Late last year the Federal government of Nigeria gave a hint that it would deregulate the downstream of the oil sector by removing subsidy from the sales for local consumption. The labour movement and civil society opposed the move calling for prior measures to be put in place to protect the masses of the country.

Five months after their mass dismissal for exercising their fundamental right to form a union, 67 workers continue to hold peaceful demonstrations daily in front of the five star Angkor Village Hotel and Angkor Village Botanical Resort Hotel in Siem Reap. Ignoring court orders and growing international condemnation, the hotel owners, Olivier Piot and Tep Vattho, have responded with more fabricated charges against the workers and wielded political influence through a local government agency whose official role is to protect the Angkor World Heritage Site.

Under the theme “Winning union rights and food rights” the 9th African regional conference in Accra December 6 and 7 brought together over 130 representatives of IUF affiliates and proved to be the largest and most dynamic in the region’s history.

On December 25, a day that for many symbolizes the spirit of generous human kindness, the actions of the world’s biggest food company in 2011 were far from generous for many of its workers in Indonesia.

The only thing of note to happen at the December 15-17 WTO ministerial summit was the occasion it provided for WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy to attack the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter. De Schutter's briefing note to the meeting called for fundamental changes in the WTO rules to give member states the room to meet their obligation to ensure the right to food.

The over 100 meat workers who have been locked out from the CMP Rangitikei plant since October 19 will return to the plant tomorrow, December 23, after ratifying a mediated settlement.

The 3 union leaders at Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) Thailand fired for their union activism earlier this year were reinstated on December 8 in compliance with a court order which the company, however, is appealing.

Sodexo, the world’s 21st largest employer with 391,000 employees worldwide, and the International Union of Food Workers (IUF) have announced the signing of an agreement confirming Sodexo’s commitments to respect fundamental rights at work, namely freedom of association and collective bargaining.