A mandate to act, a responsibility to deliver17 December, 2025As 2025 comes to an end, the discussions and decisions of IndustriALL’s fourth Congress in Sydney are still fresh. Congress is more than a meeting; it is where we take stock and set our collective direction. The days in Sydney were a success, but more importantly it is a mandate. A mandate from affiliates across every region and sector to act with clarity, courage and determination in a world that is becoming more unequal, more unstable and more hostile to working people.
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.
Bangladesh ratifies key ILO Conventions on safety and gender equality following long union campaign23 October, 2025Bangladesh has become the first country in South Asia to ratify ILO Conventions 190, 155 and 187, addressing violence and harassment, occupational safety and health (OSH), and the promotional framework for OSH. The ratifications come after years of sustained campaigning by IndustriALL Global Union and its affiliates, supported by global partners, to secure stronger protections for workers and legally binding safety commitments.
Fire in Bangladesh’s garment factory claims 16 lives20 October, 2025Last week, Bangladesh witnessed two massive fire incidents in garment factories located in Dhaka and Chattogram, bringing the question of industrial safety, particularly building safety standards in readymade garment sector, back into the spotlight.
IndustriALL calls on Bangladesh government to enforce HKC30 September, 2025In light of continuing workplace incidents at Bangladesh’s shipbreaking yards, IndustriALL is calling on the government of Bangladesh to enforce full compliance with the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) across all shipbreaking yards and adopt binding measures that make the shipbreaking industry safe, equitable and sustainable.
Bangladesh’s shipbreaking yards remain danger zones15 September, 2025Despite the Hong Kong Convention’s entry into force earlier this year, serious workplace accidents continue to occur in Bangladesh’s shipbreaking yards, raising urgent concerns about the lack of real change on the ground.
United struggle key to advancing workers’ rights 8 May, 2025Workers in Bangladesh face mounting challenges, from poverty wages and unsafe conditions to attacks on union rights. During a visit last week, IndustriALL leadership reaffirmed solidarity with workers, urging unions to stand united in the fight for living wages, safe workplaces, and the right to organize. As labour reforms and international standards are debated, the call for a worker-led push for justice is more urgent than ever.
Legally binding Accord delivers safer workplaces 23 April, 202524 April marks the anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse, one of the deadliest industrial disasters in history. Over 1,100 workers, most of them women, lost their lives when the building housing several garment factories collapsed in 2013.
Union density is key to a Just Transition and the protection of workers’ rights23 April, 2025On 20 April, 2025, more than 60 trade unionists from across the region gathered in Kuala Lumpur for the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Just Transition, jointly addressing the challenges posed by decarbonization, the energy transition, and digital-technological transformation.
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.
