Global network of BHP workers launch campaign against outsourcing
Outsourcing is a ghost that haunts BHP’s permanent workforce across the world. In a bid to cut labour costs, the mining giant is replacing permanent workers with temporary contracts. BHP employs around 260,000 permanent workers and 34,500 outsourced workers. Wanting…
ACT brands adopt accountability on purchasing practices
ACT (Action, Collaboration, Transformation) is a ground-breaking agreement between global brands and retailers and trade unions to transform garment, textile and footwear industry and achieve living wages for workers through collective bargaining at industry level linked to purchasing practices. Based…
Filipino teacher and trade union activist France Castro wins Febe Velasquez trade union rights award in the Netherlands
Today France Castro of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers received the Febe Velasquez Trade Union Rights Award for her brave and outstanding work in defence of human and trade union rights in the Philippines. The prize is awarded by Federatie…
Reinstate Husni! Mobilization continues for union rights at Accor’s Pullman Jakarta
Mass union protests continue outside Accor’s ‘chic, stylish and modern’ 5-star Pullman Jakarta in Indonesia’s capital city, where members of the IUF-affiliated independent national hotel and restaurant workers’ federation FSPM rallied on October 9 to demand the reinstatement of their…
New comprehensive database unveils state of the art in Higher Education
Hosting a record number of reports, the new Database of External Quality Assurance Results (DEQAR) allows scholars, researchers, students, higher education institutions, quality assurance agencies and policy makers to access over 40.000 reports on the quality assurance of higher education…
International Day of the Girl: educators worldwide salute GirlForce
The global education union movement applauds the momentous activism and leadership of girls around the world. Educators pledge to continue working to empower girls by promoting the inalienable right of every girl to free quality education and by pushing to…
African women rise for gender equality
The meeting was opened by regional secretary Paule Ndessomin, who encouraged women to maintain the momentum of the work that had been done. A major part of the discussion focused on the adoption of ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment by…
United States: UFCW files lawsuit to block government move to speed up processing lines
The UFCW, which represents 30,000 workers in US pork processing plants, has filed a federal lawsuit to block a new rule by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) which eliminates all restrictions on pork processing line speeds while reducing…
Steelworkers’ resistance secures better contract at Dow Chemical
Members of USW Local 13-1 voted to ratify the new deal, which covers around 235 workers at Dow Chemical’s facility at Deer Park, on 8 October. It ends months of conflict at the site in Texas, USA, which started when bargaining…
education union promotes internal democracy and gender equity and fights climate change
Iraq: education union promotes internal democracy and gender equity and fights climate change In preparation for next year’s conference of the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union (KTU), an extended meeting of the KTU Executive Committee was convened, underlining the issues of democracy,…
African miners say mineral wealth must benefit continent
Major themes of the conference included beneficiation, artisanal and small scale mining, safety and ILO Convention 176, and illicit financial flows. The meeting was opened by IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan, who explained that there is a crisis of…
Undoing liberalization to protect electric power workers’ rights
35 union leaders, including six women, from Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Nepal met in Tokyo on 1-2 October to discuss the impact of the economic slowdown and technology revolution on workers. The network’s chairperson Kaoru Kishimoto…
Education unionists in Asia-Pacific put forward recommendations to advance SDG4 and professional teaching standards
At the Asia-Pacific regional consultative meeting of Education International affiliates, education union leaders adopted recommendations to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 and implement professional teaching standards. Thirty education union leaders from 13 Education International (EI) member organisations participated in the…
Youth in Sub Saharan Africa create regional structure
The 44 delegates from 11 countries were joined by guests from a number of organizations, including the ILO, BWI, UNI Global Union, SASK and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, which sponsored the event. The delegates displayed spirit and enthusiasm, frequently breaking…
Tensions escalate over teachers’ promised pay rise
In Jordan, an ongoing strike by the Jordan Teachers Association continues, with the union calling on the government to deliver on the 50 per cent salary increase agreed in 2014. The Jordan Teachers Association (JTA) last week declared its fourth…
EI takes the stage at UNESCO Conference and proposes five measures to make teaching a more attractive profession
World Teachers’ Day: EI takes the stage at UNESCO Conference and proposes five measures to make teaching a more attractive profession During the conference celebrating World Teachers’ Day at UNESCO headquarters, Education International proposed five key measures that should be…
IUF and Arla Foods agreement on measures to fight sexual harassment
The IUF and the dairy transnational Arla Foods have concluded an agreement on measures to protect workers against sexual harassment in the workplace.This is the first such agreement with a global dairy company. In 2013, the IUF signed an agreement…
Province-wide strike averted as CUPE education workers reach tentative agreement
After an intensive weekend of negotiations, a tentative deal has been reached for a new central agreement, following talks between CUPE, the provincial government and the Council of Trustees’ Associations (CTA). The new deal secures services for Ontario students and…
Talks will resume today for CUPE education workers
The Canadian Union of Public Employees will resume bargaining today with the Council of Trustees’ Association and the Government of Ontario, on behalf of 55,000 education workers. Ongoing talks are aimed at ending the work-to-rule job action that will escalate to…
Unions debate on Green Technology and Industry 4.0 at SKF
From 30 September – 3 October, over 40 delegates and observers from 20 countries met in Steyr in Austria and had a vital exchange among themselves as well as with the group’s top management. SKF is a world leader in…
Teachers join global protest action for climate justice
Fridays For Future: Educators join global protest action for climate justice At today’s Fridays For Future march, Education International stood in solidarity with students, unions and other civil society groups to demand immediate action against climate change. The 20th of…
the death of a principal raises the alarm over working conditions in schools
France: the death of a principal raises the alarm over working conditions in schools The suicide letter of a pre-school principal in Saint-Denis blames her working conditions and the status of the profession for her mental and physical exhaustion. The…
young teachers and the future of education in the spotlight
With the world in dire need of new teachers, valuing and improving the status of the profession to make it more attractive to young people is key to ensuring equitable and inclusive quality education for all. Taking place on the…
Making use of global agreements in the garment industry
Global fashion brands, ASOS, ESPRIT, H&M, Inditex and Tchibo, which have signed GFAs with IndustriALL Global Union, also joined the meeting on 23 and 24 September. GFAs are becoming a stronger tool for improving labour relations in the supply chain…
UVic sessional lecturers reach tentative agreement
The union representing sessional lecturers at the University of Victoria (UVic) has reached a tentative agreement that addresses low wages and job security. CUPE 4163 Component 3 reached the agreement after two days of mediation, and months of protracted talks. “It was…
Oil and gas unions in Indonesia unite to organize
The meeting, which was the first of its kind, included representatives from IndustriALL affiliates, FSP KEP-KSPI, CEMWU, FSPPB and the Federation of Oil & Gas SARBUMUS. Together, their members include workers at Air Liquide, Linde, Schlumberger, Halliburton, Pertamina, Chevron, Geoservices,…
As Ontario education workers give notice of walkout, CUPE urges province, trustees to focus on reaching a deal that secures services for students
In the face of mounting evidence that school boards are using education workers’ work-to-rule job action as an excuse to cut programs, services and staffing in Ontario schools, the union that represents these workers gave the required five days’ notice…
Victory for workers as shipyard is saved
The shipyard in Northern Ireland that built the Titanic, Harland and Wolff, has been saved with investment and a programme of future work to follow, by UK company InfraStrata. Harland and Wolff went into administration on 6 August, putting 120…
National Executive Board Highlights – September 2019
Our National Executive Board met September 17 – 19, 2019 in Ottawa. These are the highlights of their deliberations and decisions. In Memory The National Executive Board (NEB) observed a minute of silence to reflect onthe members of our CUPE family lost…
Northside Guest Home long-term care workers take strike vote
Members of CUPE 1876, workers employed by the Northside Guest Home in North Sydney, voted 93 per cent in favour of a strike at a meeting held September 25, 2019. “It’s been very disappointing that the employer has not taken our…