Trade justice: historic opportunity as European Union calls for review of Korea’s neglect
The Republic of Korea’s flagrant failure to comply with the terms of the EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is currently under review. In an unprecedented move, the EU called for the constitution of a Panel of Experts to conduct a three-month inquiry into the EU-Korea dispute on labour rights. The Panel was constituted on 19 December 2019.
Australian government counts the cost of climate denial with ongoing bushfire crisis
The extended bushfire season in Australia has wreaked havoc on communities, with 8.4 billion hectares of land burnt, and lives, homes and livelihoods lost along with up to a billion animals.
The ITUC calls on the governments of the US and Iran to put people and the values of peace and human rights above aggression and threats of war.
US President Donald Trump’s reckless order to assassinate Qasem Soleimani, leader of Iran’s notorious Revolutionary Guard, poses an imminent threat to world peace. In its response, the Iranian regime has announced that it will reverse crucial parts of the Iran nuclear agreement and retaliate against the USA.
Ukraine’s government puts oligarchs and multinational enterprises ahead of its own people
On 27 December, the neo-liberal Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine submitted to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) a new draft law on labour published earlier in the month which will strip workers of legal protections, and unions of their ability to protect them. In doing so, the Ukrainian government sided decisively with oligarchs and multinational enterprises against its own people.
International Migrants Day
Today, on International Migrants Day, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) acknowledges the enormous contribution of migrants to economic, cultural and social life. According to the UN, some 270 million people, or around 3.5% of the world’s population today, are migrants.
