After a week-long strike staged by SUNTRACS, which represents some 6,000 workers employed on the mega-project to expand the Panama Canal, the workers won a wage increase and the commitment of the multinational GUPC Consortium (comprising Spain’s Sacyr Vallehermoso, Belgium’s Jan de Nul, Italy’s...

In a major development at the Faber-Castell Unit in Goa State in India, the Faber-Castell management over-ruled their earlier decision of closure of their manufacturing unit and now the production is set to resume on 1st April 2012. An understanding to this effect was reached between the...

Full trade union rights have yet to be established in Turkey. There were improvements to the legal framework on freedom of association, but the rights to organise, to strike and to bargain collectively still need to be brought in line with EU standards and ILO conventions. Unions are still being...

The Building and Wood Workers International congratulates the workers at the IKEA distribution plant in Perrydale, Maryland in voting 183 to 119 (61%) for a union. This victory is the result of not only the workers courage but also due to the commitment of the International Association of...

A general strike has brought business and transportation in key Nigerian cities to a complete standstill over the past week. Millions of Nigerians have refused to work in protest over the government’s decision to cut a state gasoline subsidy. For decades, the program has helped control the price...

The BWI and ABAN support the recent move by ban-asbestos activists in Thailand to hold a National Programme on the Elimination of Asbestos Diseases (NPEAD) meeting following the success of a similar event in Malaysia last year. The meeting in Thailand, scheduled for February 17, will promote...

The BWI welcomes the release of 651 prisoners, many of them political prisoners from the 1988 and 2007 protests, including many prominent student leaders, monks and ethnic-minorities. The BWI views this as another positive step by the Burmese government towards genuine political reforms as it...

The Playfair Brazil, Playfair 2012 and international Play Fair campaigns came together in London from 12-14 December 2011, to exchange top tips and share lessons about how to ensure that the rights of workers delivering the Olympics and World Cup are protected for future games. A key point for...

In conjunction with the 2011 International Migrants Day (December 18), trade unions from Malaysia and throughout the Asia Pacific region have committed to enhance their cooperation to organize and promote the rights of migrant workers and their families. The Regional offices of the Building and...

As 2011 came to a close six construction workers were tragically killed in two separate accidents. Just a little past midnight on December 9, five workers were killed when they were hit by a Korea Airport Railroad train in Incheon, South Korea. According to Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL),...