31 enero, 2012If there is not a motivated and objective reason for a job being temporary, it is permanent, the Finnish High Court ruled on January 24. The fact that a work agency client company assignment is time-limited is not a sufficient reason.

30 enero, 2012In a letter to the president of Colombia, the USW and Unite trade unions call for an investigation into the brutal killings of Mauricio Redondo (USO) and Víctor Manuel Hilarion (SINTRAPAZ).

30 enero, 2012Stefan Löfven, president of the 355,000 member IF Metall, was elected the Swedish Social Democratic Party acting president after Håkan Juholt resigned on January 21.

25 enero, 2012On January 1, 2012, Rio Tinto's aluminium subsidiary Alcan locked out 780 members of United Steelworkers at its smelter and refinery in Alma, Québec. The company refuses to negotiate limits on contract work.

20 febrero, 2012A study commissioned by Caterpillar European management has raised concerns among workers and unions that two production zones could be moved possibly to Poland.

20 febrero, 2012Job security and job creation was the foundation behind a new two-year national labour agreement between social partners in Denmark. That came together in marathon bargaining over the weekend, February 11-12, in framework talks for 240,000 Danish manufacturing workers and 6,000 enterprises, the latter represented by Dansk Industri.

20 febrero, 2012The Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) reject changes to labour law in Spain and start continuous mobilization. On February 19, hundreds of thousands of people went to the streets in 57 cities in their first major show of anger over the reforms.

17 febrero, 2012IG Metall puts rights of precarious workers at centre of its collective bargaining this year, along with demands for a 6.5 per cent wage increase in the metal and electrical engineering sector and permanent contracts for young people completing apprenticeships.

22 febrero, 2012Labour rights violations continue at Trexta, a manufacturing company in Turkey. Nine workers were dismissed because of their membership of Deri-Is, a local union affiliated to the Textile Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) in Turkey.

24 febrero, 2012On February 21 Belarus customs officers got Gennady Fedynich off the train, asked him to fill the customs declaration and conducted a thorough personal search. They found nothing illegal.