Lululemon supplier terminates 500 Philippine workers during Christmas 19 January, 2026On 22 December, Hong Kong–based garment company Charter Link Clark, a supplier to athletic brand Lululemon, terminated 500 workers in the Philippines with immediate effect during a Christmas party.
A deadly night at sea: when dishonesty, legal gaps and unsafe practices cost workers' their lives19 January, 2026While New Year 2026 was being welcomed, tragedy struck in the ship recycling yards of Sitakunda. In the early hours of the morning—between 2:30 and 2:45 a.m.—two shipbreaking workers, Abdul Khalek Ratan (34) and Md Saiful Islam (38), were killed during the beaching of a vessel at the KR Ship Recycling Yard. Their deaths are not only a heartbreaking loss for their families, but a stark warning about the deadly consequences of unsafe night operations, weak regulation and employer dishonesty.
Union advocacy cuts mine worker fatalities in Pakistan in 202516 January, 2026After years of dangerous working conditions in Pakistan’s mines, reported accidents have declined in 2025, following sustained union pressure, the introduction of new safety legislation and targeted occupational health and safety measures in high-risk mining areas.
IndustriALL and ENI strengthen global labour commitments 15 January, 2026IndustriALL Global Union has renewed the global framework agreement with Italian energy company ENI, updating and strengthening the previous one signed in 2019. This new agreement marks the continuation of more than two decades of social dialogue and global cooperation between the Italian energy company and the international trade union movement.
Sri Lanka ratifies ILO Convention 190: A milestone for workers’ rights14 January, 2026Sri Lanka has formally ratified the International Labour Organization’s Convention No. 190 on the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work, submitting its instrument of ratification on 8 January at a ceremony in Colombo attended by government officials, ILO representatives and other stakeholders. With this step, Sri Lanka becomes the second country in South Asia, after Bangladesh, to adopt this landmark labour standard.
UA Zensen: Japan’s largest industrial union at a turning point13 January, 2026Representing more than 1.9 million workers across diverse sectors, UA Zensen faces the same pressures confronting the rest of Japan’s labour movement, including declining union density and the rise of non-regular employment. The union has responded by concentrating on organizing workers often left outside traditional structures and by strengthening its involvement in supply-chain human rights issues. Elected president of UA Zensen last year, Tomoko Nagashima discusses how the union is preparing for the years ahead.
Nationwide protests against power privatization in Pakistan12 January, 2026Workers across Pakistan staged a nationwide protest, on 6 January, against the proposed privatization of profitable power distribution companies (DISCOs), demanding price controls and improved safety conditions in the power sector.
Social dialogue delivers higher allowances and shift work bonuses in Kyrgyzstan8 January, 2026Effective social dialogue between trade unions, government and social partners has resulted in a major improvement for workers in the Kyrgyz Republic, with daily allowances for work related travel and bonuses for shift (rotational) work has doubled from 1 January 2026.
Saint-Gobain network meets in Paris to address jobs, digitalization and workers’ rights6 January, 2026Around 20 trade union representatives from Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, India, Tanzania and Morocco gathered in Paris on 9–10 December 2025 for the Saint-Gobain global union network meeting. The meeting was organized by IndustriALL and hosted by French affiliate CGT Verre Céramique.
Protests against new minimum wage regulation in Indonesia 5 January, 2026Indonesian trade unions organized nationwide protests in the last two weeks of December 2025 against a newly introduced government regulation on wages, criticizing the lack of proper consultation with trade unions and the introduction of what unions describe as an unfair adjustment index.
