9 February, 2012The European Works Council (EWC) of Rio Tinto joins with unions from around the world in condemning the company for its lockout of 780 Canadian members of Syndicat des Métallos d'Alma, an affiliate of the United Steelworkers (USW) in Alma, Québec.
6 February, 2012Caterpillar disclosed its plans to stop its train locomotive plant in London, Ontario. The shutdown comes five weeks after Caterpillar's locked out 465 CAW members at the Canadian train locomotive plant Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) in London, Ontario.
21 February, 2012On January 31, a local court in Togliatti (Russia) ordered the company to reinstate Olga Boiko, an activist of the Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers (ITUA) local called 'Unity' at AvtoVAZ. However, even after the court ruling the anti-union discrimination didn't stop.
21 February, 2012February 19 saw the start of a week of action in defence of freedom of association in Mexico. A ceremony in the main square of Mexico City commemorated the 65 miners who died in the collapse of the Pasta de Conchos mine on that date.
24 January, 2012Over 150,000 workers came out on the streets of Norway to protest against the imposition of a new EU directive on temporary agency workers. The directive can undermine collective agreements by permitting temporary contracts which currently have to be agreed with the unions.
24 January, 2012In January Fair Labor Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending sweatshop conditions in factories worldwide, announced Apple was admitted as a "Participating Company". That means that Apple promises to clean its supply chains from labour abuses during the coming two years. While welcoming this move GoodElectronics promises to watch closely whether the membership means Apple takes action on key problems.
24 January, 2012Italian metalworkers' unions Fim-Cisl and Fiom-Cgil say the official EU report on arms exports is flawed, incomplete and too late. They are among the promoters of the Arms Control Network Rete Italiana per il Disarmo, one of the signatories of a critical appeal against lax European arms export control.
19 January, 2012Twenty trade unions and labour rights organisations have submitted a complaint against the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board of the Federal District of Mexico.
19 January, 2012LabourStart launches an online solidarity campaign in support of the Mexican Electrical Workers' Union. Affiliates are requested to support the campaign by signing the online protest letter.
18 January, 2012Following discussions between BMW and IMF's british affiliate Unite, BMW has agreed not to proceed with its plan to close it's current pension scheme to new entrants, and that it will not use the "Swedish derogation" to avoid equal pay for agency workers.
