12 December, 2011National Executive Members of the National Engineering Workers Union (NEWU) and the Zimbabwe Metal Energy and Allied Workers Union (ZMEAWU) met in November 2011 to evaluate progress towards a merger and the level of cooperation that they have achieved.
9 December, 2011In a unanimous vote, IMF Central Committee decides to convene an extraordinary Congress in June 2012 to create a new global union for industrial workers.
8 December, 2011On December 7 the mobilization launched by the European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF) was answered at all of ArcelorMittal's European sites. Tens of thousands of workers in ten European countries protested against the company's industrial strategy and job cuts.
8 December, 2011November 23-25 the Gerdau Workers' World Council met in Paipa, Colombia. The Council approved an action plan for 2011-2012 that will be distributed shortly to all unions belonging to the Council.
20 December, 2011On December 17, 2011, workers at the IKEA-owned Swedwood plant in Danville, USA, voted for their first collective bargaining agreement which will go into effect on January 1, 2012.
15 November, 2011A four month lock-out at the Turkish operations of German-owned GEA is gaining worldwide attention as an international delegation prepares to visit the picket site and pledge global action.
11 November, 2011The ArcelorMittal and union Joint Global Health and Safety Committee (JGHSC) visited the Polish steel plant in Dabrowa Gornicza.
10 November, 2011The São Paulo city and Mogi das Cruzes metalworkers' union has reached agreement with four employer groups on a pay rise. The São Paulo State Metalworkers' Federation is trying to extend the agreement to all metalworkers in the state.
13 October, 2011Thanks to their tenacity and to grass-roots mobilization, the negotiators of UNIA, the Swiss IMF affiliate, have succeeded in thwarting the employers' drive toward flexibility and achieved some gains in social benefits.
