30 enero, 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 enero, 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.

24 enero, 2012Despite an improved performance in 2011 the Joint Global Health and Safety Committee (JGHSC) in ArcelorMittal plans to increase its efforts in 2012.

1 febrero, 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 enero, 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.

30 enero, 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).

7 marzo, 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 marzo, 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 marzo, 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.

1 marzo, 2012In support of the Global Days of Action, February 19 to 25, 40 unions from 35 countries called on the Mexican government to respect Freedom of Association by delivering letters, holding meetings and actions.