14 February, 2012In a trial in Turin Eternit owners, Stephan Schmidheiny and Baron Louis de Cartier de Marchienne, are found guilty in thousands of deaths and are sentenced to 16 years of jail. The case is unprecedented and can be exemplary for other producers and distributors of deadly asbestos worldwide.
9 February, 2012On February 7 workers of the Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan went on indefinite strike. They demand compensation for rising contributions to the government insurance fund.
9 February, 2012After a five-year struggle for reinstatement, triumphant Kiryung Electronics workers march from "Seoul to Ssangyong Motor", making 16 stops along the way to show solidarity with workers at struggle sites before returning to the factory floor on May 1, 2012.
1 February, 2012860 employees of an Electrolux plant in Satu Mare, northern Romania, went on an indefinite strike after the management refused to sign a new collective agreement with the same conditions for 2012.
31 January, 2012If there is not a motivated and objective reason for a job being temporary, it is permanent, the Finnish High Court ruled on January 24. The fact that a work agency client company assignment is time-limited is not a sufficient reason.
6 February, 2012PKC workers want the National Miners' and Metalworkers Union (SNTMMSRM) to represent them but the company is imposing its own choice of union
30 January, 2012In a letter to the president of Colombia, the USW and Unite trade unions call for an investigation into the brutal killings of Mauricio Redondo (USO) and Víctor Manuel Hilarion (SINTRAPAZ).
30 January, 2012Stefan Löfven, president of the 355,000 member IF Metall, was elected the Swedish Social Democratic Party acting president after Håkan Juholt resigned on January 21.
25 January, 2012On January 1, 2012, Rio Tinto's aluminium subsidiary Alcan locked out 780 members of United Steelworkers at its smelter and refinery in Alma, Québec. The company refuses to negotiate limits on contract work.
5 June, 2012At the latest meeting of the OECD Steel Committee workers' representatives voiced concerns over the sustainability of the steel industry when major suppliers such as Rio Tinto continue to abuse workers' rights and ignore public warnings.