Pushing for gender transformative agenda in South East Asia8 December, 2025Women union leaders in South East Asia are advancing a gender-transformative agenda through legislative advocacy, social dialogue, and awareness campaigns. This commitment was further strengthened at the South East Asia regional forum of women toward gender-responsive actions and campaigns, held on 24–25 November in Jakarta, where twenty-five women union leaders from across the region pledged to conduct regular gender mapping, build alliances and networks with other trade unions, disseminate information on Convention 190 through study circles, and campaign to end digital violence against women and girls.
Six months after entry into force, the HKC still is not being implemented8 December, 2025Shipbreaking has often been described as the most dangerous job in the world and IndustriALL has long campaigned for the ratification of the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) as the most practical first step to clean up the industry. Supported by affiliates, together we maintained pressure on governments, ship owners, financiers and other industry stakeholders to promote the Convention. Despite these efforts and despite formal ratification not one of the major ship recycling nations has fully implemented the Convention in practice.
Uniting Asia-Pacific MNC unions across chemicals and pharmaceuticals4 December, 2025Occupational safety and health, supply chain disruptions and gender-inclusive union practices were the central focus when 46 unionists from nine Asia-Pacific countries in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors met in Colombo on 18–19 November.
Employment in the circular economy4 December, 2025Between 121 and 142 million people worldwide are employed in sectors that contribute to the circular economy, such as repair, recycling, second-hand trade and waste management. This represents roughly between 5 and 5.8 percent of total global employment (excluding agriculture), according to a new joint report by Circle Economy, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Bank Group, in partnership with the UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy (UN-PAGE).
Yves Rocher must be held accountable over workers’ rights violations in Türkiye3 December, 2025On 20 November 2025, a Paris criminal court heard arguments in a landmark case alleging that cosmetics group Yves Rocher failed to protect workers’ rights at its former Turkish subsidiary, Kosan Kozmetic. The complaint was brought by IndustriALL Global and industriAll Europe affiliate Petrol İş, supported by the NGOs Sherpa and ActionAid France, and concerns the dismissal of 132 employees in 2018, following a union organising drive at the Flormar cosmetics factory in Gebze. Eighty-one of the dismissed workers are plaintiffs in the French proceedings.
Rubber and tyre workers discuss the future of the sector in the Americas3 December, 2025Trade unions from Latin America, the United States, Canada and Mexico are working on a joint strategy in response to local, regional and global challenges. From 24 to 26 November, the International Trade Union Conference to defend the gains in the rubber and tyre sector was held in San Luis de Potosi, Mexico, providing a crucial opportunity to discuss the changes in the sector and strengthen coordination between the unions in the region.
African trade unions want critical minerals revenues to fund development2 December, 2025On 1 December, trade unions representing millions of African workers in mining, energy and manufacturing industries gathered in Addis Ababa, declared that unless the new African green minerals strategy (AGMS) is radically redesigned around decent work and local value addition, the green boom will simply become the latest chapter in the extraction and export of mineral resources.
South Africa declares gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster27 November, 2025South Africa has formally declared gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) a national disaster, invoking the Disaster Management Act of 2002. The decision, announced in the wake of widespread protests coinciding with the November 2025 G20 Summit in Johannesburg, marks a significant policy shift after years of civil-society and trade union pressure and persistently weak enforcement of existing legislation.
Indian unions slam unilateral labour code rollout; 21 November declared black day for workers27 November, 2025India’s trade unions (CTUs) and independent sectoral federations, including IndustriALL affiliates, staged nationwide protests after the government of India unilaterally notified the four labour codes without any consultation with workers’ organizations. The abrupt notifications issued on 21 November 2025 drew strong condemnation from working people in India, who described the move as an attack on the rule of law.
Historic win for Italy’s metal workers26 November, 2025Last week Italy’s metal workers secured a major victory as the unions Fim, Fiom and Uilm, all affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, signed the renewed National Collective Labour Agreement (NCLA) with Federmeccanica and Assistal after four days of continuous and intense negotiations. The agreement covers more than 1.5 million workers across the country and guarantees a €205(US$ 237.17) increase on minimum contractual salaries over four years, which the unions say is essential to protecting wages amid rising living costs and economic uncertainty.
