Since Talley's vicious lockout of 1,000 unionized workers at 6 of the company's 8 Affco meat plants in the North Island of New Zealand, all 8 plants have been hit by 24- and 48-hour strikes each week as union members unaffected by the lockout have taken action in support of their locked out brothers and sisters. Further strikes are taking place on March 22-23 and March 26.

Spanish unions are united as never before in their mobilization against labour law 'reforms' which gut workplace protection and trade union rights and in defense of public services. A 24-hour national general strike has been called for March 29.

Nestlé's recently published Annual Report for 2011, introduced by the familiar 'Fellow Shareholder' letter, seeks to engage readers (who in any event will skip the hype and head for the hard figures) by alerting them up front to a 'New Reality'. For workers, however, the New Reality looks like more of the same, with rights under attack to generate cash for the investor payout.

Ten years is a long time between paydays, but a decade of unceasing struggle by workers and their union at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Karachi, Pakistan has won the reinstatement of 19 dismissed union officers and members. Now they are receiving their first wages in 10 years.

Workers have been given every possible reason to account for layoffs - but there's always room for one more. The next call for job cuts at your company may be wrapped in a message about job cuts and share prices at the competition.

Global union federations representing food, transport and public sector workers have joined with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to demand an end to concerted attacks on workers in New Zealand, highlighting the union-busting measures that New Zealand's workers have endured over recent months.

Education International, supported by international trade union organizations andlabourstart, is campaigning to stay the execution of  Abdolreza Ghanbari, a 44-year-old lecturer of Payam e Nour University. If the sentence is carried out, it would mark the second execution of a teacher union activist following the May 2010 execution of Farzad Kamanger.

IUF unions and their supporters demonstrated across Indonesia on March 8 to show their commitment to the struggle for trade union rights at the Nescafé factory in Panjang.