15 April, 2011Thousands of workers from across Korea marched to Hanjin Heavy Industries Yeongdo shipyard and rallied beside union leaders who have been carrying out a sit-in protest against Hanjin's mass dismissals. The dismissal of the 170 workers is in breach of the employment security agreements concluded in March 2007 and February 2011.

15 April, 2011Members of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de Tubos Caribe (SINTRATUCAR) union at Tenaris Tubos del Caribe Ltd received new death threats. The union has denounced the situation and is asking for protection from the Colombian government.

30 March, 2011The United Steelworkers (USW) in North America has created a Unity Council around the Evraz Group, the world's tenth largest steel producer that is controlled by holding companies connected to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

29 March, 2011Trade unionists from within the IMF engaged in co-ordinating trade union networks within TNCs came together in Brazil in March to discuss how to strengthen their role in building and strengthening cross-border global solidarity and action.

21 April, 2011April 12 marks the day that Swaziland declared a state of emergency in 1973, which is still ongoing 38 years later, making it one of the world's longest running state of emergencies. It has been used to suspend the human rights and political freedom of the Swazi people and includes a ban on political parties. April 12, 2011 was chosen by pro-democracy campaigners for mass protests. Yet the protests planned for three days from the April 12 faced brutal crackdown by Swaziland security forces on anti-government protestors.

21 April, 2011The international labour movement marked the 5th anniversary of the deaths of Mario Alberto Castillo Rodríguez and Héctor Álvarez Gómez with a march in Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico and the submission of new evidence to the ILO highlighting the issue of violence against members of the SNTMMSRM. The murders of Rodríguez and Gómez, named in the ILO complaint (no. 2478), remain unsolved.

20 April, 2011To assist the two unions organizing metalworkers in Angola and strengthen their closer cooperation and mutual support, the IMF held a workshop in Luanda in April 2011, that was attended by union leadership and shop stewards drawn from 12 companies in the metal, chemical, electricity, energy and light industries.

19 April, 2011During a mission to Conackry, Guinea early in April 2011, a representative of IMF Africa met with union leadership and shop stewards of Forum intersyndical des societes minieres et industrielles de Guinée (FISMIG) and visited some of the organized plants in order to better understand the labour movement in Guinea and challenges facing workers and the union.

18 April, 2011Peta Thomson and Stephanie Eastcott attended their first national union conference in February 2011 following a decision by the AWU's national executive to encourage women's participation.

18 April, 2011One of the IMF's goals is to ensure an equal playing field for workers that goes beyond minimum standards. That is why the IMF stresses the importance of creating networks in transnational companies to promote solidarity and cooperation between trade unions representing workers in these companies.