Swiss union investigation into housekeeping in Marriott Zürich hotels reveals exploitative, dangerous and unsanitary conditions
An investigation by IUF affiliate Unia into housekeeping in Marriott-branded hotels in Zürich – one of the world’s most expensive cities – shows the brutal consequences of cut-throat outsourcing: extreme speed-up and exploitation of a vulnerable workforce resulting in dangerously…
Nicaragua’s stolen revolution | IUF UITA IUL
July 19 marks the anniversary of the 1979 overthrow of the US-backed Somoza dictatorship. The democratic promise of the Sandinista revolution, which resonated throughout the region and the world, has been progressively confiscated by the autocratic rule of President Daniel…
US: locked out National Grid workers denied healthcare
National Grid, which distributes electricity and gas, locked out union members in Massachusetts on June 25 after contract negotiations broke down, and cut off workers’ access to healthcare. The workers maintain natural gas supply lines to private homes, businesses and…
BASF: South American workers analyze impacts of Industry 4.0
Before meeting with the company, IndustriALL Global Union’s South American regional trade union network met on 9 and 10 July to prepare. The network members expressed their solidarity with the former president of Brazil, Lula da Silva, and supported the…
Education and Solidarity Network will relentlessly advocate for improved health and well-being in education
At its General Assembly, the Education and Solidarity Network renewed its commitment to remain a trusted, expanding and innovative network promoting health and well-being in educational settings the world over. More than thirty participants, including education trade union representatives and…
South East Asia cement unions call for sustainable future
The 35 trade union representatives compared their economic situation, built their network and developed joint strategies to strengthen workers’ voices. They shared that the Indonesian cement industry is characterized by oversupply: although the market shows annual growth of up to…
Deadly Georgian mine closed after multiple fatalities
18.07.2018 The Mindeli coal mine in Tkibuli, Georgia, has been closed after four miners were killed, and six others were injured. IndustriALL affiliate the Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia (TUMMCIWG) reports that on 16 July, the ceiling…
South Africa: Six workers die in underground fire at copper mine
18.07.2018 With six mineworkers killed and 48 injured in an underground fire at Palabora Copper Mine in the Limpopo Province caused by a burning conveyor belt, increasingly South African mines are becoming death-traps for mine workers. On 15 July, when…
Bangladesh Accord arbitration cases – resulting in millions-of-dollars in settlements – officially closed
The brands have met all terms of the settlements, including paying more than US$2.3 million towards remediating unsafe conditions in Bangladesh ready-made garment factories. The Accord will distribute the money to eligible factories. “These cases prove the Accord’s power to…
Burgerville Workers Fight and Win Co-Worker’s Job Back
Submitted on Tue, 07/17/2018 – 6:29pm By Burgerville Workers Union – It’s Going Down, July 12, 2018 Report from the Burgerville Workers Union of the IWW who recently fought and won the rehiring of a co-worker. Meet Brookelynn, a longtime…
Fundraiser to Support Members of IU650
Submitted on Tue, 07/17/2018 – 6:16pm We’ve received an incredible outpouring of solidarity during and since the end of out lockout. While we may be able to win back the lost two weeks of wages through court battles down the…
CUPE delegation in Israel-Palestine | Canadian Union of Public Employees
An education delegation led by CUPE National and made up of members from across the country is currently in Israel-Palestine. Their goal is to learn about the impact of Israel’s military occupation on Palestinian workers, and to hear firsthand accounts…
governmental promise to hire 100,000 teachers and bridge the teacher gap
Indonesian education unionists have welcomed the announcement made by the national government during a Public Discussion on National Education to hire 100,000 teachers in 2018 in an effort to combat the teacher shortage in the country. The Indonesian government plans…
Educators in the EU and Japan demand education be left out of trade agreement
On the occasion of the signature of the European Union-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, Education International firmly supports its European and Japanese members, reasserting that education must be explicitly carved out of such international trade agreements. In a joint statement, Education…
South Africa: Footwear strike for a living wage enters second week
IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU) and the National Union of Leather and Allied Workers, who organize the 10,000-plus workers in the sector, called for the national strike to demand living wages. …
Fiat Chrysler/CNHi Union Network adopts three-year work plan and calls on the company to recognize the trade union body
17.07.2018 The Fiat Chrysler/CNHi global union network held its annual meeting in Torino, Italy and formulated a detailed three-year work plan. The group urges the company to recognize the network and to enter into discussions for a formal cooperation. On…
Tentative agreement reached in Harrison Hot Springs
CUPE 458 and the Village of Harrison Hot Springs reached a new tentative agreement over the weekend after almost a week of strike action in the Village. “We want to thank residents and visitors for their patience during this dispute as…
Premier Ford’s back-to-work legislation will violate civil liberties, hurt students
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario have joined with striking workers at York University to voice their opposition to the new Conservative government’s “back-to-work” legislation. “Our members went on strike more than four months ago because…
Statement by CUPE National President Mark Hancock on Ontario Bill 2
Doug Ford won power on a promise to fight for “the little guy” in a “government for the people.” But one of his very first acts as Premier will be to dismantle the bargaining rights of precarious workers at York University….
Stop the attack on rights at Cargill Turkey – Reinstate #TheCargill14 now!
Fourteen union activists have been continually protesting for over 80 days after being unfairly dismissed from their jobs on April 17, 2018 while organizing a union at Cargill-Turkey’s corn-milling facility in Bursa-Orhangazi. This is not the first time Cargill management…
teacher union expands to better advocate for quality public education
Iraq: teacher union expands to better advocate for quality public education Topics in this post: The opening of a new headquarters for its branch in the centre of the Iraqi Chamchamal region represents a golden opportunity for the Kurdistan Teachers’…
India: Six workers die at Gerdau steel plant
The accident of leakage of poisonous gas at the Gerdau steel plant happened at around 5 pm on 12 July. While workers were cleaning a tunnel, some workers fell unconscious and two others who went to rescue their colleagues also…
Who picked my tea? | IUF UITA IUL
The UK trade justice organization Tradecraft Exchange has launched a public campaign calling on the 6 tea companies which together account for over two-thirds of UK tea sales to disclose the plantations they source from in Assam, India. We support…
Turkish court sentences Soma bosses up to 22 years in prison over deadliest mine disaster
The verdict by the Akhisar court, which is 50km from Soma in western Turkey, was announced on 11 July following a trial lasting three years. The mine’s general manager Ramazan Dogru and technical manager Ismail Adali were sentenced to 22…
Unions form global network and seek to expand partnership with ArcelorMittal
Seventy leaders from unions at ArcelorMittal in eighteen different countries meeting in Luxembourg this week on 10 and 11 July, launched the IndustriALL ArcelorMittal Global Union Network. The unions represent tens of thousands of ArcelorMittal workers at nearly all of…
trade union’s resistance to attacks on education
The Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores em Educação has been successful in pushing back a bill in the Brazilian Parliament that would prevent the expression of any political, ideological, or partisan ideas in classrooms. Mobilising massively, the Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores…
Norwegian oil company to collaborate with Ghanaian unions
13.07.2018 Norway’s Aker Energy, which bought oil exploration and production licences for the Tano Cape Three Points Block in Ghana from Hess Corporation early this year will collaborate with trade unions on workers’ rights including freedom of association and the…
Zambia: Mining union on recruitment blitz
12.07.2018 “I will be smiling all the way to Kitwe,” says Brenda Mufika, the Copperbelt Regional Coordinator, of the Mine Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ), after signing a recognition agreement with Smech Engineering Services in the Sinazongwe District of the Southern Province…
Goodyear Mexico fires workers for setting up their own union
The multinational, which specializes in the manufacture of tyres, announced the mass dismissals of around 50 peopleon 9 July. The workers claim that the company’s action was an act of revenge to punish their decision to set up an independent trade…
GEA management concedes to talks after strike at Italian plant
Workers at the plant, who are members of IndustriALL Global Union Italian affiliate, FIOM-CGIL, went on strike in protest at the proposed sale on 10 July. The union wants to safeguard jobs and production at GEA’s sizeable plant outside the…