Since being awarded the 2022 Football World Cup, the West Asian country of Qatar has been in the spotlight over its treatment of migrant workers. This month, the government of Qatar did not support an international agreement against forced labour, with some other neighbouring countries also voting against the treaty. […]
Yearly Archives: 2014
313 posts
Over the last couple of months, we have reported on the hard struggle that the NXP semiconductor workers are waging against this global company’s union busting tactics. The workers are still strong and are determined to win. At another global company, this time the seafood producer Citra Mina, workers that […]
The coal mining industry is one of the most dangerous industries in China for workers, with thousands killed each year. In conjunction with a downturn in the industry, workers in coal mines all around China have started to take more industrial action in support of better conditions and wages. Industrial […]
In the profit based system of capitalism workers are made to work too hard and in unsafe conditions, resulting in the death and injury of hundreds of thousands of workers a year. The Rana Plaza collapse of just over a year was one of the disasters that spurred activists and […]
The explosion at the Soma coal mine in May of this year that killed 301 workers, highlighted the conditions that many Turkish workers find themselves in. The fight for compensation and justice is an ongoing battle that is being pursued by surviving workers and other unionists. In an ongoing dispute, […]
The Israeli military continues its massacre of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. Solidarity rallies were held throughout the world. Workers went on a general strike in the Occupied West Bank. Protesters in Egypt demanded the opening of the Rafah crossing to Gaza and the expulsion of the Israeli […]
India's new BJP government, led by Narendra Modi, plans to reform labour laws, including making small businesses exempt from the factories act, extending maximum overtime hours, and reviewing the minimum wage laws. The BJP government also intends to privatise 700 billion rupees (US$11.7 billion) worth of state assets. Infrastructure development […]
In late June, five workers were killed and eight others injured in a gas explosion in the Alang Shipbreaking Yard in India's Gujarat state. All of them were migrant workers. 470 workers were killed at the Alang Shipbreaking Yard from 1983 to 2013, as well as another 15 deaths this […]
On 22 July a huge crowd of 30,000 construction workers filled Seoul Plaza on a day of national strike by the Korean Federation of Construction Industry Trade Unions (KFCITU) – see here and here. The slogans of the rally were: "With our union, an 8 hour work day is possible! […]
In June the Turkish government suspended strike action by 5,800 glass workers from 10 factories of Turkey's largest glass manufacturer Sisecam, arguing that the strike posed a risk to “public health and national security”. The Turkish glass workers union Kristal-Is have now lodged a formal complaint against the Turkish government […]