1 December, 2011Hundreds of thousands of workers descended on the streets in Batam in the Indonesian Riau Islands province known for its free trade zone, demanding decent minimum wages. They were met with rubber bullets and tear gas.
1 December, 2011ICEM's Congress in Buenos Aires unanimously approves the creation of a new global union organization in June 2012. Senzeni Zokwana is re-elected President and Manfred Warda General Secretary.
21 April, 2011April 12 marks the day that Swaziland declared a state of emergency in 1973, which is still ongoing 38 years later, making it one of the world's longest running state of emergencies. It has been used to suspend the human rights and political freedom of the Swazi people and includes a ban on political parties. April 12, 2011 was chosen by pro-democracy campaigners for mass protests. Yet the protests planned for three days from the April 12 faced brutal crackdown by Swaziland security forces on anti-government protestors.
21 April, 2011The international labour movement marked the 5th anniversary of the deaths of Mario Alberto Castillo Rodríguez and Héctor Álvarez Gómez with a march in Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico and the submission of new evidence to the ILO highlighting the issue of violence against members of the SNTMMSRM. The murders of Rodríguez and Gómez, named in the ILO complaint (no. 2478), remain unsolved.
20 April, 2011To assist the two unions organizing metalworkers in Angola and strengthen their closer cooperation and mutual support, the IMF held a workshop in Luanda in April 2011, that was attended by union leadership and shop stewards drawn from 12 companies in the metal, chemical, electricity, energy and light industries.
19 April, 2011During a mission to Conackry, Guinea early in April 2011, a representative of IMF Africa met with union leadership and shop stewards of Forum intersyndical des societes minieres et industrielles de Guinée (FISMIG) and visited some of the organized plants in order to better understand the labour movement in Guinea and challenges facing workers and the union.
18 April, 2011Peta Thomson and Stephanie Eastcott attended their first national union conference in February 2011 following a decision by the AWU's national executive to encourage women's participation.
18 April, 2011One of the IMF's goals is to ensure an equal playing field for workers that goes beyond minimum standards. That is why the IMF stresses the importance of creating networks in transnational companies to promote solidarity and cooperation between trade unions representing workers in these companies.
18 April, 2011Three trade unions in three countries are defending workers' rights in response to the global jobs crisis, each according to their strengths and national situation.
18 April, 2011As seen through experience in Russia, India, Zambia, Colombia, Australia and the U.S., building unions capable of achieving real gains through collective bargaining and having an impact on national public policies depends on effective organizing.
