Zimbabwe: Trade Union Leader Arrested
The ITUC, together with its regional organisation the ITUC-Africa, has condemned and strongly protested against the arrests of Assistant General Secretary Gift Muti and President Manjemanje Munyanyi of the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers’ Union (GAPWUZ). They were clearly arrested because of their trade union activities.
ITUC in Talks with Palestinian Authority, and Palestinian and Israeli Affiliates
In a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on 16 February, ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder discussed the deep economic problems confronting Palestinians, and the government’s plans to tackle a series of labour issues including vocational training, employment services, occupational health and safety and labour inspection.
Oman: A New Trade Union Centre is Born
With the completion of its Founding Congress on 15 February, the General Federation of Oman Trade Unions (GFOTU) becomes the world’s newest national trade union centre. Following a 2006 Decree by the Sultan of Oman permitting the establishment of trade unions, some 70 individual unions have been established.
2nd World Day of Social Justice
In marking the 2nd World Day of Social Justice (on 20 February), the ITUC is calling for an end to the prevailing neo-liberal model of economic globalization, which has brought about the worst economic downturn since the great depression. It has denied social justice to millions of men and women hit by unemployment, or marginalized into the ranks of the working poor.
Guatemala: alarming increase in anti-union violence
The ITUC, its regional organisation the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA) and its Guatemalan affiliates CGTG, CUSG and UNSITRAGUA, grouped within the Guatemalan Labour, Indigenous and Campesino Movement, are seriously concerned at the alarming increase in anti-union violence seen in Guatemala since the year 2007.