The devastating earthquakes on 6 February have left at least 21,000 dead and the death toll continues to increase as thousands of people remain trapped under collapsed buildings. Tens of thousands are wounded and millions of people are left homeless.

Artisanal small-scale miners in Sub Saharan Africa mine high value minerals including cobalt, gold and manganese. Yet their mining operations remain mainly informal and dangerous.

Uruguayan government officials have engaged in illegal surveillance of Marcelo Abdala, president of Uruguayan trade union federation PIT-CNT and general secretary of IndustriALL affiliate UNTMRA. PIT-CNT is considering political and legal action in defence of democracy, the Republic and freedoms.

Will I have a job after the transition, what type of job, in which sector, and will I earn the same as I currently do? These questions, asked by workers in relation to energy transition, were the starting point for discussions at IndustriALL's panel at the African Mining Indaba in Cape Town on 8 February.

Unions affiliated to the Working People Trade Union Congress (WPTUC), an IndustriALL affiliate, are protesting in three of auto manufacturer’s Ashok Leyland’s units over the company’s excessive use of contract workers and unfair labour practices.

A large polyester, fiber and polymers producer in Turkey is urged to fulfil its obligations for workers’ rights in line international norms and standards.

More than 100 participants from IndustriALL affiliates in the textile and garment sector met online on 2-3 February for the first world conference since 2016. Discussions focused on advancing workers’ rights, building union power, confronting global capital, and ensuring sustainable industrial policy, as well as women in the sector. 

IndustriALL’s affiliates in Bangladesh are demanding an increase in the minimum wage from BDT8,000 (US$75) to BDT23,000 (US$215) for garment workers, as the country sees roaring inflation, leaving workers struggling to make ends meet. 

On 3 February, South African unions from the Congress of South African Trade Unions and civil society organizations campaigning for democratic reforms picketed at the Eswatini Embassy in Johannesburg to call for justice and for an independent investigation following the assassination of Thulani Maseko, a human rights and social justice lawyer.

In a joint meeting of IndustriALL Global and European Trade Unions affiliates in Turkey, unions raised concerns about purchasing power as wages decline and inflation rises.

In the morning of 1 February, Anis Kaabi, general secretary of Tunisia’s Highway workers union, was arrested after striking for better working conditions.

At the end of January, IndustriALL affiliates in the aerospace sector met in Casablanca, Morocco, to discuss the industry and a strategic roadmap ahead. The region was chosen to emphasize the importance of emerging aerospace economies like Mexico, India and the MENA region, mainly Morocco and Tunisia.

IndustriALL is bringing a significant number of affiliated mining unions from Sub-Saharan Africa to the investing in Africa Mining Indaba and the Alternative Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa, to discuss proposals for pathways to meet the challenges of climate change impacts in the mining world of work, as well as ESG impacts.

Trade unions in Zimbabwe are raising serious objections to recently passed laws that violate trade union rights.

On the second anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar, the global unions, representing 200 million workers worldwide, call for renewed global efforts to restore democracy. The global unions support the call by the Confederation of Trade Unions, Myanmar (CTUM) for a Global Day of Action to demand formal diplomatic recognition of the National Unity Government (NUG) as the legitimate representative of the people of Myanmar, and the release of political prisoners.

Unions want labour provisions to be included in the next phases of negotiations of the African Continental Free Trade Areas (AfCFTA). This demand comes from IndustriALL affiliates in Kenya, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory coast, Lesotho, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe who were present at a trade and industrial policy conference, in November last year in Ghana.

A high-level tripartite ILO mission to the Philippines has concluded after five days of consultation and dialogue with trade unions and workers’ organizations, laying out its recommendations to ensure full recognition of internationally labour rights in the country.

Over 350 workers at Rieter India Ltd. have been on strike since 21 January, after management refused to address the union’s concerns about unfair labour practices.

It’s been two years since the military seized power in Myanmar. As workers risk their lives to restore democracy, we must continue to voice opposition and demonstrate solidarity support.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliated unions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia welcome the memorandum of understanding between their governments and the United States of America (US) on the creation of an electric vehicle value chain in the two countries.