Hundreds of thousands participate in the rally organized by trade union federations in Rome, Italy on 09 February in protest against populist government policy based on austerity.

No one ever hears about tailings dams until they go wrong. But when they fail, the results can be catastrophic. So, as their numbers increase, what exactly are tailings dams and why should we be worried?

The Bangladesh Government is set to throw away the achievements of the Bangladesh Accord, which was a response the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013 that claimed more than 1000 lives.

Rather than negotiate a responsible handover of Accord functions, the Government of Bangladesh is intransigent in insisting that the Accord leaves Bangladesh by a fixed date, regardless of whether there is a competent safety authority to replace it.

Three mineworkers died on 8 February when a loader caught fire underground at Mopani Copper Mine’s Mindola North Shaft in Kitwe, Zambia. Another worker, who survived the fire, is being treated for burns.

A massive wave of protesting garment workers demanding an increase of minimum wages swept across Bangladesh’ garment industry in December 2018 and January 2019. State repression following the protest has resulted in arrests and mass terminations of workers in more than a hundred garment manufacturing units.

Unions are rejecting a proposal to dismantle the state-owned power utility Eskom made by the President Cyril Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation address on 8 February, saying this will cause job losses and retrenchments that will affect over 100,000 workers.

Brazilian metalworkers came up with a plan of action at their meeting in São Paulo on 1 February. They agreed to take global action against the threats made by General Motors and to participate in campaigns in support of retirement and the victims of the Brumadinho dam disaster.

“What does the future of work entail when mining is done through automation, and how will workers and mine-affected communities’ benefit?” 

On 30-31 January, 40 young trade unionists from IndustriALL Global Union affiliates in Cambodia attended leadership training in the capital, Phnom Penh. 

Workers at Pulido Apparel Company Inc in the Philippines, which supplies global brands including Timberland, UGG, The North Face and J-Crew, have been on strike since 21 January after the company temporarily shut down its main factory to break the workers’ union. 

IndustriALL Global Union welcomes Turkey’s ratification of the Hong Kong Convention for the safe and environmentally sound ship recycling, but says more countries must urgently follow suit.

A sustained campaign by unions and threat of strike action has succeeded in pushing the Nigerian National Assembly to approve a new national minimum wage of 30,000 Naira (US$83), when it appeared to be stalling.

A Parliamentary enquiry into UK’s fashion industry highlights ACT as a positive initiative towards living wages in the textile and garment industry.   

IndustriALL strongly condemns the threats, political militancy and economic intervention taking place in Venezuela and calls for stability and respect for the self-determination of the Venezuelan people.

There’s never been a more important time to join a union. As 26 billionaires own as many assets as the poorest 50 per cent of the world’s population, ordinary people are finding it harder to make ends meet. Trade unions fight for working people so they get a fairer share of profits, that in turn leads to a healthy economy and stable society. So what do they offer? 

Romanian textile unions met in Bucharest to debate the road towards an organised workforce with living wages and collective agreements, together with global brands H&M and Inditex, their key suppliers, employer associations and the government.

After a twelve-day strike, Turkish union Kristal-İş has signed a collective bargaining agreement with İzocam, which includes major benefits, extra paid leave, increased allowances and a significant wage increase.

ATG Ceylon workers staged a protest in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in Colombo on 30 January and handed him a memorandum seeking his immediate intervention to resolve a dispute with the British-Sri Lankan industrial glove manufacturer.

Under the umbrella of IndustriALL Global Union and industriAll Europe, Romanian union leaders met in Bucharest on 21 January to discuss organizing and union building strategies against a background of harsh labour laws, increased deregulation and economic and social hardships

Vale must be held accountable, say global unions IndustriALL and Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) as hundreds are feared to have died as a result of a dam collapse at Brumadinho in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais on 25 January.