Month: August 2026

Kuehne+Nagel Korea is a union-shop workplace that had maintained stable labour relations without a full-scale strike for approximately 20 years. However, after a new managing director took office in March 2026, the company proposed 48 amendments covering 25 clauses of the existing collective agreement.

Several of these proposals would significantly affect union membership, the status of elected union officers, union finances and the ability of the union and its parent organisation to conduct legitimate activities.

The dispute is therefore not primarily about wages or benefits. The central issue is whether a valid, long-standing collective agreement and the union rights established under it will continue to be respected following a change in local management.

The union completed the legally required mediation and ballot procedures. Of 195 eligible members, 193 voted—a turnout of 99.0%—and 179 members, or 92.7%, supported industrial action.

Union members staged a full-scale strike on 15 and 16 July 2026. Since 25 July, they have continued industrial action by declining overtime, public-holiday, weekend and standby duties until a settlement is reached.

During the strike, the union also obtained documents and reports suggesting that personnel from overseas Kuehne+Nagel entities and external contractors may have performed work affected by the industrial action. Evidence relating to specific cases has been submitted to the relevant Korean authorities for investigation and legal assessment.

The union is calling on Kuehne+Nagel to:

* respect the existing collective agreement and Korean labour law;

* withdraw proposals that would significantly restrict union membership and legitimate union activities;

* clarify transparently the involvement of overseas and external personnel during the strike; and

* resume substantive collective bargaining without delay.

The union remains ready to negotiate and is seeking the restoration of stable labour relations based on Korean law, the collective agreement and mutual respect.

In solidarity,

Chanyoung Heo

Branch President

Kuehne+Nagel Korea Labour Union

Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union

My name is Joseph Ndiritu Karobia, General Secretary of the Public Transport Operators Union (PUTON) that represents road transport workers in Kenya.

We also draw membership from the informal public transport sector locally referred to as Matatu sector. I previously worked in the matatu industry rising through the ranks until when I quit to represent workers in their registered trade union PUTON.

We recruited 209 members from Kariobangi Matatu Owners Sacco (SACCO) over a period between 2015 where we had a dispute that we won at the Ministry of Labour and in the period 2021//2022, we further recruited members from the same SACCO which we again forced the union go to court, a matter that was concluded in favor of the union PUTON.

Orders were issued by the court, among which they were ordered to deduct and remit union dues for members who had subscribed to be members of the union. They did not obey the order and we took SACCO to court for contempt and disobeying court orders. They are now forcing union members to sign an affidavit claiming that they signed the union check-off forms without knowing what they were signing. Our next date in court will be on 04 October 2026 for the contempt matter.

The SACCO was squarely put by the court that it is the employer for the drivers and conductors and many other categories of workers who service the informal matatu sector.

We need your support in this matter, we need to tell the SACCO that every worker has a right to join a union, we need solidarity from global unionisable workers in this war.