Jiselle Hanna has just returned from the Philippines where she participated in the KMU trade union centre 29th International Solidarity Affair

It is now confirmed that more than 580 workers died when the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, containing five garment factories, collapsed on 24 April. The building had been declared unsafe and evacuated. It has been revealed that the factory managers threatened to take away 3 days pay for any workers that did not turn up to work.

Garment workers in Bangladesh have staged many protest marches in the last few days, see video.

Only through having workers organised into independent unions will we be able to finally achieve healthy and safe jobs. History has taught us this lesson, and it is why companies scour the world to find countries where unions are weak and regulations are non-existent.

Send your protest message to the Government of Bangladesh here.  Help with the union relief effort here.

On the back of a rising number of injuries and deaths on worksites around the southern Australian state of Victoria, the main building trade unions staged a rally on 30 April demanding action.

Even though in the preceding days, the state government and conservative media tried to scare workers from attending, over 10,000 workers marched through the streets of Melbourne to remember the dead and to improve working conditions.

Video on dispute background here.

With the strike by Hong Kong dockworkers now entering its 5th week, it is becoming apparent that the companies are trying to starve the workers back to work. This tactic historically has often been used against striking workers. We do not have the resources of these companies, HIT, Hutchinson and Cosco, and isolated we are weaker than them.

To win this dispute, we need to take actions internationally and target all the ports where these big companies have operations. You can listen to a radio interview with a Hong Kong dockworker organiser. Send solidarity message here.

On Wednesday 1 May, millions of workers and their supporters staged events and demonstrations all around the world.

With the continuing intensification of the capitalist crisis globally, the significance of May Day, the commonality of our issues, and the unity of workers all around the world, has never been more apparent. While most marches went smoothly, in a number of cities, like in Istanbul, demonstrators were brutally repressed by police to stop workers marching for their rights. Nearly all marches were left wing events, however in some cities, including in Paris, fascist forces took to the streets to promote nationalism and racism.

The task for all of us is to increase our links and to organise our actions at a global level so that we can act as the international class that we are.

Images of May Day events: Global Slideshow 1, Slideshow 2, Slideshow 3, Slideshow 4, Slideshow 5, Cambodia, Japan, Korea

Following on from the protracted and hard strike by thousands of workers at the Freeport-McMoRan in 2011, a new strike by hundreds of contractors over pay and conditions erupted this week.

The workers went out with the intention of staying out for at least a month. Given the determination of the workers, and fearful that the strike may spread, an agreement between the company and workers was reached in only three days, without any violence.

The fight between the workers and Nestle in Panjang Indonesia over the right to a collective agreement began in 2007.

The company fought the workers and their organisation for the last six years, used all kinds of tactics including dismissing workers who were active in organising.

Last week news has reached us that the workers have finally won the right to a collective agreement that includes better pay and conditions. The fate of the dismissed workers is unknown at this stage.

Again mass murder for profit. On 24 April thousands of underpaid workers were forced to enter the illegally built factories at Rana Plaza in Dhaka. The building had just been declared unsafe. The building collapsed. Union activists in Dhaka joined the rescue teams, but they also had to deal with police attacks on the streets, as thousands of garment workers from all factories went on strike and tried to march to the headquarters of the employers' association. But many of the mass murderers were safely away from Bangladesh. The global fashion companies that contract out the work to Bangladesh, chasing low wages and conditions, are just as responsible as the local factory owners. This mass murder is the latest in a shocking series. In September 2012 two factories burned on the same day in Pakistan, 325 workers were killed. In November 2012 the Tazreen factory in Dhaka burned and 112 workers were killed. We send our condolences and solidarity to the workers and union activists of Dhaka. We send our support to all workers taking industrial action or protest actions against companies that kill workers.
Send your protest message to the Bangladesh government here.

Millions of workers either die or get sick every year due to unsafe working conditions.
The 28th of April is international commemoration day for workers who have been killed or injured through work.
The day marks our demand for all workers' right to a safe and healthy workplace. 
Unions everywhere will hold events and rallies.

Send us your Workers Memorial Day solidarity message.