IUF affiliates representing palm oil plantation workers in Asia, Africa and Latin America met in Bogota on March 12 and 13, 2015 to develop a strategy and work plan for IUF activities in the sector.

The first in a series of Congressional hearings into abuses and illegal practices by Philippines tuna producer Citra Mina got under way on March 18 in the Philippines' House of Representatives, marking an important milestone in the long fight for justice for Citra Mina workers.

The US federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has launched an investigation into health and safety conditions at McDonald's outlets in response to 28 worker complaints in 19 cities alleging that workers often suffered burns, some of them severe, under pressure to filter oil for recycling while it was still hot, and from exposure to grills. The restaurants in question are a mix of franchises and directly-operated restaurants.

Members of the IUF's Malaysian affiliate NUHBRW held a protest action at the Grand Millennium in Kuala Lumpur on March 12 in response to management's attempt to remove service charge entitlements from the collective agreement, which would let the hotel use the service charges to bring wages up to the new legal minimum and retain the balance.

Go here to sign the union petition to demand payment to dozens of backpackers who are owed tens of thousands in backpay! B&E poultry should abide by Australian workplace law and stop exploiting workers on holiday in Australia that have language barriers or a lack of Australian workplace knowledge.

Fifty-two union members illegally dismissed for their union membership at the Sheraton Addis Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia celebrated International Women's Day on March 8 by meeting and pledging to continue their struggle. The venue was kept secret to allow union workers still employed at the upscale hotel to participate and show their support and solidarity.

In response to rising concern about manufacturers using unregulated nanomaterials in food, an international coalition of groups including the IUF today released a policy recommendation for companies in food-related industries to assist them in avoiding or reducing the risks from nanomaterials in food products and packaging.

The IUF-affiliated SINTRAINAGRO has won direct, permanent contracts for cane cutters at the Risaralda mill in western Colombia's Cauca Valley. The breakthrough agreement was signed on March 5 following a brutal attack on strikers by state anti-riot forces and company guards.

On February 25 in Brussels, the IUF's regional organization EFFAT along with a coalition of European and American trade unions unveiled a report about McDonald's deliberate avoidance of over €1 billion in corporate taxes in Europe over the five year period 2009-2013.

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The IUF has sent a message of solidarity to the Somali Hotel and Catering Workers Union, whose deputy general secretary Mohamed Mohamud was killed in the February 20 terror attack on the Central Hotel in Mogadishu. Five hotel workers were among the dead and seven wounded.

On February 24 gunmen fired on a car carrying Guillermo Rivera and Medardo Cuesta, president and treasurer, respectively, of the Colombian rural workers union SINTRAINAGRO, as they were meeting with members in the western department Valle del Cauca.

Tea workers in West Bengal have rejected the tripartite wage agreement signed on February 20 that sets wages below the poverty line for the next three years.

Union workers dismissed from Sheraton's Maldives luxury resort for demanding union recognition are not allowed on the company's private island - so on February 20 they took to the sea for a boat picket around the resort to demand their rights.