Organising thousands of new workers to build union power for higher wages and better coverage of branch collective agreements were debated at a seminar for national and local textile union leaders on 12-13 March in Skopje, North Macedonia.

On 14 March, women representatives from four IndustriALL affiliates formed the IndustriALL National Women’s Council of South Africa (INWC-SA). The committee immediately released a statement in support of Gugu Ncube, a young woman who has had to endure harsh treatment of both the police and her employer after putting forward accusations of sexual harassment of her boss.

Twelve IndustriALL Global Union affiliates in Ukraine agreed on a Joint Declaration to develop an industrial policy and act in solidarity to defend and advance human and trade union rights.

Ford union representatives and their national and international colleagues spent two days debating possible ways of safeguarding jobs at the Ford Sollers joint venture in Russia, and their response to the potential closure of other Ford plants, after the company announced a review of  its strategy in the country.

A strike is on at Arcelor Mittal, South Africa, to force the company to give permanent jobs to contract workers, and to demand equal pay for work of equal value.

On behalf of 50 million workers around the world, IndustriALL Global Union extends its deepest condolences to the people of New Zealand following the deadly terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch.

Some 1,700 workers at Hankook Tire in Hungary have been on strike for more than a week as the South Korean-owned company refuses to negotiate over a pay increase.

Workers in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, have been holding rallies since 22 February, demanding increased wages for low-paid categories of workers to 150 thousand tenge (US$395), jobs for the unemployed, and full freedom to exercise trade union activities. Kazakh authorities have responded by arresting 19 people.

For the past 27 days, workers at the Ford India plant in Sanand, Gujarat, have been boycotting food provided by the company in protest against management’s refusal to increase wages in collective bargaining negotiations.

Royal Dutch Shell violations against contract workers in Nigeria came under scrutiny today at the 40th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

Workers at the Ford Motor Company plant in São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, are continuing their campaign to keep the plant open and save their jobs.

Around 30 women representatives from IndustriALL Global Union’s Turkish affiliates gathered in Istanbul on 7 March 2019 to discuss further cooperation among themselves to address the need to attract women to join, participate and take leading positons in their unions.

Following almost 300 days of courageous struggle in defence of their rights and dignity, workers at Yves Rocher’s Turkish subsidiary Flormar have reached a deal with the company.

Algeria must implement real democracy and stop repression of independent trade unions and civil society, says IndustriALL Global Union, as President Abdelaziz Bouteflika dropped his bid for a fifth term after weeks of demonstrations across the country.

Over 30 participants at a union building workshop and women’s meeting in Dakar, 25-26 February, resolved to recruit and organize more workers, defend the rights of women workers, fight precarious work, strengthen leadership capacity, and increase union-to-union collaboration.

Thousands of unionists around the world took action on 8 March, International Women's Day.

In a letter to the Minister of labour and employment on 5 March, the IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC) demanded immediate intervention of the government to withdraw false cases, free the imprisoned and reinstate all dismissed workers in the backdrop of mass protests for wage hike across readymade garment manufacturing units.

IndustriALL affiliates in Kyrgyzstan are calling on the government to restore administrative and criminal liability for violations of the country’s Labour code. A legislative reform launched on 1 January this year has led to a deterioration of labour legislation and is depriving workers of social protection.

Violence and harassment affect the lives of millions women workers on a daily basis. Yet there is still no law at the international level that sets a baseline for taking action to eradicate violence and harassment, including gender-based violence (GBV) and harassment, at work.

Auto plants provide well-paid, highly skilled and heavily unionized work, so a spate of plant closures and retrenchments in several countries is worrying for unions. While we need to fight closures plant by plant, we also need to understand the wider structural drivers.