UE joins Kilusang Mayo Uno, the independent and democratic labor center in the Philippines, in condemning the murder of KMU National Council member Dandy Miguel and the illegal arrest of KMU National Council member Florentino “Pol” Viuya.
As the first anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic approached, the UE International Department asked two of our international allies, Unifor (Canada) and Zenroren (Japan), to share with UE NEWS readers a glimpse into what work and life is like now in their countries. We asked these allied unions to share what their government’s response to the virus had been like, as well as how these unions were organizing or in other ways helping workers to protect themselves during these new health and economic challenges.
Over the past year, workers in Canada have felt much of the same effects as workers across the world. At first, initial enthusiasm for the contribution of essential workers was applauded and then their pandemic pay was cut. Front-line staff engaged in the fight for adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), sometimes facing employers who deliberately prevented workers from accessing life-saving PPE. A year into the pandemic, Canadian workers continue to fight for sector-based relief packages and expanded workers’ rights.
UE joins our Brazilian brothers and sisters of the CUT in celebrating the decision of the Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin to invalidate ex-president Luis Inácio “Lula” Da Silva’s convictions and restore his political rights.
Members of Unite the Union at the Rolls-Royce factory in Barnoldswick, Lancashire have saved their jobs — and the economy of their local community — through aggressive struggle, including nine weeks of strike action.
From victories for working people in Bolivia and Chile to attacks on workers’ rights in Alberta, Canada and violent repression of labor activists in the Philippines and Colombia, we review the ups and down of 2020 for workers around the world.
(St. John, Canada)— Workers at Dominion grocery stores across the province of Newfoundland, members of Unifor Local 597, ratified a new collective agreement on November 13, ending a 12-week long strike action at stores across Newfoundland.
This year, we celebrate International Workers Day as the novel coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic has made clear the central importance of workers to our society. It is the labor of frontline workers — healthcare workers, grocery and food workers, sanitation workers and others — that is keeping people alive right now, not the wealth accumulated by capitalists.
In November, UE Local 506 hosted a tri-national labor solidarity gathering at their hall in Erie, PA. The event, entitled “Overcoming Fear: Creating a Trinational Workers Toolkit,” was organized by UE’s Director of International Strategies Kari Thompson, the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, and the Canadian Steelworkers. Participants gathered from across Mexico, Canada, and the US, including UE […]
As the shameful lockout of Coop Refinery workers in Regina, Saskatchewan enters its tenth week, UE reaffirms our full solidarity with Unifor Local 594. The very right of workers to have an organized voice and a say in their workplaces is at stake in this dispute. We are encouraged by the solidarity shown to Local 594 by their national union and the rest of the Canadian labor movement, and we encourage all US unions to close ranks with our brothers and sisters in Canada to defeat this attack on our rights.
