My colleague Mehdi Kouhestani, who now works for the Canadian trade union movement, has provided this update on a three day long strike in Iran which demonstrates the struggles trade unionists in…Read more…
Iranian workers still fighting for justice
My colleague Mehdi Kouhestani, who now works for the Canadian trade union movement, has provided this update on a three day long strike in Iran which demonstrates the struggles trade unionists in…Read more…
Love Equality – the fight for same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland
It was whilst working at Royal Mail at the central Tomb Street sorting office in Belfast in 2002 that I first truly fathomed the transformational power of the trade union movement. A 20-year-old…Read more…
Rana Plaza: Unions can save lives as well as livelihoods
As we approach the 4th anniversary of terrible tragedy at Rana Plaza in Bangladesh, it’s important to hold on to the sense of shock we all had when we heard that over a thousand workers, full aware…Read more…
Four years after Rana Plaza, union action prevents a repeat
On 24 April 2013, the Rana Plaza factory complex collapsed, killing over 1100 mostly women workers. Bangladeshi and global unions persuaded multinational enterprises to join the Bangladesh Fire and…Read more…
Brazilian unions protest for Lula and for justice
Last year’s legislative coup against the democratically-elected President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, was denounced by trade unionists in the country who predicted that the corrupt replacement…Read more…
International Transgender Day of Visibility
March 31st is the annual International Transgender Day of Visibility. In recent years, even a casual observer may feel that transgender people are already very visible, and query the need for it to…Read more…
Bangladesh breakthrough as global unions rally in defence of workers
An international campaign to support Bangladesh’s trade unions in the face of a government crackdown has won key concessions. Global unions, backed by a strong stance from brands sourcing from…Read more…
Solidarity with workers in Turkey
Last night I spoke at a hastily-convened but well-attended meeting at the NUT in solidarity with public sector workers, teachers and journalists currently suffering a state purge in Turkey. The…Read more…
Workers’ rights in crisis in Bangladesh
Nine trade union members of IndustriALL affiliate, the Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers Union Federation, were detained over the weekend of 11-12 February in Chittagong after police interrupted…Read more…
Act now! Demand Bangladesh release 11 textile union leaders
Today we’re urging you to take online action calling on the government of Bangladesh to immediately and unconditionally release 11 textile trade union leaders detained in recent weeks. They…Read more…
Act now to defend food worker unions in Egypt
In Egypt, twenty-seven edible oils factory workers and leaders and members of their union face crippling fines and jail terms for the ‘crime’ of striking to defend their wages, with…Read more…
Colombian trade union leader free at last
Three and a half years ago, Colombian agriculture union leader Huber Ballesteros was on his way to the British Embassy in Bogota to collect his visa to visit the UK to speak at the 2013 TUC Congress….Read more…
What has globalisation ever done for the workers?
These remarks are an edited version of a speech I gave on union responses to globalisation at a joint seminar organised by the TUC and the University of Exeter on Brexit, globalisation and migration…Read more…
Kazakhstan unions need our support
The TUC has joined a campaign launched by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to call on the government of Kazakhstan to respect the rights of workers in the country to form and join…Read more…
Bangladesh textile workers face layoffs & prosecutions: global corporates must act
Thousands of textile workers in the Dhaka suburb of Ashulia in Bangladesh have been sacked following protracted strikes this month over wages and other issues. The legitimate claims of workers in the…Read more…
Theresa May should stop playing politics with people’s futures
This weekend the TUC and the British Chambers of Commerce issued a call to the Prime Minister to break the logjam on the #right2remain for EU citizens living and working in the UK, and take the bold,…Read more…
‘Organising after the Brexit vote’ event calls for solidarity to fight insecurity at work
Building solidarity between workers, no matter what passport or contract they hold, is a trade union priority after the Brexit vote. That was the message of the TUC event on ‘Organising migrant and…Read more…
We’re with Chuck: we’ll stand with him against Trump
Usually stories about online abuse are – as in this week’s case concerning Labour MP Luciana Berger – about threatening public figures. But in today’s topsy-turvy world, the…Read more…
International Human Rights Day: stop corporate abuse of Thailand’s courts
To mark International Human Rights Day today, 10 December, the TUC has joined 109 other civil society organisations from around the world to call on the government of Thailand to stop businesses…Read more…