Health and safety

IndustriAll demands strong international health and safety standards and empowering workers' rights to:
- know about hazards;
- refuse or stop unsafe work; and
- participate in health and safety decision making.
Workers' rights, employers' responsibilities, and good laws, equal healthy and safe workplaces!

Contact person:

Brian Kohler
email: [email protected]
Tel. +41 22 304 18 49
Fax: +41 22 304 1841

DOWNLOAD MATERIAL

Timeline

April 28 - International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers

Text of the Agreement with ArcelorMittal on OHS

Shell unable to answer worker questions at AGM

24 May 2018 at 16:51

Royal Dutch Shell’s executive board failed to give adequate responses to questions on serious violations of workers’ rights at its annual general meeting (AGM) on Tuesday.

Pakistan: victims of Ali enterprises factory fire begin to receive compensation

22 May 2018 at 13:39

In September 2012, over 250 workers were killed and 50 more suffered serious injuries in a fire at the Ali Enterprises garment factory in Karachi, Pakistan. Now, after almost six years, victims have started receiving compensation payments based on an agreement reached between German brand KiK and IndustriALL Global Union and Clean Clothes Campaign, mediated by the ILO.

Unions to take joint action against General Electric

15 May 2018 at 10:47

Trade unions representing workers at General Electric from across North America, Europe and Asia have pledged to make workers’ voices heard at the company, at a meeting of IndustriALL's General Electric Trade Union Network in Toronto, Canada, from 7-8 May 2018.

Bangladesh Accord will continue until government is ready to take over its functions

14 May 2018 at 12:59

As the 2013 Accord prepares for its expiry this month and its replacement by the 2018 Transition Accord, the occasion was marked by a joint press conference between the Accord and the Bangladesh association of factory owners (BGMEA).

Ukraine: ArcelorMittal workers fight for their rights

9 May 2018 at 10:45

Workers at the ArcelorMittal-Kryvyi Rih steel plant with the support of the IndustriALL affiliate Trade Union of Workers of Metallurgical and Mining Industries of Ukraine (PMGU) want to sign a new collective agreement ensuring wage increases and safe working conditions.

Pakistan’s deadly mines - 23 workers killed in one day

7 May 2018 at 17:32

In separate incidents on the same day, a staggering total of 23 mine workers were killed and 11 injured in horrific mine accidents in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on 5 May.

South Africa: Four dead as mine claims more lives

4 May 2018 at 17:07

Four workers have died and three are trapped underground as rescue efforts continue at Sibanye-Stillwater’s Masakhane Shaft in Westonaria, Johannesburg, which has been closed. This follows seismic incident causing a fall ground on 3 May that saw 13 mineworkers trapped underground. Six have since been rescued and are recovering in hospital.

LafargeHolcim, keep your word, respect workers’ lives!

3 May 2018 at 15:54

For 28 April, hundreds of trade union activists, works councils, shop stewards and workers staged protests at LafargeHolcim operations around the world. Protestors demanded that the cement multinational return to social dialogue and sign global labour agreement with strong provisions for occupational safety to prevent further waste of workers’ health and lives.

Executive Committee calls for greater solidarity

2 May 2018 at 17:50

The need for solidarity to defend trade union rights and challenge violations in global supply chains underlined discussions at IndustriALL’s Executive Committee Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on 26 and 27 April.

28 April – we mourn for the dead, we fight for the living

28 April 2018 at 09:08

In Geneva on 26-27 April 2018, the IndustriALL Global Union Executive Committee adopted a resolution reaffirming the importance of 28 April, known as the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers, Workers' Memorial Day, or simply the Day of Mourning.

South Africa: Union protests Glencore malpractices

26 April 2018 at 12:49

Hundreds of workers from IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), marched to Glencore's office in Johannesburg on 25 April, protesting against the mining giant’s workers’ and human rights abuses.

Pakistan has failed to learn lessons of Gadani tradegy, say unions

24 April 2018 at 11:58

On 1 November, 2016, 29 workers were killed and several more injured while dismantling an oil tanker at Pakistan’s Gadani shipbreaking yard. Speakers at a seminar on the industry, organized by IndustriALL affiliate the National Trade Union Federation in Karachi on 21 April, said that the government does not appear to have learnt any lessons from the tragedy.

Five years after Rana Plaza, the need for the Bangladesh Accord persists

23 April 2018 at 08:04

A few days before the fifth anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster that killed 1,134 workers, global trade unions and labour rights organizations are calling on all brands sourcing from Bangladesh to take responsibility for workers making their products by signing the renewed Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety.

Workers come out worst in Responsible Mining Index

12 April 2018 at 15:23

A comprehensive new index, ranking large-scale mining companies in six different performance areas, has found that companies are scoring lowest on working conditions.

Pakistan: 11 workers killed in series of mine accidents

5 April 2018 at 13:36

With the horrific mine accident that killed six workers in the Kalat district in Balochistan on 4 April 2018, at least 11 workers at mines in different parts of Pakistan have died since the end of March.

Mozambique: Union shocked by appalling conditions at plastics factory

4 April 2018 at 16:55

Workers at a Chinese-owned plastics factory in Mozambique are being forced to work in shocking conditions according to IndustriALL Global Union trade union affiliate, SINTIQUIAF, which organizes more than 15,000 workers in the chemical and allied industries.

Ukrainian miners trapped underground as power cut off

4 April 2018 at 15:50

Some 240 miners were needlessly trapped 1,000 metres underground for several hours after the local electricity provider cut power to the Gorsakaya mine in the Ukraine on 2 April.

South African mines claim more lives

27 March 2018 at 20:27

Since January this year, 17 workers have been killed in South African mines. Last week a worker died from an accident at a Sibanye Stillwater operation which mines platinum in Rustenburg while another died at De Beers Venetia diamond mine in Limpopo early this week.

IndustriALL and BWI file OECD complaint against BHP Billiton and Vale

26 March 2018 at 12:47

IndustriALL Global Union and the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) have filed a complaint against the British-Australian company, BHP Billiton, and Brazilian mining multinational, Vale S.A., under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

IndustriALL warns car industry of worker abuse in Glencore cobalt mines

22 March 2018 at 15:15

IndustriALL Global Union is calling on the car industry to pressure Glencore to clean up its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after revelations of dire working conditions at the company’s cobalt mines in the country.

Zambia: Dangote confronted over union busting

22 March 2018 at 04:03

IndustriALL affiliates, the National Union of Commercial and Industrial Workers and the Mineworkers Union of Zambia are fighting against African multinational cement company, Dangote, for violating workers’ rights to organize, freedom of association, and for failing to recognize collective bargaining rights.

Georgian trade unions criticize new labour safety law

21 March 2018 at 08:25

IndustriALL Global Union affiliates in Georgia are concerned about the effectiveness of a new law on labour safety, which was recently adopted by the parliament without taking into consideration recommendations from trade unions.

IndustriALL launches campaign for health and safety in Pakistan mines

15 March 2018 at 10:38

Ten IndustriALL Global Union affiliates are urging the government of Pakistan to ratify ILO Convention 176 (C176) on Safety and Health in Mines. This follows a decision by IndustriALL’s Executive Committee in November 2017, for a global campaign to end fatalities in Pakistani mines.

Georgian workers demand better safety at work

28 February 2018 at 16:01

According to official statistics, 1,300 deaths and injuries at work happened in Georgia since 2010. Workers, including members of IndustriALL affiliate the Trade Union of Metallurgy, Mining and Chemical Industry Workers of Georgia (TUMMCIWG), protested in Georgia, demanding safer working conditions.

Ukrainian miners escalate protest against unpaid wages

22 February 2018 at 16:34

Nine people have embarked on an indefinite hunger strike after the Ukrainian government failed to fully reimburse millions of dollars in unpaid wages for Ukrainian coal miners dating back to 2015.