Shipbreaking unions plan for entry into force of Hong Kong Convention 27 November, 2023South Asian shipbreaking unions met in Kathmandu, Nepal, on 24-25 November, to evaluate a three-year organizing project supported by FNV Mondiaal, which ends this year. The industry is going through tremendous change as it prepares for the entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention (HKC).
Lives saved, ships broken: the human cost and promise of ship recycling17 April, 2025Progress has never come easy to the shipbreaking yards of South Asia. Dangerous conditions, fragmented regulation and deep-rooted employer control have long defined an industry that dismantles the world’s ships, and too often, the people working on them.
Five workers burn to death at Gadani shipbreaking yard10 January, 2017At least five workers have died in a fire onboard an LPG container ship at the Gadani shipbreaking yard in Pakistan on 9 January, in yet another deadly incident at the yard. Despite scores of fatalities at Gadani in the last few months, no measures have been taken to improve safety.
Banks and shipowners join campaign for the safe recycling of ships24 November, 2017IndustriALL took forward the campaign for the safe recycling of ships at a series of recent meetings in The Netherlands.
ILO to adopt improved code of practice for shipbuilding and ship repair 1 February, 2018Expert representatives of governments, employers and workers from around the world gathered at the ILO in Geneva, Switzerland, from 22 to 26 January, to improve and adopt a revised code of practice on safety and health in shipbuilding and ship repair.
Indian shipbreaking union calls on government to ratify Hong Kong Convention13 October, 2015The shipbreaking workers union at the Alang shipyards wrote to the Indian Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping to demand the country’s ratification of the international standard for health and safety in the industry, the Hong Kong Convention.
Alang ship recycling yards declared compliant with Hong Kong Convention4 November, 2015The world’s largest shipbreaking site, Alang in Western India, has received a high profile private certification of compliance with the safety and sustainability standards in the Hong Kong Convention.
SPECIAL REPORT: Cleaning up shipbreaking the world’s most dangerous job15 December, 2015Workers in this industry face dangerous and precarious working conditions, with very little training, safety equipment and medical services, and they receive poverty wages. IndustriALL Global Union is campaigning to support organizing at the South Asia yards and is pushing governments in countries with major shipping industries to take responsibility for workers’ safety.
Unite lobbies UK government to ratify Hong Kong Convention17 December, 2015Unite the Union, IndustriALL Global Union’s affiliate in the UK and Ireland, has called on the David Cameron government to “be part of an effective solution to the problem of unsafe and unsustainable shipbreaking, and urgently ratify the Hong Kong Convention”.
IndustriALL intensifies campaign to ratify Hong Kong Convention28 July, 2017IndustriALL Global Union and its affiliates ran two consecutive workshops in Bangladesh and India in July 2017 to discuss the importance of ratification Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships.
