International News

Qatar's new World Cup worker welfare standards do not deliver fundamental rights for workers and merely reinforce the discredited kafala system of employer control over workers, warned the International Trade Union Confederation. You can read this article on the ITUC website here "Forced labour continues in Qatar today with no…

The ASU supports the recent letter sent by our trade campaigning partner AFTINET (Australian Fair Trade & Investment Network) to local councils across the country advising of the various adverse effects the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement could potentially have on local government. The ASU is a supporting partner and affiliate…

DAVOS, Switzerland — Philip Jennings, a union leader from working-class Wales, has been coming to this Alpine ski resort for two decades to rub shoulders with the bosses of the world. His message has not changed. You can read this article on the UNI website here "The world needs a…

Trade Minister Andrew Robb recently announced a free trade agreement with Korea which includes the right for foreign investors to sue our governments over Australian laws and policies. This undermines our national sovereignty and democracy, and would cost our governments millions of dollars. But the deal has not yet been…

In 1950, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 10 December as Human Rights Day in order to call attention to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. You can read this item on the ITUC website here Importantly for trade unions, the Declaration provides: Article 23 (1) Everyone has the right to…

The official package agreed in Bali and released with great fanfare on 7 December demonstrates how unbalanced the global trade agenda still is. The WTO continues to be unable to craft trade policies that serve development and are consistent with the most important issues for the world’s poor, such as…

Universal quality public services and decent work are goals of economic development, to which international trade is but a means. Trade treaty rules should not force privatisation, nor interfere with the restoration or expansion of public services, where experiments with private provision fail or are rejected by democratically-elected governments. Trade…

Climate change threatens everything for which the labour movement stands including fairness, social justice and decent work. This was the message UNI Chief Philip Jennings delivered in a keynote speech to the W3 International Conference in Toronto. You can read this article on the UNI website by clicking here Invited…

Trade Ministers from the 12 countries will meet in Singapore on December 7-9 to make decisions about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). If you're in Sydney, rally tomorrow to show your support for a deal protecting Australia's public interest and write to our Trade Minister expressing your concerns. The US…

The ITF this week called on affiliates to join workers around the world and demand good jobs at Walmart companies and along the Walmart supply chain. You can read this item on the ITF website by clicking here The global action week, coordinated by ITF’s sister global union federation UNI…