19 May, 2010Organizing the electronics industry has long proven to be a difficult challenge for trade unions. Unionization rates remain extremely low in an industry where precarious employment is rife and labour abuses abound. To make matters worse, the electronics industry has been one of the hardest hit by the economic crisis, bringing job losses and additional downward pressure on pay and conditions. But at IMF's recent conference for the ICT, Electrical and Electronics industries on 'Organizing, Trade Union Rights and Sustainability', IMF affiliates reasserted their commitment to organizing electronics workers and improving their working conditions.
19 May, 2010According to official data, in Russia, a country with a population of over 140 million, in 2009 there was a grand total of one strike. Of course, this reflects not the actual situation, but rather the unjustifiably strict legal requirements for holding strikes. The unconvincing figures from the Russian Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) conceal the real story of labour conflicts: hundreds of collective disputes, a multitude of clashes with management and government, which both are often prepared to go to any lengths to destroy active and combative unions.
19 May, 2010Indonesian workers win unprecedented legal battle to secure lost wages and termination compensation.
16 October, 2009More than 100,000 people protest in Mexico City against power firm closure and attempted destruction of SME, an independent trade union in Mexico.
14 October, 2009IMF coordinating committee for the Africa region agrees to prioritize work in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, review IMF's regional strategy and develop an industrial development strategy for Africa.
3 November, 2009Metalworkers around the world are called on to donate funds in support of 350 struggling Sinter Metal workers, fighting for reinstatement since December 2008.<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"><input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_s-xclick"> <input type="hidden" name="hosted_button_id" value="9372587"><input type="image" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/CH/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif" border="0" name="submit" alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!"><img alt="" order="0" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1"></form>
