriALL Global Union’s affiliate Kristal-Is are on strike since 26 July 2019 at Düzce Cam, one of the subsidiaries of Turkish-based glassmaker Okan Group in the town Düzce. Over a four-year struggle for union recognition, the glassmaker has used every union-busting tactics in violation of the national and international legislation, including dismissal of 80 union members and nominated union representatives.

Collective bargaining is one of the ways through which trade unions build solidarity, respect, trust, better communication, and consensus amongst workers. However, collective bargaining negotiations are complex, with challenges that may not be immediately apparent.

A massive wave of protest across the country on 2 August against the Modi government’s corporate friendly labour law reforms highlights the crisis of social dialogue in India.

Workers at Harland and Wolff, the Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, have occupied the 158-year old shipyard to protest against its closure.

Over 150 shipbreaking members of IndustriALL affiliates benefited from a medical camp organized on 26 July at Shitakund, Chattogram.

On the night shift at the Bharatpur open cast mine, at around 11.30pm on 23 July, a controlled explosion triggered a landslide trapping 13 coal miners. 

Power cuts of up to 18 hours are common in Zimbabwe as the country goes through another economic crisis. Corruption and looting are rife at state-owned companies like the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), as revealed by the country’s auditor general report for 2018. 

Cement sector union representatives from different parts of India gathered at Chennai on 29-30 July 2019 to take stock and improve occupational health and safety (OHS) initiatives, social dialogue and union power.

Young workers in Sub Saharan Africa live in a region of high unemployment, inequality, poverty, low manufacturing and declining industrialization. Further, transformation at the workplace is taking place due to Industry 4.0 automation and artificial intelligence. 

IndustriALL Global Union’s South East Asia affiliates call upon governments take action to stop unfair competition and protect cement workers in the region.

Trade unions in Morocco have launched a campaign against a draft law that violates the constitutional right to strike in the country.