On Wednesday, top leaders of Brazil's largest trade union federation, Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT), including President Vagner Freitas, João Felicio and Artur Henrique, met with U.S. union leaders at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C., to discuss strategies for joint action, priorities and partnerships moving forward.

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 a time of economic turmoil and austerity measures in many countries, Brazil is getting deserved recognition for its successes in lifting nearly 40 million of its citizens out of extreme poverty over the past 10 years while fostering economic expansion for the nation.

A well-attended brown bag discussion at the AFL-CIO this week provided background on Brazil’s transformation, insights about the work needed to continue improving conditions for Brazilian workers and unions and food for thought about the examples Brazil has set for the United States and the world.

Brian Finnegan, in the AFL-CIO International Department, sends us this.

Vale, the largest iron ore company in the world with locations in 38 countries is one of six finalists for the Public Eye Award, which annually elects the worst company in the world by popular vote. The winner will be announced during this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It is the first time that a Brazilian-based company is in the running for the award.

For the first time in history, the world’s two biggest sports events—the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics—are being held in the same country, within two years of each other. This month, hundreds of workers and activists met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, site of the events, to launch a campaign to ensure that all the workers involved in the construction of facilities and manufacturing of event products work under decent conditions.

U.S. economic and trade policies over the past three decades have led to jobs lost offshore and a shrinking middle class, and the United States must address this economic bleed through trade policies and investment in infrastructure and manufacturing, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said today.