28 July, 2011The global International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) family last week congratulated the victory by South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) to block Brazilian mining group Vale's efforts to invest in the country, and to operate elsewhere in the region.
28 July, 2011In a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board, an agency of the United States Federal Government, workers at Swedwood's operation in Danville Virginia voted to be represented by IMF and Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) affiliate, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW).
29 August, 2011Producing steel is a dangerous task at the best of times. When workers are faced with intense heat during ten months of the year problems become even greater. Despite this fact the safety performance at the ArcelorMittal LaPlace Steel Plant in New Orleans, USA is steadily improving, as discovered by a visiting group of experts from the ArcelorMittal Joint Global Health and Safety Committee.
13 August, 2011The National Union of Building, Engineering and General Workers (NUBEGW) has negotiated a 13 percent wage increase in the iron and steel sector with the employers association in the iron and steel sector. This increase in significantly ahead of the inflation rate in Zambia
11 August, 2011Miners have ended a two-week strike after accepting the company's offer of a US $5,600 bonus.
20 October, 2011On October 3 the lower house of the Belarus parliament adopted in the two readings the bill 'On Making Addenda and Amendments to Some Laws of the Republic of Belarus'. This bill, among other things, makes foreign financial support and financial aid to NGOs (including unions) completely illegal and further complicates arranging of mass protests and actions.
20 October, 2011UAW's tentative four-year agreements with Ford and Chrysler focus on jobs and investments. If accepted by 67,000 USW members at Ford and Chrysler, thousands of new jobs will be created.
19 October, 2011The International Metalworkers Federation is calling on Government and business leaders to back steel industry workers to ensure future success. The call comes amidst a number of high profile companies announcing closures or job losses that could undermine the future sustainability of the steel industry. Recent announcements have included 1,300 job losses at BlueScope Steel in Australia, the permanent closure at Liege (Belgium) and the idled blast furnaces in Florange (France) and Eisenhüttenstadt (Germany) by ArcelorMittal.
19 October, 2011With escalating costs of living and shrinking purchasing power, Vietnamese unionists feel the need to strengthen their collective bargaining to improve and sustain living standards for workers.
18 October, 2011Broad strike activity accelerated a positive wage agreement in the Austrian metal sector. On October 18 Austrian trade unions PRO-GE and GPA djp, the Salaried Employees, Print, Journalism, Paper Union, emerged from bargaining on behalf on 170,000 metal and industrial workers with positive results.
