FirstEnergy and Penelec persist with lockout6 January, 2014Despite severe winter storm and potential outages in U.S. the electric company Penelec and its parent company FirstEnergy remain reluctant to consider union proposals and concerns and proceed with lockout of utility workers.
We demand guarantees for USO’s trade union activities in Colombia20 December, 2013The Coordinating Committee for Unity in the Mining and Energy Sector (Coordinadora para la Unidad del Sector Minero Energético, CUSME) is calling for the government to guarantee that the oil workers’ union (Unión Sindical Obrera, USO) will be able to carry out its trade union activities free from interference; release detained workers; withdraw arrest warrants; and close the files on 39 legal cases brought against USO members, 34 of which concern protests by workers and the community in the Pacific Rubiales “Banana Republic” in Meta.
International labour movement campaigns for oil workers in Kazakhstan12 December, 2013On 10 December, Human Rights Day, national and global union organizations together with the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia and web resource LabourStart launched a campaign for release of seven oil workers held in custody since 2012.
Three trade union leaders detained in Colombia12 December, 2013On 4 December, Campo Elías Ortiz, a Colombian trade union, social and political activist as well as member of Unión Sindical Obrera (USO), was arrested. Merely a few hours later, two more members of USO, Jose Dilio Naranjo and Héctor Sánchez, were also detained. All three are employed by Pacific Rubiales, in the department of Meta.
FirstEnergy Locks Out Utility Workers in U.S.28 November, 2013FirstEnergy Corp. – one of the largest electric power corporations in the United States – locked out 150 members of the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) in the early morning hours of November 25, three days before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
PROFILE: Merger in Canada creates super union28 November, 2013Two of IndustriALL Global Union’s affiliates in Canada, CAW and CEP, have joined forces to form a new trade union, Unifor. The new Canadian super union represents 300,000 workers in industry and services. New president Jerry Dias pledges focus on organizing and communities.
PROFILE: Angeline Chitambo, Still Fighting On 27 November, 2013There can be no doubt that Angeline Chitambo, President of the Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union (ZEWU) and IndustriALL Global Union Executive Committee member, is a woman of great strength. It has been a tough year for her but she has stood her ground in the face of blatant worker and trade union rights violations by the state owned Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA).
Persecution of trade unions continues in Colombia: USO leader detained14 November, 2013Darío Cárdenas Pachón, vice-president of the oil workers’ union, Union Sindical Obrera (USO) in Villavicencio, in the department of Meta, Colombia, was detained in the department on 2 November in response to a court order issued by the first criminal court, which accuses him, without foundation, of obstruction of the public highway, damage to natural resources and aggravated damage to private property.
Support Gazprom workers rights in Bashkortostan13 November, 2013Russian chemical workers’ union, RCWU needs solidarity support in Bashkortostan at JSC Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat.
Unite reaches a deal with Ineos in Grangemouth30 October, 2013Unite the Union reports of an agreement concluded with the owners of Ineos according to which some 800 workers, Unite members, and their families will keep their jobs safe with Ineos at Grangemouth, Scotland.
