A number of international tools and recourses exist to seek justice and remedy for workers’ rights violations. Here is a short guide to the instruments available, for your union to determine at different stages during a labour conflict if they can be used to increase pressure on a company or government. 

Trade unionism is not a crime! Trade unionism is not extremism!

Ahead of Glencore’s AGM on 26 May, IndustriALL Global Union brought together representatives from trade unions at Glencore operations around the world, as well as from communities touched by the Swiss mining company’s blatant lack of willingness to address serious environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues across its global operations for a pre-AGM. 

Trade unions in the MENA region are fighting for a Just Transition based on fundamental human rights. IndustriALL MENA Just Transition  conference in Beirut on 11-13 May brought together unions from Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, Palestine, and Bahrain to discuss the situation in the different countries and action plans for a transition that is just and fair for workers.

Swiss mining and metal giant Glencore has made a hostile takeover bid of Canadian Teck Resources. Given the experiences of job losses, violations of workers’ rights and impact on the environment and communities after the Xstrata hostile takeover in 2012, IndustriALL and affiliates object to the bid.

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, Travailleurs Unis Des Mines Métallurgie, Energie, Chimie et Autres Industries (TUMEC), that organizes workers at two Glencore mines in Kolwezi, Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) and Mutanda Mining (Mumi), says the Swiss commodity trader and mining multinational is short-changing workers by paying them different wages and benefits for the same work.

Indian unions, including IndustriALL affiliates, have successfully negotiated with the Coal India management to secure a 19 per cent increase in pay and a 25 per cent increase in allowances.

Organizing, sector development, health and safety and human rights due diligence were topics discussed at the ICT, electrical and electronics steering committee meeting, in Vietnam on 9 and 10 May. 

In a recent report, IndustriALL and the ILO outline violations of workers’ rights at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and in the city of Enerhodar, as Russia’s war on Ukraine continues.

The union of Antapaccay Mining Company workers (SITRAMINA) is seeking to reverse the change in the company’s shift system. It claims that the new shift pattern is a major health and safety risk and will have a negative impact on workers' family lives.

A two-day workshop on health and safety in the TGSL sector in Asia Pacific, held in Bangkok, Thailand on 18-19 May, 2023, discussed global developments in the sector, specifically the ILO Code of Practice in Health and Safety in Textiles, clothing, leather and footwear, the International Accord and IndustriALL’s global campaign on Garment workers need safe factories.

Collective bargaining is core for trade unions as it is a means through which employers and trade unions can establish fair wages and working conditions, providing the basis for sound labour relations. 

Unions in Korea are being subjected to serious repression by authorities, where restrictive definitions in the labour law mean that everyday trade union activities are being criminalized. KMWU is calling for a warning strike on 31 May.

Trade unions across Asia are taking steps to promote inclusion and opportunities for LGBTQI+ workers. From challenging discriminatory practices to creating safe and equitable workplaces, unions are proving that they can be agents of change.

Australian union MEU calls the newly established Net Zero Authority “a game-changer for workers and communities affected by the energy transition”. 

Over 1,300 workers at Yekepa mine and Buchanan Grand Bassa went on strike on 10 May over wage increases and salary disparities after wage negotiations deadlocked between ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) and the United Workers Union of Liberia (UWUL), an affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union.

Global inequality is on the rise and we need to take action. IndustriALL has developed twelve building blocks needed for a just future and to close the inequality gap. We need fundamental workers’ rights, with full implementation of ILO C87 and C98, and labour laws at national level that allow workers to defend themselves. 

The G20 Energy Transition Working Group (ETWG) meeting is currently underway in Mumbai. Under India’s G20 presidency, workers’ voices go unrepresented in the meetings.

Is trade and industrialization a panacea to Zimbabwe’s economic woes, and what roles can trade unions play in policy making to ensure that workers and communities benefit from trade? These were the topics discussed at the sustainable trade and industrialization policy conference in Harare on 4-5 May. 50 participants from six countries, trade unions, civil society organizations, Members of Parliament, government departments and key stakeholders grappled with these questions.

A delegation of Latin American pulp and paper unions affiliated to IndustriALL met, in Uruguay, with representatives of the Belgian ACV-CSC BIE federation, with a view to launching a trade union cooperation project for the sector.