Author: Eric Lee

Will you support us?

2026 is going to be a challenging year for the world’s trade unions. Right-wing, anti-union governments are becoming more common. The world grows increasingly unstable. Workers need powerful unions now more than ever.

LabourStart is there, every day of the year, doing what we can to support working people and their unions.

Please click here to donate.

In 2025, we ran fifteen campaigns in support of workers and their unions in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Guatemala, Lesotho, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Türkiye, and the USA. Many of those campaigns were run in partnership with global and European labour federations, including the Education International, ETF, IndustriALL, PSI and UNI Global Union, as well as local unions.

In addition, our network of hundreds of volunteer correspondents posted over 38,000 news stories in 2025, in dozens of languages. LabourStart remains the best place online to find out news about workers and their unions.

Our podcast series continues to grow its base of regular listeners and this year featured a number of trade union leaders and activists from around the world — including Azerbaijan, Belarus, Canada, Lesotho, the Netherlands, Norway, Serbia, Turkey, and the USA.

In 2026, we’ll be growing our network of volunteer correspondents and translators, preparing for a LabourStart Global Solidarity Conference in 2027, doing many more podcasts and campaigns — basically doing whatever we can to help.

To continue this work, we rely on the ongoing support we’ve received from you.

Please click here to donate.

These are difficult times for working people as we face rising costs. I wish we didn’t have to ask, but we do. LabourStart urgently needs your donations to ensure that our work continues uninterrupted, especially during the coming weeks and months.

We hope that we can continue to count on your support.

Thank you!

Eric Lee

LabourStart

The 16th Jubilee Congress of the Georgian Trade Union Confederation (GTUC) celebrating 120 years of trade union history in Georgia, was held on October 24, 2025. 175 delegates and more than 50 invited local and international guests, including those from trade unions from various countries, participated in the congress.

The congress featured a presentation of the new anthem of the Georgian Trade Union Confederation and a film depicting the history of the Georgian trade union movement.

International and local guests and representatives of trade unions of various countries greeted the congress.

The congress heard and adopted the 2021-2025 report of the Georgian Trade Union Confederation, which included the GTUC activities in the areas of workers’ protection, legislative and analytical work, awareness-raising, international activities and labour safety. The congress focused on the importance of the country’s European integration in ensuring decent labour standards for workers. According to the report:

During the reporting period, the GTUC was involved in and prepared more than 10 legislative initiatives, which concerned issues such as: a package of amendments to the Organic Law of Georgia “Labour Code of Georgia”, including in the direction of ensuring women’s rights and gender equality, minimum wage, unemployment benefits and unemployment insurance, labour migration, labour safety, etc;

During this period, the Legal Department provided consultations to more than 45,100 people. 97% of labour disputes were resolved in favour of workers, as a result of which they received various types of compensation, the total amount of which during the reporting period amounted to 4,200,225 GEL;

As a result of collective negotiations, collective agreements and mediation, workers received economic benefits, the total amount of which exceeds 440 million GEL;

514 information meetings (trainings, seminars) were held, in which 11,822 people (workers, civil servants, employers, students, journalists, lawyers, etc.) participated. The topics of the meetings were: labour rights, labour safety, social protection, women’s rights and gender equality, civil servants’ rights, labour standards in the European integration process, etc;

38 trainers were trained, who are actively participating in awareness-raising and organizing areas;

Were prepared: 16 information brochures/bulletins, 35 videos, 230 information cards, 44 open offices, which reached more than 12,000 people;

The GTUC hosted as well as participated in 212 international events, with involvement of 1,329 representatives of the GTUC and its sectoral organizations.

The Congress heard the report of the Control and Revision Commission of the Georgian Trade Union Confederation (GTUC) on the work done. It also adopted a number of resolutions, including a special resolution on the special status of the trade unions of the autonomous republics of Adjara and Abkhazia in the structure of the Georgian Trade Union Confederation and on the formation of a unified, consolidated and mutual-solidarity trade union movement.

The Congress, for the first time in the history of the Georgian trade union movement, held elections with a new structure, where the GTUC will be led by a General Secretary and a President instead of a Chairman. Irakli Petriashvili was elected General Secretary of the GTUC by secret ballot, and Raisa Liparteliani was elected President. The positions of Deputy General Secretaries were held by Tamar Surmava and Lavrenti Alania.

The Georgian Trade Unions Confederation adopted an action programme for 2026-2029, according to which, over the next 4 years, the GTUC will work on issues such as:

Minimum wage;

Amendments to labour legislation to ensure compliance with ILO and EU standards;

Progressive taxation;

Subsistence allowance;

Reduction of income inequality;

Poverty alleviation;

Formalization of informal employment;

Labour migration;

Protection of women’s labour rights and encouragement of their economic activity;

Climate change and just transition;

Pensions;

Protection of the interests of youth and other vulnerable groups;

Improvement of active labour market policy mechanisms;

Improving rights and social situation of those employed in the care economy and digital labour platforms;

Improving vocational education system;

Ratifying a number of ILO conventions related to women’s rights and labour safety, etc.

At the end of the congress, 30 trade union members employed in various fields were awarded for their outstanding contribution to trade union activities.

It should be noted that the Congress was preceded by a conference on October 23 titled “120-Year History of Georgian Trade Unions, Modern Challenges and Ways to Solve Them”, where participants were provided with information about the history of the Georgian trade union movement and were also given the opportunity to discuss modern challenges in the field of labour.

We hereby invite representatives and employees of trade unions throughout the world to nominate candidates for next year’s award of the Arthur Svensson international prize for trade union rights. The deadline is 1st of January 2026.

Since 2010 the Svensson prize has been awarded to persons and organisations that has worked predominately to promote trade union rights and organizing around the world. Amongst the previous winners we find leaders and activists of the teachers’ union in Bahrain, the Miners union in Mexico, textile workers in Cambodia, health workers in Liberia, independent trade unions in Belarus and Kazakhstan, trade union leader and activist Khaing Zar Aung from Myanmar and many more. This year Aliaksandr Yarashuk, President of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP) and member of the ILO Governing body, was awarded the prize.

The prize amount is NOK 500,000 (approx. USD 46.000). One half of the amount goes directly to the prize winner and the other half will be spent on projects related to the prize winner.  

The nomination deadline is January the 1st 2026, but we encourage to start the nomination process as soon as possible. The nominees will be judged on to what extent the person or organization has promoted union rights and/or union organizing in the world. 

More on the award here
Previous winners here

For justified nominations please use this form. Nominations can also be sent with attachments to arthur.svenssonprize@styrke.no . 

Thank you!

In solidarity,

Amalie Hilde Tofte

Secretary of the prize committee

터키에서는 교사 노조 지도자들이 가택 연금에서 풀려났습니다.  필리핀에서는 활동으로 해고된 노조 지도자들이 모두 복직되었습니다.  아제르바이잔에서는 보안 경찰이 한 활동가를 심문하며 수감된 노조 지도자들에게 보여지는 국제적 지지에 대해 질문했습니다.  

이 헤드라인들의 공통점은 무엇일까요?

이 모든 것은 올여름 노동스타트(LabourStart) 캠페인의 성과입니다.  

오늘은 이 노동자들의 투쟁에 관한 놀라운 소식들을 전해드리며, 여러분의 지원을 요청하고자 합니다.  

기부하기

———-

학생들과 연대했다는 이유로 처벌받은 노조 지도자들 – 우리의 캠페인 이후 석방되다

올해 3월, 터키 교사 노조는 대학 학생들의 민주화 시위에 연대 의사를 표명했습니다.  

정권의 대응은 바로 이뤄졌습니다: 노조 지도자들은 가택 연금에 처해지고 다른 탄압 조치를 받았습니다.  해당 노조는 글로벌 노조 연맹인 교육국제(Education International)를 통해 우리에게 접근했습니다.  그리고 우리는 캠페인을 시작했습니다.  

며칠 전 노조 측으로부터 전해들은 바에 따르면, “짧은 시간 안에 수천 명이 캠페인에 참여해 에지뎀 센(교사 노조)에 대한 지지를 표명했습니다. 3개월 이상 지속된 이 국제적 캠페인은 국내 여론의 지지와 함께 우리 노조를 겨냥한 억압적 정책을 저지하는 데 분명히 중요한 역할을 했습니다. 그 결과 에지뎀 센 지도부에 부과된 사법적 통제 조치가 해제되었습니다.”

이 기쁜 소식을 여러분과 나누게 되어 기쁘며, 노조 지도부가 저희에게 보내온 내용을 전합니다

———–

룰루레몬 의류를 생산하는 노동자들의 대승리

불과 며칠 전, 필리핀에서 룰루레몬 의류를 생산하던 노동자들이 우리의 온라인 캠페인 중 하나를 통해 큰 승리를 거두었다는 소식을 접했습니다. 그들이 얻어낸 성과 중 일부는 다음과 같습니다:

– 해고된 5명의 노조 지도자 전원이 복직되었으며, 해고일로부터의 체불 임금 전액이 지급됩니다.

– 현행 징계 제도를 재검토하여 노조와 협의하에 새로운 징계 정책을 마련할 예정입니다.

– 회사는 근로자의 결사의 자유를 완전히 존중할 것을 약속하며, 이 내용이 모든 직원에게 명확히 전달되도록 할 것입니다.

– 이 약속의 구체적 조치로, 노조 운동에 관한 노동 교육 세미나를 개최하여 회사 모든 일반 직원들이 참석할 예정입니다.

이것은 긴 목록의 일부에 불과합니다.

모든 캠페인이 이렇게 끝나는 것은 아닙니다.  

하지만 우리가 원하는 모든 것을 얻지 못하더라도, 캠페인은 의미가 있습니다.

———

아제르바이잔 보안 당국이 우리 캠페인에 우려 표명

예를 들어, 몇 주 전 우리는 아제르바이잔에서 투옥된 노동조합 지도자들을 지지하기 위해 진행해 온 캠페인을 중단했습니다. 그 용감한 분들은 여전히 감옥에 갇혀 있으며, 우리는 그들의 자유를 위해 싸우기 위해 할 수 있는 모든 것을 다할 것을 다짐합니다. 해당 노조에 이 캠페인이 어떤 성과를 거두었는지 물었을 때, 그들은 이렇게 답했습니다:

“이 캠페인은 뉴스에서 화제가 되며 대중의 큰 관심을 끌었습니다. 국가 차원의 인지도를 얻기도 했죠… [우리 조합원 중 한 명은] 지난 4월 구금 중 심문 과정에서 이 캠페인에 대해 질문받았습니다.”

터키에서 필리핀에 이르기까지, LabourStart 캠페인은 변화를 만들어냅니다. 여러분이 이 캠페인들을 지원함으로써 변화를 이끌어내시는 것입니다.

이 중요한 활동을 지속하기 위해 여러분 모두의 기부를 요청드리며, 소속 노조에도 기부를 권유해 주시기 바랍니다.

기부하기

여기를 클릭하시고 가능한 만큼 기부해 주세요. 모든 기부가 소중합니다.

여러분과 같은 수만 명의 노동조합원으로 구성된 우리의 글로벌 네트워크는 매일 변화를 만들어가고 있습니다.

터키 동료들이 메시지에 쓴 것처럼, “국제 연대가 영원하길!”

이 일에 동참해 주셔서 진심으로 감사드립니다.

In Turkey, teachers’ union leaders were released from house arrest. In the Philippines, union leaders who were sacked for their activism, were all reinstated. In Azerbaijan, security police raised the question of international support being shown to jailed union leaders while interrogating an activist.

What do these headlines all have in common?

These were all the results of LabourStart campaigns this summer.

Today, I’d like to update you with the extraordinary stories of these workers’ struggles. And to ask for you support.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Union leaders punished for their solidarity with students – and released following our campaign

In March this year, the teachers’ union in Turkey showed solidarity with pro-democracy protests by university students.

The regime’s response was swift: union leaders were placed under house arrest and faced other repressive measures. The union approached us through their global union federation, Education International. And we launched a campaign.

As we learned from the union a few days ago, “Within a short time, thousands of people joined the campaign, expressing their support for Eğitim Sen (the teachers’ union). This international campaign, which has continued for over three months, alongside national public support, has undoubtedly played a significant role in pushing back against the oppressive policies targeting our trade union. As a result, the judicial control measures imposed on Eğitim Sen’s leaders have been lifted.”

I’m delighted to share this good news with you and to pass on what the union’s leaders wrote to us:

“We extend our heartfelt thanks, first and foremost, to the LabourStart platform; to our global federation Education International (EI); to the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE); and to dozens of international trade unions and confederations from North America to Latin America, from Europe to the Asia-Pacific region. We are also deeply grateful to every individual and institution that has stood in solidarity with us. International trade union solidarity continues to be a powerful source of strength in our struggle against all forms of pressure and interference targeting democratic principles and trade union rights.”

I can tell you honestly that getting a message like that — well, it’s the whole point of what we do here at LabourStart.

And that was not the only message we received like this recently.

Massive win for workers making the clothes for Lululemon

Just a few days earlier, we learned workers in the Philippines, who were making clothes for Lululemon, had won a huge victory, assisted by a one of our online campaigns.

Here are just some of the things they told us that they won:

• All five terminated union leaders were reinstated, with full back wages from the date of their termination.
• The current disciplinary scheme will undergo review with the aim of crafting a new disciplinary policy in consultation with the union.
• The company commits to fully respect employees’ freedom of association and will make sure that this is clearly conveyed to all its employees.
• As a concrete step in this commitment, a labour education seminar on trade unionism will be conducted and attended by all rank-and-file employees of the company.

And that’s just part of a long list.

Not every campaign ends that way.

Azerbaijan’s security forces express concern about our campaign

But even when we don’t get everything we want, the campaign matters.

For example, a few weeks ago we closed down a campaign we’ve been running in support of jailed trade union leaders in Azerbaijan. Those brave individuals remain in jail and we are committed to doing everything we can to fight for their freedom. When we asked the union what, if anything, the campaign achieved, here is what they told us:

“The campaign received widespread attention, going viral in the news and drawing significant public interest. It even reached state-level awareness … [one of our members] was questioned about it during her interrogation while in detention this past April.”

From Turkey to the Philippines, LabourStart campaigns make a difference. And by supporting those campaigns, you make a difference.

To continue this important work, we need to ask for all of you to donate — and to encourage your trade union to also donate.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Please click here and give what you can. Every donation matters.

Our global network of tens of thousands of trade unionists like yourself — we’re making a difference, every day.

As our Turkish friends wrote in their message, “Long live international solidarity!”

Thank you so much for being part of this.

Eric Lee
LabourStart

Dear comrades, allies, and friends in the labor movement,

We are glad to update and report to you that the negotiations between Metrowear Two management and the Union (OMEGA – PIGLAS) have achieved key gains in our new agreement, including:

1. Our five (5) terminated union leaders were reinstated effective June 23, 2025, with full back wages from the date of their termination.
2. The current disciplinary scheme, especially the 35-point demerit system, will undergo review with the aim of crafting a new disciplinary policy in consultation with the Union.
3. The Company commits to fully respect employees’ freedom of association and will make sure that this is clearly conveyed to all its employees.
4. As a concrete step in this commitment, a labor education seminar on unionism will be conducted and attended by all rank-and-file employees of the company. Management and the Union will coordinate on the attendance, date, time, and venue of the seminar. Furthermore, DOLE and the Union will lead the conduct of this labor education.
5. Management and the Union will work to conclude the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) on or before July 30, 2025. Additionally, amendments to the ground rules of the negotiations will be made with the aim of accelerating the process. Both parties agree to negotiate in good faith throughout the CBA talks.
6. The Company has assured its commitment not to close the factory and will exert its best efforts to scout new orders to shorten the forced leave period and ensure the continued operation of Metrowear Two. The Company also commits to balancing orders between the two Metrowear factories.
7. Regarding the temporary forced leave, the Company will provide the following subsidy packages or assistance to all affected employees:

a) P125.00 per day financial support starting from the 8th day of forced leave until they are recalled to work;

b) Full payment of social benefit premium contributions and health insurance for the entire duration of the forced leave, shouldered by the Company;

c) 25 kilos of rice (one-time release on the last working day);

d) An advance on the 13th-month pay amounting to Php 6,000.00, to be given on the last working day;

e) The remaining balance of the 13th-month pay for the year shall be based on gross income, including daily financial assistance (i.e., gross salary + P125.00 daily allowance).

This is a substantial win for us, and we want to extend our deepest gratitude for your steadfast support during our recent labor dispute with Metrowear Two. Your solidarity played a vital role in helping us reach this resolution.

This victory is not just for our members—it’s a testament to what’s possible when workers and communities unite against injustice. We couldn’t have done it without your support, and we are proud to have stood shoulder to shoulder with you.

However, the fight is not yet over. We still need to push for the reinstatement of Alan Esponga, the union president of another Sport City factory—Globalwear Inc. For OMEGA – PIGLAS, the next major challenge is negotiating a strong CBA this July.

At this stage, we are pausing all further actions. We remain watchful but hopeful that ongoing efforts will lead to fair and constructive engagement.

As we move forward, we remain committed to strengthening our movement and fighting for better conditions for all workers. We’ll continue to share updates and look forward to supporting your efforts as well.

With solidarity and thanks,

Dennis S. Derige
Visayas Coordinator
SENTRO CEBU

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions held an emergency outdoor delegates meeting in central Seoul today (April 3), just one day before the Constitutional Court announces its verdict on suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment.

We’re absolutely convinced the Court will unanimously vote to remove Yoon from office! But in the virtually impossible scenario that the impeachment is rejected, we’ve pledged to launch full-scale resistance!

Our plan adopted:

– Protest rally tomorrow evening (April 4)

– Nationwide resistance with citizens on April 5

– Complete general strike across all unions on April 7