20 February, 2012Job security and job creation was the foundation behind a new two-year national labour agreement between social partners in Denmark. That came together in marathon bargaining over the weekend, February 11-12, in framework talks for 240,000 Danish manufacturing workers and 6,000 enterprises, the latter represented by Dansk Industri.
20 February, 2012The Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) reject changes to labour law in Spain and start continuous mobilization. On February 19, hundreds of thousands of people went to the streets in 57 cities in their first major show of anger over the reforms.
17 February, 2012IG Metall puts rights of precarious workers at centre of its collective bargaining this year, along with demands for a 6.5 per cent wage increase in the metal and electrical engineering sector and permanent contracts for young people completing apprenticeships.
7 March, 2012On March 5 members of the IMF and ICEM UK affiliate Unite the Union rejected a redundancy proposal from the Austrian packaging company Mayr-Melnhof that would have ended a 19-day lockout at a plant in Merseyside, near Liverpool. Workers rejected it largely because management still insists on its own discretionary powers in disbursing redundancy packages to 49 workers.
7 March, 2012In response to evidence of exploitation of workers producing goods for London 2012 Olympics, detailed in the new Playfair report "Toying with Workers' Rights", the organizers of the London 2012 Olympics signed an agreement with the Playfair 2012 campaign to protect the rights of workers in its supply chains.
7 March, 2012In October 2011 miners and metalworkers at ArcelorMittal Temirtau (Kazakhstan) demanded a 30 per cent wage increase. Their demands are still not met. On February 25 the workers held a conference and decided to hold a rally on March 10. They will also push for the changes in Kazakhstan laws, which prohibit strikes at plants with continuous working cycle.
23 February, 2012In an open letter to Apple shareholders, the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF), GoodElectronics and makeITfair declare the investigations of the Fair Labour Association (FLA) at Apple supplier Foxconn to be a PR stunt.
9 February, 2012The European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers' Federation (EMCEF), European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF) and the European Trade Union Federation for textiles, Clothing, Leather and Footwear (ETUF-TCL) will formally merge in Brussels on May 16, 2012.
6 February, 2012February Global Days of Action 2012 kicks off on February 19, in memory of the 63 miners killed in the Pasta de Conchos mine explosion of 2006. The initiative has been approved by the Council of Global Unions (CGU), as last year the affiliates are encouraged to act in co-ordination with sister organizations and their National Centres.
28 February, 2012On February 4, a big explosion at the NUH Industrial Path within the Tuzla Shipbuilding Zone disturbed the daily routine of around 10,000 workers. The explosion took place in the shipyard MENGI YAY YATCILIK producing luxury yachts.
