On October 16, over 110 workers' testimonies of sexual harassment were taped to McDonald's French headquarters. Just prior, 50 McDonald's workers and supporters demonstrated outside a McDonald's store in Paris where several workers have been subjected to sexual harassment.

The IUF precautionary approach to the spread of COVID-19 has been validated by the emerging scientific consensus on the aerosol spread of the disease. The initial World Health Organization (WHO) assessment was that COVID-19 was primarily spread through 'droplets' from an infected person's coughs and sneezes and through contamination of hard surfaces. This was the basis for advising one meter physical distancing in the workplace.

The IUF advocated for 2 meter physical distancing as one of many precautions to be adopted because of the uncertainty over the possibility of transmission by smaller particles travelling further through the air.

The IUF’s sister Global Union Federation the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) has released a report outlining serious levels of abuse in the operations of one of the world’s major international logistics providers, XPO logistics.

Classed as essential workers due to the pandemic, agricultural and food workers, many of them migrant workers, have continued to work - or risk losing their jobs - on farms and plantations, and in meat and food processing plants to provide essential food supplies to people worldwide.

Only a few months after winning the union election, hotel union General Secretary Amadou Diallo (pictured right) and Deputy General Secretary Alhassane Diallo (pictured left) were sacked by their employer on October 7.

The IUF has again called on G20 Tourism Ministers to work with trade unions to protect both the livelihoods and the health and safety of tourism workers.

Domestic violence is widespread and has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The IUF is today launching Breaking the silence, a guide on why domestic violence is a trade union issue and how unions should deal with it. It draws strongly on materials developed by IUF affiliates.

Odilia Caal Có, local leader in a branch of the IUF-affiliated Federación Sindical de Trabajadores de la Alimentación, Agroindustria y Similares (FESTRAS) was brutally beaten earlier this month in an attack which left her with multiple injuries including a broken rib. According to the ILO, Guatemala is one of the most dangerous countries for trade unionists. The IUF, through its regional organisation, Rel UITA, is closely monitoring the situation and calling for prosecution of the perpetrators of the violence.

On World Tourism Day (WTD), September 27, 2020, the IUF is calling on employers, governments and UN agencies to "Build Back Tourism Better" by committing to a safe, secure and sustainable tourism sector with workers' rights at its center.

IUF affiliates and representatives from the Algerian diaspora gathered in Geneva last month to denounce the continuing violation of human rights in Algeria, especially the government's use of arbitrary detention.

Tens of thousands of Belarusians are taking part in on-going protests in their workplaces and on the streets against the fraudulent re-election on August 9 of sitting president, Alexander Lukashenko. They are confronted  with state-sponsored violence and mass arrests. The IUF stands with its affiliates and the workers of Belarus in their fight for democracy and an independent trade union movement.

An ILO Convention has for the first time been ratified by all 187 member states. The IUF calls for renewed efforts to implement the Convention, C182 on worst forms of child labour, especially in agriculture which employs 71% of all child labour.

Governments must not use the COVID-19 crisis as a smokescreen to launch increased attacks on democratic and trade union rights. This is the message of a video produced by the IUF’s Young Workers Committee (YWC) for International Youth Day (IYD).

Workers dismissed for joining the IUF affiliate Tekgida-Is at Cargill Turkey 846 days ago held a rally and press conference in front of the company's Bursa-Orhangazi factory - the starch factory they were dismissed from - on August 10 to announce their determination to keep fighting for reinstatement and respect for trade union rights.