Yearly Archives: 2013

The popular and worker led uprising in Bahrain that started over two years has been suppressed by the government by continual attacks involving thousands of arrests, beatings and heavy use of tear gas. A recently leaked report documenting an order for a huge amount of tear gas and stun grenades […]

As previously reported, workers at Turkish Airlines have been on strike since 15 May 2013 because the company has refused to bargain with the union in their next round of Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations. 305 workers that were previously sacked over industrial action are still fighting to be reinstated. The […]

The Korean government has demaded that the Korean teachers' Union (KTU) disaffiliate its unemployed members, or risk deregistration. The teachers have been given until October 23 to change their constitution or else the government will revoke the 60,000-member union’s official status, 14 years after it became an official union.  The […]

We've brought you regular reports about the situation for migrant workers in Malaysia – see here, here and here.  More recently, a Cambodian woman who has been working in the garment industry has been detained in Malaysia for nearly a month after she failed an annual health test and before […]

After bringing you a number of bad news stories in relation to Samsung Electronics in Korea (see here, here and here), we are finally able to bring you one small victory.  On October 18, the Seoul administrative court ordered that KCOMWEL, the quasi-government entity responsible for workers compensation, pay industrial-accident […]

We've previously brought you a story about the conditions for migrant workers in Qatar in the lead up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup that is to be held there.  Recently, two German broadcasters have been detained by Qatari police as they attempted to investigate the plight of migrant labourers […]

Workers at an Ansell rubber factory in Sri Lanka’s export processing zone have been on strike since 11 October to oppose union busting tactics by the company. Ansell is a multinational producer of latex rubber products such as gloves, condoms and related products.  Parts of the company are incorporated in […]

Now, its time for aviation affiliates to take action again to support Turkish Airlines (THY) workers! Between 7-20 October 2013 Hava-Is will launch a leafleting campaign. Trade unions  in India, Philippines, Korea and Australia will participate and join in leafleting passengers at THY destinations. We're calling on ITF aviation affiliates […]

Just two weeks after 200,000 Bangladeshis protested against wages and conditions in the garment industry, another garment factory killed and injured workers in Bangladesh on 8 October 2013. Latest reports suggest that ten workers were killed and over 50 may have been injured when a fire ripped through the Aswad […]

As previously reported (see here, here and here), Samsung Electronics has a bad record of worker fatalities and abhorrent occupational health and safety practices.  The most recent Samsung fatality is young contractor Yim Hyeon-woo who died of a brain haemorrhage on 27 September 2013. The 36 year-old-repairman worked 52 hours […]