The London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has agreed to get tougher with factories in China.

Pressure by unions, advocacy groups and workers themselves has resulted in new protections for workers making badges and mascots for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Ninety-four U.S. representatives and seven senators expressed concern March 12 to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton over the deteriorating human rights situation in Honduras. In “Dear Colleague” letters, prompted by 10 labor organizations representing nearly 15 million members, the members of Congress raised Honduras’ systemic, continuing human rights violations with Clinton.

The letters say more than 300 people, including 18 journalists, have been the victims of politically related killings since the 2009 Honduran coup and remind Clinton that the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 requires the State Department to determine and report back to Congress whether the Honduran military is investigating military and police personnel accused of human rights violations.

The 2012 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award will honor the Tunisian General Union of Labor (UGTT) and the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU)—two unions whose struggles over the past year are emblematic of labor’s role in the Arab uprisings, the AFL-CIO Executive Council announced at its annual winter meeting in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Yesterday, President Obama announced the United States, in cooperation with the European Union and Japan, will bring a trade case against China’s export restraints on so-called “rare-earth minerals,” which are a vital component in highly advanced products the United States manufactures—or wants to manufacture. The move is a step in the right direction to create more well-paying jobs for America’s workers.

All trade unions in India united around a common agenda and staged a general strike Tuesday demanding workers’ rights and economic justice.The Indian newspaper The Hindu reports that the solidarity of the more than 5,000 unions representing millions of members affiliated to India’s trade confederations centers around demands, which seek:

A new agency, announced yesterday by President Obama, to crack down on unfair trade practices by countries such as China, is “a step in the right direction,” says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

 Emmelle Israel, AFL-CIO Media Outreach fellow, sends us this.

Last week, Deutsche Telekom techs, customer service reps and retail employees from Germany toured the United States to visit with their T-Mobile USA counterparts in Washington, D.C., Nashville, Tenn., and Frisco, Texas, and learn more about the double standard practices the German company adopts when operating abroad.

Elizabeth Boomer of the AFL-CIO International Affairs Department sends us this.

PKC, a Finnish auto parts corporation with production facilities located in more than 10 countries in Asia, South America, Europe and North America, recently acquired a subsidiary named Arneses y Accesorios de Mexico. The workers in the plants want the National Miners’ and Metalworkers Union (Los Mineros) to represent them, but PKC North America President and CEO Frank Sovis informed the workers that “to protect itself and jobs, the company has decided to sign a collective agreement with the Mexican Confederation of Workers” (CTM).

Seven current or former members of the Guatemalan  banana workers’ union have been murdered since 2011. Most recently, Miguel Angel González Ramírez, a member of the Izabal banana workers’ union, was shot while he was holding his young son.

Elizabeth Boomer of the AFL-CIO International Affairs Department sends us this.

February 19-25 are global days of action for trade union rights in Mexico. In Washington, D.C., the AFL-CIO will hold an event today, Feb. 23, in front of the Mexican Embassy at noon. The Embassy is at 1911 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W.