Eric Lee

International declaration on May Day by trade unionists in exile

Increasing authoritarianism is an alarm signal for workers – Time for global solidarity actions

We are a group of trade unionists and labour activists from Myanmar, Hong Kong, Belarus and Vietnam who have been forced into exile due to persecution by an authoritarian regime for trade union and pro-democracy activities. Authoritarian regimes are rampant and deprive workers of their basic trade union rights and fundamental human rights. These regimes violently suppress independent trade union movements and ruthlessly crack down on struggles for democracy under the guise of “national security”, “anti-terrorism”, or “anti-extremism”.

Independent trade unions are labelled illegal or forced to disband under dictatorial rule, and countless trade union activists are arrested, imprisoned or forced into exile. These authoritarian governments openly violate ILO labour rights and UN human rights conventions. An injury to one is an injury to all. The international mechanisms that protect workers’ rights are becoming increasingly ineffective — alarm bells are ringing around the world.

The damage done by these authoritarian regimes is not confined to their borders; it strikes at the very foundation of the global labour movement that has been painstakingly built over generations. These dictators sell products of forced labour in global markets, working with multinational corporations that abuse supply chains to wring every last drop of sweat from workers. They enable companies to evade union control and labour protections through unfair trade agreements and investments, and export exploitative practises to other countries. Even worse, these regimes form alliances to increase their international influence and strengthen their narrative by trying to replace international rules with raw power.

Authoritarianism knows no borders. its reach now threatens even democratic societies and jeopardises human rights around the world.

These ambitious dictators not only attack workers’ rights, but support and protect each other by waging or threatening to wage wars in neighbouring regions, endangering global peace and stability. They trample on the sovereignty of peoples, grab other countries’ lands and install puppet regimes to satisfy their imperial aspirations while hiding under slogans such as “national rejuvenation” or “national integrity”. True peace cannot be found of injustice and oppression, and the international community must neither remain silent nor make concessions to dictators in exchange for illusory stability.

A regime can imprison a person or disband an organisation, but it cannot eliminate the will of the people to resist. It cannot suppress our striving for freedom and liberation from oppression. Many people living under dictatorships today are silenced by force, but they have not given up. They continue to resist in various ways. Dictators cannot escape the fate of being spurned by the people, as history has repeatedly shown.

Even though we are in exile and cannot return home for the time being, we stand firmly by our sisters and brothers in the struggle. This is not just a struggle for one country, but for the dignity and rights of all workers — a struggle for our common future.

We invite you to fight with us. Join the worldwide resistance against the rise of authoritarianism.

Solidarity overcomes isolation!

Solidarity makes us strong!

Solidarity will fight the darkness!

Co-signed by the exiled unionists and labour activists from the organisations as below (in alphabetical order)

Confederation of Trade Union Myanmar

Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar

Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor

Salidarnast e.V., Belarus

Vietnamese Independent union

Korean Confederation of Trade Unions holds emergency delegates meeting – plans next steps in impeachment fight

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

Turkey: Ismet Aslan Released – Trade Unionism is Not a Crime!

Trade unionist Ismet Aslan has been released after six months in prison. The court made this decision today, March 26th, during the first hearing in Istanbul. The trial will continue, but Ismet will not remain in detention.

Ismet was arrested on October 7th, 2024, along with fellow unionists Giyasettin Yiğit and Yusuf Eminoğlu, charged under Turkey’s anti-terror law, often used against unions and activists.

He was accused of “financing terrorism.” The evidence included small money transfers between him and other union officers, calls with dismissed teachers, and visits to Europe—including a Brussels meeting of ETUC.

A secret witness provided online testimony, but the court did not find it convincing and ruled for Ismet’s release.

Ismet is now reunited with his wife and 1 year old son Armanc. In court, he stated, “I am not a criminal. I am a trade unionist,” explaining his actions as part of his union duties.

The LabourStart campaign helped raise global awareness, with nearly 5,000 supporters showing the power of international solidarity.

The next hearing is on July 10th, 2025. We thank everyone who supported the campaign—your solidarity made a difference.

KCTU: “The judge’s decision to cancel Yoon Suk-yeol’s detention denies judicial principles upheld for decades”

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) held a press conference on March 10th at 1:30 PM to condemn the cancellation of Yoon Suk-yeol’s detention and announce the urgent action plans. The KCTU claimed, “The judge’s decision to cancel Yoon Suk-yeol’s detention denies judicial principles upheld for decades” and “The prosecution has shamefully released someone accused of insurrection.” They added, “The KCTU, which was first to rush to parliament and create the square for the impeachment rally to prevent insurrection, declares we will again stand at the forefront against insurrectionist forces.”

The KCTU will hold an “Emergency Rally to Condemn Yoon Suk-yeol’s Release and Demand Constitutional Court to decide on his removal” on the 11th at 3 PM, followed by an overnight sit-in protest. On the 15th at 3 PM, KCTU will launch its largest nationwide protest demanding Yoon’s removal.

Chairman Yang Kyeung-soo stated, “The workers who first rushed to parliament on December 3rd during the martial law night, and to Hannam-dong on January 3rd for Yoon Suk-yeol’s arrest, will again pave the way to finalise Yoon Suk-yeol’s removal.” He continued, “Workers’ right to strike could be taken away, the media controlled, and parliament blocked in a terrible repeat of martial law. It’s time for us to act. Fellow KCTU members, let’s lead the fight. Citizens, please join us.”

Below is the full press statement:

<<We strongly condemn the political decision by the prosecution and demand swift removal by the Constitutional Court!>>

Last weekend, the court’s cancellation of Yoon Suk-yeol’s detention and the prosecution’s abandonment of appeal shocked the public. The judge cancelled the detention of a serious criminal accused of leading an insurrection, and the prosecution, which should investigate insurrection and uphold law and order, released him.

The judge’s decision to cancel detention denies judicial principles upheld for decades, all for the rights of someone accused of destroying democracy and pushing our society into extreme division and confrontation. The prosecution committed a shameless act by giving up their immediate appeal against the judge’s unfair and one-sided interpretation of the law, releasing the insurrection suspect.

The anti-public deviation by some judges and prosecutors confirms that the persistent opposition to impeachment and removal by the accused and supporting forces has influenced law enforcement agencies. Since the unconstitutional coup, Yoon has consistently claimed martial law was justified, while far-right forces have shaped public opinion against removal, the People Power Party has created political chaos, and these anti-removal forces are now openly inciting violence.

To end the current anti-democratic behaviour and sociopolitical chaos, division and confrontation, the Constitutional Court must make a removal decision as soon as possible. The Constitutional Court has thoroughly examined those involved in the insurrection and guaranteed maximum defence rights to the accused.

The Constitutional Court is constitutionally responsible for ending the unconstitutional insurrection that has continued and deepened since December 3rd. They must set a sentencing date quickly and decide on removal.

The KCTU, which was first to rush to parliament and open the public protest square to prevent insurrection, declares we will again stand at the forefront against insurrectionist forces.

On March 11th (Tuesday), KCTU national workplace representatives will hold an emergency rally to “Condemn Yoon Suk-yeol’s Release and Demand Constitutional Court to immediately Remove Yoon” followed by an overnight protest. On March 15th, it will launch the largest nationwide protest demanding Yoon’s removal. The KCTU will fight alongside citizens hoping for the protection of democracy and an end to insurrection until the Constitutional Court decides on removal, and we will certainly win.

March 10, 2025

Korean Confederation of Trade Unions

We will never stop fighting for workers’ rights

LabourStart has been around for more than 26 years now, which is extraordinary.

When we went live in the spring of 1998, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok didn’t yet exist.

Most unions didn’t even have websites.

We were seen as pioneers, and we helped lead many unions forward into a new age of instant global communications.

And despite all that has changed, one thing remains the same: Without unions, workers are vulnerable to exploitation and violations of their rights.

The fight to ensure that every worker in the world has the right to join or form a union — that fight goes on every day.

And LabourStart is there to help.

That’s why we’re running seven live campaigns now, helping workers in Eswatini, Serbia, Czechia, India, Taiwan, Poland and Georgia.

Two weeks ago I visited the striking workers at Evolution Gaming in Tbilisi, Georgia. Our campaign is showing them that they are not alone — that they have the support of thousands of individual trade union members, like yourself. And our messages to the company are sending a clear message, saying that we demand and expect them to respect workers’ rights, and to negotiate with the union.

When workers and their unions reach out to LabourStart for help, we always say yes.

And we charge them nothing. It’s a free service. It’s why we exist.

Your donations, large and small, make all the difference. They allow us to continue working day in and day out on behalf of workers who sometimes feel isolated, weak and vulnerable. We show them that their voices are being heard, and by working with fellow union members around the world, that we can win.

In the last few weeks, we’ve begun experiencing an extremely difficult financial situation at LabourStart. We’re reaching out to our union partners for help, and we’re hopeful that we will get through this. We’ve kept our expenses to a minimum and we’ve even cut back. Because of this, we need your donations more than ever before.

If you can donate, please click here to do so.

Together, we’re going to get through this difficult period — and we’re going to continue to fight side by side with the workers in every country where help is needed.

Thank you – and solidarity forever!

Eric Lee

LabourStart

Oil workers of South Sudan get training from Norwegian union

by Espen Løken

The petroleum industry is global and consists of some of the most powerful companies in the world. These companies, whether it be oil companies or service companies, operate all over the world. We also have seen to many examples of oil becoming a curse for countries, marked by pollution of the environment, corruption and greed. Therefore it is very important to build strong unions within the industry, unions that cooperates across national borders. The Norwegian union “Styrke” (earlier “Industri Energi”) uses lots of resources to contribute to this.

South Sudan, independent from Sudan since July 2011 after decades of civil war, is one of the world’s poorest countries and ranks among the lowest in many socioeconomic categories. Problems are exacerbated by ongoing tensions with Sudan over oil revenues and land borders, fighting between government forces and rebel groups, and inter-communal violence. There is extreme poverty and food insecurity, and problems have escalated because of several hundred thousand refugees from the civil war in Sudan.

The by far most important industry and source of income for the country is oil. More than 95% of the income to the Government is oil revenues. This industry is dominated by Chinese, and to some extent Malaysian and Indian companies. In 2017 the union «Workers Trade Union of Petroleum and Mining» (WTUPM) was established. This union is trying to build strength to be able to fight for the workers’ interests as well as make the companies take responsibility for the environment which has to a large extent been polluted.

Since 2009 the union Styrke (before Industri Energi) which amongst others organizes oil workers in Norway, has supported a program by Norwegian People’s Aid aiming at strengthening the civil society in the country. One important part of this has been to support building of the trade unions, especially within the important petroleum industry. This month 3 experts from the union had a 3 days workshop training 40 trade union representatives from WTUPM, focusing on health and safety and governance of trade unions. Even if Norwegian petroleum is an offshore industry while the South Sudanese activities are onshore, the requirements and way of thinking should be the same both regarding the workers safety and the surrounding environment.

Industri Energi (Styrke) uses 3% of the member dues for international work, having projects with trade unions in several countries with the aim of strengthening trade unions. This is especially important in the petroleum industry marked by companies operating all over the world. Cooperating and helping eachother across borders makes the union movement stronger.

Picture: Espen Løken from the union “Styrke” was one of the trainers

Georgia: Borjomi strike ends

Statement from the Trade Union of Agriculture, Trade and Industry

After 22 days of strike, on June 21, an agreement was reached between the trade unions, the employees of the Borjomi factory and the management of IDS Borjomi Georgia.

All the main demands, which were voiced by Giorgi Diasamidze, Chairman of the Trade Union of Agriculture, Trade and Industry, together with the employees during the strike period, have been met.

The factory workers who were illegally fired were reinstated in their jobs, and in addition to the workers receiving compensation, a number of issues were resolved in their favor.

In particular, as a result of the agreement between the parties:

• 2021 contracts will be automatically returned by January 1, 2023, in case no better contract is offered by that time.

• Employees with three-, six- and one-year term contracts will sign permanent contracts

• Employees fired two or three months ago due to expiration of a fixed-term contract will be reinstated in their jobs

• All employees who expressed a desire to leave the job by September 2022 will receive 6 months compensation

• IDS Borjomi Georgia undertakes to allocate a room in the factory for trade union activities

• The employer undertakes not to terminate contracts with trailer drivers who express solidarity with the strikers without unequivocal confirmation of the strike.

• The employer makes a commitment and pays the strike days at the forced deley rate

• The employer undertakes to provide employees with transport from June 2022 as before the pandemic.

• The trade union undertakes to withdraw all court sues under this agreement.

The workers at the Borjomi factory are satisfied with the results achieved and believe that justice has been restored to them.

“The agreement we signed is temporary, we will start working on a new agreement in November. If the company does not offer better terms and it is not acceptable to us, we have to go back to the contract reached after the 2021 strike, I mean a fixed salary. As of today, we are happy with what we have agreed on, though it does not end there. We will continue to work. I would like to thank the trade unions and in particular Giorgi Diasamidze, if not for this person, we would not have achieved all this. He put a lot of work and energy into the people employed in Borjomi. “Thanks to him, we have won for the second time,” said Marina Dvalashvili, an employee of the Borjomi factory.

Enforcement and control of the terms of the agreement will be carried out by the Labor Inspection Service of Georgia.

The employees were represented by the chairman of the trade union of agriculture, trade and industry and the lawyer of the union. The other side who ware involved in the negotiation process: a representative of the Georgian government, the Labor Inspection Service and the State Representative in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region.

What is the Labour News Network?

For almost 25 years, LabourStart has served as the news and campaigning website of the international trade union movement. Our news comes from articles posted on other websites — trade union sites, independent media, even mainstream news. We act as a “news aggregator” — a place where workers can see news about their struggles and their unions, gathered from all over the net.

But we know that some unions don’t have websites or don’t use them very well — and many of them share their news across social media or by email.

Labour News Network has been established to serve their needs — to offer a place where workers and their unions can post news.

News that’s posted here can later be posted as links to the main LabourStart home page.

If you’d like to post news here, drop us a line — we’re still building this site, and we welcome your interest and support.

Statement of Russian union federation FNPR

Original text is in Russian here. This translation to English was done automatically.

ABOUT THE PEACEKEEPING OPERATION

Communiqué of the press service of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia

The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia supports the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin to carry out an operation to denazify Ukraine. The future of the country should be determined by its people, but gangs of Bandera, nationalists and accomplices of the Nazis should not put pressure on their will. We sympathize with those who were forced to evacuate to Russian territory by regular shelling and the death of loved ones. Trade unions of Russia provide them with all possible assistance. We believe that peace will return to Ukraine, and Ukraine will become a democratic, peaceful, neutral state.

Hitlers and Zelenskys come and go, but international worker solidarity remains.

Peace to the nations! War on the Nazis!

Ukrainian unions urgent message: Russia attacked and started the invasion into Ukraine

Statement of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine

On 24 of February, at 5 a.m (Kyiv time) Russia cowardly attacked and started the invasion into Ukraine.

The main Ukrainian cities Odesa, Mariupol, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts are under attack. The airports near Kyiv were attacked too. The Ukrainian army and people are defending their land.

Today we have to fight for our freedom, democracy, and peace.

The Confederation of Free trade Unions of Ukraine calls all global trade union organizations, brothers and sisters from t trade unions in different countries for solidarity.

The KVPU calls to continue and strengthen international diplomatic and economic pressure on the Russian Federation and provide all possible measures to stop war and force withdraw her forces from the territory of Ukraine. An effective package of sanctions must be imposed immediately against the Russian Federation. We call to provide all possible assistance to Ukraine.
We must unite to stop the war and ensure peace in Ukraine, in Europe, and the whole world.

As we informed before, the President of RF V.Putin by his decree of February 21, recognized the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk Republics as sovereign and independent states. Besides, on February 21, RF started the official bringing of Russian troops into the occupied territory of the Luhansk and Donetsk Regions of Ukraine.

Thus, according to international humanitarian law, Russia has admitted to being a party to an international armed conflict.

We want to emphasize again Ukraine observed the ceasefire regime and respected agreements, didn’t conduct military or unlawful actions in the occupied territories. It was Russia that started aggression in 2014. It was russian forces that have been shelled the cities of the Donetsk and Luhansk region this week. Also, we call not to believe Russian propaganda.

Not only the independence of Ukraine but also the security of entire Europe and the future of the world depend on our joint response and solidarity.

In unity is our strength!

The Chairperson of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine

Mykhailo Volynets

p.s. The leadership of the KVPU and workers of the central office of the KVPU are in Kyiv. We hope that there will be a the internet and mobile connection in Kyiv and we’ll inform you about the situation/

Ukrainians are resisting!

—

Kind regards,

International Department

Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (KVPU)

International-dep@kvpu.org.ua

Tel 380 44 284 33 05

Str. Saksaganskogo, 38 B, office 8,

Kyiv, 01033, Ukraine

kvpu.org.ua