7 May, 2011One of the biggest strike actions launched in decades in Gujarat by General Motors India workers was called off on May 4. Work intensification and subsequent chronic health problems were the main issues of protesting workers.

6 May, 2011Joint IMF-ICEM-ITGLWF task force agrees on a proposal for the financial base of a new global union federation for the world's industrial workers.

15 April, 2011Taking steps to reduce hazards related to electronics products, a United Nations meeting in Vienna, gathering more than 100 experts from around the world, made recommendations for a UN process on reducing hazardous chemicals in the lifecycle of electronics.

14 April, 2011Workers at the company Johnson Controls plant in Puebla, successfully renegotiated the Collective Bargaining Agreement on April 9 with an overall wage increase of 7.5 per cent and other benefits that were accepted unanimously by the members of the new section of the Mexican Miners' and Metalworkers' Union.

14 April, 2011Employment law changes that came into force 1 April have given all employers the right to dismiss employees within the first 90 days "trial" period, with no rights to personal grievance procedure. This rule previously applied for small businesses of fewer than 20 employees.

14 April, 2011The European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF) and Areva, the Paris-based nuclear power and nuclear service provider, signed a protocol agreement on April 1 intended to facilitate career enhancement and employee competencies within the 13 European countries that Areva operates in.

21 April, 2011At a two day international conference for shipbreaking workers, IMF affiliates called for building stronger unions of shipbreaking workers, developing a global strategy to organize, establishing a strategic link between shipbuilding and shipbreaking workers and building an international network to protect workers' rights and improve living conditions.

20 April, 2011In an historic ruling on voluntary homicide, ThyssenKrupp's CEO for Italy was sentenced to 16 and a half years in prison on charges related to the deaths of seven workers in December 2007 at a steel plant in Turin, Italy.

19 April, 2011IMF calls on affiliates to send solidarity messages of support to the 1,200 workers represented by the National Union of Metalworkers South Africa (NUMSA) that have been subjected to a lockout by Bridgestone South Africa since 22 March 2011.

19 April, 2011The latest issue of Metal World looks at the importance of organizing in different countries, describes trade unions responses to the global jobs crisis, reports on trade union networks as a means to ensure an equal playing field for workers and profiles Peta Thomson and Stephanie Eastcott, promoting better women's participation in trade unions.