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.
8 December, 2011The US tire and rubber company on November 28 announced that it would lock out 1,051 unionized workers at its plant in Findlay in the state of Ohio, USA. The United Steelworkers (USW) and its Local 207L condemned the move and on December 6 filed charges with the National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) against the company for unfair labour practices in bargaining.
8 December, 2011IMF delegates gathered from different parts of the world at the Central Committee meeting in Jakarta to evaluate the work over two years since its last meeting, and to discuss the issues of precarious work and social security, and the future of the new global union.
8 December, 2011IMF affiliate Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines (MWAP) and the Philippine Metalworkers Alliance (PMA), presented a united front to their Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE). A commitment to engage in joint actions was made by both unions at the IMF National Leadership Workshop for the first time.
7 December, 2011On November 30 the ICEM, IMF and ITGLWF collaborated on an event entitled "Cutting Emissions - Transforming Jobs". It was a key part of the "World of Work" side events coordinated by the International Trade Union Confederation at the UN climate change conference COP-17 in Durban, South Africa.
7 December, 2011The IMF Executive Committee met in Jakarta on December 6, one day prior to the Central Committee, to discuss IMF's position on the political goals and statutes of the new global union organization to be established in June 2012.
7 December, 2011Delegates discuss and make proposals on precarious work, organizing women workers and priorities for the new international.
30 January, 2012"After three years of continuous crisis conditions in global labour markets and against the prospect of a further deterioration of economic activity, there is a backlog of global unemployment of 200 million," says ILO in its annual report, "Global Employment Trends 2012: Preventing a deeper jobs crisis".
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.
