Class action lawsuit for South African coal miners22 April, 2026A landmark class action lawsuit seeks redress for tens of thousands of former coal miners and community members whose lives have been affected by exposure to coal dust and polluted environments in South Africa’s coal mines. The case, filed in the Gauteng High Court, targets South32, BHP Billiton PLC, and Seriti Power.
Unions fight for Ekapa workers as mud rush mine faces liquidation22 April, 2026The Kimberley diamond mine where five miners died in a mud rush in February is now facing liquidation. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa is challenging the process in court, arguing that workers who have already lost colleagues, and in many cases their wages, must not be abandoned.
Unions fight to save 2,400 jobs in South Africa’s ferrochrome sector9 April, 2026More than 2,400 workers in South Africa's ferrochrome sector face retrenchment after Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture and Samancor Chrome pressed ahead with Section 189 notices, despite a union-brokered electricity tariff deal. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), affiliates of IndustriALL Global Union, are demanding the notices be withdrawn immediately.
Unions voice concerns over Anglo American restructuring19 March, 2026IndustriALL Global Union affiliates from Australia, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe stressed on protecting workers’ rights and benefits at the annual global dialogue meeting in Johannesburg on 12-13 March.
Collective bargaining changes lives for South African workers19 March, 2026More than 400 delegates representing workers across 21 sectors gathered in Cape Town from 7 to 9 March for the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) national bargaining conference, leaving with a mandate to fight for living wages and a declaration naming sweatshop conditions in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal a national crisis.
Deadly mud rush traps miners 800 metres underground24 February, 2026Trade unions affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union have called for a formal inquiry into the incident at Ekapa diamond mine in Kimberley, where five miners remain trapped underground following a severe mud rush. Rescue operations have been abandoned amid persistent flooding.
Empowering African trade unions, enforcing rights with human rights due diligence12 February, 2026Human rights due diligence (HRDD) is fast emerging as a key organizing instrument for trade unions across Africa, particularly those operating in global value chains that stretch from Global North consumers to Global South extractive frontiers. A roundtable held on 9 February on the margins of the Mining Indaba in Cape Town brought unions together with the Competence Centre for Human Rights Due Diligence (CCHRDD) to explore how organized labour might capitalise on this framework.
Beyond the mining deals12 February, 2026The annual convergence in Cape Town of the Investing in African Mining Indaba and its counterpoint, the Alternative Mining Indaba, once again highlighted the stark divide that characterises much of the continent’s extractive sector: on one side, deal-making among investors, mining houses, and governments; on the other, demands from affected communities and trade unions for a more equitable share of the proceeds.
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.
NUMSA signs wage deal, calls for policy response to protect auto sector21 November, 2025On 14 November, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union and the country’s largest manufacturing union, concluded a three-year wage settlement with the Automobile Manufacturers Employers’ Organisation (AMEO), averting a strike that had loomed after months of deadlock.
