Workers the last to know: KONE’s mega-deal with TK Elevator

If approved by regulators this takeover, the largest in Finnish corporate history and one of Europe’s biggest private equity exits, would create the world’s largest elevator and escalator manufacturer. Key topics of discussion include the KONE TK Elevator acquisition and its potential effects on workers’ rights. In doing so, it would employ more than 100,000 workers in over 100 countries.

Workers and their representatives found out when everyone else did through the financial press. Furthermore, they were informed by an email sent by the CEO after going public.

This is unacceptable. The announcement constitutes a serious breach of the GFA signed in 2021 between TK Elevator, the Group Works Council, IG Metall and IndustriALL. This agreement is one that TKE itself describes as key to safeguarding human and employee rights globally. Moreover, it also clearly violates the EWC and Global Workers Council agreements, signed in 2022 and 2024 respectively. These lay down information and consultation rights. 

A betrayal of trust

The reaction from labour representatives was immediate and unambiguous. Knut Giesler, deputy chairman of TKE’s supervisory board and IG Metall district leader for North Rhine-Westphalia, described the announcement as outrageous. Additionally, he called it a direct attack on workers’ co-determination rights in Germany, Europe and globally. IG Metall demanded an extraordinary supervisory board meeting.

The planned €700 million (US$824 million) in annual synergies represents the language financial markets use for job cuts. This represents a direct threat to tens of thousands of TKE workers worldwide.

Christiane Benner, president of IG Metall and IndustriALL Global: 

“The sale of TK Elevator to KONE must not be carried out at the expense of the employees. We will not accept the sacrifice of thousands of good jobs under the guise of synergies. Anyone who supports this merger must also guarantee that jobs and locations will be secured, co-determination will be respected and opportunities will be created for the workforce, anything else will meet with our resolute opposition.”

And that is why we will fight that: 

No location stands alone.

No country is pitted against another.

No employee is left behind.

“From a European perspective, this announcement represents a clear breach of both the spirit and the letter of the European Works Council agreements at KONE and at TK Elevator. More than 45,000 workers in Europe are directly affected by this planned acquisition, yet their elected representatives were completely sidelined. That is not acceptable. Before any further step is taken, both KONE and TK Elevator must fully comply with their existing information and consultation obligations. If this deal is to proceed, it must be a growth project that also benefits workers, through secure jobs, respect for collective bargaining and full prior information and consultation,” 

says Judith Kirton-Darling, general secretary, industriAll European Trade Union.

The question KONE must answer

KONE has made no public commitment to honour the existing TKE agreements. The merged entity will be headquartered in Finland. TK Elevator’s current co-determination architecture includes the supervisory board structure, the Group Works Council, the European and Global Works Council (GWC) and the GFA itself. However, this faces an uncertain future under new ownership unless KONE explicitly and formally assumes all obligations.

IndustriALL general secretary, Atle Høie, said: 

“The announcement of KONE’s acquisition of TK Elevator is a direct violation of the GFA and GWC agreement that IndustriALL signed with TK Elevator in 2021 and 2024. These agreements are not a formality, they are a binding commitment to consult workers before decisions of this magnitude are made, not after. More than 100,000 workers around the world learned about the biggest change in both companies’ history from the financial press. That is unacceptable. There will be no union cooperation with this transaction unless our agreements are honoured in full.” 

Taking immediate action 

Both IndustriALL Global Union and industriAll Europe are coordinating with affiliates, including IG Metall and Finnish affiliates, to ensure workers on both sides of this transaction have a voice.

The antitrust review process for this transaction is expected to last at least until mid-2027. That window is not merely a regulatory formality; it is an opportunity. The unions will use every day of it to fight for their jobs.

Private equity bought TK Elevator in 2020. Workers already paid a price for that transition. They will not be left behind again.

The world’s largest elevator company should not be built on the backs of workers who were never asked. 

Employees are not the subject of this deal, they are its foundation. After all, they are the ones who have created the value and must be treated with appreciation and respect.

African trade unions seek a seat at the climate table

The initiative was developed with IndustriALL Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regional office and the Sub-Saharan Africa energy network. It also involved IndustriALL affiliates in Ghana, ITUC-Africa, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Ghana Trade Union Congress. The aim is to embed workers’ safeguards more firmly into Africa’s climate policies.

The workplan for the subsidiary body (SB64) sessions and COP 31 includes several steps. These include establishing an AGN-trade union Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP) liaison group with formal terms of reference. Moreover, they involve compiling sector-specific evidence briefs on employment, reskilling, critical minerals and informal workers. They also involve delivering joint pre-sessional briefings. Further, submitting joint evidence to the secretariat’s mapping process on sovereignty-designed pathways is scheduled. Developing a unified African labour position paper on the JTWP, border adjustment mechanisms and equitable value chains is also planned. Additional activities include convening a COP 31 side event on African workers and the just transition. Another step is reviewing and institutionalizing the AGN labour liaison mechanism.

The meeting heard that finance lies at the heart of the grievances. SSA receives less than 3 per cent of global climate finance annually. Much of it comes in the form of loans rather than grants. Trade unions rejected the use of loans as climate contributions. They argued that they risk deepening the continent’s debt crisis. Interest rates in the region are roughly seven times higher than those in Organization for economic co-operation and development (OECD) countries. To close this gap requires serious reform of multilateral development banks. This was argued by unions.

Drawing on the African mining vision, participants demanded that critical minerals such as lithium and cobalt be processed locally. This would generate decent, job-rich growth instead of raw exports.

Trade as a tool of exclusion

Unions raised concerns over the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, arguing that it risks shifting the costs of the energy transition onto African producers and workers. They also rejected product bans and green subsidies that function as trade barriers. Instead, they insisted on national rights to build regional value chains under the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Protecting workers and gender justice

Influenced by South Africa’s Just Energy Transition experience, unions called for negotiated transitions featuring five-year notice periods for fossil-fuel phase-outs and wage parity for affected workers. A recurring theme was the need to protect the continent’s large informal workforce. They pushed for International Labour Organization(ILO) standards to be explicitly linked to climate finance. In particular, unions want attention to opportunities and rights for women and youth in the green economy. Unions also called for the full funding of the Gender Action Plan to address the disproportionate impact of climate disasters on women.

The meeting, convened with support from IndustriALL, Danish trade union 3F and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Senegal, brought together 20 participants from Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Civil-society delegates from Gambia and Senegal also attended.

“AGN commits to the systematic integration of labour, deepening of open conversations, engaging key stakeholders and providing a platform and guidance during negotiations,”

said Antwi-Boasiako Amoah, AGN chairperson.

Paule-France Ndessomin, SSA IndustriALL regional secretary emphasized:

“The conversation on climate change is shifting to the protection of workers and community interests. For African trade unions, the just energy transition is a fight against new green extractivism.”

Deaths in certified shipbreaking yards expose enforcement failures

On 28 April, a fitter foreman at Janata Steel in Sitakunda suffered severe injuries to his chest, neck and head while dismantling a giant gang stair. He returned to work after just five days. This raises questions about whether workers can take adequate time off without fear of repercussions.

A few weeks earlier an electrician at NB Steel Recycling Yard, operated by KR Ship Recycling Yard, died from an electric shock at work. IndustriALL affiliate Bangladesh Metal Workers’ Federation (BMF) intervened to ensure that the deceased worker’s family received compensation above industry standards. However, the incident highlights deeper systemic failures.

Safe working conditions must be non-negotiable and employers who fail to ensure them must be held accountable. There is a need to establish mechanisms that guarantee long-term support for affected workers and their families.

Transparency and accountability remain weak

KR Ship Recycling Yard recently received a government Green Factory Award for safety, yet it is not compliant in practice. These accidents show that the Bangladeshi government has yet to ensure effective enforcement of the Hong Kong Convention’s standards. Therefore, urgent state intervention is needed.

Even with a framework that mandates audits, training and time-bound oversight, repeated fatalities in certified yards raise serious questions about how these standards are being monitored and enforced in practice. The issue is no longer if standards exist. Instead, it is whether workers have any real power to stop dangerous work before it turns fatal.

IndustriALL director for shipbuilding and shipbreaking, Walton Pantland, says:

“It is heartbreaking to hear of two more accidents in Bangladeshi shipbreaking yards in April, including a fatality. This is the third fatality this year at KR Ship Recycling, a company that is supposed to be HKC compliant and is certified by the government with a DASR. There have been three deaths and 17 injuries in Bangladesh this year, at a time when yards are not particularly busy. This is absolutely unacceptable and shows that no lessons have been learned by the industry.

“It is also tragic that although the EIS scheme is ready to be implemented, it is not in place yet, meaning that the family of the worker who died will not receive a pension. This avoidable death needs to be the catalyst that brings change to the industry. This cannot go on.”

IndustriALL affiliate BMF adds:

“The recent accident in Bangladesh’s ship recycling industry is a tragic reminder of the urgent need for transparency and accountability. A full and independent investigation must uncover the causes of this disaster and workers themselves must be empowered to shape safer futures through active participation in joint OSH committees and by exercising their fundamental right to refuse unsafe work.”

Asia Pacific unions tackle low wages in the garment sector

Despite real wage increases in many economies, working conditions have remained poor and characterized by widespread informality and vulnerability. Trade union representatives from across the region met in Penang, Malaysia this week for a two-day workshop on wage setting mechanisms, organized by IndustriALL Global Union and Japanese affiliate UA Zensen. The workshop brought together affiliates to share strategies and build collective capacity to tackle low wages in the sector.

Participants from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam shared experiences and strategies on wage setting mechanisms, collective bargaining and organizing. Drawing on examples from across the region, the workshop aimed to strengthen their collective capacity to win better wages for garment workers.

Setting the scene: the ILO perspective

Wage policy is the framework through which governments, employers and workers collectively shape wage outcomes. When it functions as a coherent system, it can make an enormous difference. Across Asia, that coherence is often missing. The region has more than 5,000 minimum wage rates; only India has more than 2,000. Yet in countries like Pakistan, one in four workers does not receive even the minimum wage to which they are legally entitled. Informal workers across the region earn roughly half of what formal workers earn.

ILO senior wage expert Xavier Estupinan stressed that setting a minimum wage is only the first step. The real question is whether it is adequate, regularly reviewed, effectively enforced and supported by strong social dialogue.

The ILO’s living wage programme builds on this foundation by bringing together governments, employers and workers to advance effective living wage policies and practices. It rests on two complementary pillars: first, the estimation of living wages and the development of a global wage data hub; and second, the operationalization of living wages in practice, including through technical assistance to countries and sectors ready to act.

IndustriALL’s gender director Armelle Seby warned that wage-setting systems can entrench inequality by institutionalizing the undervaluation of women’s work. Pay transparency and gender-neutral job evaluation are key tools to ensure gender-transformative wage systems. A gender-transformative approach is not an add-on. It must be built into the design of wage policies from the outset, based on gender analysis. Without this, minimum wage frameworks risk replicating, or even widening, the gender pay gap already prevalent in the sector.

The ACT agreement and collective bargaining in practice

The ACT initiative and its work on supply chain industrial relations was presented and discussed. Cambodian affiliates shared their experiences on renegotiating the template CBA, which will be valid for the next three years. They also presented their work on increasing the number of factories signing the agreement.

Wage setting in Japan: lessons from UA Zensen

The workshop also heard from UA Zensen on wage setting in Japan. Union density is shrinking, nearly all unions are company-based and women account for fewer than 30 per cent of union members. Since 2022, the annual Shunto spring wage offensive has delivered general wage increases of around five per cent. However, structural challenges remain. UA Zensen has focused on strengthening bargaining power through leadership training and frameworks for joint action, targeting legislative reform and industry-specific fair labour standards.

“Wages in the garment sector have been kept artificially low for too long. This workshop is about building the union power and knowledge to change that. Because without strong unions at the bargaining table, workers will continue to bear the cost,”

said IndustriALL textile and garment director Christina Hajagos-Clausen.

The regional meeting of IndustriALL’s TGSL network opened the week, before delegates moved into the wage setting workshop. Affiliates from across Asia Pacific came together to share updates and coordinate priorities for the sector.

Hard as steel: workers stand firm at ArcelorMittal AGM

Workers travelled from across Europe, Brazil and Mexico to make their voices heard. At the heart of their demands was ArcelorMittal workers safety social dialogue, emphasizing the need for real commitment and action. They demanded investment in people and the planet and respect for workers’ rights. For them, ArcelorMittal workers safety social dialogue means investment in people, the planet, and respect for rights. They also called for genuine social dialogue. Their lives, their dignity and their futures, they said, must come before profit.

The demonstration comes against a backdrop of deepening crisis. Over 300 workers have died at ArcelorMittal in the past decade. Thousands of jobs are being cut without consultation, climate commitments are being abandoned and trade unions are being systematically silenced. At the same time, the company has returned billions to shareholders. Yet, investment in safety, jobs and a just transition has fallen critically short.

The human cost is not abstract. It’s felt in every plant, on every shift, by every worker who clocks in. Sadly, they do not know if they will return home safely.

A pattern of failure, not isolated incidents

Flavio Cordeiro De Paiva, from IndustriALL affiliate CNM-CUT (Confederação Nacional dos Metalúrgicos da CUT), in Brazil described the daily reality inside ArcelorMittal’s plants:

“We are facing increasing fatigue from imposed schedules, wage stagnation, unsafe equipment conditions and mounting pressure. Clearly, the lack of ongoing ArcelorMittal workers safety social dialogue continues to put workers’ lives at risk. In just twelve months at my plant in João Monlevade, we have recorded twenty accidents and numerous near misses involving cranes, molten steel and heavy loads. Weakened social dialogue must be restored. We call for negotiation, respect and dignity. Our message is clear: workers’ lives must take priority over financial targets.”

In Mexico, the consequences of deferred investment have already proved fatal. In June 2025, a preventable boiler explosion at ArcelorMittal’s power plant in Lázaro Cárdenas – the result of years of deferred maintenance – killed a supervisor and seriously injured a worker. The company had repeatedly patched boiler leaks rather than addressing underlying equipment failures. As a result, production was halted for over six months.

Francisco Galiana Mejia of Mineros de México, an IndustriALL affiliate, told those gathered outside the AGM:

“In 2025 a supervisor was killed after a boiler exploded. This is due to the company’s failure to invest in the plant. Production was then stopped for seven months and this caused so much hardship for our families, because incomes were cut in half. But thanks to leadership and global solidarity, people were able to push through. If we remain united, we will be victorious in the end.”

The pattern extends far beyond the Americas. In Liberia, when workers employed by ArcelorMittal’s security contractor, SEGAL, staged a peaceful protest in October 2025, sixteen of them were beaten and arrested on SEGAL’s orders. Workers who organize, who speak up, who demand what is rightfully theirs, are being met with repression.

In Europe, the company has repeatedly sidelined its European works council (EWC). It failed to consult it on major restructuring decisions in violation of both EU law and its own EWC agreement. The situation became so untenable that in March 2026 the EWC was forced to demand mediation. European trade unions describe the company’s approach as gaslighting, claiming to inform the EWC while not doing so at all.

Shareholders rewarded, workers sacrificed

A 2025 study by SteelWatch found that despite receiving over €3 billion in public subsidies for decarbonisation across Europe and beyond, ArcelorMittal “has not taken a single final investment decision on any of its five announced Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) projects in Europe and Canada.” SteelWatch accused the company of backtracking on its climate commitments and abdicating its role as an industry leader. Between 2021 and 2024, the company spent only US$800 million on decarbonisation. However, it returned US$12 billion to shareholders in dividends and buybacks during the same period.

The world’s steel cannot be made on promises. It is made by workers, workers who deserve safety, fair wages and a seat at the table.

“Yesterday’s action proved that solidarity knows no bounds! ArcelorMittal does not invest in decarbonization and new technologies. It puts profits over people and the planet. Instead of creating new jobs in Europe through decarbonization, they are planning to relocate one third of the European workforce. 

It is unacceptable that ArcelorMittal receives 3.5 billion dollars in public subsidies worldwide. Meanwhile, their workers are suffering and dying in poorly maintained factories.

With the EU Steel and Metals Action Plan in place, there is a supportive policy framework, solid financial results and massive public support. As a result, ArcelorMittal has no justification for standing still on investment in decarbonization. Investing in decarbonization means investing in decent union jobs and skills. In addition, it secures the long term future of steel in Europe, and the company must now do its part.

Workers and the environment are paying the price of ArcelorMittal’s decisions and enough is enough,” said Judith Kirton-Darling industriAll Europe’s general secretary.

“ArcelorMittal signed a global health and safety agreement in 2008. Eighteen years later, workers are dying from preventable accidents and being beaten for peaceful protest, while 450 of our brothers and sisters in Ohio were forced to strike for over two months to get a fair contract. IndustriALL is calling on the company to account for the implementation of that agreement at every plant worldwide. We also call on the company to sit down with us and strengthen the existing agreement with binding targets, transparent fatality reporting and real consequences for non-compliance. The framework already exists, what is missing is the will to implement it,”

said Alex Ivanou, IndustriALL base metals director. 

Young workers in Latin America build regional voice

Young workers from IndustriALL affiliates in Argentina, Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Uruguay met at the regional office in Montevideo on 28-29 April. They reviewed changes approved at IndustriALL’s 4th Congress and discussed how to strengthen coordination and representation of trade union youth across the region.

The Congress in November 2025 approved the creation of a global youth committee and the possibility of regional committees. This will expand young workers’ participation in IndustriALL’s decision-making bodies.

Welcoming participants, IndustriALL assistant general secretary Christina Olivier said:

“Setting up youth structures should not be seen as symbolic, but as a necessity. In a world marked by precarious work, transformation and the climate crisis, organised youth structures ensure young workers have a collective voice, the power to influence, and the space to build leadership today, not tomorrow, not in the distant future.”

Participants defined the committee’s terms of reference and set priorities for 2026. There were also discussions on how to raise the profile of trade union youth across the region. Isaac Vásquez Bejarano, from Fesitex Nicaragua, was appointed co-chair and will represent the region on the global youth committee:

“It was two days of hard work but we achieved everything we set out to do. We formed a working group to map how to achieve the goals we have as young people from Latin America and the Caribbean. We hope to see greater youth participation at regional and global levels, particularly from women and people from diverse backgrounds.”

Tiara Amigorena, from CNTI in Argentina, was elected as the second co-chair:

“We are very proud because we believe this initiative expands the rights of young trade unionists. We are set for a lot of hard work to secure greater rights.”

IndustriALL youth and projects officer Sarah Flores stressed that the committee is a means, not an end:

“Establishing this committee is a major step towards greater diversity and representativeness. However, it is merely a tool, not an end in itself. The challenge now will be to bring to life the proposals and strategies developed by its members, together with the affiliates in the region.”

ArcelorMittal: enough is enough

A new investor brief, based on worker testimony from multiple countries and recounting company failures in Kazakhstan, Mexico, Brazil, Liberia, the USA and across Europe, exposes a stark and consistent gap between what ArcelorMittal says and what workers experience. This brief highlights ongoing ArcelorMittal worker safety failures. The picture that emerges is not of isolated failures but of a company-wide pattern of putting short-term financial gain above the safety, rights and futures of its workforce.

A decade of preventable deaths

Central to the day of action is ArcelorMittal’s catastrophic safety record. Between 2013 and 2023, over 300 workers died at ArcelorMittal operations worldwide. The investor brief makes clear these deaths are not the unavoidable result of working in a dangerous industry, they are the consequence of a company that consistently fails to invest in its infrastructure, engage meaningfully with trade unions on occupational safety and learn from tragedy.

In October 2023, a fire at ArcelorMittal’s Kostenko coal mine in Kazakhstan killed 46 workers, the country’s worst industrial accident since independence. SteelWatch later reported the company left Kazakhstan with billions of dollars in unresolved health damages, having faced demands to compensate victims and families for nearly 30 years of deaths and injuries. An investor report at the time called the fire: unfortunately not surprising, given the company’s record.

In June 2025, a preventable boiler explosion at ArcelorMittal’s power plant in Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico, the result of years of deferred maintenance, killed a supervisor and seriously injured a worker. The company had repeatedly patched boiler leaks rather than addressing underlying equipment failures. Production was halted for over six months.

In Brazil, IndustriALL affiliate CNM-CUT reports 22 workplace accident reports registered with the local union in the past year alone, alongside numerous near-misses including crane failures, molten steel spills, ruptured pressurised pipes and falling heavy loads. Workers describe a culture of fear, stagnating wages and deteriorating equipment across multiple plants.

This is not a new crisis. In 2024, IndustriALL and industriAll European Trade Union staged a global day of action calling on ArcelorMittal to stop deaths at work.

The situation has not improved.

Silencing workers’ voices

The investor brief documents a consistent pattern of union avoidance and disregard for social dialogue across ArcelorMittal’s global operations.

In Europe, the company has repeatedly sidelined its European works council (EWC), failing to consult it on major restructuring decisions in violation of both EU law and its own EWC agreement. The situation became so untenable that in March 2026 the EWC was forced to demand mediation. European trade unions describe the company’s approach as gaslighting, claiming to inform the EWC while not doing so at all.

In Liberia, ArcelorMittal has failed to hold its security contractor SEGAL to basic labour standards, despite SEGAL workers joining IndustriALL affiliate United Workers Union of Liberia (UWUL) in April 2025. When SEGAL workers staged a peaceful protest in October 2025, 16 of them were beaten and arrested on the SEGAL’s orders. Twelve security guards fired weeks after joining the union have not been reinstated, despite a ministry of labour order to do so.

“You allow someone in your house to violate laws and you don’t take action; you are complicit in that,” United Workers Union of Liberia.

In the USA, members of the United Steelworkers were forced into a 69-day strike , the longest in Local 3057’s history at ArcelorMittal’s Shelby, Ohio facility before securing a fair agreement on wages, retirement benefits and healthcare. As the union pointed out, the strike was not about wages. It was about quality of life.

Cutting jobs in profitable operations

Despite its European operations making a major contribution to group earnings, with steady sales performance between 2022 and 2025 and a low debt ratio, ArcelorMittal has been rolling out sweeping job cuts across the continent.

In a first wave of restructuring in 2025, between 1,145 and 1,400 full-time equivalent positions were offshored to the company’s AM/NS joint venture in India. In January 2026, ArcelorMittal announced a second wave of 5,000 to 6,000 additional support jobs to be offshored. IndustriALL estimates that country-level production job cuts across Europe add a further 3,000 positions. This means up to nearly one-third of ArcelorMittal’s entire European workforce is at risk.

These changes are being made without genuine consultation with trade unions or the EWC. And the offshoring destination, ArcelorMittal’s AM/NS joint venture in India, is itself characterised by union avoidance, heavy reliance on subcontracting and persistent resistance to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Abandoning climate commitments

ArcelorMittal’s carbon footprint is comparable to that of a small country such as Belgium. The brief argues that the company has a critical role to play in the transition to clean steel and that it is choosing not to play it.

Despite receiving over €3 billion (US$3.24 billion) in public subsidies for decarbonization across Europe and beyond ArcelorMittal has, according to SteelWatch, not taken a single final investment decision on any of its five announced direct reduced iron (DRI) projects in Europe and Canada. In 2025, the company withdrew from a decarbonisation project in Germany that had €1.3 billion(US$1.4 billion) in state subsidies attached to it.

At the same time, the company spent only US$800 million on decarbonization between 2021 and 2024 while returning US$12 billion to shareholders in dividends and buybacks. SteelWatch has accused the company of backtracking on its climate commitments and abdicating its role as an industry leader.

“ArcelorMittal could be leading the way instead of blaming economic uncertainty for its delay. This is not climate leadership, it’s a strategic retreat,” SteelWatch

A message to investors

This brief is directed not only at the public but at ArcelorMittal’s shareholders, who the union argues have both the right and the responsibility to hold the company to account.

It identifies seven areas for investor engagement, including social dialogue, the EWC, occupational health and safety, job cuts in Europe, decarbonization, transparency and reporting and the equal treatment of contractors. It argues that the company’s failures in each of these areas expose it to significant legal, operational, financial and reputational risks.

IndustriALL general secretary, Atle, Høie says:

“ArcelorMittal is a profitable company making deliberate choices: to cut jobs, ignore safety and walk away from its climate commitments. Workers are paying the price. Enough is enough.”

“With the EU Steel and Metals Action Plan in place, a supportive policy framework, solid financial results and massive public support, ArcelorMittal has no justification for standing still on investment in decarbonisation. Investing in decarbonisation means investing in decent union jobs, skills and the long‑term future of steel in Europe — and the company must now do its part,” says Judith Kirton-Darling, general secretary, industriAll European Trade Union.

Taking the fight to the AGM

To demand action, IndustriALL Global Union and industriAll European Trade Union will be present at ArcelorMittal’s AGM in Luxembourg on 5 May 2026, staging a global day of action. Trade unionists and worker representatives from across the company’s global operations will be there to make clear that these failures can no longer be ignored, by the company or its investors.

The action is backed by the detailed investor brief outlining seven key areas for shareholder engagement.

Global day of action: 5 May 2026, 10:00 CET | 24–26 Boulevard d’Avranches, Luxembourg

ILO acts on climate risks to worker safety

IndustriALL took part in this meeting as part of the Global Union Federations (GUFs), serving as advisors to the workers’ group and contributing actively to the debates and to the negotiation of the final text. The worker delegation was led by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Additionally, the discussions highlighted occupational safety and health climate risks and their relevance for worker protection.

IndustriALL at the table

During the meeting, the workers’ group defended a broad approach: not only responding to specific extreme weather events, but also recognizing that changing weather patterns create cumulative risks for occupational safety and health. That approach is reflected in the conclusions that were adopted, and it directly addresses ongoing climate risks in health and safety at work.

Strengthening the text: key gains for workers

The amendments put forward by the workers helped strengthen the initial draft in several key areas. The final text gives greater weight to freedom of association, social dialogue and collective bargaining, confirms that OSH protection must apply to all workers, including vulnerable workers and regardless of their employment status and improves the language on exposure thresholds, labour inspection, income protection when work must be stopped, health surveillance and safe return to work after extreme weather events. It also includes issues such as gender perspective, social protection and the need for resilient public infrastructure. With these improvements, occupational safety and health climate risks are more thoroughly addressed for every worker.

At workplace level, the conclusions are clearer on the importance of risk assessments, access to safe drinking water and adequate facilities, the provision of personal protective equipment at no cost and specific measures for workers facing higher risks.
They also make progress on two issues that are particularly important for IndustriALL. The first is the need to define clear responsibilities when more than one company operates at the same workplace. This means that the adopted text also covers contract and subcontract workers, as well as value chains, which is highly relevant in industrial sectors where subcontracting is widespread. Furthermore, addressing occupational safety and health climate risks is crucial in these complex environments.

Climate risks inside plants, mines and industrial facilities

The second important point for us was that the text should better reflect the reality of industrial sectors. In energy, mining and manufacturing industries, climate-related risks do not affect only those working outdoors. They also affect workers inside plants and industrial facilities, through accumulated heat, smoke, poor air quality, operational disruptions, emergency work and the increased risk of major industrial accidents when an extreme event affects critical infrastructure or hazardous processes. The fact that the conclusions advance prevention, preparedness, response and recovery in these contexts is an important outcome. Clearly, occupational safety and health must take into account climate risks in these sectors.

Diana Junquera, director of industrial policy, said:


“For IndustriALL, it was essential that this debate reflected the reality of our sectors and of the workers we represent. Climate does not only affect outdoor work: it also changes conditions inside plants, mines and industrial facilities. The adoption of conclusions that strengthen prevention, rights, social dialogue and protection for all workers is a very important step.”

Next steps

The conclusions adopted provide a useful basis for further progress towards stronger national policies and concrete measures in workplaces. IndustriALL will continue working to ensure that these principles are turned into real protection for workers across all our sectors, especially addressing occupational safety and health climate risks as part of our ongoing advocacy.

Advancing gender equality across the garment sector

“Women are at the heart of the garment industry. This policy ensures they are at the heart of our movement too. It gives our affiliates a concrete framework to advance gender equality, from the factory floor to union leadership”

says Christina Hajagos-Clausen, IndustriALL textile and garment director.

A vision of equal rights and decent work

The policy sets out a vision of a sector where all workers enjoy equal rights, earn equal pay for work of equal value and are free from violence and harassment.

The policy organizes its commitments around four priority areas.

From policy to practice

The policy will be implemented through both mainstreaming gender across all sectoral activities and targeted actions to address inequalities directly. This will include campaigns on 8 March, 25 November and 10 December, training for men on gender equalit, and seminars on gender-related issues in the sector.

The TGSL gender expert committee, established in 2021, will advise the TGSL steering committee on annual action plans and review progress on implementation. The secretariat will be responsible for implementing adopted priorities.

Progress will be tracked annually, with each objective linked to short-, medium- or long-term timeframes and clear indicators.

The policy was developed with the support of Mondiaal FNV.

International workers’ memorial day: when work breaks the mind as well as the body

According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) long working hours alone are responsible for around 745,000 deaths each year. At least 70,000 workers die by suicide annually due to work-related factors. Depression and anxiety cost 12 billion working days every year. Burnout affects around one in five workers globally, and psychosocial risks are linked to more than 10 per cent of all cases of heart disease, depression and suicide.

“Psychosocial risks are not a new phenomenon in our sectors, but they are growing. Workers are facing impossible targets, job insecurity and relentless pressure and it is taking lives. The evidence is clear: a strong union presence and collective bargaining are the most effective tools we have. IndustriALL is calling on employers and governments to act through enforceable laws, social dialogue and recognition that mental health is an occupational health issue,”

says IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie.

What psychosocial risk looks like in practice

In Ghana’s mining sector, psychosocial risk is highly pronounced. Miners in Obuasi, Tarkwa, and Prestea work under intense physical and psychological pressure, facing hazards underground as well as prolonged mental strain. Poor ventilation, extreme heat, dust, and humidity make underground conditions exhausting, while surface workers and machine operators endure long hours in direct sunlight and operate heavy equipment in peak temperatures. Over time, fatigue, dehydration, and reduced concentration heighten accident risks and place a significant burden on mental health.

Heat stress affects not only the physical body but also psychological well-being. Workers exposed to persistent overheating and production pressures frequently experience increased stress, irritability, and anxiety. Prolonged exposure to these conditions can undermine teamwork, increase conflict, and reduce morale. The International Labour Organization (ILO) recognizes that excessive heat may contribute to cardiovascular strain, kidney disorders, and mental distress.

For many Ghanaian miners, psychosocial risk extends beyond the workplace. Rotational schedules keep workers away from their families for days or weeks at a time, leading to loneliness, family tension and emotional strain. Contract workers face constant uncertainty during periods of significant volatility in gold prices or operational restructuring. For those supporting both nuclear and extended families, income insecurity becomes a heavy psychological burden. In all these, the informal sector face even greater exposure, often without access to adequate safety systems, clean water or union representation.

The union response

A robust and democratic union presence in the workplace provides the most effective protection against psychosocial risks. The Ghana Mineworkers’ Union has led negotiations for collective agreements that address these issues, securing safeguards such as protection against heat stress, access to medical examinations, psychosocial support, and equitable workload distribution.

A fundamental aspect of mining companies’ duty of care is the implementation of straightforward measures to mitigate psychosocial risk. Regular access to clean drinking water, shaded rest areas, work-rest cycles during peak heat hours, temperature monitoring, and confidential mental health counselling are all feasible with sufficient commitment. Supervisors on the other hand require training to identify early signs of burnout, heat-related illness, and emotional distress.

Given that these challenges extend beyond mining and affect other industrial sectors, IndustriALL identifies this issue as integral to its broader mandate of promoting responsible business conduct and human rights due diligence.

What we are calling for

On Workers’ Memorial Day, IndustriALL joins the ITUC in calling for