Global unions welcome ENGIE’s commitment to cover Covid-19 related health care and social security for employees 29 April, 2020Global unions IndustriALL, Public Services International (PSI) and Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) welcome and support the programme launched by energy multinational ENGIE Group. The global unions recognize ENGIE’s acknowledgement of the key role trade unions and social dialogue play in the current crisis to ensure the long-term sustainability of the company and the health, safety and well-being of its employees.
How is the global oil sector responding to Covid-19?9 April, 2020IndustriALL Global Union has contacted its affiliated unions with members in the oil sector, to map how the industry and its unions are responding to the coronavirus crisis.
Kazakh union leader Erlan Baltabay released23 March, 2020On 20 March, Erlan Baltabay, leader of the Independent Oil and Energy Workers’ Union in Kazakhstan, was released from prison.
BP pricing arrangement causes job losses in Trinidad & Tobago17 March, 2020The Oilfields Workers of Trinidad and Tobago is calling on the multinational BP to renegotiate a new pricing formula agreed with state-owned energy company which is damaging the fragile island economy. Companies in the petrochemical and manufacturing sector are struggling to cope with the sharp increase in price, and this has led to plant closures and job losses.
The risks of investment treaties for the Colombian people4 March, 2020Colombia is one of the 10 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean with the largest number of claims filed by foreign investors, amounting to billions of dollars.
Unions picket General Electric Nigeria over unpaid benefits to 150 workers20 February, 2020Unions in the oil and gas sector are furious over the refusal of General Electric International Operations in Nigeria (GEION) to pay millions of US dollars allegedly owed to its Nigerian sub-contractor, the Arco Group, which is prejudicing outstanding gratuities and allowances of 150 workers.
Due diligence: has France really laid the foundations to end corporate impunity?19 February, 2020On 24 October 2013, the Rana Plaza disaster in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, triggered a huge outcry. Over a thousand people were killed when the building, which housed garment factories, collapsed. The tragedy drew attention to the conditions widely endured by workers employed by the subcontractors of major brands and European companies, such as Carrefour, Mango, Auchan and Primark. None of these multinationals have since been brought to justice. The obstacle lies with the buyer relationship and the difficulty, if not impossibility, of proving that the parent companies were aware of the working conditions of their suppliers’ employees.
Brazilian oil workers on strike against layoffs at Petrobas11 February, 2020Brazilian oil workers' union FUP have called an indefinite national strike, protesting against Petrobas' plans to shut down a nitrogen fertilizer plant and lay off more than 1,000 workers.
Unifor maintains refinery blockade as lockout approaches second month30 January, 2020Eight hundred members of Unifor Local 594 have been blockading the Co-op Refinery in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada since they were locked out on December 5. They are offering to lift the blockade if the employer returns to the negotiating table.
Iranian oil workers protest unpaid wages23 January, 2020On 21 January, hundreds of workers at the Bandar Imam Khomeini petrochemical complex in Iran, launched a protest which lasted for several days over precarious work conditions, the non-payment of wages, reduction of bonuses, and the end of overtime pay.
