5 July, 2011The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) won a definitive judgment from Fair Work Australia on 24 June that grants the union right of entry to lunch rooms at Rio Tinto's Alcan aluminium smelter in Bell Bay, Tasmania. The ruling ends months of legal wrangling and should serve as a precedent against employers from blocking legitimate union access to workers on job sites.
5 July, 2011General Electric (GE) workers in America ratified a four-year labour agreement in late June that now sets a pattern for 15,200 unionised GE workers in the US.
4 July, 2011About 170,000 workers, the vast majority of whom are members of the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) embarked on a nationwide strike in the engineering sector on 4 July after a deadlock in wage negotiations. The strike action which brought Johannesburg to a standstill, was also carried out in other major cities nation wide.
20 June, 2011A tentative collective four year agreement was reached on 19 June in New York City for 15,000 General Electric (GE) workers in the US.
20 June, 2011An International Metalworkers' Federation's organizing project in India results in 15,000 workers in the steel industry joining a union.
24 June, 2011For the first time, a delegation of IMF affiliated unions visits the Paris Air Show, emphasizing the importance of labour in the success of the industry.
23 June, 2011During recent months government pressure against the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FTUU) and its affiliates has significantly increased. Many trade union leaders, including FTUU president Vasyl Hara, were summoned to the prosecutor's office. IMF general secretary Jyrki Raina sent a letter to the president of Ukraine Victor Yanukovich demanding an immediate stop to the interference in trade union affairs.
23 June, 2011Union organizers seek out agency workers to ensure they receive due wages. The work has resulted in substantial retroactive salary increases -- and new members.
15 June, 2011On June 9 and 10, the EMF held it's fourth congress in Duisburg, Germany and celebrated 40 years. The Congress elected new leadership, took another step towards the creation of a European Industrial Trade Union Federation and set out the political agenda for the next four years.
