Sovereignty and the rule of law are under threat from Trump’s attacks on Lula’s administration just as they have been across Latin America, argue CARLOS MARTINEZ and SARA VIVACQUA
THE giant global trade union IndustriALL — representing manufacturing and energy workers — has reported increased repression against the Belarus independent trade union the Free Metal Workers (SPM, which is affiliated to IndustriALL) and its members who have faced dismissals and detention, with some forced to flee Belarus to avoid prosecution.
IndustriALL reports that almost all SPM local union chairs were fired from their companies, including Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ), BELAZ, Minsk Tractor Works (MTW), BKM Holding: Minsk Motor Plant (MMP: Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant and Minsk Electrotechnical Plant).
On November 17 last year, the local SPM chair at MAZ, Artyom Zhernak was detained by the state security committee and his apartment was searched twice. Zhernak remains in custody.
The Baltic state is set to reverse its constitutional prohibition on nuclear weapons and foreign bases as part of accelerated Nato war preparations, warns TOM UNTERRAINER
The International Court of Justice has delivered its clearest ruling yet that the right to strike is protected under international law, write Professor TONIA NOVITZ, Professor KEITH EWING and Lord JOHN HENDY KC
A setback for IG Metall at Tesla’s Berlin plant has ignited claims of intimidation and raised fears for the future of collective bargaining and workplace democracy, says TONY BURKE



