International News

The aviation industry is being hit by a second wave, and we are already experiencing the aftershocks with thousands of job losses throughout the industry. The ITF is urgently calling for a new deal for aviation workers based on relief, recovery and reform.At the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic we…

Statement from ACTU President Ged Kearney: The Turnbull Government’s blind pursuit of the troubled Trans Pacific Partnership agreement will sacrifice workers and Australia’s sovereignty for the profits of multinational corporations. Steve Ciobo has said that the deal is “18 free trade agreements”. The Australian people haven’t seen the text of…

The PACER-Plus free trade agreement has been tabled in the Senate today, despite the fact that Fiji and Papua New Guinea are opting out of the agreement – meaning it will not cover 80% of the population and GDP of Pacific Islands nations. The agreement, which still includes Australia, New…

The Turnbull Government will use a 10 day meeting at an undisclosed location in Sydney as an attempt to jump start negotiations on the defunct Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) this weekend. The TPP, which independent analysis concluded will see tens of thousands of Australian jobs lost, has been dead since the…

Remunicipalisation. It’s a big word for a big job, picking-up the pieces from numerous failed attempts to privatise public services originally supplied by local governments. It is the name of the process the City of Paris went through in bringing their water service back in house seven years ago. Long…

Recently our global union affiliate UNI reported an update on the campaign to have supply chains around the world enter into a fire and building safety agreement to ensure workers are protected from tragedies like the Rana Plaza collapse that claimed the lives of more than 1,100 workers, an event…

Brussels, 13 June 2017 (ITUC OnLine): The number of countries experiencing physical violence and threats against workers has risen by 10 per cent in just one year, according to the annual ITUC Global Rights Index. Attacks on union members have been documented in fifty-nine countries, fuelling growing anxiety about jobs…

New global polling on rising inequality for workers shows Australian workers have the same fears and problems as their international counterparts. The global poll commissioned by the 181 million-member International Trade Union Confederation, shows globalisation is failing people with three in four in fear for their jobs and seeing a…

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement was finalised back in February, but individual national parliaments all need to vote up the deal before it can take effect, so we still have time to stop the TPP. We have many concerns, most particularly around the undermining of workers' rights and…

World leaders will meet for the September G20 Summit in Hangzhou China as growth in the global economy contracts and the wage share of national income continues to fall. Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation said G20 leaders must support new principles on labour income share…