Supported by global labor activists and unions, a Mississippi Nissan worker announced the UAW’s global organizing campaign yesterday at the third annual LabourStart conference in Sydney, Australia. At Nissan’s Canton, Miss., plant, there are more than 3,000 workers who want a voice at work to improve conditions and secure decent work for more members of their community. In addition to reducing safety problems and resulting injuries at the plant, workers want to unite to build power and raise their voice so that Nissan will directly hire more of its workforce and not depend so heavily on temporary workers. Nissan’s production model increasingly tries to avoid the responsibility of being an employer while reaping the gains of all production workers.

Check out UAW's site: http://DoBetterNissan.org. 

At 6 a.m., the AFL-CIO participated as an international observer as mineworkers and community members peacefully blocked access to the Canadian mining company Excellon Resources Inc. at La Platosa mine in Durango, Mexico. The protesters have maintained their camp at the entrance of the mine since July 8. They continue to seek negotiation and demand a resolution to the conflicts between Excellon, local landowners and workers in the mine.

An on-going industrial conflict escalated into tragedy yesterday as police opened fire on a group of protesting workers at the Marikana Mine and surrounding area in Rustenburg, South Africa, about 50 miles from Johannesburg. The platinum mine is owned by U.K.-based Lonmin. The violence has taken 38 lives and injured more than 75 people.