25 julio, 2011The 55-week lockout by US manufacturing and technology company Honeywell Inc. on 228 unionized workers appears to be over. The United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-669 in Metropolis, Illinois, and the US company came to tentative terms for a new three year contract on July 20, which likely sets in motion a return to work for USW members beginning on August 15 if union members ratify the tentative accord next week.

18 julio, 2011The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) has reached an agreement with employers ending the two week strike in the metal and engineering sector involving 170, 000 workers, the vast majority of whom are NUMSA members.

6 julio, 2011Unions representing 170 000 members started a nationwide strike in the engineering sector on Monday, July 4 after wage negotiations with the steel and engineering employers broke down. Rallies were carried out in Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.

5 julio, 2011Industrial unions called for recovery of the bodies of 29 miners killed inside Pike River Coal Ltd.'s colliery. The unions want the miners' remains returned to families before the mine is sold and reopened.

13 julio, 2011Some 10,000 people participated on July 9-10 in the "Hope Bus" march to the Hanjin shipyard in Korea to protest against dismissals in breach of their union contract. Riot police blocked and sprayed marchers with teargas fluid in spite of the fact that they had a permit and had informed the police of the march.

12 julio, 2011Building a sustainable financial scheme for a Just Transition will be the key for the 17th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP17) in December in Durban. Promoting a Financial Transaction Tax would be a solution.

13 septiembre, 2011Organizing new workers is never easy but in the United States it's tougher than most places. Participants at an Alcoa Global Unions meeting got to experience first- hand the challenges facing the US unions. The attendees from unions in Australia, Canada, Iceland, Brazil, Suriname, and United Kingdom, took part in an organizing drive assisting the United Steelworkers (USW) as part of their activities. The target company Traco is a subsidiary of Alcoa and employs around 450 workers. Incidentally "Here we go again" was the title of union busting materials Alcoa used in one of its plants and seems apt to use during this organizing drive.

17 agosto, 2011Swiss trade union UNIA has achieved significant steps in the campaign to save the jobs of 470 workers at Swissmetal, a company on the verge of bankruptcy. The first victory was ensuring all staff received salary payments for the month of July. This was achieved through pressure on Switzerland's Secretary of State for the Economy, and on the cantonal governments of Soleure and Berne.

17 agosto, 2011The ICEM affiliate in Georgia, the Metallurgical, Mining, and Chemical Industry Workers' Trade Union, is again bringing dignity and job rights to steelworkers in the Central Asian country. On 2 August, after formally submitting grievances over extreme sub-standard work conditions before the managing director of Euroasian Steels LLC in Kutaisi, the company agreed to recognise the union as voice for 400 workers, and begin a process to correct problems.

23 septiembre, 2011Workers of the Zaporozhye Ferroalloy Plant in Eastern Ukraine picketed in front of the government office in Kiev protesting against job cuts at the plant. Their union works closely with local and national authorities to find a solution to the acute jobs crisis.