My colleague Mehdi Kouhestani, who now works for the Canadian trade union movement, has provided this update on a three day long strike in Iran which demonstrates the struggles trade unionists in Iran have just getting wages paid. Non-payment of wages is a problem in many countries, usually because it’s a get-rich-quick scheme for the…
On 24 April 2013, the Rana Plaza factory complex collapsed, killing over 1100 mostly women workers. Bangladeshi and global unions persuaded multinational enterprises to join the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord and commit to trade union rights, to prevent Rana Plaza ever happening again. Four years on, the case of the Ananta textile factory…
Last year’s legislative coup against the democratically-elected President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, was denounced by trade unionists in the country who predicted that the corrupt replacement regime of Michel Temer would launch an attack on the social justice reforms introduced by the Workers’ Party government of Presidents Lula and Dilma. Now the unions are taking their…
Today, Unite is holding a major conference in Birmingham called Securing the future of the UK auto sector. It will bring together workers, employers and experts from the British car manufacturing industry to look at the prospects for this key industry after Brexit. The Prime Minister’s intention to trigger Article 50 and start the negotiations…
Last week the British and European trade union movement united to call on the European Commission to block the proposed 21st Century Fox bid for Sky. A similar process is underway in the UK, but this is bigger than Britain, and demonstrates the need for transnational regulation of transnational companies. The TUC and European Trade…
Today, Monday 20 February, is UN world day of social justice, with the global theme of preventing conflict and sustaining peace through decent work. So it’s appropriate that grassroots campaigners have chosen today as ‘One Day Without Us’, a day to draw attention to the contribution that migrants make to the UK economy and the need…
Last night I spoke at a hastily-convened but well-attended meeting at the NUT in solidarity with public sector workers, teachers and journalists currently suffering a state purge in Turkey. The meeting was organised by Solidarity with the People of Turkey (SPOT), and other speakers – from the NUT itself, PCS and RMT – demonstrated that…