7 March, 2012On February 29, one day before the European Summit on March 1 and 2, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) called for a day of action to say that 'enough is enough', and that alternatives to austerity do exist.

3 April, 2012IMF affiliates UTRAMMICOL and FETRAMECOL and unions affiliated to the ICEM have agreed to create a single National Manufacturing Industry Union in Colombia.

3 April, 2012Benteler workers in Russia win the strike over recognition of their union. On April 2 the administration of the plant issued an official statement accepting negotiations with the Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers (ITUA).

3 April, 2012Despite a ban on sandblasting announced by many brands some time ago, according to a recent report, sandblasting is still used in the production of artificially worn-out jeans. Large factories in poor countries continue using the deadly technique notorious for its health risks to workers.

3 April, 20128,000 unionists and supporters rally in Alma, Quebec, on behalf of 780 Rio Tinto locked-out members of the United Steelworkers.

11 April, 2012In Finland, the media, the company's biggest shareholder and trade unions organising PKC workers have spoken out against the company's protection contract with the CTM. Mexican workers had chosen the SNTMMSRM to represent them.

5 April, 2012As ICEM, IMF and ITGLWF's dissolution and founding Congresses approach, www.building-power.org website goes live.

3 April, 2012Italian workers reach an agreement with Alcoa to keep their enterprise in Sardinia open for one more year. Workers hope that a new owner will acquire and re-launch the site.

7 March, 2012On March 5 members of the IMF and ICEM UK affiliate Unite the Union rejected a redundancy proposal from the Austrian packaging company Mayr-Melnhof that would have ended a 19-day lockout at a plant in Merseyside, near Liverpool. Workers rejected it largely because management still insists on its own discretionary powers in disbursing redundancy packages to 49 workers.

7 March, 2012In response to evidence of exploitation of workers producing goods for London 2012 Olympics, detailed in the new Playfair report "Toying with Workers' Rights", the organizers of the London 2012 Olympics signed an agreement with the Playfair 2012 campaign to protect the rights of workers in its supply chains.