Tunisia's IUF-affiliated food and tourism union FGAT-UGTT has called  a sector-wide general strike in hotels and travel agencies November 1, and is requesting global support. Since the overthrow of Ben Ali 51 collective agreements have been negotiated in the private sector, leaving only the tourism workers - who played a prominent role in the uprising - still waiting for their bosses to agree to new terms and conditions for workers in this vital sector.

Thousands on palm oil workers in the Puerto Wilches district of Colombia are now on a general strike to defend collective bargaining and oppose the spread of casualization and precarious work on palm oil farms. Their dispute dates back to early August when a major company, Palmas Oleaginosas Bucarelia, refused to enter into meaningful negotiations with the IUF-affiliated SINTRAINAGRO for the renewal of the collective agreement.

Australia's National Union of workers has stepped up its poultry organizing efforts and launched a "Better Jobs 4 Better Chicken" campaign aimed at winning permanent work, safer workplaces and the production of better chicken.

Representatives of unions, governments and the private employment agency lobby came together for a tripartite meeting on "The role of private employment agencies in promoting job creation and decent work in the private services sector" at the ILO in Geneva from October 18-19. The meeting failed to reach agreement on consensus points - a not unsurprising outcome for an exercise which vividly demonstrated the gulf between unions seeking to defend workers against the destructive impact of agency work and an agency lobby seeking to enlist the ILO in their drive for growing market share.

Management of the Jan Sobieski III hotel in Warsaw, where union chairperson Malgorzata Sokalska was illegally dismissed in June, has been transferred from Vienna International to Rezidor hotels. With support from the Norwegian hotel union and their shop stewards, Solidarnosc has approached the new management to urge that her case be resolved. As consultations are pending, Solidarnosc has suspended their protest campaign. The IUF support campaign is therefore on hold pending the outcome of talks with the new management.

Over 100 representatives from trade unions around the world took part in a symposium on precarious work organized by the ILO's Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV) held in Geneva from October 4-7. Over 3 days, unions described the role of precarious employment relationships in undermining worker rights, the scope and coverage of collective bargaining and wages and working conditions around the world.

Agricultural Workers from across Britain demonstrated at the Houses of Parliament on October 25, 2011 to urge Members of Parliament (MPs) to oppose the Public Bodies Bill.  The Bill, if passed, would allow a process to start to abolish the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB), the mechanism for fixing legally enforceable minimum wages and conditions for agricultural workers in England and Wales. The agricultural workers' union, Unite, called the demonstration to try to  persuade MPs to oppose both the inclusion of the AWB in the Bill and the entire Public Bodies Bill.

Management pressure on workers and their unions continues at Nestlé, the world's largest food company

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