Editorial

Abstract

lUR □ EDITORIAL Editorial hislatest edition ofIURbrings together a selecI tionof articlesexploringissues relating to m organising within industry supply chainsand important developments incollective bargaining. We beginwithan articleby Bill Street, at the InternationalAssociation of Machinistsand Aerospace Workers(IAMAW),thatprovidesa detailedlook at the challengesand successes involved inorganising workers atIKEA's subsidiary Swedwood,inDanville, Virginia, US,a campaign recently coveredinIUR.Witha Swedishcompanybenefitting from laxlabourrights regulation in theUStoexploit North American workers, thecampaignis highlighting how multinational abuse of workers' rights is notrestricted to lowerincome countries.Unite'sOrganisingDirectorSharon Grahamoutlinestheunion'sefforts to organise workers across themeat industry intheUK,explaininghowthestrategy of"forward organising" has been implemented to engage employersand empower workers ina heavily sub-contracted sector .Next, we focuson thegarment industry with an article from Ashling SeelyattheITGLWF who presents a snapshotofpoorworking conditions across thesector andupdates readers onthePlayfair Campaign toprotect workers supplying goodsand services totheOlympics. Three noteworthy collective bargaining casesare also coveredinthisedition. Firstly, inSpain,pubNext issue of IUR Articles between 850and1,900words should besentbyemail (mail@ictur.org) andaccompanied bya photograph andshort biographical note oftheauthor. Photographs illustrating thetheme ofarticles arealways welcome. Allitems must bewith usby1 December 2011if they are tobeconsidered for publication inthenext issueofIUR. Subscribe toIUR: tosubscribe, complete theboxbelow. I/we would like tosubscribe toInternational Union Rights andenclose£20/US$30/€25. Name/Organisation Address PostCode Four issues£20/US$30/€25. Cheques should bemadepayable to"IUR" andsentto:ICTUR, 177Abbeville Road, London SW49RL, UK liesector unions havebeendisputing a law-decree thatintroduced a fivepercentcut in workers' salaries. Camilo Rubiano, Industrial and Employment Relations Officer attheILO,analyses thelegality ofthedecreeand theimpactitwill haveoncollective bargaining inthecountry. Italian labourlawyer Federica Micolidrawsourattention totherecent Fiat-Chrysler agreement inItaly and theimplications itishaving on collective bargainingrights forItalian workers. RoyAdamsreturns totheFraser decisiontooffer hisinterpretation of theruling anditssignificance for agricultural workersorganising inCanada.Finally, trade union rights, including collective bargaining, in Germany, are discussedin a veryinformative article byKarin Flothmann atVer.di. We also includearticles on severalotherkey unionrights developments. We are delighted to reporton the new ILO Domestic Workers' Convention with a contribution from Chris Bonner, BarbroBudin,and KarinPape,who wereatthe forefront ofthecampaign to see domestic workers ' rights enshrined in international law. Dave Smith updatesreaders on thestruggle against the practice ofblacklisting andthefight tosecurejusticeforblacklisted workersin theconstruction industry, an issuereported in IURin 2009.And CarlRoper,NationalOrganiser at theTUC,providesan insight intotheworkinvolved ineducatingthenextgeneration of tradeunionists in a neoliberal worldthrough theUnionsintoSchools programme. Finally, many ofourreaders mayhaveheardof therecent phonehacking scandalintheUK that has led to investigations intoRupert Murdoch's News International media group, as well as enquiries into policecorruption. Tony Burke, Unite's Assistant General Secretary, traces thebackground to thescandaland linking thecompany's defeat oftheprint unionsover20 yearsago withthe growth ofa globalmediaempire. IURthanks allthecontributors forsharing their expertise with ourreaders andwelcomesICTUR's Director DanielBlackburn backtotheeditor's chair. Acting Editor Elizabeth Molinari INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 2Volume 18Issue 3201 1 ...