Thanks to the courage of the housekeeper at the Sofitel New York, a curtain has been pulled back on the world of sexual misconduct that housekeepers sometimes face from guests. Inspired by her stand, more housekeepers are coming forward to share their own stories and launch a campaign to break the silence about the routine sexual misconduct and other forms of abuse that housekeepers face at work.

Following the recent highly publicized events at the Sofitel New York,
the IUF has written to major international hotel operators, including Intercontinental, Wyndham Hotels, Marriott, Hilton, Accor, Hyatt,  Rezidor, Starwood, Carlson Hotels, and Melia to highlight the vulnerable situation of hotel housekeepers.

Union workers from the DUSIT Hotel in Manila who were dismissed en masse in 2002 during a dispute over renegotiation of their collective agreement are still fighting for justice. The workers are members of IUF affiliate NUHWRAIN.

The second and final discussions on an ILO Convention & Recommendation for Domestic Workers were successfully concluded on June 16, making this a historic day for millions of domestic workers around the world who have finally been recognized as workers and guaranteed the same basic rights as other categories of workers.

Global food manufacturer H.J. Heinz on May 26 announced record full-year (fiscal 2011 ending April 30) results. Sales in the fourth quarter increased by 6% over the previous year and profits rose by 16%. Net income resulted in earnings per share rising from 60 to 69 US cents. Investor appetites were unappeased – they wanted 72 cents a share. So Heinz announced the elimination of 1,000 jobs.

A settlement has been reached in the long-running dispute between workers and Amalgamated Plantations Private Ltd (APPL).at the company's Nowera Nuddy tea garden in northern West Bengal, India. APPL is majority-owned  by Tata Global Beverages, part of India's Tata Group.

Representatives from the IUF-affiliated Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) completed a 2 week European tour of meetings and protests targeting Reynolds America & BAT. The aim of the tour was to convince BAT to take responsibility for the appalling migrant worker conditions on tobacco farms in the US. FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez and Diego Reyes, a migrant worker from North Carolina opened the tour in Germany on April 17, followed by activity in Turkey and ending with a protest action at the London BAT Shareholders’ AGM on April 28.

On May Day 2011 the IUF sends fraternal greetings to our members and to workers everywhere. Democratic revolt in North Africa and the Middle East, in which unions have played a decisive role, has inspired profound hope in the region and around the world, amplifying May Day's historic message that organized labour remains the motor force for democracy.

The slow process of collective bargaining between the Union of Beverage Industry and allied workers’ (STIBYS) and CABCorp (PepsiCo), has been even more affected by the decision of the transnational to restructure illegally and outsource the Warehouse Department in Tegucigalpa.

In its last News Bulletin the Bargaining Committee of STIBYS denounced once again the dilatory strategy and the intransigent attitude of  CABCorp (PepsiCo), alerting also to the unilateral decision of the enterprise to restructure and outsource the Warehouse Department in Tegucigalpa.

Agreements to eliminate precarious plantation work in Costa Rica, to negotiate an international sexual harassment and discrimination agreement and to explore provision of special employment protection for union representatives were products of the Costa Rica meeting between the IUF, COLSIBA and Chiquita on April 19.

Unions have long contended that precarious workers have higher rates of accidents, injuries and illness on the job. Precarious work is also the hidden underside of the Japanese nuclear power industry, where contract workers have an average level of radiation exposure 16 times that of the small layer of permanent workers.