IndustriALL Global Union

IndustriALL at the Business and Human Rights Forum The 13th UN Business and Human Rights Forum, held from 25-27 November, 2024, brought together nearly 3,000 in-person participants and 1,000 online attendees to discuss pressing issues, including the ongoing negotiations for an international treaty on business and human rights. IndustriALL Global Union has long advocated for a binding treaty that ensures stronger protections for workers worldwide. During the session "Enforcing Effective Remedy and a Smart Mix of Measures," IndustriALL’s Textile and Garment Director, Christina Hajagos-Clausen, emphasized the importance of legally binding agreements in enforcing effective remedies within global supply chains. “Global supply chains have harbored serious, widespread human rights violations for decades. The prevailing mechanism to address them, private voluntary regulation, has failed to bring change because it does not address root causes or provide accountability. Negotiated agreements between global companies and trade unions (GC-TUAs) are a robust alternative with a promising track record of tackling systemic risks such as supply chain worker health and safety, sexual and gender-based violence, and very low wages. GC-TUAs provide consequences for rights violations; they are worker-centered in design and implementation and predicated on meaningful remedy. These agreements redress power imbalances in the supply chain,” said Hajagos-Clausen. IndustriALL has pioneered several landmark agreements, including the Lesotho Agreement on Gender-Based Violence and Harassment (GBVH), the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Garment and Textile Sector, and ACT on Living Wages. These agreements have set a new standard for enforcing effective remedies and prioritizing workers’ rights. As discussions around the international treaty continue, IndustriALL remains steadfast in its demand for binding frameworks to address the root causes of human rights violations and ensure accountability in global supply chains. #GarmentWorkersNeedUnions

🔍 Addressing systemic challenges in global supply chains: A focus on labour rights in Türkiye's automotive sector IndustriALL Global Union , in collaboration with IG Metall, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and the German Automotive Branch Dialogue, hosted a pivotal workshop in Türkiye, bringing together unions, employers, suppliers, and government representatives. The discussions tackled critical issues like social dialogue, due diligence, and responsible purchasing practices—key to creating equitable and sustainable supply chains. As Türkiye plays a vital role in the global automotive industry and faces unique labour challenges, this workshop marked a significant step in building collaboration and implementing solutions aligned with new EU and German legislation. Learn more about this milestone in promoting transparency, accountability, and fairness in the supply chain: Read the full article:

IndustriALL is now on Bluesky Social Join us there to continue to connect, share updates and amplify the voices of workers around the world. Together, we can build stronger solidarity and drive change ➡ https://lnkd.in/eHWxfwVR Let’s keep the conversation going!

Absolute Assembly in Thailand 🇹🇭 makes e-buses in a programme supported by Switzerland 🇨🇭 under the Paris Agreement. The Agreement is clear on commitments made being in line with achieving a Just Transition. This means decent jobs with fair working conditions, which is not the case at Absolute Assembly.

IndustriALL GlobaI Union has filed complaints against three major garment brands – Next, New Yorker and LPP – at OECD - OCDE's National Contact Points (NCPs). Despite overwhelming evidence of continuous violations of workers’ rights under Myanmar’s military junta, these brands continue to place orders in the country, profiting from the eradication of labour and human rights. "There is significant evidence of systemic violations of workers’ rights and brands that remain in Myanmar cannot claim ignorance of the abuses. The largest global brands have already left the country – brands that stay prioritize profits over human and workers’ rights," says IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie #GarmentWorkersNeedUnions

IndustriALL Global Union, Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD and industriAll Europe expressed their profound concern about the cumulative loss of tens of thousands of jobs in the steel sector and related industries, globally, and many more currently on the line. The trade union representatives attending the OECD - OCDE Steel Committee in Paris on 11-12 November 2024, warned about the risk of deindustrialization in OECD and other countries.

⚠️ The human rights violations in Myanmar's textile and garment industry make it impossible to conduct business responsibly, as companies are unable to guarantee the safety of their workforce. ❌ It has been proven again and again that human rights due diligence has not been possible in Myanmar since the military’s violent coup in 2021. With all the information available, brands who maintain production in the country cannot say that they don’t know❗ #GarmentWorkersNeedUnions

✊ On 29 October, IG Metall, IndustriALL's biggest affiliate, launched nationwide warning strikes 🪧 across Germany’s 🇩🇪 metal and electrical industries, demanding urgent action in the 2024 collective bargaining 🤝 negotiations. https://lnkd.in/ezDCVqD7

In a move away from voluntary toward binding initiatives, and from corporate self-regulation of global supply chains toward agreements that have the buy-in of both labour and multinational companies, garment and textile brands, and retailers and IndustriALL Global Union have signed individual agreements . These are supported by ACT, an initiative between 20 global brands and IndustriALL, to reach living wages for garment and textile workers through collective bargaining and responsible purchasing practices. Join us and Committee on Workers' Capital at 4 pm CET on 12 November for an investor briefing on the new binding agreements of the ACT initiative, representing a break through in supply chain labour rights due diligence. You will hear directly from signatory brands on why they have signed these agreements, as well as the labour and investor perspectives. Register here: https://shorturl.at/5g4cN #GarmentWorkersNeedUnions