A group of international union activists is getting together to start a labour audio show on the Internet. The show, which will be  hosted by labour educator Marc Belanger, will feature news about union activities around the globe. The 20 minute audiocast, called Solidarity News, will be presented on www.radiolabour.net every Monday.  

RadioLabour is currently looking for volunteer reporters to provide one or two minute English-language audio reports about union activities in their region of the world. The reporters would be expected to provide their audio-report (as an MP3 file) and a written script of the report.   To volunteer, or find out more about the project, email Marc at:  m.belanger@radiolabour.org

The latest edition of Radio Netherlands' "The State We're In" asks if forming a union is a human right. Available as a pod off iTunes. Always an interesting show and the only such in English I know of with a human rights theme.

The show's web page is HERE.

Welcome to Monday (unless you’re checking in on the weekend, in which case sorry for even mentioning Monday!).

Mining multinational giant Vale is taking on its workers around the world. Concessions are all that’s on offer. That’s the bad news. The good? The workers are fighting back. Globally.

3,500 Steelworkers are in month four of their strike against Vale in Canada. Brazilian Vale workers are taking Canadian union members to their bargaining table, saying if Vale won’t talk to them in Canada, they can in Brazil. Unions in places as far-flung as New Caledonia are telling Vale they won’t talk while the Canadians are out.

German workers are demanding that their employers refuse delivery of Vale products. Swedish unions are using their seats on company boards to push for industrial bans on Vale goods. Indonesian unions are bringing Canadian workers into remote mine sites to speak to their members about their common employer’s tactics.

Join them. USW, the Union representing the Canadian workers, and LabourStart, the international labour news and campaigns website, are running a global e-mail campaign against Vale, in support of the strikers and their communities around the world.

In less than 30 seconds you can become part of something really big. And you can make it bigger. One e-mail at a time.

Join the campaign and tell every contact, friend and relative you have.

CLICK HERE.