THE US government has met with its German counterparts to raise concerns about union-busting at the Mercedes Benz plant in Vance, Alabama, where 6,000 workers will be balloting on union representation by the United Auto Workers (UAW) next week.
The US says that Mercedes is running a widespread anti-union campaign, trying to persuade workers to vote against union representation.
At the meeting, the US representatives reminded their German counterparts of their respective governments’ commitments to work together to promote trade unions and workers’ rights.
Forty years on, TONY DUBBINS revisits the Wapping dispute to argue that Murdoch’s real aim was union-busting – enabled by Thatcherite laws, police violence, compliant unions and a complicit media
LAURA DAVISON traces how Murdoch’s mass sackings, political deals and legal loopholes shattered collective bargaining 40 years ago – and how persistent NUJ organising, landmark court victories and new employment rights legislation are finally challenging that legacy
Organised workers at the notoriously anti-union global giant are scoring victory after victory, and now international bodies are pitching in to finally force this figurehead of corporate capitalism to give in to unionisation, writes EMILIO AVELAR



